On Rodney Stark’s Foray into Early Christian History*

Abstract

Rodney Stark’s recent work, The Rise of Christianity , provides interesting and provocative applications of social and economic theory to the early history of Christianity, and offers cogent explanations for the eventual triumph of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Some oversimplifications are evident in his work, for example, in his comparisons of Christianity and paganism. Especially questionable are the statistical inferences that he makes in chapter six to assess the degree of ‘Christianisation’ in the 22 largest cities of the Empire. However, the strengths of his book clearly outweigh its weaknesses, and historians of early Christianity cannot afford to ignore it.