For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to ... (ISBN 0691119503)

Amazon.com Review:
For the Glory of God challenges numerous assumptions about how religion affected the course of history. As a professor of Sociology and Comparative Religions at the University of Washington, Rodney Stark (The Rise of Christianity) has a unique ability to write like a chatty social Scientist while delving into complicated theories on religion and history. Here he shows how beliefs in God--whether it was through the filter of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam--provoked and fueled human history. Of course many readers won’t dicker with his evidence that religious fervor influenced the witch hunts. But readers may be surprised by Stark’s assertion that the persecution of witches actually had more to do with the conflicts between the world’s major religions than the oppressive beliefs of fanatical clergy or sexist men. He also asserts that the same religious leaders who were the first to persecute witches were also the first to take a stand against slavery. And, contrary to many historical theories, Stark claims that religion may have been the driving force behind the emergence of modern science. Stark’s fascinating conclusions may rile conventional historians. Indeed, Stark was dismayed to discover how many historians "dismiss the role of religion in producing ‘good’ things such as the rise of science or the end of slavery, and the corresponding efforts to blame religion for practically everything ‘bad.’" While certainly weighed in defense of religious beliefs, especially Christianity, Stark offers a respectable and intelligent argument for church leaders, theologians, and maybe a few history buffs to ponder. --Gail Hudson

Great Book!!!:
This was a very good read. Rodney Stark knows his material. He starts with a premise and builds upon it until you almost can't help but agree. He adds a lot of historical data to show that he did a lot of research to come to his conclusion. He gives a history of slavery that very few researchers ever cover. He was not only thoughtful but unbiased in his approach. He gives the opposing viewpoints even if he disagrees with them he tells why and adds the historical data to back up his disagreement. As an amature historian and theologian it was nice to see a non-Christian cover these subjects objectively. He puts blame where blame is due and resists the urge to scapegoat. The Christians who read this book will say "Wow, I never thought of it like that before." The non-Christians will be hard pressed to disagree. All in all, an excellent treatise on the subjects.

Cheers for a contrary thinker:
Stark challenges many historical "facts" with well-documented contrary views. These distortions live on, he concludes, primarily because they serve to maintain positions deemed politically/intellectually correct. Thankfully Stark is willing to resist that kind of correctness. I read with amusement some of the critical reviews written by self-esteemed experts who thought they were ripping Stark's scholarship to shreds.

Bias and Bigotry:
Rodney Stark comes off as a hard-nosed, half-baked individual incapable of higher reasoning. I want to focus on his claims that science needed Christian theology in order to thrive. Why didn't he talk about how Copernicus and Galileo and other prominent Christian scientists who were threatened with torture or even death when they contradicted official Church teachings (like the Earth was the center of the universe - I loved that one, very scientific)? That hardly sounds like an organization sympathetic with uninhibited scientific exploration. Also, his claims that science existed as an organized system only in Christian Europe is simply a joke. We STILL don't know how the ancient Egyptians built those massive pyramids to such a precise scale that all 4 sides of Giza's great pyramid have less than a yard of difference. The engineering and mathematical principles necessary for that feat are incalculable, and they did it in less than 20 years with nothing more than copper tools and hand labor!!! India invented the zero, which is the basic foundation for higher mathematical reasoning. China invented highly sophisticated technologies like block printing, paper currency, magnets, gunpowder, cannon, and silk (which includes the concept of raising animal species - silkworms - for cultivation as cash crops, not food sources) that all were later absorbed by a European society too simple to invent them for themselves. Not very impressive on Christianity's part. It was the Arabs who used early Greek mathematical discoveries about geometry and trigonometry to formulate algebra and pave the way for calculus. The Maya had possessed a calendar over a thousand years ago that is STILL 0.001 of a day more accurate than the system we use TODAY and they figured out the Processional year (time necessary for earth's axis to complete one wobble: ~36,000 years) while we needed computers to even detect that terrestrial motion! No, (even though I am a devout Catholic) the only possible conclusion that can be made about science is that overall, Europe STOLE technological and scientific innovations from around the world in order to dominate the world militarily and economically. They weren't smarter, just more parasitic. Also, by wiping out religious enemies like the Maya and destroying their cultural heritage, they obscured the European Christians themselves could ever hope to be.

When Sociologists Do Their Homework.:
This is an incredible read. This is one of the most thorough analyses on any particular subject out there, and Stark has meticulously left no stone unturned in explaining the role Christianity has had in shaping civilization. Though many think of Christianity's influence on Western society as being merely tangential, and in some cases an obstacle (as I used to think), Stark's thesis is that monotheism in general and Christianity in particular has been the primary force responsible for the emergence of science and the demise of slavery. And with some reflection Stark's thesis makes sense. If religion shapes how one views his relationship to the supernatural, then, not surprisingly, that belief system will have a profound influence on every choice that person will make. If true, then as Stark points out, different religious belief systems will produce different cultural, economic, political and technological results. Stark does a great job of explaining how polytheistic faiths reach different conclusions about moral issues, for example, versus monotheistic ones. Where Stark falls short is that the bulk of his book is about Christianity and he doesn't specifically explain why Christianity, with its unique emphasis on Jesus, produced different results from the other two major monotheistic faiths: Judaism and Islam. The book has four main sections, each dealing with subjects in the subtitle. The least interesting, yet informative, is on Reformations. The most riveting is the section on Science. Stark boldly asserts that Christian theologians were the first in world history to conduct authentic science and were doing it long before they came across Greek philosophy. He points out, though early Christians found Aristotelian logic useful in developing a sound philosophical foundation for their theology, they found Aristotelian physics useless. What's most impressive about this work is that Stark refuses to reach deductive conclusions based on broad sweeping assumptions. He backs his theories with a penetrating and nuanced analysis of the historical record along with a healthy use of statistics and regression analysis. An annoying quality of the book, however, is that Stark appears to be on a myth bashing mission. It's clear Stark has an axe to grind with `Enlightenment' thinkers and Marxist historians who he accuses of either distorting history or carelessly force fitting their theories. It isn't so much that he's wrong but he discusses ongoing debates between scholars mentioning names and works that a layperson will not only be unfamiliar with, and after a while, will no longer find interesting. Overall this is a great work and it's highly recommended for anyone who's interested in learning about Western Civilization and the influence Christianity has had in shaping our modern society.

Provocative reassessment:
This is a fascinating book and pleasantly surprising. Whether Stark considers himself a gadfly or not, this is a highly readable, thoroughly engaging book, made even more startling by its questioning of traditional historiography. I always appreciate how, when possible Stark incorporates and contrasts statistics, rather than just relying on the usual ideological and/or prosaic skills often employed by historians. I cannot recommend the book enough!