Why was Christianity appealing to many Romans?

Answer 1

A key factor which made Christianity popular in the Roman Empire was that it offered an afterlife. However, this was not enough to give Christianity an edge over other cults which also offered an afterlife. Other factors were the facts that it was salvationist and had a saviour, it was redemptionist, it offered the reward of heaven, and it was messianic, missionary, egalitarian and compassionate towards the poor. Resistance to persecution and imperial support were other contributory factors.

The official or state religion of Rome, like most ancient religions, was polytheistic: it had many gods. It absorbed some gods from other peoples, particularly the Greeks. Cicero described the official religion as a compact with the gods - give them due honour and they would look after the state. With no provision for an afterlife in the official and private gods, there was a gap to be filled as people simply didn't like the idea of simply being snuffed out, so mystery cults arose to accommodate this.

These innumerable mystery cults included one called Christianity. The popularity of the mystery cults was that initiates, through personal engagement with the god through the rituals of the cult, were given the keys to an afterlife, as opposed to the nothingness of the underworld which was just a repository for the shades of the dead - a blotting paper.

The early mystery cults had single cult centres, distributed mainly in the eastern Mediterranean (Dordona, Eleusis, Samothrace, Alexandria etc) and it was expensive in time and money to travel to them and pay the fees to become an initiate, so they remained the province of the few. Then some cults travelled to the customer, which meant that a much broader range of people could join. These popular mobile cults included Mithras, Christianity, Isis, Serapis etc. The Christian cults admitted all comers, even women and slaves, at no cost, available in all towns, and meeting in private houses which avoided the need for and cost of temples, which gave it a great extra advantage over the others to potential mass enrollment.

The early spread of Christianity faced the competition of the cult of Mithras, a divinity thought to have been originally Indo-Persian. It was the religion which offered the greatest opportunity for prayers. There were three services a day and many festivals. It also had irregular priests, ascetics and preachers. It was embraced by the soldiers and became the religion of the military, which spread it around the empire.. This religion became very popular throughout the empire. Mithras came to be called Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun). He was the all-seeing author and protector of life and the giver of immortal life. There was also a moral element in this cult. Therefore the cult bore some resemblance to that of the Christians and this god had similarities with their Father-God. It was a unitarian religion. It aimed at uniting all the gods and myths together in a vast synthesis. Therefore, it also had the potential to bring monotheism to the empire and to unify it religiouisly. Given this potential, Aurelian made the cult of Sol Invictus an official religion. It was the cult favoured by the emperors from Aurelian to Constantine the Great. These emperors hoped that their subjects could be untied by this cult and that the empire could be founded anew on unity of religion.

However, Christianity had extra elements to offer. Unlike the pagan gods who were indifferent to human beings, Jesus was compassionate and deeply concentred with the fate of humanity. The afterlife was presented as salvation and Jesus was the saviour. Jesus made salvation tangible through his having come among humans as a human and having sacrificed himself to save humans. He was a messiah who offered a clear path towards salvation which went beyond just honouring a god. Salvation was also redemption, one which was both from having sinned, but also of the sufferingof life on earth which was the everyday experience of the struggling poor. In addition to this, Christianity also offered the principles of equality, compassion towards the poor and charity for the deprived. It is not surprising that Christianity became the religion of the masses of the poor. The reward of heaven for leading a pious Christian life was unique to Christianity. Moreover, Christian preachers had a missionary zeal not found among the priests of other religions. Their mission was to save humanity. Therefore, unlike pagan priests, they undertook proselytising with vigour and were very successful in doing do.

The Great persecution of Christians of 303-313 AD strengthened this religion. It occurred because the Christians refused to participate in the rites of official religion, to honour the Roman gods, whom they saw as demons, and to perform sacrifices. The persecution met great resistance from the Christian and its architect, the emperor Galerius decreed its end, which was necessary to restore political stability in the empire. Therefore, the persecution strengthened Christianity further, instead of weakening.

Emperor Constantine the Great worshipped Sol Invictus and had a Christian mother (Helena, or St Helena). Christianity had reached widespread empire-wide support at the end of the Great Persecution of Christians, which was the time Constantine made a bid for power. Constantine maintained his post as head of Roman state religion (Pontifex Maximus) continued to worship Sol invictus and even instructed city dwellers, both pagan and Christian to unite in observing Sunday as the holy day of Sol Invictus. It is likely that Constantine wanted to find common ground for his mixed pagan and Christian subjects, especially his soldiers to foster unity in the empire, which would be beneficial to the state and the emperors.

Constntine supported and patronised Christianity. He finalised the end of their persecution of Christianity, gave financial help, granted privileges to the clergy, and promoted Christians to high offices in the imperial administration. He built the first Christian Churches, most notably the original Basilica of St Peter's in Rome the Papal Archbasilica of St John's Lateran (which was Rome's cathedral and the original residence of the popes) the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Hagia Eirene in Constantinople and Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

However, although Christianity could provide unity and stability for the empire, it was far from a united religion. There were competing doctrines and mainstream Christianity was keen on suppressing dissident sects, which did not bode well for the unity of the empire. Constantine also tried to mediate the disputes between competing Christian doctrines. In 314 he held the Council of Arles to respond to the appeal which Donatus, the leader of the Donatist sect in Africa, had made to him against the decision of Pope Miltiades to declare this sect schismatic. The result was that Donatus was excommunicated. In 317 Constantine issued an edict which sent the Donatist clergy into exile and confiscated their property.

In 325 Constantine called the First Council of Nicaea to deal, among other things, with a theological dispute between the Patriarch of Alexandria and the dissident Arian Christians, followers of Arius, and the suppression schism of the Meletians, a breakaway Christian sect. The council produced the Nicene Creed which became the official doctrine of mainstream Christianity, but did not resolve the conflict with the Arian Christians, which continued. It is thought that Constantine exiled Arian priests and priests who refused to condemn Arianism. However, he then tried to diffuse the situation and became lenient. He ended the exile of two bishops who refused to condemn Arianism. In 335 he exiled the Patriarch of Alexandria, the chief opponent of Arianism when accusations were levied against him by the Arians. In 336 he readmitted Arius to communion.

The support of Constantine's son Constans and Constantius, for Christianity was as important as that of their father. They continued the association between state and Christianity. However, one of these two co-emperors supported the Nicene Creed and the other was sympathetic towards the Arians. The conflict between these two factions continued. The next emperor, Jovian was a pagan and tried to undermine Christianity. Afterwards all emperors were Christian. With continue imperial support Christianity continued to thrive. The controversy with the Arians was ended in 380 by co-emperors Gratian and Theodosius I with the Edict of Thessalonica on 380 which made mainstream Christianity (the Nicene Creed) the sole legitimate religion of the empire (therefore state religion) and branded Arianism heretic. Theodosius started persecuting both the Arians and the pagans.

Answer 2

It is the word of God eventually it will find someone who will want to understand it. It is prophesied that people from all will over will hear about the God's Kingdom message, John 14:28. It was spread by going out door to door in the ministry.

Answer 3

Christianity seemed to embrace people of other races and religions. It was something that invited everyone regardless of standing or status.

Answer 4

Because to be christian you didn't have to pay anything, christianity promised afterlife and god would forgive every mistake, To converte you could had been from any social classes.