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It was Paul. He made Christianity accessible to the gentiles (non-Jews) of the Roman Empire. The earliest Christians were Jews who preached the word of Christ to other Jews and followed Jewish law. Paul said that to be a Christian you needed to have faith in Christ and follow his teachings. You did not need to follow Jewish laws. This made it possible for Christianity to spread around the Roman Empire.

Constantine helped Christianity by promoting Christians in the imperial bureaucracy, introducing some laws which favoured the Christians, building important churches in Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem and initiating the tradition of Roman Emperors convening synods and ecumenical councils. This put Christianity on a more solid footing. However, Christianity was still very much a minority religion in Constantine's days and he did not promote its spread. Indeed, Constantine straddled Christianity and paganism. Although he favoured Christianity, he also promoted the cult of Sol Invictus (the Undefeated Sun). The symbol of this god appeared on his coins. For the inauguration of his new capital he had a high column with a statue of himself in the guise of this god, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun, built. He also instituted Sunday as a day of rest devoted to this god.

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Marguerite Considine

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13y ago

Constantine did was win over the elites and establish Christianity as The religion of his empire. Had Constantine not existed I have to wonder if Christianity would be around today so yes I think he does deserve credit (or derision, depending on your attitude) for establishing and spreading Christianity around the world.

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8y ago

It was Paul. He made Christianity accessible to the gentiles (non-Jews) of the Roman Empire. The earliest Christians were Jews who preached the word of Christ to other Jews and followed Jewish law. Paul said that to be a Christian you needed to have faith in Christ and follow his teachings. You did not need to follow Jewish laws. This made it possible for Christianity to spread around the Roman Empire.

Constantine helped Christianity by promoting Christians in the imperial bureaucracy, introducing some laws which favoured the Christians, building important churches in Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem and initiating the tradition of Roman Emperors convening synods and ecumenical councils. This put Christianity on a more solid footing. However, Christianity was still very much a minority religion in Constantine's days and he did not promote its spread. Indeed, Constantine straddled Christianity and paganism. Although he favoured Christianity, he also promoted the cult of Sol Invictus (the Undefeated Sun). The symbol of this god appeared on his coins. For the inauguration of his new capital he had a high column with a statue of himself in the guise of this god, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun, built. He also instituted Sunday as a day of rest devoted to this god.

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Q: Who did more to spread Christianity - Paul or Constantine?
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How did Paul contribute to the spread of Christianity?

Paul of Tarsus, who was previously known as Saul spread Christianity as the first Christian missionary, or person who spreads their belief to non-believers. He travelled across the Roman Empire, sending Christian messages to gentiles and non-Jewish communities as well as to Jews. This allowed more people to follow the faith. He preached about Christianity in new areas where no one had preached before, and established Christianity there.


Who converted to Christianity and spread it throughout the roman empire?

There was no one particular person who spread Christianity throughout the empire. All of the disciples/apostles of Jesus went out to "teach all nations". Several apostles are patrons of distant countries and they may very well have traveled to them. For example, James is affiliated with Spain, Peter with Rome, Luke, although not an apostle but a friend of Paul, is buried in Padua, Italy according to the latest DNA. Paul himself traveled and wrote throughout the middle east until he was taken to Rome as a prisoner. The Roman Emperor Constantine also helped spread Christianity by declaring it the official religion of the Roman Empire.


How did Christianity grow so powerful in rome?

More than anyone before him, Emperor Constantine ensured the acceptance, success and long-term survival of Christianity. True, Christianity was already well established and generally tolerated in the Roman Empire, especially in the Greek-speaking east, long before the fourth century, but Constantine gave the religion state patronage, offered career preferment to those who claimed to be Christians, and began the long persecution of the pagan temples. From this time, and with this impetus, Christianity spread quickly in the Roman Empire.


What happened once Constantine 1 converted to Christianity?

