“Augustine countered with the long view: Empires rise and fall in the natural order of things, but the church's mission stands apart from any passing secular institution. Because the true church endures, it is government's duty to take instruction from… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share Image
“The concepts of mercy and humility were not just unappreciated in pagan culture, they were ridiculed by men of the highest learning. The idea… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share Image
“To put it plainly, women enjoyed higher status and more autonomy among Christians than among pagans, and could expect better treatment from their husbands. Pagan Roman women were "three times as likely as Christians to have married before age 13," according to the sociologist Rodney Stark.3 Christian women also exercised far more choice in whom they wed, and were less… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share
“Major imperial shows could deploy thousands of pairs of combatants, not to mention all manner of animals and wild beasts-hounds, lions, bears, bulls-battling one another, or humans, to the death. Christians deplored this entertainment, and not merely because there was always the chance that they might themselves someday wind up as prey. Rather, they were repulsed by the way this… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share
“By clearly delimiting the role of secular powers, Augustine helped set Western Christendom on a course in which the believer's duties to God (however… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share Image
“Boys were disposed of when they were deformed; girls when they were inconvenient. The result was a society-not just in Italy but in the… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share Image
“Augustine countered with the long view: Empires rise and fall in the natural order of things, but the church's mission stands apart from any… — Vincent Carroll Copy Share Image
