Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Rodney Stark, in his authoritative study The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History,18 discusses the rise of Christianity in its early
Vishal Mangalwadi • The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization
“The Christians... ran a miniature welfare state in an empire which for the most part lacked social services.”
Rodney Stark • The Triumph of Christianity
Women in the early Christian communities were considerably better off than their pagan and even Jewish counterparts.
Rodney Stark • The Triumph of Christianity
In 251 the bishop of Rome wrote a letter to the bishop of Antioch in which he mentioned that the Roman congregation was supporting fifteen hundred widows and distressed persons.
Rodney Stark • The Triumph of Christianity
Women were especially drawn to Christianity because it offered them a life that was so greatly superior to the life they otherwise would have led.
Rodney Stark • The Triumph of Christianity
Judge continued: “Pity was a defect of character unworthy of the wise and excusable only in those who have not yet grown up.”39
Rodney Stark • The Triumph of Christianity
