Re "He understood that Christianity's biggest advantage was organizational. Bishops ran networks. Congregations took care of their poor and buried their dead. Paganism, for all its temples, had never built anything comparable."
This is the primary reason (IMHO, of course) why Christianity was attractive to Roman elites. Of course, they immediately started "improving" Christianity, adding features to worship services that survive today (clerical garb was developed based upon Roman administrative garb, "churches" the buildings anyway based up temples. (Christians met in homes mostly and didn't have a tradition of worship houses.) Lots more about the Roman legacy in the church in the book "Pagan Christianity."
Re "What if Rome Never SConverted?"
See graphic ... typo?
Thanks for pointing it out. I will have to correct the image.
Not convinced that Julian might not have succeeded had he not died so early in his 'work'!
I tend to think that had Julian prevailed, Christianity would have been more diverse, more tolerant and less influential. No way to know, of course.
Re "He understood that Christianity's biggest advantage was organizational. Bishops ran networks. Congregations took care of their poor and buried their dead. Paganism, for all its temples, had never built anything comparable."
This is the primary reason (IMHO, of course) why Christianity was attractive to Roman elites. Of course, they immediately started "improving" Christianity, adding features to worship services that survive today (clerical garb was developed based upon Roman administrative garb, "churches" the buildings anyway based up temples. (Christians met in homes mostly and didn't have a tradition of worship houses.) Lots more about the Roman legacy in the church in the book "Pagan Christianity."