Backgrounds of Early Christianity

Few things invite such invective as the topic of Christianity. It is seen as either the best or worst product of Greco-Roman civilization depending on one's proclivities. The very fact it was a product of its culture should make for a fruitful and objective study on Antiquity, but one finds the pursuit hard to conduct without an explosion of zealots on both sides of the debates. What I would like to do is to broach the topic, hopefully without adding any more bias or vitriol to the debate. To that end I offer the following review on a book that may prove helpful to both sides ....

http://www.unrv.com/book-review/background...hristianity.php

Few things invite such invective as the topic of Christianity. It is seen as either the best or worst product of Greco-Roman civilization depending on one's proclivities. The very fact it was a product of its culture should make for a fruitful and objective study on Antiquity, but one finds the pursuit hard to conduct without an explosion of zealots on both sides of the debates. What I would like to do is to broach the topic, hopefully without adding any more bias or vitriol to the debate. To that end I offer the following review on a book that may prove helpful to both sides ....

 

 

http://www.unrv.com/book-review/background...hristianity.php

Salve et Gratiam habeo, Ursus. This is another one of those great reviews that you have made so customary for us.

I totally agree Christianism is one of the main products of Greco-Roman civilization, without ethical qualifiers (which depend mostly on our personal religious conceptions). For a long time by now, Papacy and other Patriarchies have been the last functioning Roman imperial institutions, and it seems it will continue to be so in the foreseeable future.

The term "paganism" has always troubled me, as it is a Christian term (and perspective) for quite heterogeneous non-Christian-non-Jewish religions. It would be as if Jewish theologians tried to analyze the "gentilism" as one isolated category. Try any matched pair of them; let's say Mithraism versus Isis cult. They were probably as alien to each other as any of them was to Christianism.

I'm not so sure that 7% Jewish Diaspora figure was always helpful for Christian dispersion. In fact, you can easily find evidence for the opposite view among both Christian and Jewish scholars. When the empire administration harassed one of them, Christians and Jews were on opposite sides most often than not.

I don't think paganism collapse was always

Great book. I've read it twice now. It's a big monster of a book, and I keep it beside my computer for easy access. I do think it's a good introduction to the ancient world--from everything from Alexander the Great to Polytheism--but I've avoided deep considerations of the conclusions Ferguson drew. I'm actually surprised to see it reviewed here--it's one of those books I thought sufficiently obscure. Great pick! I'm eager to see what you review next.