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| rodney stark god's battalions review: God's Battalions Rodney Stark, 2009-09-29 In God's Battalions, award-winning author Rodney Stark takes on the long-held view that the Crusades were the first round of European colonialism, conducted for land, loot, and converts by barbarian Christians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. To the contrary, Stark argues that the Crusades were the first military response to unwarranted Muslim terrorist aggression. Stark reviews the history of the seven major Crusades from 1095 to 1291, demonstrating that the Crusades were precipitated by Islamic provocations, centuries of bloody attempts to colonize the West, and sudden attacks on Christian pilgrims and holy places. Although the Crusades were initiated by a plea from the pope, Stark argues that this had nothing to do with any elaborate design of the Christian world to convert all Muslims to Christianity by force of arms. Given current tensions in the Middle East and terrorist attacks around the world, Stark's views are a thought-provoking contribution to our understanding and are sure to spark debate. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: God's Battalions Rodney Stark, 2009-09-16 In God’s Battalions, distinguished scholar Rodney Stark puts forth a controversial argument that the Crusades were a justified war waged against Muslim terror and aggression. Stark, the author of The Rise of Christianity, reviews the history of the seven major crusades from 1095-1291 in this fascinating work of religious revisionist history. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: God's Battalions Rodney Stark, 2010-11-09 The truth about the Christian Crusades and Muslim Jihad. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: One True God Rodney Stark, 2018-06-05 Western history would be unrecognizable had it not been for people who believed in One True God. There would have been wars, but no religious wars. There would have been moral codes, but no Commandments. Had the Jews been polytheists, they would today be only another barely remembered people, less important, but just as extinct as the Babylonians. Had Christians presented Jesus to the Greco-Roman world as ''another'' God, their faith would long since have gone the way of Mithraism. And surely Islam would never have made it out of the desert had Muhammad not removed Allah from the context of Arab paganism and proclaimed him as the only God. The three great monotheisms changed everything. With his customary clarity and vigor, Rodney Stark explains how and why monotheism has such immense power both to unite and to divide. Why and how did Jews, Christians, and Muslims missionize, and when and why did their efforts falter? Why did both Christianity and Islam suddenly become less tolerant of Jews late in the eleventh century, prompting outbursts of mass murder? Why were the Jewish massacres by Christians concentrated in the cities along the Rhine River, and why did the pogroms by Muslims take place mainly in Granada? How could the Jews persist so long as a minority faith, able to withstand intense pressures to convert? Why did they sometimes assimilate? In the final chapter, Stark also examines the American experience to show that it is possible for committed monotheists to sustain norms of civility toward one another. A sweeping social history of religion, One True God shows how the great monotheisms shaped the past and created the modern world. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Victory of Reason Rodney Stark, 2006-09-26 Many books have been written about the success of the West, analyzing why Europe was able to pull ahead of the rest of the world by the end of the Middle Ages. The most common explanations cite the West’s superior geography, commerce, and technology. Completely overlooked is the fact that faith in reason, rooted in Christianity’s commitment to rational theology, made all these developments possible. Simply put, the conventional wisdom that Western success depended upon overcoming religious barriers to progress is utter nonsense.In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue idea: that Christianity and its related institutions are, in fact, directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark’s view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and nonsecular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason: While the world’s other great belief systems emphasized mystery, obedience, or introspection, Christianity alone embraced logic and reason as the path toward enlightenment, freedom, and progress. That is what made all the difference.In explaining the West’s dominance, Stark convincingly debunks long-accepted “truths.” For instance, by contending that capitalism thrived centuries before there was a Protestant work ethic–or even Protestants–he counters the notion that the Protestant work ethic was responsible for kicking capitalism into overdrive. In the fifth century, Stark notes, Saint Augustine celebrated theological and material progress and the institution of “exuberant invention.” By contrast, long before Augustine, Aristotle had condemned commercial trade as “inconsistent with human virtue”–which helps further underscore that Augustine’s times were not the Dark Ages but the incubator for the West’s future glories. This is a sweeping, multifaceted survey that takes readers from the Old World to the New, from the past to the present, overturning along the way not only centuries of prejudiced scholarship but the antireligious bias of our own time. The Victory of Reason proves that what we most admire about our world–scientific progress, democratic rule, free commerce–is largely due to Christianity, through which we are all inheritors of this grand tradition. