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

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