Amazing account of the rise of Christianity...sociological and historical. ( )

Amazing account of the rise of Christianity...sociological and historical. ( )

Some don't enjoy Stark's books because of his "religious agenda" or a belief that he takes a "tendentious tone; yet, I have a different take on Stark. Simply, he doesn't tow the line so to speak and he speaks directly to and about particular theories or statements made by other historians and sociologists. "Cities'" thesis is that historical inquiries should concentrate more on quantifiable historical data, the analysis of which will yield historical and sociological information. I have a couple of complaints though. My first has more to do with me than his book. Stark conclusions about the rise of Christianity are based on data mined from other sources; I have no idea whether his sources are reliable and accurate. If the data isn't reliable and accurate, then the conclusions based on that data are questionable. Secondly, unless I am misunderstanding something, some of the population numbers that Stark uses in this book appear to be different from the ones that he used in his "The Victory of Reason." If I am not misunderstanding something, then I'd like an explanation as to the different figures being used. Has some further clarity developed as to one set of figures being more accurate than the others? Even with these concerns, I still thoroughly enjoyed Cities of God. ( )

http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2006/12/18/cities-of-god/ ( )