In Rodney Stark’s book, The Triumph of Christianity, he paints a depressing picture of the faith practiced by many in medieval Europe.
People prayerfully invoked God, along with Mary and the saints, but mainly for their help and assistance. “[T]he emphasis was on pressing, tangible, and mundane matters such as health, fertility, weather, sex, and good crops,” says Stark. “Consequently, the centerpiece of the people’s religion was, as it had always been, magic.”
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