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Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

by Rodney Stark (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 131 ratings
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How did the preaching of a peasant carpenter from Galilee spark a movement that would grow to include over two billion followers? Who listened to this "good news," and who ignored it? Where did Christianity spread, and how? Based on quantitative data and the latest scholarship, preeminent scholar and journalist Rodney Stark presents new and startling information about the rise of the early church, overturning many prevailing views of how Christianity grew through time to become the largest religion in the world.

Drawing on both archaeological and historical evidence, Stark is able to provide hard statistical evidence on the religious life of the Roman Empire to discover the following facts that set conventional history on its head:

    • Contrary to fictions such as The Da Vinci Code and the claims of some prominent scholars, Gnosticism was not a more sophisticated, more authentic form of Christianity, but really an unsuccessful effort to paganize Christianity.

    • Paul was called the apostle to the Gentiles, but mostly he converted Jews.

    • Paganism was not rapidly stamped out by state repression following the vision and conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 AD, but gradually disappeared as people abandoned the temples in response to the superior appeal of Christianity.

    • The "oriental" faiths—such as those devoted to Isis, the Egyptian goddess of love and magic, and to Cybele, the fertility goddess of Asia Minor—actually prepared the way for the rapid spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire.

    • Contrary to generations of historians, the Roman mystery cult of Mithraism posed no challenge to Christianity to become the new faith of the empire— it allowed no female members and attracted only soldiers.

    By analyzing concrete data, Stark is able to challenge the conventional wisdom about early Christianity offering the clearest picture ever of how this religion grew from its humble beginnings into the faith of more than one-third of the earth's population.

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    Previous page
    1. ISBN-13
      978-0060858421
    2. Edition
      Illustrated
    3. Sticky notes
      On Kindle Scribe
    4. Publisher
      HarperOne
    5. Publication date
      March 17, 2009
    6. Language
      English
    7. File size
      6103 KB
    8. See all details
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    Editorial Reviews

    From Booklist

    Contemplating the rapid spread of early Christianity, Lucian the Martyr marveled in the fourth century that "almost the greater part of the world is now committed to this truth, even whole cities." To explain Christianity's remarkable success in capturing the cities of the Roman Empire, Stark deploys an empirical social science that exposes the flaws in previous historical theorizing. By parsing records of church construction, inscriptions on tombs, and names on imperial contract permits, Stark converts plausible conjectures into testable hypotheses about the growth of Christianity in the 31 largest Roman cities. And while some of the statistically validated hypotheses fit within conventional wisdom, others compel fresh thinking. The traditional belief that Christianity spread through mass conversion, for instance, gives way to a numerically substantiated dynamics of person-to-person conversion. And despite recent acclaim for the Gnostics as the true early Christians, the evidence links the Gnostic impulse to dying pockets of stubborn paganism, not the rising new faith. Like Stark's Victory of Reason (2005), this book will spark controversy--the kind that attracts curious readers. Bryce Christensen
    Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

    Review

    Stark converts plausible conjectures into testable hypotheses about the growth of Christianity . . . this book will spark controversy.

    Product details

    • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000MAH6DM
    • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; Illustrated edition (March 17, 2009)
    • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 17, 2009
    • Language ‏ : ‎ English
    • File size ‏ : ‎ 6103 KB
    • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
    • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
    • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
    • Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
    • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0060858427
    • Customer Reviews:
      4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 131 ratings

    About the author

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    Rodney Stark

    Rodney Stark

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    Rodney Stark is one of the leading authorities on the sociology of religion. He grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, where he began his career as a newspaper reporter. Following a tour of duty in the US Army, Stark received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society. For many years, the Pulitzer Prize nominee was professor of sociology and professor of comparative religion at the University of Washington. In 2004 he became Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University.

    Stark has authored more than 150 scholarly articles and 32 books in 17 different languages, including several widely used sociology textbooks and best-selling titles like The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries; The Triumph of Faith: Why the World is More Religious Than Ever; The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion; God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades; A Star in the East: The Rise of Christianity ion China; and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.

    Customer reviews

    4 out of 5 stars
    4 out of 5
    131 global ratings

    Top reviews from the United States

    Gary C. Lucht
    5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had studied statistics with my history!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2019
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    Starks' Cities of God satisfies for several reasons. 1) It is a case study in framing hypotheses and putting them to statistical tests. 2) It is clear and readable, with enough force to maintain interest past the technical details. 3) It shows why historians should count and quantify their material. 4) It validates the testimony of the early church fathers who had to stake out the boundaries of what became Orthodox Christianity. 5) It exposes the tendentious thinking of those who wish to modify Christianity to fit modern society.
    Stark makes both friends and enemies in his approach because he states his views bluntly and forthrightly, but he backs his position with details drawn from the works to which he takes exception. His bibliography shows that he has done exhaustive research in the literature of the field. His contribution to the debate is his statistical analysis and findings.
    Like it or loathe it, Cities of God cannot be ignored.
    3 people found this helpful
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    C. Price
    4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, advances some arguments, raises interesting questions
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2007
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    Rodney Stark writes well. On topics that can turn even talented writers boring, Stark's books consistently arouse interest and curiosity. His books are smooth, easy to read, and avoids cumbersome language. As a result, it usually takes me about half the time to finish books by Stark compared to other books related to classical history. Cities of God is no exception.

