The early Catholic Church, in contrast, was more disciplined and hierarchical, a far better candidate both to survive a collapse and to carry forward societal traditions.

What a lack of knowledge of religion in history and of Mormonism's part in this country. Mr. Levin should go back to class. The early "Catholic Church" (there was no distinction in those days) was decentralized and depended on some pretty flashy personalities. And Nicea wasn't peaceful OR orderly.

Today? Moronism can't even stand up to scrutiny about what it really is and who Joseph Smith really was. Alls it takes it one South Park episode to show this. No, you better read Alisdair McIntyre and the role of Benedictine monasticism (in the middle of a Lombard invasion) to see who will preserve what. And THAT is the story of "A Canticle for Leibowitz."

Sheesh.

I would counter that NO organized religion can stand up to scrutiny about what it really is or its origins. There isn't a major religion in existance that doesn't have all sorts of crazy principles when examined objectively.

Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. ALL have hokey beliefs.

The author isn't discussing Christianity's origins but rather its structure during/after the fall of Rome, a full century after Nicea. I'm not a scholar, but I think it had settled down more by then.

The church at that time was really primitive in the west (Rome) and developed in the East. It just doesn't make sense to say this was the bedrock of Roman culture.

Nothing on the Alidair McIntyre book and what he thought?