Did Christianity expand mostly by conquest or by peaceful acceptance?

Answer 1

A:In its early days, Christianity expanded slowly by peaceful acceptance. When Constantine became the first Christian emperor, he offerred financial inducements and career advancement to those Romans who became Christians, as well as beginning the long persecution of the pagan temples. Constantine also expanded Christianity by conquest, requiring newly conquered Germans to become Christians.

Only a few decades later, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, then ten years later banned the public worship of the old gods.

Thus, there was no one means by which early Christianity grew. There was peaceful acceptance, but also conquest, persecution and legal mandate.