StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Various Advantages of Christianity over Paganism - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Various Advantages of Christianity over Paganism" states that Rodney Stark was an American sociologist in the discipline of religious studies. He is the author of the book “The Rise of Christianity” published in 1996 with the help of Princeton University Press…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.1% of users find it useful
Various Advantages of Christianity over Paganism
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Various Advantages of Christianity over Paganism"

Book Review, "The Rise of Christianity" Rodney Stark was an American sociologist in the discipline of religious studies. He is the author of the book “The Rise of Christianity” which was published in 1996 with the help of Princeton University Press. This book, which is published in English, consists of 288 pages and measures 6 by 0.9 by 9 inches. The book evidently examines the rise of the Christian faith from an infinitesimal movement in Judea and Galilee during the era of Jesus Christ (Stark 3). Later on, this extended to the religion of the Roman Empire. This essay is a book review of the publication "The Rise of Christianity" by Rodney Stark. In this publication, Stark suggests that Christianity grew through conversions via the social media (Stark 8). Christianity also expanded because the Christians treated the feminine gender better than other pagan religions. Some of the main contributions in the spread of Christianity can also be evident in the Roman Empire whereby, there is a clear illustration of continuous and sustained growth in Christian believers. This exponential growth is viewed as one of the motivations in the growth of the church exclusive of the mass conversions that are now widely accepted. Stark outlines various advantages of Christianity over paganism. This is because they believed in their religion and the power of the Lord. At one point, these Christians still remained in the urban areas even after during the plaque among other disasters (Stark 29). This gradually increased the population of the Christians since; they did not fight against their persecutors. In addition, the population of the Christians also augmented because the Christians prohibited abortion, birth control and infanticide among other factors that endanger the lives of Christians. In his personal opinion, Stark also affirms that when Christianity was made an official state religion in the Roman, the faith of most individuals in the Christian community was weakened. His observations are clearly drawn from the contemporary religious movements. In fact, this book entails a momentous and exciting literature on the early Christianity (Stark 31). The book has a fascinating and broad detail on some of the sociological assumptions that contain intriguing information regarding the Christian faith. In the recent years, most individuals are continually questioning the Christian community and its enormous growth. This book explains the total collapse of several ideologies that are rooted in atheism including Freudianism, Marxism and Darwinism. In The Rise of Christianity, Stark documents a provocative editorial that challenges the assumptions of the orthodox Christians in relation to the growth of Christianity (Stark 15). He also questions himself about this small and murky messianic group. Stark also seeks strong sociological data to explain the unique trend of Christianity on the world wide scene. Stark uses most of the sociological tools of trade together with his personal research in order to explain the unique development of the Christian faith. He also questions why God chose the Catholic Church as his spiritual continuation and Jews as his chosen people. His publication provides a clear insight on the attractive nature of faith to human beings. This attractive nature has also brought a steady stream of conversions through the years, and also into the demographic factors that usually result from the moral attitude of most Christians towards family and marriage among other factors. According to his findings, it is quite evident that Christianity was not a movement of dispossessed individuals (Stark 73). On the other hand, these findings do not diminish the historical information related to the formation of the Christian faith. In fact, it is relatively evident that Christianity grew rapidly in the populated areas. This is because the dominance on the middle and upper in Christianity would result to an effective social welfare network of relief to the unfortunate in the society. He also claims that the mission of the early Christians was entirely successful because they had already adjusted to their life in Diaspora. Moreover, the numerous Jews who were in Diaspora at that period had adjusted to the Judaism religion in Jerusalem. They usually received there teachings from the teachers in Jerusalem who opposed the Roman oppression. They opposed the Roman oppression because they were entirely responsible for the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ in that epoch (Stark 147). The archaeological evidence proves that most of the early Christian churches outside Palestine concentrated on various Jewish sections. According to his works, Stark can also be described as an advocate in the application of the Rational choice theory in the sociology of religion that is also known as the theory of religious economy (Stark 56). The fundamental thesis in this publication avows that Christianity clearly triumphed over the pagan religion because; Christianity improved the quality of life for several individuals. Stark presents a satisfactory theoretical exposition in relation to the rise of Christianity through relevant historical information. Stark develops several startling conclusions in close relation to the Christianity movement. This is coupled with evidence of how the Christian movement developed rapidly. Based on demographic and sociological research, the rise of the Christian movement is an exclusively urban phenomenon due to several reasons (Stark 129). Stark also stresses that Christianity led to the development of a new culture which made the life in various settings quite tolerable. The information presented by the author is significant to the approach of the Christian faith. This is because the information provides readers with a clear insight on the Christian movement. The book also shows how Christianity continually prospers through personal influence. In addition, the Christian communities formed a vital stronghold of mutual aid that also led to the survival of the Christians. In conclusion, Stark also reviews the aspect of torture and death which involved individuals called martyrs (Stark 163). These martyrs are individuals who accept to be tortured or even killed rather than fault the Christian faith. Stark defined these Christian martyrs as individuals who had an imaginable value in the Christian religion. In addition, the martyrs have an opportunity to showcase their steadfastness to other Christians in several locations all over the world. On the other hand, God does not advocate for murder since he loves humanity. Therefore, the Christian faith offers a basis of social camaraderie (Stark 190). Work Cited Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996. Print. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Book Review, The Rise of Christianity Report/Review”, n.d.)
Book Review, The Rise of Christianity Report/Review. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1607640-book-review-the-rise-of-christianity
(Book Review, The Rise of Christianity Report/Review)
Book Review, The Rise of Christianity Report/Review. https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1607640-book-review-the-rise-of-christianity.
“Book Review, The Rise of Christianity Report/Review”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1607640-book-review-the-rise-of-christianity.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Various Advantages of Christianity over Paganism