We do not really know if or when Constantine converted to Christianity. Some believe that he converted when he had a vision of a cross in the sky, while others say that he had a death-bed conversion. On the first of these beliefs, Michael Grant (The Emperor Constantine) says, "It is a pity that this tale does not seem to be truthful, for more reasons than one."Certainly, Constantine's mother was an avid Christian and so there is no strong reason to believe that Constantine did not at some stage convert to Christianity. The problem is that we do not know when this happened, nor what happened afterwards.


How did early Christianity spread?

Because if you look in your social studies book it will start talking about Christianity. well it started to spread by someone started a group. i can not remember the name but that person started a group which attracted more and more people to come. So people began to see how important Christianity was

Related questions

Who did more to spread christianty Paul or Constantine?

constantine


Who spread Christianity more paul or constintine?

Jesus.


How did Paul contribute to the spread of Christianity?

Paul of Tarsus, who was previously known as Saul spread Christianity as the first Christian missionary, or person who spreads their belief to non-believers. He travelled across the Roman Empire, sending Christian messages to gentiles and non-Jewish communities as well as to Jews. This allowed more people to follow the faith. He preached about Christianity in new areas where no one had preached before, and established Christianity there.


Who spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire?

More than anyone before him, Emperor Constantine spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. True, Christianity was already well established, especially in the Greek-speaking east, long before the fourth century, but Constantine gave the religion state patronage, offered career preferment to those who claimed to be Christians, and began the long persecution of the pagan temples. From this time, and with this impetus, Christianity spread quickly in the Roman Empire.


Who spread christianity throughout roman empire?

More than anyone before him, Emperor Constantine spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. True, Christianity was already well established, especially in the Greek-speaking east, long before the fourth century, but Constantine gave the religion state patronage, offered career preferment to those who claimed to be Christians, and began the long persecution of the pagan temples. From this time, and with this impetus, Christianity spread quickly in the Roman Empire.


Who spread the word of Christianity?

Jesus did. He told His disciples to take the gospel, which is the basis of Christianity, to all the world. Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."


Who converted to Christianity and spread it throughout the roman empire?

There was no one particular person who spread Christianity throughout the empire. All of the disciples/apostles of Jesus went out to "teach all nations". Several apostles are patrons of distant countries and they may very well have traveled to them. For example, James is affiliated with Spain, Peter with Rome, Luke, although not an apostle but a friend of Paul, is buried in Padua, Italy according to the latest DNA. Paul himself traveled and wrote throughout the middle east until he was taken to Rome as a prisoner. The Roman Emperor Constantine also helped spread Christianity by declaring it the official religion of the Roman Empire.


What new religion was spread throughout Rome?

Christianity was spread because of the aggressive evangelizing that the first century Christians did. Most notably, the Apostle Paul made a missionary trip to Rome. Since Paul was a Roman citizen by law he was able to do more legally than most other Christians at the time. Although, even he ended up in prison eventually. By the time of the 4th century, Christianity had spread so much throughout the Roman Empire, that the Emperor Constantine made a power move, first to make it legal to practice the religion, and then he made it the official religion of the Empire later on during his reign.


What attributed to the spread of Christianity?

be more specific.. Jesus taught the renewed covenant(new testament).. Paul traveled to port cities where he could spread the word and the travellers would carry the word further... Paul wrote a lot of the new testament..


Did Rome adopt Christianity before Constantine?

Yes. Even in the time of the apostle Paul, we know there were Christians in Rome. By the second century, the Christian community in Rome was under the leadership of a bishop. By the time of Emperor Constantine, more than ten per cent of the population of Rome was Christian.


The official regligian of the roman empire was...?

Christianity. Need more info, google: Constantine, Constantinople.


How did Christianity grow so powerful in rome?

More than anyone before him, Emperor Constantine ensured the acceptance, success and long-term survival of Christianity. True, Christianity was already well established and generally tolerated in the Roman Empire, especially in the Greek-speaking east, long before the fourth century, but Constantine gave the religion state patronage, offered career preferment to those who claimed to be Christians, and began the long persecution of the pagan temples. From this time, and with this impetus, Christianity spread quickly in the Roman Empire.