What led to the dominance of the Christian Church?

Answer 1

By the time of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century CE, Christianity is believed to have constituted around ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire. Had it not been for the support provided by Constantine, and the events of the fourth century, Christianity might well have remained a minor, if important, religion among those of the Roman Empire.

Constantine gave the Christian Church substantial state patronage and made it clear that those of ambition would improve their chances of success by becoming Christians. He began the persecution of the pagan temples and encouraged the Christians in developing a culture of plundering the temples for gain.

Constantine's family members followed him as emperors. Between murdering each other, they helped tighten the grip of Christianity on the empire. In 381, Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the state religion and then banned the public worship of the pagan gods, although probably more than half the population were pagans. within a few centuries, paganism was all but eliminated from the Roman Empire.

By the end of the Middle Ages, Christianity was still essentially only a European religion. However, the explorers who began to colonise the New World took Christianity with them. Often by force of arms, intimidation or appeals to a desire to be 'civilised' like the white man, but sometimes by dedicated preaching, European Christianity spread throughout much of the world.