Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion

Jacoby's monograph examines religious conversion through a secular historiographical lens, challenging conventional narratives that privilege spiritual transformation as the primary motivator for changing faiths. The work situates conversion within broader social, political, and economic contexts, arguing that material and psychological factors often prove more determinative than theological conviction in shaping religious identity shifts throughout history.

The study traces conversion patterns from antiquity to the present, with particular attention to Christianity's expansion in the Roman Empire, Islamic conquests, colonial missionary enterprises, and contemporary religious switching in pluralistic societies. Jacoby contends that traditional accounts of conversion, especially those produced by religious institutions, systematically overemphasize doctrinal persuasion while obscuring coercive mechanisms, social pressures, and pragmatic calculations that frequently drive religious change. Her analysis reveals how political power, economic incentives, marriage prospects, and social mobility consistently emerge as decisive factors across diverse historical contexts.

Methodologically, the work employs comparative historical analysis, drawing on demographic data, personal narratives, and institutional records to construct what Jacoby terms a "demystified" account of religious transformation. She particularly critiques hagiographical traditions and conversion testimonies that retroactively impose coherent spiritual narratives onto complex, often ambiguous processes of religious transition. The author demonstrates how converts themselves frequently internalize and reproduce idealized conversion scripts that obscure their initial motivations.

The monograph engages critically with William James's psychological approach to religious experience, arguing that his emphasis on individual spiritual crisis neglects structural forces shaping religious affiliation. Jacoby also challenges contemporary sociological theories that frame religious switching as consumer choice, maintaining that such models inadequately account for persistent social constraints on religious mobility.

For debates about God's existence and activity, Jacoby's work provides significant ammunition for naturalistic explanations of religious phenomena. By demonstrating that conversion patterns correlate strongly with material conditions rather than purported divine intervention, the study undermines providential interpretations of religious expansion. Her documentation of forced conversions and politically motivated religious changes particularly challenges narratives of Christianity's or Islam's growth as evidence of divine favor. The work thus contributes to broader secular critiques of religious truth claims by showing how ostensibly spiritual transformations often reflect thoroughly mundane human motivations and social dynamics.