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: God's War Christopher Tyerman, 2006 Tyerman gives a sweeping new vision of one of history's most astounding events: the Crusades. Drawing on all of the most recent scholarship, and told with great verve and authority, God's War is the definitive account of a fascinating and horrifying story that continues to haunt our contemporary world. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Discovering God Rodney Stark, 2009-03-17 An award-winning sociologist’s “fascinating and excellent” history of the origins of the great religions from the Stone Age to the Modern Age (Newsweek). In Discovering God, Rodney Stark surveys the birth and growth of religions around the world—from the prehistoric era of primal beliefs; the history of the pyramids found in Iraq, Egypt, Mexico, and Cambodia; and the great “Axial Age” of Plato, Zoroaster, Confucius, and the Buddha, to the modern Christian missions and the global spread of Islam. He argues for a free-market theory of religion and for the controversial thesis that under the best, unimpeded conditions, the true, most authentic religions will survive and thrive. Many modern biologists and psychologists claim that religion is a primitive survival mechanism that should have been discarded as humans evolved—that in modern societies, faith is a misleading crutch and an impediment to reason. Stark responds to this position, arguing that it is our capacity to understand God that has evolved—that humans now know much more about God than they did in ancient times. Winner of the 2008 Christianity Today Award of Merit in Theology/Ethics |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Rise of Christianity Rodney Stark, 1997 |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: How the West Won Rodney Stark, 2014-03-17 Finally the Truth about the Rise of the West Modernity developed only in the West—in Europe and North America. Nowhere else did science and democracy arise; nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, Why? Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But acclaimed author Rodney Stark provides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization. How the West Won demonstrates the primacy of uniquely Western ideas—among them the belief in free will, the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the notion that the universe functions according to rational rules that can be discovered, and the emphasis on human freedom and secure property rights. Taking readers on a thrilling journey from ancient Greece to the present, Stark challenges much of the received wisdom about Western history. How the West Won shows, for example: · Why the fall of Rome was the single most beneficial event in the rise of Western civilization · Why the “Dark Ages” never happened · Why the Crusades had nothing to do with grabbing loot or attacking the Muslim world unprovoked · Why there was no “Scientific Revolution” · Why scholars’ recent efforts to dismiss the importance of battles are ridiculous: had the Greeks lost at the Battle of Marathon, we probably would never have heard of Plato or Aristotle Stark also debunks absurd fabrications that have flourished in the past few decades: that the Greeks stole their culture from Africa; that the West’s “discoveries” were copied from the Chinese and Muslims; that Europe became rich by plundering the non-Western world. At the same time, he reveals the woeful inadequacy of recent attempts to attribute the rise of the West to purely material causes—favorable climates, abundant natural resources, guns and steel. How the West Won displays Rodney Stark’s gifts for lively narrative history and making the latest scholarship accessible to all readers. This bold, insightful book will force you to rethink your understanding of the West and the birth of modernity—and to recognize that Western civilization really has set itself apart from other cultures. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Triumph of Christianity Rodney Stark, 2012-11-06 Celebrated religious and social historian Rodney Stark traces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal and controversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world’s largest religion. In The Triumph of Christianity, the author of God’s Battalions and The Rise of Christianity gathers and refines decades of powerful research and discovery into one concentrated, concise, and highly readable volume that explores Christianity’s most crucial episodes. The unique format of Triumph of Christianity allows Stark to avoid dense chronologies and difficult back stories, bringing readers right to the heart of Christian history’s most vital controversies and enduring lessons. