Required Books (ordered for the course at University Bookstore, but may also be purchased at Amazon.com):
Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity (N.Y.: Norton, 1989) [WLA] (very highly recommended for background)
Ramsey MacMullen and Eugene N. Lane, eds., Paganism and Christianity 100-425 CE. A Sourcebook (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992)
Ramsey MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984; reprint edition, 1986) [CRE]
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997)
Peter Brown, Authority and the Sacred: Aspects of the Christianisation of the Roman World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Alan Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of
Christendom
(Trinity International Press, 1999)
Eric Rebillard, Christians and Their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450CE (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press)
Smathers Library Resources for this Course
Recommended Books (you may want to purchase these if you can find used and/or inexpensive copies; try Amazon.com):
J.N. Hillgarth, ed., Christianity and Paganism, 350-750. The Conversion of Western Europe (sourcebook)
Kenneth Mills and Anthony Grafton, eds., Conversion in Late
Antiquity
and the Early Middle Ages, (Rochester, NY: University of
Rochester
Press, 2003)
[We will be reading
several
essays from this recent volume, but it is extremely
expensive. If
you find it used somewhere, let me know.]
Eusebius. The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, G.A. Williamson, ed. (Penguin Books, rev. ed., 1990)
Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (N.Y.: Viking Penguin, 1986) [out of print, but cheap used copies often available at Amazon.com]
Philip Rousseau, The Early Christian Centuries (London: Longman, 2002) [Excellent introduction to the early history of Christianity. Each chapter also includes a substantial, up-to-date, partially annotated bibliography of further readings in English!]
Martin Goodman, Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996) [Reconsiders grounds for religious conversion in both Christianity and Judaism; treatment of Judaism especially strong]
Richard Fletcher, The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to
Christianity
(Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press, 1999) [covers
from 371
to
1386
in the west; also under
title The Conversion of Europe (original British
edition)]
Reference Works:
In addition to the required and recommended books listed above,
the
following reference works will be placed on reserve and should be
frequently
consulted:
G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, & Aleg Grabar, eds., Late
Antiquity.
A Guide to the Post-Classical World (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University
Press, 1999)
Everett Ferguson, Michael P. McHugh, & Frederick W. Norris, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, Second Edition (New York: Garland, 1990)
Fuller Bibliography - Available Soon (Arranged by topic - Useful starting point for possible book review titles and for final papers)