Rapid Growth of Christianity in the First Centuries Essay

Account for the rapid growth of Christianity in the first centuries. Christianity spread rapidly from C.E for three hundred years until it was legalized. The fact that this religion spread so quickly is one of the most amazing feats in history – in just 300 years Christianity went from one person preaching about a God, to a legalized religion. One of the main reasons for this rapid growth is that Christianity was open to anyone, in Judaism, you were not automatically a Jew and some synagogues did not allow people to convert. The great thing about Christianity was that anybody could become a Christian. People often thought of Christianity as Judaism lite. This was because Christianity descended from Judaism and had a lot of the same beliefs – it was just easier to become a Christian and the rules were not quite as strict. Both Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions so they only believe in one god. The Jewish religion was attractive to gentiles – because of its monotheistic beliefs and moral code – who were tired of worshiping the Greek and Roman pantheons (Gods & Goddesses). It got to the point when Jewish Synagogues would no longer allow Christians in them so the Christians Christianity is said to have the highest standard of love to god and to man. Christianity often appealed to poor people who felt alienated by mainstream religions. Back then, most people would be able to speak fluent Greek, the fact that Christianity was written and mostly spoken in Greek made it appeal to the majority of the people because they could read it. Judaism however was spoken in Hebrew, so only people that could speak Hebrew could understand it. This is why the new testament was written in Greek. The Roman Empire had a weak religion, so it was very easy to get people to convert to Christianity. After a group of people converted, others often followed behind. So many people converted to Christianity that Rome became the ‘base’ of the religion. That Is why the Pope lives in Rome – this is where Christianity was ‘properly’ formed.