Through the Eye of a Needle

Short Review: Long, but interesting look at the variety of ways that the church of the Late Roman Empire looked at wealth and how it should be used. Interesting to reflect in the different ways we currently think about wealth. My knowledge of the history of this period is pretty weak. But Brown does take some alternative views from others that I have read. His understanding of Augustine (especially around celibacy and Agustine's desire to turn all clerics into monks) is different from what I read in [b:Augustine: A Very Short Introduction 1703 Augustine A Very Short Introduction Henry Chadwick http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348207717s/1703.jpg 5827] and some of his history on the rise of the church countered Rodney Stark's [b:The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion 11392050 The Triumph of Christianity How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion Rodney Stark http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348723369s/11392050.jpg 16324100]. This did not make a huge difference to the main point of the book, but it always does make me pause to realize that I just have to that the author's word on so many things that I can't independently verify. That being said, I think his take on Augustine makes more sense than in the Very Short Introduction and Stark was really taking a pretty broad view and Brown is more of a narrow look. Click Through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/through-the-eye-of-a-needle/