    Stark begins by given descriptions of all the significant cities in the ancient Roman world. These descriptions alone are quite valuable and provide insight into the Roman world and day-to-day life within it. But his collection of cities is just the beginning, as Stark goes on to explain how they became Cities of God.

    The subtitled of the book is "The Real Story of How Christianity Became Urban Movement and Conquered Rome." True enough, but another subtitle could be, "How to Use Statistics to Test Historical Propositions." Stark is a big believer in the use of statistics and math to solve histories elusive problems. The extent to which he succeeds I will leave to readers and his peers statisticians. But the book is an interesting read just to see how such an approach to history could work. For my part, I thought some of Stark's propositions, such as that cities closer to Jerusalem were Christianized sooner, that Hellenistic cities Christianized sooner than Roman ones, and that large cities Christianized sooner than smaller ones, were well established.

    I am less confident in his conclusions about certain mystery religions "paving the way" for monotheism. Even if the numbers reflect ancient reality, the conclusion does not seem to follow from the premise. However, Stark's arguments about Gnosticism and related heresies being late and derivative are well taken.

    Stark also continues to advance two theories he mentioned in his The Rise of Christianity. First, he emphasizes relationships and the practical usefulness of a religion over its beliefs and dogma in explaining its spread. In Cities of God, he seems to give more importance to belief than before. This is a useful corrective, as belief often helps explain the emphasis on relationship and practical usefulness in a religion. Second, Stark believes that the Gentile mission was not all that successful at first and that most early Christians were Jewish Diaspora converts. He gives more evidence for his theory here, but anyone looking to test the theory will still have to look elsewhere for fuller discussions.

    All told, Stark makes some good arguments, fails to prove others but raises good questions in the process, and leaves the reader with more knowledge and insight than when he or she started.
    29 people found this helpful
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    AmazonCustomer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but long
    Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2009
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    This thesis is an interesting read if you are interested in such things. It can be long and tedious in sections because it delves into topics few would be interested in. Overall, I left a little smarter than I was before reading the book.
    2 people found this helpful
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    Justin Aiken
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Provocative Work
    Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2007
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    Previously having read his "Rise of Christianity," I was already keenly interested in the subject matter and in the manner in which Stark so adeptly analyzes the historical events with sociological mechanisms.

    This work expands on his previous works, providing useful statistical analyses of historical theories on what caused the Christian movement to rise so abruptly. While treading onto controversial ground with some of his claims (especially those regarding Paul), he eloquently encourages the student of history to think in a different mindset. This is an absolute must read for anyone interested in the history of the rise of Christianity and for those desiring a greater understanding of the socio-cultural elements of the Roman Empire from 100-400 AD.
    7 people found this helpful
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    Thomas M. Magee
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great Background
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2013
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    This book is a great piece on church history. Rodney Starr, the author did a great job of explaining how the faith expanded. He uses statistics to accent his points. I also liked how he interjected some pieces of current day events to also back up the point.

    I agree with his conclusions about the growth of the church. I don't think there is anything to foreign with his points. The way he explained the church really causes one to take a second look at the works of Paul. I think some view Paul as a catalyst. This book shows how Paul was following a trend. His point of the church growing through friends of relatives telling others is really interesting. People think growth comes from a Billy Graham. That helps but his book shows the growth comes from personal evangelism.

    I do think anyone serious about church history should read this book. He gives a wealth of information about the world which early church founders operated in. This helps us, in today's world better understand the events of the early church.
    15 people found this helpful
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    Stephen D McLeod
    5.0 out of 5 stars Test the Spirits. Test the Numbers.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2019
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    I am not surprised that book authors with personal agendas, cherry pick evidence and use spurious analysis to promote false narratives. Rodney Stark’s book is as much an object lesson in scholarship and analysis of evidence as it is a history of the growth of the early church. As Mr. Stark points out, Christianity is based on real history and real events and not myths. The speculations of some popular authors and teachers discredit Christianity. This book should be part of the required reading for a B.A. in History as an example of systematic collection and evaluation of evidence. We are today a society deluged with spurious statistics. We all need to know how to count and critically judge the numbers. The Bible says to test the spirits. We need also to test the numbers.
    24 people found this helpful
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    canary
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good documented info on the spread of early Christianity
    Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2019
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    This book reads like a doctoral thesis! Lots of good information and data to back up hypotheses. It’s a little hard to read because of the research lingo but I learned a lot about the spread of very early Christianity.
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    Top reviews from other countries

    GIEL
    5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting introduction to numeracy and history
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2020
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    This is a very readable book on the history of early Christianity particularly interesting because the author approaches the subject as a sociologist. His numerical analysis of facts is very enlightening and more useful than the historical opinions one very often receives. The book is well worth close study.
    One person found this helpful
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    Samuel E. Wagar
    2.0 out of 5 stars after two thousand years of Christian missionizing is still happy with polytheism
    Reviewed in Canada on September 9, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Although I admire Rodney Stark's rational choice theory of religion very much I was tempted to throw this book across the room more than once. His statistical analysis of correlations between the spread of early Christianity and the Jewish diaspora, the Isis cult, and other factors was very interesting. But his contempt for academic history (indicating a glaring ignorance of history), his snark at the various non-Christian movements he mentions, his ethnocntrism and Eurocentrism, his overt and blatant monotheistic bias (tell me, Mr. Stark, if "monotheism is the inevitable choice of rational people, given the option" why India, after two thousand years of Christian missionizing is still happy with polytheism? ). Don't waste your money on this one.
    2 people found this helpful
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