In this book, Professor Jack T. Sanders, a prominent NT scholar, sets out to address the question. ‘Why did the early Christian movement achieve the “success” that it did in the Roman world?’ He brings to this longstanding problem the perspective of contemporary sociology of religion. In particular, he draws upon the resources of the sociological study of New Religious Movements (NRMs), a recently defined field in the social sciences and religious studies, but one with an already vast and growing body of literature. The result is a study that is both refreshing and illuminating.

The book falls into three main sections. The first chapter tackles the question, ‘Why Did People Follow Jesus?’ Sanders considers the most frequently cited motivating factors: Jesus’ teaching and miracle-working; his call to discipleship; the social location and psychological state of those who followed him. According to Sanders, such factors were important, but they do not provide an explanation for Jesus’ success. More helpful, he claims, is the understanding of Jesus as ‘charismatic’, as developed by Martin Hengel and Geza Vermes. These scholars compared Jesus to ancient charismatics. Greater insight can be gained. Sanders argues, by drawing a comparison with charismatic leaders of NRMs. In the rest of the chapter, Sanders engages in such a comparison. He identifies four aspects of charismatic leadership of an NRM (the leader’s charismatic qualities, his response to a crisis situation, the randomness of charisma, the hatred that charisma provokes) and finds these qualities in the ministry of Jesus. He concludes that the attraction of Jesus can be explained by the fact that he met the criteria of a successful charismatic leader of an NRM.

The second part discusses, ‘Why did Gentiles Become Christians?’ In this part Sanders reviews and criticises explanations of Gentile conversion given by previous scholars (including A.D. Nock’s view that Christianity provided answers to the deep religious questions of Gentiles and Ramsey MacMullen’s view that Christianity offered a more solid alternative to the superficiality of pagan religion). For his own account, Sanders draws on, amongst others, the work of sociologist Lewis Rambo. The latter identifies seven aspects of conversion in NRMs: context, crisis, quest, encounter, encapsulation, commitment, and consequences. Sanders finds these elements present in the phenomenon of Gentile conversion in early Christianity. The context was opportune: Christianity emerged at a time when many people were turning to the worship of new deities. There was crisis in the form of the status inconsistency of many Gentile converts. Most converts to Christianity were engaged in a quest; they were religious seekers. Christianity was able to negotiate successful ‘encounters’: Christian missionaries were persuasive advocates of the new message, presenting to potential converts desirable benefits of the new faith (a comprehensive system of meaning, emotional gratification, techniques for living, displays of power); Christian missionaries also showed willingness to negotiate group boundaries with their converts. Christianity excelled at encapsulating its converts, through its rhetoric, its provision of community roles and social relationship and its rituals. The Christian movement was able to sustain the commitment of many of its converts. Conversion to Christianity entailed wide-ranging consequences for the Gentile converts: intellectual, ethical, social and political. Thus, Sanders concludes, Gentiles became Christians because all the elements of successful conversion to an NRM were in place.

In the third chapter, Sanders attempts to answer, ‘Why Did Christianity Succeed in the Roman Empire?’ Again, he begins by critiquing the answers given by other scholars, including Rodney Stark in his recent work. Sanders poses the question of Christianity’s success in relation to the failure of its competitors: Why did Christianity triumph, while Mithraism did not? Christianity succeeded. Sanders argues, because of its refusal to be self-limiting (to one locale, to a particular aggregate, to one gender), its cohesiveness, its care for its members in times of distress and its constant adaptability.

I have already indicated my appreciation of this book. It contains many valuable insights into the questions that it seeks to address. It is written in an engaging and highly accessible style. Indeed, it is something of a scholarly page-turner. Sanders draws on up-to-date sociological research, and he does not confine himself to one theorist or theory. Some may view a sociological study of this kind as reductionist, but Sanders makes clear that he is not attempting to give a total explanation but rather is focusing on the social factors in the success of Christianity. He freely admits an element of the elusive and mysterious to the eventual triumph of Christianity, beyond sociological explanation. Sanders is more susceptible, in my opinion, to the charge of anachronism which is often levelled against sociological studies of early Christianity. Too readily he fuses the two historical horizons of Graeco-Roman religious options and contemporary millenarian movements (e.g. the extended comparison of Jesus and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). One may (I believe) legitimately use modern data to shed light on ancient evidence, but one must do so with extreme care. Sanders, I think, could have conducted the task with more hermeneutical sensitivity and reflection. Another problem is that Sanders tends to treat the NT and other early Christian texts as windows on the world of the first Christians, and does not (in my view) duly appreciate the role of these documents in the formation of the worlds of the early believers. These criticisms aside, this is an impressive book which I warmly commend to those interested in the social dynamics of emerging Christianity and the reasons for its ‘triumph’ in the Roman empire.

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