Writing about dead Christians

I've been reading this book entitled Heroes of the Holy Life and I'll be honest...it makes for some lame reading. One thing I have realized is that we live in such a different Christian culture than the pastors and evangelists of old. There was this Christian ethic that was open accepted back then. Knowing Jesus seems to have been easier in some ways. So you keep getting these pictures of mass conversions and city-wide revivals. How does that translate to us?