Recruitment to Elective Cults: Network Structure and Ecology

2020/06/05 by John S. Kloppenborg
Social Sciences · #Islamic Studies and History #Religion, Society, and Development #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

paper · doi:10.1017/s0028688519000511

crossref issued 2020/06/05 · crossref published 2020/06/05 · crossref published-online 2020/06/05 · openalex publication_date 2020/06/05 · crossref created 2020/06/05 · crossref published-print 2020/07/01 · crossref deposited 2024/08/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

During the first and second centuries of the Common Era the Christ cult spread from rural Palestine to the large cities of the Empire. This article draws insights from social network theory and from epidemiology, arguing that the Christ cult was not a simple contagion, spread by simple contact, but a ‘complex contagion’ that required persuasion, especially because adherence to the Christ cult entailed potential social costs and demanded high signalling costs.

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