Cynthia White is the director and professor of the basic Latin program at the University of Arizona. She not only holds a Ph. D, but is also a prolific author. She has published at least twelve books; more than a few are related to the classical period. She is an expert on Roman history, as well as religious history, and in Emergence of Christianity she combines her difference areas of expertise to paint a clear picture on just how the religion emerged and expanded throughout the Roman Empire.
Emergence of Christianity focuses on explaining the histories of the Romans as well as the Jews, and how these histories combine to form one of the major religions of not only the time, but also of today. In the books own preface, the author implies that Christianity not only begins in Rome, but also takes it over by the time Christianity was given official sanction “in 391 C.E., Rome was no longer the seat of the ancient imperial empire but the primate see of a new Christian Empire” (White, xv). This is the point that the book argues throughout. White provides proof of this concept throughout the book, and details the struggle against and finally the acceptance of Christianity at all points in Roman history prior to its total acceptance.
My favorite part of this book is easily the many excellent references provided at the very beginning. It includes a chronological events section, which lists all of the major events that take place by year, as well as a list of not only the Roman emperors, but also the rulers of Judah. These references were very useful throughout reading the book, and I found myself revisiting them as I progressed through the timeline of the story. The book then begins with an excellent historical overview of the religious practices of the Roman Empire, followed up by what it calls a “Short History of the Jews” (White, 6). The histories provided in the beginning of the book set up the pretenses that need to be understood to be able to completely appreciate exactly how Christianity was able to take hold. Without this knowledge, I feel that I would have been asking why more often than not throughout the rest of the book. Still, even with all of these excellent references, some of the historical events can still be confusing. White provides the reader with even more information, by including photos of importance, biographies of the important people, and also early Christian documents. My only gripe is that all of the photos are left in the back of the book, rather than intertwined with the text, so I found myself scrolling to the end of the E-book to see the relevant photographs. The formatting of the book made it an easy read, which I enjoyed. The book is divided into clearly titled chapters, and the chapters are divided up into sections, which are then divided even further into subsections. I further enjoyed the way that the chapters are divided. Rather than just a typical chronological division, White instead divides the chapters by group. For example, chapter two is titled: “Jews and Christians: The Dynasty of Herod the Great” (White, 21) whereas chapter three is titled: “Romans and Christians: Constantine's Christian Monotheism” (White, 43). These chapters make not only finding what you’re looking for simple, but keep all the information around other relevant information. Finally, the book is included with a very well done index section. Regardless of what I was looking for, I could count on the index to have it properly, well, indexed. Overall, the book was masterfully compiled. The different chapters are basically stand-alone essays, and White even calls them as such on page 99 when she says “In these five essays we have traced the foundation and spread of Christianity” but the conclusion coupled with the pretext of historical knowledge given prior to chapter one, ties them all together perfectly.
Emergence of Christianity is not only an entertaining read, but is also a very informative one. Its complete explanation of exactly how Christianity came into power will be very helpful for when I write my final paper. I will probably need to find at least one more source, in order to understand some of the long term effects that the religion had on the empire itself, but then again the Christian influence remains huge to this day, and is likely the topic of many debates.
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