{"product_id":"through-the-eye-of-a-peter-brown-9780691152905","title":"Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA sweeping intellectual history of the role of wealth in the church in the last days of the Roman Empire\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. \u003ci\u003eThrough the Eye of a Needle\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world's foremost scholar of late antiquity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePeter Brown examines the rise of the church through the lens of money and the challenges it posed to an institution that espoused the virtue of poverty and called avarice the root of all evil. Drawing on the writings of major Christian thinkers such as Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, Brown examines the controversies and changing attitudes toward money caused by the influx of new wealth into church coffers, and describes the spectacular acts of divestment by rich donors and their growing influence in an empire beset with crisis. He shows how the use of wealth for the care of the poor competed with older forms of philanthropy deeply rooted in the Roman world, and sheds light on the ordinary people who gave away their money in hopes of treasure in heaven. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThrough the Eye of a Needle\u003c\/i\u003e challenges the widely held notion that Christianity's growing wealth sapped Rome of its ability to resist the barbarian invasions, and offers a fresh perspective on the social history of the church in late antiquity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Brown\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 069115290X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691152905\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/02\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 792\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.30w x 2.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e IndieFab awards - Gold Medal Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e PROSE - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e PROSE - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e PROSE - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/13\/2012 pg. 61\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/11\/2012 pg. 43\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2012 pg. 70\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2013 pg. 15\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2013 pg. 36\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooks \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2014 pg. 30","brand":"Peter Brown","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43925617508607,"sku":"9780691152905","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_b8abb194-7e1d-4c8f-8ff6-4d03ef9a9edb.jpg?v=1681078335","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/through-the-eye-of-a-peter-brown-9780691152905","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}