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: A Star in the East Rodney Stark, Xiuhua Wang, 2015-05-02 What is the state of Christianity in China? Some scholars say that China is invulnerable to religion. In contrast, others say that past efforts of missionaries have failed, writing off those converted as nothing more than “rice Christians” or cynical souls who had frequented the missions for the benefits they provided. Some wonder if the Cultural Revolution extinguished any chances of Christianity in China. Rodney Stark and Xiuhua Wang offer a different perspective, arguing that Christianity is alive, well, and on the rise. Stark approaches the topic from an extensive research background in Christianity and Chinese history, and Wang provides an inside look at Christianity and its place in her home country of China. Both authors cover the history of religion in China, disproving older theories concerning the number of Christians and the kinds of Christians that have emerged in the past 155 years. Stark and Wang claim that when just considering the visible Christians—those not part of underground churches—thousands of Chinese are still converted to Christianity daily, and forty new churches are opening each week. A Star in the East draws on two major national surveys to sketch a close-up of religion in China. A reliable estimate is that by 2007 there were approximately 60 million Christians in China. If the current growth rate were to hold until 2030, there would be more Christians in China—about 295 million—than in any other nation. This trend has significant implications, not just for China but for the greater world order. It is probable that Chinese Christianity will splinter into denominations, likely leading to the same political, social, and economic ramifications seen in the West today. Whether you’re new to studying Christianity in China or whether this has been your area of interest for years, A Star in the East provides a reliable, thought-provoking, and engaging account of the resilience of the Christian faith in China and the implications it has for the future. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Bearing False Witness Rodney Stark, 2016-04-26 As we all know and as many of our well-established textbooks have argued for decades, the Inquisition was one of the most frightening and bloody chapters in Western history; Pope Pius XII was anti-Semitic and rightfully called “Hitler’s Pope,” the Dark Ages were stunting the progress of knowledge to be redeemed only by the secular spirit of the Enlightenment. The religious Crusades were an early example of the rapacious Western thirst for riches and power. But what if these long held beliefs were all wrong? In this stunning, powerful, and ultimately persuasive book, Rodney Stark, one of the most highly regarded sociologists of religion and bestselling author of The Rise of Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco 1997), argues that some of our most firmly held ideas about history, ideas that paint the Catholic Church in the least favorable light are, in fact, fiction. Why have we held these wrongheaded ideas so firmly and for so long? And if our beliefs are wrong, what is the truth? In each chapter, Stark takes on a well-established anti-Catholic myth, gives a fascinating history of how each myth became conventional wisdom and presents a startling picture of the real truth. For example, instead of the Spanish Inquisition being an anomaly of torture and murder of innocent people persecuted for “imaginary” crimes such as witchcraft and blasphemy, Stark argues that not only did the Spanish Inquisition spill very little blood, but it was a major force in support of moderation and justice. Stark dispels the myth of Pope Pius XII being apathetic or even helpful to the Nazi movement, such as to merit the title “Hitler’s Pope,” and instead shows that the campaign to link Pope Pius XII to Hitler was initiated by the Soviet Union, presumably in hopes of neutralizing the Vatican in post-World War II affairs. Many praised Pope Pius XIIs vigorous and devoted efforts to saving Jewish lives during the war. Instead of understanding the Dark Ages as a millennium of ignorance and backwardness inspired by the Catholic Church’s power, Stark argues that the whole notion of the “Dark Ages” was an act of pride perpetuated by anti-religious intellectuals who were determined to claim that theirs was the era of “Enlightenment.” In the end, readers of Bearing False Witness will have a more accurate history of the Catholic Church and will also understand why it became unfairly maligned for so long. Bearing False Witness is a compelling and sobering account of how egotism and ideology often work together to give us a false truth. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Reformation Myths Rodney Stark, 2017-08-17 What has the Reformation ever done for us? A lot less than you might think, as Rodney Stark shows in this enlightening and entertaining antidote to recent books about the rise of Protestantism and its legacy. ‘Rodney Stark takes no prisoners as he charges through five hundred years of history, upsetting apple carts left and right. Almost everything you thought you knew about the Reformation turns out to be a false narrative. . . In future, anyone who makes sweeping claims about the benefits of Protestantism ought to check their assumptions against Stark’s research first.’ Clifford Longley, author and journalist ‘Stark brings the insights of a distinguished sociologist of religion to bear on a range of inherited assumptions about the impact of the Reformation . . . The result makes for salutary reading in this year of commemoration and (not always justified) celebration.’ Peter Marshall, Professor of History, University of Warwick ‘Stark changed the way we think about the early Church and this book may change the way you think about Protestantism . . . Reformation Myths cuts through pious certainties and challenges us to think again about our cultural history.’ Linda Woodhead MBE DD, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: What Americans Really Believe Rodney Stark, 2008 What Americans Really Believe gives a detailed, comprehensive often surprising snapshot of the most current impulses in American religion . . . confirm[ing] that about 95 percent of the American population is interested in religion and spirituality. --George H. Gallup Jr. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Crusade of Varna, 1443-45 Professor Colin Imber, 2013-07-28 The Crusade of Varna of 1443-45 was one of the decisive events of the late Middle Ages. Following the temporary Union of the Greek and Latin Churches in 1439, Pope Eugenius IV created an alliance which aimed to 'liberate' Byzantium and the Balkan Peninsula from the domination of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, held the Crusaders during the winter war of 1443, finally securing victory at Varna in November, 1444. The Crusade petered out in 1445 with the expedition of the Burgundian fleet on the Danube. More than any other single event, it was Murad's victory at Varna that secured Ottoman domination of the Balkan Peninsula, with consequences which are still apparent today. Three important works, hitherto largely unnoticed in western historiography, provide eyewitness accounts of the dramatic events of 1443-45 from the Christian and the Muslim side: an anonymous Ottoman text on The Holy Wars of Sultan Murad; a section of the Anciennes Chroniques d'Angleterre by the Bugundian, Jehan de Wavrin, and a German ballad on the Crusade by Michel Beheim. These are presented here for the first time in English translation, supplemented by a series of shorter contemporary texts relating to the events of the crusade, with an introduction and annotation. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Crucified Again Raymond Ibrahim, 2013-04-29 Forget what the history textbooks told you about martyrdom being a thing of the past. Christians are being persecuted and slaughtered today. Raymond Ibrahim unveils the shocking truth about Christians in the Muslim world. Believers in Jesus Christ suffer oppression and are massacred at the hands of radicals for worshipping and spreading the gospel of the Lord. Discover the true-life stories that the media won't report in Ibrahim's Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Present Concerns Clive Staples Lewis, 2002 Where God gives the gift, the 'foolishness of preaching' is still mighty. But best of all is a team of two: one to deliver the preliminary intellectual barrage, and the other to follow up with a direct attack on the heart. An inveterate scholar, throughout his lifetime C.S. Lewis wrote on any number of topics. While his most famous essays concern his thoughts on Christianity, he was also interested in literature, masculinity, domestic life, and war. In the nineteen essays collected inPresent Concerns, he touches on all of these and more. Though wide-ranging, these essays all share one thing: C.S. Lewis's characteristic pragmatism and persuasiveness. Many of the essays included were written between 1940 and 1945, and so pertinently reflect on the issues raised by World War II: democratic values, the need for a new chivalry, and the cynicism of the modern soldier, all of which remain relevant today. Lewis gives us permission to admit our own doubts, our own angers and anguishes, and to know that they are part of the soul's growth.--Madeleine L'Engle |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Against Calvinism Roger E. Olson, 2011-10-25 Calvinist theology has been debated and promoted for centuries. But is it a theology that should last? Roger Olson suggests that Calvinism, also commonly known as Reformed theology, holds an unwarranted place in our list of accepted theologies. In Against Calvinism, readers will find scholarly arguments explaining why Calvinist theology is incorrect and how it affects God’s reputation. Olson draws on a variety of sources, including Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience, to support his critique of Calvinism and the more historically rich, biblically faithful alternative theologies he proposes. Addressing what many evangelical Christians are concerned about today—so-called “new Calvinism,” a movement embraced by a generation labeled as “young, restless, Reformed” —Against Calvinism is the only book of its kind to offer objections from a non-Calvinist perspective to the current wave of Calvinism among Christian youth. As a companion to Michael Horton’s For Calvinism, readers will be able to compare contrasting perspectives and form their own opinions on the merits and weaknesses of Calvinism. