Even time was transformed, writes Woodward. To a world ruled by fate and the whims of capricious gods, Christianity brought the promise of everlasting life. For them, only the gods were immortal - that's what made them gods. But to the average person, the human consciousness survived in the dim and affectless underworld of Hades. The idea is that the Christian goes with Christ through death to everlasting life.
Death becomes an event, like birth, that is lived through.
Sociologist Rodney Stark of the University of Washington offers this explanation as to why Christian survival rates were so much higher than those of non-believers during the plagues. The Romans threw people out into the street at the first symptoms of disease, because they knew it was contagious and they were afraid of dying. But the Christians stayed and nursed the sick. This is a crucial contribution to Western civilization because it released the individual from the absolute constraints of family and society. Woodward postulates that Christianity also redefined the male and female.