Coming Out Christian in the Roman World

How the Followers of Jesus Made a Place in Caesar's Empire

By: Douglas Boin

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The supposed collapse of Roman civilization is still lamented more than 1,500 years later - and intertwined with this idea is the notion that a fledgling religion, Christianity, went from a persecuted fringe movement to an irresistible force that toppled the empire. The intolerant zeal of Christians, wrote Edward Gibbon, swept Rome's old gods away, and with them the structures that sustained Roman society. Not so, argues Douglas Boin. Such tales are simply untrue to history, and ignore the most important fact of all: Life in Rome never came to a dramatic stop. Instead, as Boin shows, a small minority movement rose to transform society - politically, religiously, and culturally - but it was a gradual process, one that happened in fits and starts over centuries.

Drawing upon a decade of recent studies in history and archaeology, and on his own research, Boin opens up a wholly new window onto a period we thought we knew. His work is the first to describe how Christians navigated the complex world of social identity in terms of passing and coming out. Many Christians lived in a dynamic middle ground. Their quiet success, as much as the clamor of martyrdom, was a powerful agent for change. With this insightful approach to the story of Christians in the Roman world, Douglas Boin rewrites, and rediscovers, the fascinating early history of a world faith.

©2015 Douglas Boin (P)2015 Audible Inc.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

For me this book was very thought provoking, encompassing the ancient Roman religion dating back to the Regal period when Tarquin the Proud struck a bargain to purchase books of prophecy from the Sybilline Oracles to the their inclusion in devoutly Christian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarotti’s Sistine Chapel. There is so much to consider on this topic but focusing on the first four centuries of Christianity, the author shows us the seeds of early Christianity fighting to survive in the the midst of the Roman world until it takes over the garden attempting to choke out all others forms of worship, and even squabbling over the niggling details of how to worship Christ. It is both frustrating and comforting to know that these issues which still plague us today were issues that early Christians grappled with so long ago.

Not quite what I was hoping for

I was really looking for more of a focus on the early Christians and learning about the gap between Christ's death and the 5th century when Christianity really took a strong hold on the Roman Empire (or what was left of it). There were many tangents about the jews and Romans that were good information, but seemed too long and not on topic. I know you need to see the situation from many angles, but it was just not as fulfilling as I hoped it would be.