Western Success by Rodney Stark (Random House - 2005), a professor of sociology at Baylor University. Stark points out that Christianity extols reason, as well as logic, virtually to the exclusion of all other religions which are mostly mystery based. Christianity developed a rational theology - which posited progress. This progress applied to theology itself - which could be challenged and refined - and thus it changed for the better over time. While Greek philosophy embraced reason and logic, the Greeks never applied it to their religion. So the practice of their religion eventually became mainly lost when their civilization ended.This rational theology, when applied to society, laid the basis for the success of Western Civilization. It not only overturned the largely inefficient Roman society and economy
, chained to slave labor - it encouraged innovation in every area of life, by positively applying reason to the scope of human existence. Stark explores how specific improvements occurred in the Middle Ages in agriculture, transportation, weaving, water and wind power, etc. Monasteries led such progress, since they essentially acted as business corporations, rewarding merit, led by those who showed management skills. They produced a surplus, sold it, reinvested as needed, and lent the rest - usually at profitable interest rates. In this way, they initiated the modern capitalistic system, which was further perfected in Italy in the late Middle Ages with the introduction of the banks (bancos) - whereby Italian banks soon had branches all over Europe - all long before the Protestant Reformation arose.Stark explains that capitalism essentially applies reason in the business arena. He denies that it
arose simply because of the Protestant work ethic, though he admits it got destroyed in the Catholic countries because of tyrannical abusive state powers that overtaxed and over regulated. I largely agree with his analysis of economic development in the Middle Ages as praiseworthy.Stark furthers argues how Christianity laid the foundations for modern science, as reason
applied to the natural world - and how it laid the foundation of modern democracy, as reason applied to political institutions. Unfortunately, he does not address the famous Catholic Church suppression of Galileo, nor incidents such as the Spanish Inquisition - topics scholars like to use to attack Christianity, and thus has come under some criticism 
here. Too bad because a response is not that difficult. (Update: Stark later addressed these issues.)Stark posits the Reformation, and later the freedom from having to attend a state selected religion, as foundational forces which wound up forcing churches and denominations to compete with one another - and thus become more responsive to individuals. He also notes that the freedoms in the Reformation based countries led to an explosion in progress on all fronts in those countries, especially in England, and then later the United States.
I recommend this book to those interested to an answer to why Western Civilization succeeded in contrast to the rest of the world, and especially to Christians interested in our culture, and Christianity's impact on our culture. I especially like his viewpoint of Christianity as a whole organization spanning the centuries.
