Rodney Stark Quotes

• The success of the West, including the rise of science, rested entirely on religious foundations, and the people who brought it about were devout Christians.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Religious, People

  Rodney Stark (2007). “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success”, p.10, Random House

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• Far too long, historians have accepted the claim that the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (ca. 285-337) caused the triumph of Christianity. To the contrary, he destroyed its most attractive and dynamic aspects, turning a high-intensity, grassroots movement into an arrogant institution controlled by an elite who often managed to be both brutal and lax.

  Rodney Stark

  Long, Triumph, Arrogant

  "For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery". Book by Rodney Stark, August 29, 2004.

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• Although it has been fashionable to deny it, anti-slavery doctrines began to appear in Christian theology soon after the decline of Rome and were accompanied by the eventual disappearance of slavery in all but the fringes of Christian Europe. When Europeans subsequently instituted slavery in the New World, they did so over strenuous papal opposition, a fact that was conveniently 'lost' from history until recently. Finally, the abolition of New World slavery was initiated and achieved by Christian activists.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Rome, Europe

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• Because God is perfect, his handiwork functions in accord with immutable principles. By the full use of our God-given powers of reason and observation, it ought to be possible to discover these principles.
  
  These were the crucial ideas that explain why science arose in Christian Europe and no where else.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Europe, Ideas

  Rodney Stark (2007). “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success”, p.23, Random House

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• ... All questions concerning the rise of Christianity are one: How was it done? How did a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and become the dominant faith of Western civilization? Although this is the only question, it requires many answers - no one thing led to the triumph of Christianity.

  Rodney Stark

  Civilization, Atheism, Empires

  Rodney Stark (1996). “The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History”, p.3, Princeton University Press

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• People value religion on the basis of cost, and they don't value the cheapest ones the most. Religions that ask nothing get nothing.

  Rodney Stark

  People, Atheism, Cost

  "A Double Take on Early Christianity". Interview with Mike Aquilina, touchstonemag.com.

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• Not only were science and religion compatible, they were inseparable--th e rise of science was achieved by deeply religious Christian scholars.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Religious, Science And Religion

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• It has been said of many modern Christian theologians that their primary aim is to find ways to express disbelief as belief.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Way, Belief

  Rodney Stark (1996). “The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History”, p.61, Princeton University Press

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• For one, thing, the media are dominated by the irreligious. So are universities.

  Rodney Stark

  Media, University, One Thing

  "America Has a Prayer". Interview with Kathryn Jean Lopez, www.nationalreview.com. December 6, 2012.

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• Many people who say they have no religion are simply saying they have no official religious affiliation. They may actually have strong personal beliefs.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Strong, People

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• That new technologies and techniques would be forthcoming was a fundamental article of Christian faith. Hence, no bishops or theologians denounced clocks or sailing ships-although both were condemned on religious grounds in various non-Western societies.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Religious, Technology

  Rodney Stark (2007). “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success”, p.48, Random House

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• That's true that I'm "not religious as that term is conventionally understood," though I've never been an atheist. Atheism is an active faith; it says, "I believe there is no God." But I don't know what I believe. I was brought up a Lutheran in Jamestown, North Dakota. I have trouble with faith. I'm not proud of this. I don't think it makes me an intellectual. I would believe if I could, and I may be able to before it's over. I would welcome that.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Atheist, Believe

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• It seems that not being religious is a form of risk-taking, consistent with other patterns of short-sighted behaviour in men.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Men, Risk

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• Marines I see as two breeds, Rottweilers or Dobermans, because Marines come in two varieties, big and mean, or skinny and mean. They're aggressive on the attack and tenacious on defense. They've got really short hair and they always go for the throat.

  Rodney Stark

  Military, Mean, Marine

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• America is an unusually religious nation.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, America, Nations

  "America Has a Prayer" by Kathryn Jean Lopez, www.nationalreview.com. December 6, 2012.

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• One thing about religious truths is that we have to take them on faith, and faith needs reassurance. What’s more reassuring than noticing that some other people, whom you admire, are so certain that it’s all true that they’re willing to go the ultimate mile?

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, People, Atheism

  "A Double Take on Early Christianity". Interview with Mike Aquilina, touchstonemag.com. January 2000.

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• Theology is in disrepute among most Western intellectuals. The word is taken to mean a passe form of religious thinking that embraces irrationality and dogmatism. So too, Scholasticism.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Taken, Mean

  Rodney Stark (2014). “How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity”, p.103, Open Road Media

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• No other single innovation had so much impact on history.

  Rodney Stark

  Impact, Innovation, Atheism

  Rodney Stark (2003). “One True God: Historical Consequences of Monotheism”, p.1, Princeton University Press

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• Evolution has primarily been an attack on religion by militant atheists who wrap themselves in the mantle of science in an effort to refute all religious claims concerning a creator - an effort that has also often attempted to suppress all scientific criticisms of Darwin's work.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Atheist, Effort

  Rodney Stark (2015). “For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery”, p.176, Princeton University Press

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• The overwhelming majority of social scientists were irreligious or even anti-religious. This led them to believe that religion was a disappearing and unimportant factor in human affairs.

  Rodney Stark

  Christian, Religious, Believe

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• [Some men are shortsighted, so] going to prison or going to hell just doesn't matter to these men.

  Rodney Stark

  Men, Scary, Matter

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• It can be demonstrated that in any society there is a distribution of religious tastes and concerns.

  Rodney Stark

  Religious, Taste, Concern

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