The way I interpreted Gibbon’s statements about Christianity is that it, unlike the “old” pagan religion of Rome, emphasized the promise of life after death. In that sense, the Romans could disregard problems and hardships on earth since they would be set right in the next life.
In other words, the old Romans worked harder at maintaining the world they lived in because it was all they had.
old Romans worked harder at maintaining the world they lived in because it was all they had
No because your conclusion is based in very simplistic logic...but not any more or less simplistic than the erroneous and narrow views of Gibbons.