An "intriguing" study of how early Christianity caught on and converted much of the world, rooted in archaeological and statistical evidence (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

How did the preaching of a peasant carpenter from Galilee spark a movement that would grow to over two billion followers? Who listened to this "good news," and who ignored it? Where did Christianity spread, and how? Based on quantitative data and the latest scholarship, this book presents startling new information about the rise of the early church, overturning many prevailing views of how Christianity grew through time to become the largest religion in the world. Drawing on both archaeological and historical evidence, Rodney Stark provides hard statistical evidence on the religious life of the Roman Empire to discover surprising facts:

• Contrary to fictions such as The Da Vinci Code and the claims of some prominent scholars, Gnosticism was not a more sophisticated, more authentic form of Christianity but an unsuccessful effort to paganize Christianity

• Paul was called the apostle to the Gentiles, but mostly he converted Jews

• Paganism was not rapidly stamped out by state repression following the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 AD -- it gradually disappeared as people abandoned the temples in response to the superior appeal of Christianity

• The "oriental" faiths -- such as those devoted to Isis, the Egyptian goddess of love and magic, and to Cybele, the fertility goddess of Asia Minor -- actually prepared the way for the rapid spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire

• Contrary to generations of historians, the Roman mystery cult of Mithraism posed no challenge to Christianity to become the new faith of the empire -- it allowed no female members and attracted only soldiers

By analyzing concrete data, Stark challenges the conventional wisdom about early Christianity, offering the clearest picture ever of how this religion grew into what it is today.

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