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Defending Constantine Peter J. Leithart, 2010-09-24 Peter Leithart weighs what we've been taught about Constantine and claims that in focusing on these historical mirages we have failed to notice the true significance of Constantine and Rome baptized. He reveals how beneath the surface of this contested story there lies a deeper narrative--a tectonic shift in the political theology of an empire--with far-reaching implications. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin D. G. Hart, 2011-07 From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin provides an iconoclastic new history of the entrance of evangelical Christians into national American politics. Examining the key players of the ?Religious Right? ? Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Chuck Colson, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and many others ? D. G. Hart argues that evangelicalism is (and always has been) a bad fit with classic political conservatism. Hart shows how the uneasy alliance of these unlikely political bedfellows has contributed directly to the fragmentation of today?s conservative movement. He contends that the ongoing burden of reconciling the progressive moral idealism of religious conservatives with the sober realism of political conservatives increasingly threatens this precarious partnership. Moreover, Hart suggests that evangelicals are unlikely to remain politically conservative in the long term unless they stop looking to big government to solve societal woes at home and abroad and at last embrace classic small-government conservatism for its own sake. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: DIARY OF A NAPOLEONIC FOOT SOLDIER Jakob Walter, 2012-05-09 A grunt’s-eye report from the battlefield in the spirit of The Red Badge of Courage and All Quiet on the Western Front—the only known account by a common soldier of the campaigns of Napoleon’s Grand Army between 1806 and 1813. When eighteen-year-old German stonemason Jakob Walter was conscripted into the Grand Army of Napoleon, he had no idea of the trials that lay ahead. The long, grueling marches in Prussia and Poland sacrificed countless men to Bonaparte’s grand designs. And the disastrous Russian campaign tested human endurance on an epic scale. Demoralized by defeat in a war few supported or understood, deprived of ammunition and leadership, driven past reason by starvation and bitter cold, men often turned on one another, killing fellow soldiers for bread or an able horse. Though there are numerous surviving accounts of the Napoleonic Wars written by officers, Walter’s is the only known memoir by a draftee, and as such is a unique and fascinating document—a compelling chronicle of a young soldier’s loss of innocence as well as an eloquent and moving portrait of the profound effects of war on the men who fight it. Professor Marc Raeff has added an Introduction to the memoirs as well as six letters home from the Russian front, previously unpublished in English, from German conscripts who served concurrently with Walter. The volume is illustrated with engravings and maps, contemporary with the manuscript, from the Russian/Soviet and East European collections of the New York Public Library. Honest, heartfelt, deeply personal yet objective, The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier is more than an informative and absorbing historical document—it is a timeless and unforgettable account of the horrors of war. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Crusades Thomas F. Madden, 2004 Discover The Truth About The Crusades - The Military Campaigns, The Cultural Impact And The Legacy Of Centuries-Long Disputes On Society Today Crusades Is An Authoritative And Compelling Text Written By A Team Of Specialist Historians. It Focuses Principally On The Struggle In The Holy Land Between Christendom And Islam, But Also Examines The Smaller-Scale European Campaigns Directed Against Heretics In France, Central Europe And The Baltic, And The Wars Of Reconquest In Spain. Crusades Not Only Provides A Chronological Narrative Of All The Major Campaigns, But Also Looks At The Complex Background To Events - Including The Divisions Between The Major Religions And, Just As Importantly, Within Them. Throughout The Text, The Cultural Impact Of The Crusades On Society Today Is Made Evident Due To The Interaction Of Peoples Through Trade, Science, Art And Philosophy. Beautifully Illustrated Throughout, Crusades Brings History Vividly To Life. Anyone Who Wishes To Probe The Historical Roots Of 21st -Century Tensions Between Islam And The West, Or Simply To Learn About One Of The Most Fascinating Phenomena Of The Middle Ages, Will Find This Book Endlessly Informative And Compelling. