The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World

Bart Ehrman asks how a small movement of Jesus's followers grew, within about three centuries, to include roughly half the Roman Empire. He rejects simple explanations such as miracles or persecution, and looks instead at the practical drivers: exclusive devotion to one God, the promise of an afterlife, care for the sick and poor, and the conversion of Constantine. He also compares early Christians with pagans and Jews, and describes how pagan religion was displaced.

Readers who like ancient history and the history of religion will find it a clear, skeptical account written for non-specialists. You finish with a sharper sense of why Christianity spread and what it meant for the old gods.

Outward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

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