The spread of Christianity in the first four centuries : : essays in explanation / / edited by W. V. Harris.

• Superior document: Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition ; 27
• TeilnehmendeR: Harris, William V.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : Brill,, [2005]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition ; 27.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

The Spread of Christianity in the First Four Centuries: Essays in Explanation attempts to show how contemporary historical scholarship, or rather a selection of its exponents, views the perennial question why a new religion, indeed a new kind of religion, succeeded in subverting the other religions of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries and in the generations immediately following the 'conversion' of the usurper Constantine in 312.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- Contributors -- I. Models of Christian Expansion -- II. Christian Expansion and Christian Ideology -- III. Thinking with Women: the Uses of the Appeal to 'Woman' in Pre-Nicene Christian Propaganda Literature -- IV. The Significance of Leadership and Organisation in the Spread of Christianity -- V. Barbarians and the Empire-Wide Spread of Christianity -- VI. Outlawing 'Magic' or Outlawing 'Religion'? Libanius and the Theodosian Code as Evidence for Legislation against 'Pagan' Practices -- VII. Pagans, Polytheists and the Pendulum -- VIII. Roman Historians and the Rise of Christianity: the School of Edward Gibbon -- Scholarly Works Referred To -- Index -- Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition.