George Lundskow
The Concept of Choice in the Rise of Christianity:
A Critique of Rational-Choice Theory
Many classical (modernist) sociologists, including
Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max and Marianne
Weber, Jane Addams and Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
hold that rational calculation – instrumental ration-
ality – derives from the larger trend towards ration-
alization in modern society. Thus, the instrumental
rationality of calculation, or rational decision mak-
ing, rises to prominence and appears ‘natural’
specifically within the context of modern society.
It is particular to the modern historical period. Pre-
dictably, a theoretical perspective, known as rational-
choice theory, has arisen to account for the increasing
influence of modern rationalization. Yet this theory,
to the extent it has become a school of thought, has
transformed itself into a new Grand Theory, a the-
ory that claims exclusive explanatory power over all
times and places, not only the modern context.
In this chapter, I develop a critique of rational
choice theory; specifically, I challenge Rodney Stark’s
(1997) attempts to explain the rise of Christianity as
a process of rational-choice – a book that deserves
focused attention in that it is the first credible attempt
to apply rational-choice theory beyond the modern
world. Stark focuses on the crisis years of 300–476
CE, but discusses as necessary other periods as well.
I will examine roughly the same timeframe.
