Book Review
The Triumph of Christianity

The Triumph of Christianity

A historian specializing in Christianity explains how and why Christianity spread in the face of persecution, paganism, and impoverishment. ...
Laurence M. Vance

The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, by Bart D. Ehrman, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018, xiv + 335 pages, hardcover.

Although the majority of Americans may not attend church weekly, and the share of adults who describe themselves as Christians is in decline, most Americans still identify with some form of Christianity. Certainly most conservatives and Republicans consider themselves to be Christians. According to a new analysis by the Pew Research Center, 91 percent of the members of Congress describe themselves as Christians, including all but two Republicans. At 80 percent, even Democrats in Congress also are overwhelmingly Christian.

This is remarkable considering that Jesus Christ began His ministry with a group of 12 disciples almost 2,000 years ago in the midst of the polytheism and paganism of the Roman Empire. “The ancient triumph of Christianity proved to be the single greatest cultural transformation our world has ever seen,” says Bart D. Ehrman in his new book The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World. “Without it the entire history of Late Antiquity would not have happened as it did.”

Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity, who has written or edited more than 30 books (including New York Times bestsellers), appeared on numerous television programs (including the History channel), and been featured in major newspapers and magazines.

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