The Triumph of Christianity - by Bart D Ehrman (Paperback)

About the Book

"Christianity didn't have to become the dominant religion in the West. It could easily have remained a sect of Judaism fated to have the historical importance of the Sadducees or the Essenes. So how did a religion whose first believers were twenty or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the empire become the official religion of Rome, converting some thirty million people in just four centuries? In The Triumph of Christianity, New York Times bestselling authority on early Christian history Bart D. Ehrman weaves meticulous research into an eye-opening, immensely readable narrative. He shows how a handful of charismatic characters used a brilliant social strategy and an irresistible message to win over hearts and minds one at a time. In so doing, Ehrman upends the way we think about the single most important cultural transformation our world has ever seen--one that revolutionized art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics, and law."--

Book Synopsis

The "marvelous" (Reza Aslan, bestselling author of Zealot), New York Times bestselling story of how Christianity became the dominant religion in the West.How did a religion whose first believers were twenty or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the empire became the official religion of Rome, converting some thirty million people in just four centuries? In The Triumph of Christianity, early Christian historian Bart D. Ehrman weaves the rigorously-researched answer to this question "into a vivid, nuanced, and enormously readable narrative" (Elaine Pagels, National Book Award-winning author of The Gnostic Gospels), showing how a handful of charismatic characters used a brilliant social strategy and an irresistible message to win over hearts and minds one at a time. This "humane, thoughtful and intelligent" book (The New York Times Book Review) upends the way we think about the single most important cultural transformation our world has ever seen--one that revolutionized art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics, and law.

Review Quotes

"How did a small, provincial Jewish sect called Christianity convert the mighty pagan Roman Empire? Bart Ehrman answers this baffling question with the same wit, passion, and rigorous scholarship that have made him one of the most popular religion writers in the world today. The Triumph of Christianity is a marvelous book." - Reza Aslan, New York Times bestselling author of Zealot

About the Author

Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity and a distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author of six New York Times bestsellers, he has written or edited more than thirty books, including Misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, The Triumph of Christianity, and Heaven and Hell. Ehrman has also created nine popular audio and video courses for The Great Courses. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages, with over two million copies and courses sold.