Relative Newcomer

I've noticed in a number of threads recently that one of the reasons xians believe christianity is the "one true religion" is because of the speed at which it took hold in the world. From what I recall, christianity didn't get a real foothold until around 250 c.e., and wasn't officially indoctrinated as the one true religion until Constantine made it so around 365 c.e. How is this "supernatural" rise any different than any other religions or political groups?
Please feel free to direct me to any other threads where this claim is examined.

lpetrich

One can look at religious and political movements with known histories, like the Reformation and the rise of Communism. Xtianity taking as long as it did to rise to prominence is nothing unusual.

Toto

There was an old thread in the old Biblical Criticism forum, (I think?) in which Nomad argued that the rise and spread of Christianity was so extraordinary, it must mean something, although he didn't say what. Others pointed out that it wasn't all that extraordinary, that Christianity didn't take off until after Constantine gave it official status (one of 3 official religions in the Roman Empire at that time), that Islam has had a faster rate of growth, etc.

I don't remember enough about the thread to find it.

Zora

Yes, I've often heard the "supernatural rise" statement. I am not a real religious history authority..but it seems Christianity came along at a fortunate time. The savior was a kinda half-way believable guy (not blue or with a bunch of arms or some such), but "human" so we can relate to him more easily. It came about at a time when a king saw the benefit of a universal religion. It promised reward in another life, and acceptance of one's lot in this one..maybe for easier exploitation of the masses. And, on a fairly regular basis, non-believers were killed. That tended to convince a lot of people of its "merits." It contained some philosophical stuff that was already well discussed in other cultures, but that could have easily impressed the uneducated. (In fact, one of the main objections the early Romans had to Christianity was that it "preyed" on the lower-class uneducated people.) It made asking questions a bad thing and believing unquestioningly a virtue. Clever, but hardly "supernatural."

Of course, if you believe in miracles, you see them everywhere, I guess. I have never seen a single "miraculous" or "supernatural" thing in my life.

Relative Newcomer

Thanks all. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something in the chain of events, lest a xian try to toss a bugger in my stew.

Fortunately I've never seen one as well. If the day ever comes that I witness a miracle I'm putting myself out of the misery of my own misery, as well as the misery of others

Milton

That also depends on what you would call "miracle" and "supernatural".

DMB

There is also the factor that the Roman world was pretty tolerant towards religion. The standard reaction ot new gods was to absorb them into the pantheon.

Once xianity got a toehold in this world, it exclusivity and intolerance made it hard for adherents to indulge in the typical shopping around that the previous set-up had allowed.

If you want to start a successful new religion, offer a few benefits (pie in the sky), but also terrify people. Make apostasy a capital crime and one that will also receive divine punishment after death. Kill unbelievers and heretics. Allow no competition to the official line.

Aravnah Ornan

If the speed at which Christianity took hold in the world were such a big deal, wouldn't it have made sense for the Messiah to come either during the lifetime of Adam or soon after the Noah family stepped off the Ark? After all, if you want to spread your message quickly through the whole world, and there's a time in which the whole world is pretty manageable, there's your golden opportunity.

Milton

You sure know your Biblical stories....

Do you forget that both Adam and Noah were the "new" beginning of the world?

Godless Wonder

Look how fast Scientology took off. Is that supernaturally fast?