In Judea, around 30 A.D., Jesus of Nazareth, a man whom many Jews believed to be the messiah, preached about the gospel. This composed an incipient religion, Christianity. Christianity took hold in the antediluvian world expeditiously. Some reasons that it took hold in the archaic world expeditiously was because it edified about sempiternal life. It additionally took hold because of their notions and their notion that everyone was identically tantamount.
Christianity spread against a global superpower. Christianity started 2,000 years ago in Israel with Jesus and his teachings. His teachings spread throughout the world and were written into the Bible. Why did Christianity spread thousands of years ago? Christianity took hold of the ancient world through the messages of Christianity, the promise of immortality, and the ways religion spread worldwide.
“The school lunch program, begun in the 1970s as a result of bipartisan federal legislation, has been by most measures an enormous success. For lots of poor families it’s become a way to count on at least getting one decent meal into their children, and when it disappears it’s catastrophic,” (page 224) In the essay “Schools out for the Summer” Quindlen writes about the problem of hunger in the USA.
The final reason that Christianity took hold in the ancient world is because of how devoted the followers of Christianity were. Christians would take people into their homes and take care of them if they were in need, and would do their best to help them get back on their feet. (Doc D) A man named Paul who came to know the Christian religion spent 30 years of his life traveling the eastern Mediterranean sea, preaching the word of Jesus, and he single handedly wrote most of the New Testament letters on his journey. (Doc F) A group of Christians were sentenced to execution for not buying sacrificial items for the Roman gods.
Christianity is a very important religion that is practiced by almost a third of the world’s population today. So why was this religion able to grow so much during ancient times? Inspired by Jesus Christ over two thousand years ago, Christianity faced several barriers along its road to prevalence in the world. During his lifetime, Jesus preached the Word of God until Roman officials felt threatened and eventually crucified him. After his death, however, Jesus’ apostles kept up his legacy and continued to preach God’s Word.
When the Roman Empire collapsed in the Fifth Century the Christians could not believe that the society they built could fall under the protection of God. Many during that time could not separate their Roman citizenry from Christianity. The pagans during the fall of Rome felt that the Christians were to blame because the Roman government was not appeasing their gods. After the fall many Christians felt they were living in the “end times” and wrote about it being the end of the world. After Rome fell the societal boundaries were dissolved reducing everyone to equal levels which allowed the Christians the opportunity to minister to others and spread the gospel.
Around the early 16th century B.C the roman catholic church was the most dominant form of Christianity. The roman church owned around one-third of the land in Europe and therefore was immensely rich and powerful. The Pope claimed control of all the kings in Europe because he was thought to be the successor to the roman emperor. People who stood up against the church were usually executed to be made an example and deter others from challenging them. The catholic church was believed by everyone to be able to control people's souls and send them to heaven or hell, so they were very influential with the peasants.
Christianity adopted effectively throughout the ages. Early missionaries were able to developed their ideas of teaching by reinterpreted early Greek and Roman philosophy from pagan gods, Augustine of Hippo influence, and fashioning up practices that were meaningful to people. Christian priests traveled all over Europe to spread their message. Priests were able to convert several barbarian kings by making God is more powerful than the pagan gods they have worshipped.
Early Christianity positively impacted the Roman Empire before 300 AD because it gave hope and promoted stability. Although Christianity had a rough start and people had a hard time excepting Jesus, there were other Biblical figures that were able to spread the Word and Christianity, for example, Paul. Also, Christianity expanded by the interchanges of the Roman Empire, in which they experienced spiritual growth. Many people were becoming accepting of Christianity and became leaders and workers in the church.
During the years 500-800CE, Christianity was merging into Germanic Europe. During the Middle Ages, a common European civilization evolved that integrated Christian, Roman, and Germanic elements. Christianity was at the center of medieval civilization, Rome was the spiritual capital and Latin the language of life, and Germanic customs pervaded social and legal relationships. Leaders such as Augustine of Hippo, Clovis and Charlemagne fought with different methods for what they thought religion should be, whether it be forceful or communitive. Reformations of Catholic churches led to a rise in education for many common folks.
In the Roman Empire, Christianity started out being a very minuscule religion. However, as Christianity grew, it formed into a significant threat to Roman politics. Before Christianity, the Roman Empire was extremely diverse and they believed the emperor
Bishops gained a lot of power with control of church memberships, finances, and the selection of priests. In 590, “Gregory the Great was named Bishop of Rome…and named himself ‘Pope’ and the ‘Head of the Universal Church.’” He was the key to asserting papal primacy and started the requirement of confession and penance. He also worked to convert the pagan kings, hoping more people would follow in their footsteps. With the belief that Constantine left his crown to the papacy, the future Popes had the power to crown the emperor acting as god’s representative.
Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece were very powerful and influential forces around the time that Christianity had began to spread. In Rome’s society, people followed under an emperor, who had strict rules about religion and the type of beliefs one should have. At the time, Rome’s official religion was pagan, but later converted to Christian. Ancient Greece had different religious beliefs than those that Christianity consisted of, but these countries were both powerful and helpful in spreading this new religion. Greece and Rome were impactful on Christian doctrine as well as helping this religion thrive and continue to expand to new areas.
Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.
The existence of Christianity enumerates almost 20 centuries and for this period it made a long way in development and expansion. The Christianity was born in Palestine in the 1st century AD and spread to various corners of the world. Kennedy, P. (2011). Christianity : An Introduction. London: I.B.
