What sequence of events led to Christianity becoming the main religion in the Roman Empire?

Answer 1

Christianity emerged as a split from Judaism. Jesus' disciples enthusiastically spread the new religion throughout the Mediterranean.

Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Theodosius I established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Answer 2

Roman emperors, almost since the time of Augustus, held absolute and unfettered power over their subjects. So, when the Christian emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire, this was a fact that could not be argued. When, in 391, he decreed that the public worship of pagan gods was prohibited, then the temples could no longer function. And when the Christian churches then appropriated the temples and all their property that had not already fallen into Church hands, there was nothing the pagan priests could do.

Christianity had grown rapidly throughout most of the fourth century, since Constantine gave this religion state patronage and began the persecution of the pagan temples. By the time of Theodosius, Christians, at least nominally, constituted the majority of the population of the empire, making its eventual declaration as the official religion beyond doubt. It simply took a single-minded individual to take that final step.

A:We know that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 381 CE, but this was the culmination of a process that lasted for most of the fourth century. During this period, there had been no official religion of empire, although Christianity was the religion of emperors and therefore increasingly seen as a safe option for Roman citizens.

The unity of the Roman Empire meant that the emperor's word was law. When Constantine urged all Roman citizens to follow his lead and worship the Chistian God, and when he made it clear that men of ambition would further their careers by adopting his religion, the entire empire knew what he expected. When Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome in 381, this meant that his subjects were required to become Christians. Just a few years later, when he made the public worship of the pagan gods a crime punishable by death, his word carried right across to every corner of the empire

Emperor Constantine (306-337) had given state patronage to Christianity in the belief that Christianity's own unity would help create greater unity in the Roman Empire. He is reported to have been dismayed to find just how disunited Christianity really was. It was state patronage by a succession of Christian emperors, accompanied by persecution of the pagan temples that led to the dominance of Christianity. When Theodosius thought Christians would carry the day against pagans who might resist his repression, he was ready to declare Christianity the official religion of the empire.

Answer 3

It has to do with a little understood (or accepted by Bible skeptics) historical event. It has to do with the "lost ten tribes of the House of Israel" that were "removed from the presence of God" around 718bc - approximately 130 years before the Jews (the House of Judah) went into Babylonian captivity (if that really happened).

While the Jews supposedly returned from Babylon after 70 years... the ten tribes of Israel never did. They became lost in world history... yet, if The Bible can be believed, God seems to have known exactly who they were.

Jesus commissioned His disciples to "go to these scattered people and preach the Kingdom of God (or, of Heaven) to them!

"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matt.10:5-6)

To put it as simply as I can in the overview... the nations that have emerged in the world over the centuries vary in religious beliefs... and/or non-religious beliefs.

Therefore... IF the Bible is True as it says it is: (John 17:17)... then, the nations who were established in the world professing Christianity MUST be the ones to whom the Apostles of Jesus went.

Of course, these nations' religious beliefs have suffered as time passed and belief in God in general has suffered in modern times. Even America is said to be "no longer a Christian nation" today.

But, again, IF the Bible is True... speaking of Europe and the British Isles... the nations that emerged professing Christ in the centuries past MUST be because they are the descendants of the ten lost tribes of the House of Israel TO WHOM JESUS SENT HIS APOSTLES preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.

If it's NOT true... then Jesus is a liar (if He existed at all), there is no God... and mankind is a lost, meaningless cosmic accident headed for obscurity.

When Constantine the Great made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, it became the main religion in Europe.

Answer 4

Christianity became the main religion in the Roman Empire during the fourth century. The one single event that led to Christianity becoming the dominant religion was the success of Constantine in becoming emperor, in 306.

Constantine gave Christianity state patronage and made it clear to those around him that the way to succeed in his court was to be a Christian. He expended considerable state funds in building imposing Christian churches throughout the empire, provided financial assistance to the Church, including generous living allowances to bishops and clergy. Meanwhile he began to persecute the pagan temples and impoverish them by sending Christians to remove their treasures for the state treasury. When German tribes on the border of the empire were conquered, a usual requirement of the peace treaty was that the tribe converted to Christianity. The reign of Constantine has been likened to a second age of missionary evangelism, after Paul.

Nevertheless, by the reign of Julian the Apostate (362-3), the majority of the population of the Roman Empire was still pagan. However, Christianity was made the state religion in around 391, and the public worship of the pagan gods was banned. Gradually, over the next century paganism was driven underground and Christianity began to assert its numerical superiority.

Answer 5

By the beginning of the fourth century, Christianity represented around ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire and, regardless of anything that Emperor Constantine did, seemed likely to be an influential, if minor, religion in the empire.

History changed when Constantine decided to support the main Christian Church of his day. He gave the Church state patronage, expending considerable sums on building magnificent churches, supporting the Christian clergy and providing for the Church. He did everything to encourage Christianity and made it clear that those of ambition would improve their prospects by adopting, or seeming to adopt, Christianity. He even went so far as to promise a white garment and a gold coin for each Roman who converted. But he went further than lavishing state funds, he began the persecution of the pagan temples.

All emperors must die, and Constantine's oldest son, Crispus, was a pagan, so some fairness and balance would have returned to the empire when he succeeded to the throne. But fate intervened when Constantine's wife accused Crispus of plotting against him, so that her own sons would succeed to the throne. Constantine had Crispus murdered, only to discover that his wife had lied. In time, Constantine was succeeded by his Christian sons, whose persecution of the pagans was exceeded by their plots to kill each other in order to gain outright power.

By the middle of the fourth century, Christianity seemed destined to replace paganism throughout the empire. Moderation intervened when Julian the Apostate succeeded in 361 and decreed that the Christian Church return pagan properties to the pagan temples, much to the Church's consternation. However Julian died in battle and was succeeded by another Christian emperor.

By the end of the fourth century, paganism was in serious decline and the final destruction was assured when Emperor Theodosius banned the public worship of the pagan gods.

It took Christianity less than a century to emerge as dominant religion in the Roman Empire. It took imperial largesse, state patronage and decades of persecution of the pagan temples, but the task was complete.

Answer 6

The apostles and Paul traveled throughout the region teaching others.