The spread of Christianity began in the Roman Empire from around the 3rd century. At this time, the Romans enjoyed public persecution of this group, but it is said that the way early Christians defended their religion was inspiration for many to convert (Chadwick 94). The spread continued until the Romans assimilated the religion as part of their Empire, culminating in the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 337, when the Roman Empire became an essentially Christian Empire (Chadwick 95). These early Christians believed solemnly that God was their father and that they were at the mercy of fate (Larson 151). This spread continued throughout the Mediterranean Basin, where Greek and other Orthodox churches were formed (Larson 151), and Christianity began to change into a multi-belief religion with many sects.
This spread continued throughout Europe, mostly following a Catholic path who believed that the Pope was the link between God and the people of Earth (Charlton 62). Until the rule of Henry VIII, Catholicism was favored in England but his desire to introduce the concept of divorce formed the Church of England, a Protestant organization (Charlton 62). This led to the split of church and state and Protestantism began (in various forms) to spread throughout Northern Europe and North America (Charlton 83). The main difference between Protestants and Catholics is the source of their beliefs: the Protestants place more faith in the Bible, the Catholics in the Pope (Larson 153). In accordance with Sharia Law, Christians and Jews were accepted in the majority Muslim Ottoman Empire, for example, because they follow an Abrahamic religion, although the Muslim rulers were not as kind to polytheists. They were generally treated very well under this Empire, being allowed to practice their religion despite being a non-majority faith. Polytheists were not allowed to practice their religion under Ottoman rule (Ruggiero 114).
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"The Spread of Christianity".
- Chadwick, Owen. A History of Christianity. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996. Print.
- Charlton, William. Being Reasonable about Religion. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006. Print.
- Larson, Curtis W. R. “History Of Christianity.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion XXIX.2 (1961): 150-53. Print.
- Ruggiero, Adriane. The Ottoman Empire. New York: Benchmark, 2003. Print.
