How do we explain the sudden transformation of Christianity from a marginal Jewish sect to a popular religion? The American sociologist Rodney Stark argues that infectious diseases are a crucial part of the story. The Christian faith skyrocketed because it provided a more appealing and assuring guide to life and death than paganism during the devastating pandemics that struck the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries CE. In fact, he goes as far as to say that if it wasn’t for the Antonine and Cyprianic Plagues, “Christianity might never have become so dominant a faith.”