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Conflict, Conquest, and Conversion Eleanor Tejirian, Reeva Spector Simon, 2014-10-07 Conflict, Conquest, and Conversion surveys two thousand years of the Christian missionary enterprise in the Middle East within the context of the region's political evolution. Its broad, rich narrative follows Christian missions as they interacted with imperial powers and as the momentum of religious change shifted from Christianity to Islam and back, adding new dimensions to the history of the region and the nature of the relationship between the Middle East and the West. Historians and political scientists increasingly recognize the importance of integrating religion into political analysis, and this volume, using long-neglected sources, uniquely advances this effort. It surveys Christian missions from the earliest days of Christianity to the present, paying particular attention to the role of Christian missions, both Protestant and Catholic, in shaping the political and economic imperialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Eleanor H. Tejirian and Reeva Spector Simon delineate the ongoing tensions between conversion and the focus on witness and good works within the missionary movement, which contributed to the development and spread of nongovernmental organizations. Through its conscientious, systematic study, this volume offers an unparalleled encounter with the social, political, and economic consequences of such trends. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Glory of the Crusades Steve Weidenkopf, 2014-10-01 |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Sociology of Religion Rodney Stark, 2014 |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Fight Preston M. Sprinkle, 2013 In a world of violence, how can Christians live out Jesus' command to love our enemies? New York Times bestselling author Preston Sprinkle challenges us to consider a biblical response to violence. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Crusades and the Christian World of the East Christopher MacEvitt, 2010-11-24 In the wake of Jerusalem's fall in 1099, the crusading armies of western Christians known as the Franks found themselves governing not only Muslims and Jews but also local Christians, whose culture and traditions were a world apart from their own. The crusader-occupied swaths of Syria and Palestine were home to many separate Christian communities: Greek and Syrian Orthodox, Armenians, and other sects with sharp doctrinal differences. How did these disparate groups live together under Frankish rule? In The Crusades and the Christian World of the East, Christopher MacEvitt marshals an impressive array of literary, legal, artistic, and archeological evidence to demonstrate how crusader ideology and religious difference gave rise to a mode of coexistence he calls rough tolerance. The twelfth-century Frankish rulers of the Levant and their Christian subjects were separated by language, religious practices, and beliefs. Yet western Christians showed little interest in such differences. Franks intermarried with local Christians and shared shrines and churches, but they did not hesitate to use military force against Christian communities. Rough tolerance was unlike other medieval modes of dealing with religious difference, and MacEvitt illuminates the factors that led to this striking divergence. It is commonplace to discuss the diversity of the Middle East in terms of Muslims, Jews, and Christians, MacEvitt writes, yet even this simplifies its religious complexity. While most crusade history has focused on Christian-Muslim encounters, MacEvitt offers an often surprising account by examining the intersection of the Middle Eastern and Frankish Christian worlds during the century of the First Crusade. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Triumph of Faith Rodney Stark, 2015-11-16 God is not dead. —Wall Street Journal Believe it or not, the world is more religious than ever before. Everyone seems to take it for granted that the world is getting more secular—that faith is doomed by modernity. Scientists, secularists, and atheists applaud the change; religious believers lament it. But here's the thing: they're all wrong—and the bestselling author and influential scholar of religion Rodney Stark has the numbers to prove it.The Triumph of Faith explodes the myth that people around the world are abandoning religion. Stark marshals an unprecedented body of data—surveys of more than a million people in 163 nations—to paint the full picture that both scholars and popular commentators have missed. And he explains why the astonishing growth of religion is happening and what it means for our future. Stark's bracing book is full of insights that defy the conventional wisdom. With vigorous prose he reveals: •Why claims about Millennials' lack of religion are overblown and historically ignorant •Why Islam is NOT overtaking Christianity •How 4 out of 5 people worldwide now belong to an organized religion •How 50 percent have attended a worship service in the past week •Why much-ballyhooed studies from the Pew Research Center and others get the religious landscape wrong •Why atheists remain few, anywhere—despite all the talk of the New Atheism As Stark shows, secularists have been predicting the imminent demise of religion for centuries. It is their unshakable faith in secularization that may be the most irrational of all beliefs. As the author of How the West Won, The Victory of Reason, and many other bestselling works, Rodney Stark has a richly deserved reputation for writing page-turning, myth-busting books. He is also a groundbreaking scholar who has so reshaped the social scientific study of religion that his work has become the basis of a new paradigm. Stark puts all those talents on full display in The Triumph of Faith.This book will change how you see both religion and the forces of secularization. