Research On Religion

Posts Tagged ‘paganism’

Jim Papandrea on Christianity’s Seven Revolutions

Tags: Christianity, Constantine, dignity, Edict of Milan, euthanasia, gladiators, government, human rights, Judaism, mixed martial arts, ostriches, paganism, patriotism, persecution, post-Christian age, reality television, religious freedom, Roman Empire, violence

Author and professor Jim Papandrea returns to our podcast to discuss his new book “Seven Revolutions,” explaining how Christianity helped to alter our perceptions of, and actions toward, the human rights, community responsibility, and governance. We discuss what historical changes occurred in Christianity’s first four centuries and what that historical experience can tell us about religion’s role in the “post-Christian era” of today.

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Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II

Rod Stark rejoins our podcast to discuss the second portion of his book, “The Triumph of Christianity.” We survey the epoch from the Edict of Milan up until the start of the Protestant Reformation, covering topics such as the relationship between Christianity and economic growth, the Church’s role in promoting science, religious opposition to slavery, the supposed demise of paganism, the religiosity of the common folk, and the various “reformations” that were taking place within the Christian Church throughout this era, eventually leading to Luther’s Reformation.

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Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part 1

Tags: Arianism, Christianity, Constantine, early Christianity, Edict of Milan, gender, Isis, Jesus, Judaism, martyrdom, Mithraism, monotheism, networks, paganism, Paul, plagues, religious persecution, Rodney Stark, Roman Empire, schism

How does a small group of invididuals in a religiously-hostile environment build a sectarian movement of Judaism into the world’s largest faith tradition? Prof. Rodney Stark (Baylor) discusses the important sociological ingredients for Christianity’s success in the first three centuries of its existence. We examine the religious landscape at the time of Jesus’s birth (including both paganism and Judaism), as well as the sometimes surprising role of that mercy, persecution, wealthy individuals, and gender played in the growth of Christianity.

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