History of early Christianity named best scholarly book in arts and sciences

It may be easier for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for an 800-page, heavily footnoted scholarly book about early Christianity to enter the best-seller list.

But since its release in August, “Through the Eye of a Needle,” Peter Brown’s sweeping study of the changing attitudes towards wealth among Christians of late antiquity, has become something of a commercial hit, selling about 13,000 copies and becoming Princeton University Press’s top-selling book of 2012. Last last week it added another feather to its cap, claiming the R.R. Hawkins Award, the Association of American Publishers’ top honor for a scholarly book in the arts and sciences....