“A Sociologist Reconsiders History”–responding to modern anti-Christian historical arguments
Here’s a note I sent to my students tonight after finding an interesting _Christian Century_ article from a couple of years back:
Folks,
Some of you had your interest piqued by our review a couple of weeks ago of sociologist Rodney Stark’s very prosaic, rational reasons why Christianity grew in the Roman world–against all odds. Here is an article from a couple of years ago in _Christian Century_ that does a good job of surveying Stark’s revisionist ideas about the place of Christianity in the development of Western civilization:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_12_121/ai_n6173770
Stark has written a series of important books on this topic since the one I mentioned in class (The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History). One of those books is up for the Christianity Today Book of the Year Award this year. If you run across folks who want to argue with you that Christianity is bad because it, for example, killed millions of witches in Europe, squashed the progress of science, or failed to emancipate slaves or fight for racial equality, Stark is your man. He presents solid evidence that none of these supposed failings of the church was a historical fact.
I pray the Lord is giving you all a good reading week, so you can return reinvigorated for the second half of our Winter term together.
Peace,
Chris
