Pagans and Christians [Import] [Paperback]

Robin Lane Fox (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: PENGUIN; New Ed edition (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141022957
• ISBN-13: 978-0141022956
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,017,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour de force of late pagan beliefs and the larger milieu of early Christianity, October 12, 2006

By 

S. J. Snyder "De gustibus non disputandum" (Various, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pagans and Christians (Paperback)

Late paganism was moribund, decrepit and sclerotic; it had no chance against the rise of Christianity.

Well, so goes the historical myth.

But, not true, says Robin Lane Fox; certainly not true in the countrysides of the Roman Empire, which, by the way, was the last place in which Christianity took hold.

Fox paints a rural, and urban, Roman Imperium where, aside from the skepticism of some philosophers, some form of pagan belief remained vital even years after Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea.

Fox concentrates on the various Roman provinces of Asia Minor, and focuses on the second century. The combination of choices is very good for comparison and contrast work between paganism and Christianity. The countryside here was more densely populated than in most of the empire; this more densely rural demographic meant that rural didn't necessarily mean rustic. And, as this was the prime growth area of early Christianity, Fox is able to put this growth in context, and ask, and even tentatively answer, some questions about that growth.

The second century is the right time, too, getting into the era of the first Christian consolidations of doctrine, the first wave of post-biblical books being written, and so forth.

An excellent, eye-opening, and in-depth book.