World Religions Report

I chose christianity and Islam as religions for my analysis.... Moreover, thinking about christianity it is possible to suppose that christianity is not a religion, but it is God's answer to our questions.... Despite the fact that historical interval between christianity and Islam is about 600 years (I-VII century AD), Koran includes a lot of information about christianity, moreover, it includes more than other religions facts about christianity....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Major Commentaries on Christian Thought

Augustine searched for a synthesis between philosophy and the ideals of christianity.... The philosophy propagated the theory of Christian martyrdom, which in the opinion of Augustine was no better than paganism.... ugustine's father, Patricius was of pagan origin, his mother Monica, belonged to christianity.... he Manichaeist philosophy believed that christianity combined reason and revelation in a truly spiritual process of worship....
14 Pages (3500 words) Research Paper

Could Christianity have benefited without Constantine

ne school of thought asserts that Constantine was the founder of Christendom and his laws and actions laid the foundation for the institution of christianity in the Roman Empire .... n either contexts,it can be argued that Constantine played a fundamental role in the promotion of christianity.... ne school of thought asserts that Constantine was the founder of Christendom and his laws and actions laid the foundation for the institution of christianity in the Roman Empire and throughout Europe....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

Influence of the Western Roman Empire

Furthermore, the foundation of Roman Civilization was on Roman values and existed even before the rise of christianity.... Christianity rose during the autocracy period and replaced paganism.... Romans people were successful in various fields such as art, government, military organization, and public....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Researches on the embryonic stem cell have been an issue of controversy over the years from different groups of people like doctors, researchers, philosophers, and the Christians.... christianity includes various Orthodox, Catholicism, and Protestant churches which lack a unanimous definitive statement on when life begins and when an embryo becomes a person....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Halloween and the Church

The author states that Halloween festivities make Christians act in an unchristian manner.... The Americans have not lost their faith.... Americans still believe in God, but choose to separate this one night from their religious ideals.... This creates a conundrum on the Halloween issue in America....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Beer and Mind-Altering Substances in Religion

The essay "Beer and Mind-Altering Substances in Religion" proves beer played a significant role in religions such as paganism and – especially – Christianity.... over the centuries, Beer has become a beloved beverage for many people.... Though the raw material for this beverage differed in various civilizations due to natural conditions, soil, and recipe peculiarities, it has been discovered that this practice was rather widespread, and beer posed much importance....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism during the Middle Ages

The paper "christianity, Islam, and Judaism during the Middle Ages" discusses that the Jews abandoned and feared living in areas such as Utopia due to the constant harassment and harsh treatment they faced from the Muslim community.... Nonetheless, the Jews preferred Islamic rule to christianity.... In addition, the powers and authority of various leaders are also revealed.... As a result of their efforts, various wealthy people and the states donated and allocated the church enough money to conduct its activities in the community....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us