The victory of reason : how Christianity led to freedom, capitalism, and Western success / Rodney Stark.

By: Material type: TextPublication details: New York : Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.Edition: Random House trade pbk. edDescription: 281 p. ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 0812972333
  • 9780812972337
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • BR 115 .C5 S63 2006
Online resources:
Contents:
Introduction : reason and progress -- pt. I. Foundations. Blessings of rational theology ; Medieval progress : technical, cultural, and religious ; Tyranny and the "rebirth" of freedom -- pt. II. Fulfillment. Perfecting Italian capitalism ; Capitalism moves North ; "Catholic" anticapitalism : Spanish and French despotism ; Feudalism and capitalism in the new world -- Conclusion : globalization and modernity.
Summary: In The victory of reason, sociologist Stark advances the idea that Christianity and its related institutions are directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark's view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and nonsecular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason. While the world's other great belief systems emphasized mystery, obedience, or introspection, Christianity alone embraced logic and reason as the path toward enlightenment, freedom, and progress.--From publisher description.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Barcode
Book Storms Research Center Main Collection BR 115 .C5 S63 2006 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 98631925

Originally published: New York : Random House, c2005.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-270) and index.

Introduction : reason and progress -- pt. I. Foundations. Blessings of rational theology ; Medieval progress : technical, cultural, and religious ; Tyranny and the "rebirth" of freedom -- pt. II. Fulfillment. Perfecting Italian capitalism ; Capitalism moves North ; "Catholic" anticapitalism : Spanish and French despotism ; Feudalism and capitalism in the new world -- Conclusion : globalization and modernity.

In The victory of reason, sociologist Stark advances the idea that Christianity and its related institutions are directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark's view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and nonsecular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason. While the world's other great belief systems emphasized mystery, obedience, or introspection, Christianity alone embraced logic and reason as the path toward enlightenment, freedom, and progress.--From publisher description.

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