What reasons led to the spread of Christianity in the Mediterranean region?

Answer 1

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Answer 1

Christianity was spread by a small group of followers who saw the risen Christ. Christ said that they would do even greater miracles than even himself. Through the showing of the power of the spirit which Christ promised to those that believe in him, Christianity spread rapidly.. and was also perpetuated by their great courage in the face of awful public deaths (during the generation of those that had seen Jesus alive) by lions etc..

Answer 2

The main reason for the spread of Christianity was due to word of mouth, miracles, and Christ's great love shown us pure strangers.

Answer 3

Christianity spread initially by way of clandestine confessions performed by Apostles and Disciples of Christ and then by Church leadership. The mass spread of Christianity, however, did not happen until Emperor Constantine of Rome converted to Christianity and began to spread it throughout the Empire.

Answer 4

its message of peace and hope for eternal life.

Answer 2

The historical and anthropological reasons have little to do with the faith merit (or lack thereof) of Christianity.

1) Removal of Jewish Lifestyle Doctrines: It was not uncommon in the Jewish world for Messiah-Claimants to appear and do their song and dance. What made Jesus persist is not the Jewish community's reception of him, but how the Greek (pagan) community received his message. Peter and Paul wisely made the decision to separate Christ-worship from Judaism and removed many of the Jewish laws from applying to new converts, such as restrictions on food, abstaining from work on the Sabbath, and the necessity of male circumcision. Removing these requirements made Christianity very accessible and won Greek converts.

2) Success of the Apostles Spreading the Word: Peter, Paul, and the Other Apostles and Disciples of the Early Church had a message that they were passionate about and that people in different communities gravitated towards. It was the strength of this message that gave Christians the wherewithal to withstand three centuries of persecution in small ecclesia or communities.

3) Conversion of the Roman Empire: The biggest growth in Christianity was the conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity and its becoming the official Roman Religion. This led to mass conversions across the Empire to avoid the issue of being religiously persecuted and to take advantage of being part of the new majority religion.

4) Removal and Castigation of Non-Christians in Christian Territories: Throughout the Middle Ages, Christian leadership was incredibly hostile to non-Christian religions such as Judaism and Islam that existed within Europe or other Christian-controlled territories. The Inquisitions and pogroms across Europe made it difficult for non-Christians (or even heretical Christians) to practice their faiths and many converted to Christianity to avoid the pain and torture that would befall those who did not convert.

5) Ascendance of Europe and Planetary Conquest: When Europe arrived in the New World, they brought their faith with them. When Europeans conquered the New World (and eventually the Old World), they created Christian institutions across their new territories and supplanted the indigenous religions. Precautions were taken to prevent Islam from also becoming part of the New World with the deportation of the Berberiscos and Moriscos back to Morocco. As a result of this "untainted" Christian territory, over 80% of Americans (across America) are either Christian (in whole or part) or Atheist/Agnostic with primarily Christian backgrounds.

Answer 3

The spread of Christianity away from its Jewish base was led by the Apostle Paul in the middle of the first century. By the early fourth century, Christians formed perhaps ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire. From this point, the faith could have continued to grow slowly or begun to fade out like other religions that had come and gone.

Constantine became emperor after the abdication of Diocletian, and it was he who assured the success of Christianity, giving it state patronage, encouraging conversion to the faith and beginning the long persecution of the pagan temples. Constantine's sons and successors continued his support for Christianity and subjected the pagan religions to increasingly harsh persecution, until Christianity was made the official religion of the entire empire, and the public worship of the pagan gods made illegal, towards the end of the century.