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Report of the Department of the Treasury on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Investigation of Vernon Wayne Howell Also Known as David Koresh United States. Department of the Treasury, United States. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 1993 Investigative report of the events leading to the raid of the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas, on February 28, 1993. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: God's War Kameron Hurley, 2013-05-02 The first instalment of the action-packed Bel Dame Apocrypha trilogy - perfect for fans of Becky Chambers and N. K. Jemisin Nyx is a bel dame, a bounty hunter paid to collect the heads of deserters – by almost any means necessary. ‘Almost’ proved to be the problem. Cast out and imprisoned for breaking one rule too many, Nyx and her crew of mercenaries are all about the money. But when a dubious government deal with an alien emissary goes awry, her name is at the top of the list for a covert recovery. While the centuries-long war rages on only one thing is certain: the world’s best chance for peace rests in the hands of its most ruthless killers. . . ***** Make sure you've read the rest of the series: 1. God's War 2. Infidel 3. Rapture |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: A Theory of Religion Rodney Stark, William Sims Bainbridge, 1987 This book offers the first modern theory of religion. A deductive theory, beginning with seven axioms about human nature and the world humans inhabit, it derives hundreds of formal propositions about human religious behavior. Included are the origins of religion, the sources of religious commitment, the development of religious institutions, the emergence of religious movements, and the postulation of good and evil gods. Step by step, the authors explain the social processes of recruitment to a group, propagation of a faith, and competition between denominations. They show that secularization is a never-ending process in which particular faiths are discredited while new faiths arise to take their place. Thus, religion is an eternal human response to the conditions of existence, changing in form throughout history but always a vital part of culture and society. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Sword and Scimitar Raymond Ibrahim, 2018-08-28 A sweeping history of the often-violent conflict between Islam and the West, shedding a revealing light on current hostilities The West and Islam -- the sword and scimitar -- have clashed since the mid-seventh century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the Roman emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long jihad on Christendom. Sword and Scimitar chronicles the decisive battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636, through the Muslim occupation of nearly three-quarters of Christendom which prompted the Crusades, followed by renewed Muslim conquests by Turks and Tatars, to the European colonization of the Muslim world in the 1800s, when Islam largely went on the retreat -- until its reemergence in recent times. Using original sources in Arabic and Greek, preeminent historian Raymond Ibrahim describes each battle in vivid detail and explains how these wars and the larger historical currents of the age reflect the cultural fault lines between Islam and the West. The majority of these landmark battles -- including the battles of Yarmuk, Tours, Manzikert, the sieges at Constantinople and Vienna, and the crusades in Syria and Spain--are now forgotten or considered inconsequential. Yet today, as the West faces a resurgence of this enduring Islamic jihad, Sword and Scimitar provides the needed historical context to understand the current relationship between the West and the Islamic world -- and why the Islamic State is merely the latest chapter of an old history. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Valley Forge to Monmouth Jim Stempel, 2021-01-11 From December 1777 through June 1778, the American Revolution achieved a remarkable turnaround. I these months the Continental Army recovered from abject demoralization at Valley Forge to achieve a stunning victory against the British at Monmouth Courthouse. This compelling history chronicles how the war began to turn--from the consequential leadership of General Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette to the experiences of the men who marched and fought in the ranks--and reexamines one of the most controversial periods of early American history. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The New Political Islam Emmanuel Karagiannis, 2018-01-02 Islamist political parties and groups are on the rise throughout the Muslim world, constituting a new political Islam that is global in scope and yet local in action. Emmanuel Karagiannis explains how various Islamists have endorsed human rights, democracy, and justice to gain influence and mobilize supporters. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Kingdom of Matthias Paul E. Johnson, Sean Wilentz, 1995-08-03 Written by distinguished historians with the force of a novel, this book reconstructs the web of religious ecstacy, greed, and seduction within the cult of the Prophet Matthias in New York in 1834 and captures the heated atmosphere of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Illustrations. