When one thinks of religion, there are certain imageries

that come to mind. One might think of the many beliefs and

worship there is, as church schisms have had happened in the

past, which in turn causes a ton of denominations, whilst all

being a part of a whole.

And yet with all the religions and denominations out there,

Christianity remains the largest religion in the world. One would

be hard-pressed to find someone not having even a remote idea of

it, as religious symbols have made its way towards mainstream

media, with crucifixes predominantly associated with the death of

Christ.

But of course, its spread was not of without cost, most

famously are the historical depictions of Christian persecution

under Roman Emperors, and yet with all these obstacles,

Christianity remained strong- with over 1.3 billion baptized

members as of 2019.

It began as the ministry of Christ, which started with his

baptism, making a then small following in just Galilean

hillsides, to which ministry that ended following the Last

Supper. Christianity didn’t end there. After Jesus’s time has

gone, his apostles began their journey to convert the rest of the

world, as commanded by Jesus in his ascension; “Transfer, and

them in just the track record of the Dad and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit, instruction them in direction of keep an eye on

all aspects that I commanded oneself.”, as written in Matthew

28:19-20.

But of course, how did that happen? How did Christianity

come from a small following, leading into and the most followed

word of today?

The apostles divided themselves into three groups, in

addition to St. Paul who went solo, to preach.

The first group includes St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. Matthew

and St. Bartholomew. St. Peter preached in Pontus, