I enjoyed reading Jones's review of Stark's book.  I wonder, though,   
both in what Stark say about Christianity being open to reason, and   
in what Jones says about it being open to schism and diversity -- it   
seems to me that Islam (to take one example) is open to reason   
(indeed, in the Middle Ages much more open to reason, and much more   
knowledgable, than the Christian west) and at least equally open to   
schism, diversity, and adaptability, as Christianity.  
  
I have no aversion to such large scale history as Stark's, but one   
check I like to impose is to insert the name of another religion and   
see what happens to the theses .....  
  
(I am also perhaps biased by my recent intellectual experiences:  I   
have been reading about Spain in the 700s-1500s and Sicily in the   
12th c. -- and it is hard to see the Christians as being *more* open   
to reason, science, and knowledge than Islam during those times.)  
  
Peter G. Stillman