Volume 44, Number 7 · April 24, 1997
How It Grew
By Robin Lane Fox
The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, AD 200-1000
by Peter Brown
Blackwell, 353 pp., $22.95 (paper)
When Jesus died, only 120 people, we are told, continued to meet in his memory. There is no good evidence that in his lifetime Jesus had expected his message to be preached to Gentiles. When they began to be accepted as Christians, their presence caused fierce arguments and divided his apostles. Plainly, Jesus had never spoken clearly about the mission to the Gentiles to which modern Christians are now heirs.
Review, 4507 words
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