In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark attempts to carry this revision forward by extending it to the success of the West in more general terms: not only in science, but also in the growth of capitalism and the development of political freedom. He suggests that Western success in these areas was not inhibited but rather encouraged by Christian ideas, albeit ones that took some time to develop fully. The very possibility of the development of doctrine, whereby ideas first introduced in germ are elaborated upon with the passage of time, is likewise a strength of the Christian faith, according to Stark, and is one of many examples of its commitment to reason.