![]() ![]() Stark comes off as a contrarian throughout. What Stark excels in, and what this book is full of, is a kind of scholarly iconoclasm. However, in a more important way, to judge this book as merely a conventional summary by a mature scholar would be to grossly underestimate it. Though not actively religious, he made his mark in the world of scholarship in the early- and mid- 1980’s with his work on the appeal of religious movements for individuals and social groups. Stark surely is a senior figure with a brilliant career. In one sense, this superficial assessment is correct. Written by a seasoned scholar, encapsulating the main points of his life of research, it has all the markings of a magnum opus, the summary findings of a career spent doing hard historical work. On the surface, this big book by Rodney Stark might seem like a conventional historical account. ![]()
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