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: The Churching of America, 1776-2005 Roger Finke, Rodney Stark, 2005-03-03 Although many Americans assume that religious participation has declined in America, Finke and Stark present a different picture. In 1776, fewer than 1 in 5 Americans were active in church affairs. Today, church membership includes about 6 out of 10 people. But, as Finke and Stark show, not all denominations benefited. They explain how and why the early nineteenth-century churches began their descent, while two newcomer sects, the Baptists and the Methodists, gained ground. They also analyze why the Methodists then began a long, downward slide, why the Baptists continued to succeed, how the Catholic Church met the competition of ardent Protestant missionaries, and why the Catholic commitment has declined since Vatican II. The authors also explain why ecumenical movements always fail In short, Americans are not abandoning religion; they have been moving away from established denominations. A church-sect process is always under way, Finke and Stark argue, as successful churches lose their organizational vigor and are replaced by less worldly groups. Some observers assert that the rise in churching rates indicates increased participation, not increased belief. Finke and Stark challenge this as well. They find that those groups that have gained the greatest numbers have demanded that their followers accept traditional doctrines and otherworldliness. They argue that religious organizations can thrive only when they comfort souls and demand sacrifice. When theology becomes too logical, or too secular, it loses people. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Green Ted Dekker, 2010 The story of how Thomas Hunter first entered the Black Forest and forever changed history begins at a time when armies were gathered for a final battle in the valley of Migdon. Prequel to Black and sequel to White. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Out Of Control Kevin Kelly, 2009-04-30 Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things. |
| rodney stark god's battalions review: Sex and Culture Joseph Daniel Unwin, 2010 |
Origin and Meaning of the Name Rodney - namelogy.org
Rodney is an intriguing masculine name that carries a rich history and diverse cultural influences. In this article, we will explore the origin, meaning, …
Meaning, origin and history of the name Rodney
Dec 7, 2022 · From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, which meant "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old …
Rodney (TV Series 2004–2006) - IMDb
Rodney: Created by Don Reo, Ric Swartzlander, Damon Wayans. With Rodney Carrington, Jennifer Aspen, Nick Searcy, Oliver Davis. Stand-up …
Rodney - Name Meaning, What does Rodney mean? - Think …
What does Rodney mean? R odney as a boys' name is pronounced RAHD-nee. It is of Old German and Old English origin, and the meaning of Rodney is …
Rodney Name, Meaning, Origin, History And Popularit…
May 7, 2024 · The name Rodney in Shelburne, Australia, relates to Rodney Island, an isolated region with colorful flowers and little species. The lovely …
Origin and Meaning of the Name Rodney - namelogy.org
Rodney is an intriguing masculine name that carries a rich history and diverse cultural influences. In this article, we will explore the origin, meaning, popularity, linguistic variations, famous …
Meaning, origin and history of the name Rodney
Dec 7, 2022 · From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, which meant "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old English given name meaning "fame"). It …
Rodney (TV Series 2004–2006) - IMDb
Rodney: Created by Don Reo, Ric Swartzlander, Damon Wayans. With Rodney Carrington, Jennifer Aspen, Nick Searcy, Oliver Davis. Stand-up comedian Rodney Carrington would like …
Rodney - Name Meaning, What does Rodney mean? - Think Baby Names
What does Rodney mean? R odney as a boys' name is pronounced RAHD-nee. It is of Old German and Old English origin, and the meaning of Rodney is "Roda's island; island near the …
Rodney Name, Meaning, Origin, History And Popularity
May 7, 2024 · The name Rodney in Shelburne, Australia, relates to Rodney Island, an isolated region with colorful flowers and little species. The lovely island of Rodney, also known as Roda …
Rodney - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity
5 days ago · Rodney is a boy's name of English origin meaning "island near the clearing". Rodney is the 985 ranked male name by popularity.
About - Rodney Carrington
Rodney Carrington is a multi-talented comedian, actor, singer and writer playing sold-out shows around the world as one of the top 10 highest-grossing touring comedians for the past two …
Rodney Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Boy Names Like Rodney …
Discover the origin, popularity, Rodney name meaning, and names related to Rodney with Mama Natural’s fantastic baby names guide.
Rodney: Meaning, Origin, Traits & More | Namedary
Explore the meaning, emotion, symbolism, and more of the powerful name Rodney. Discover its origins, famous bearers, and the unique qualities it bestows upon its bearers.
Rodney - Name Meaning and Origin
The name Rodney is of English origin and is derived from the Old English name "Hroda's island," where "Hroda" means "fame" and "island" refers to a piece of land surrounded by water. …
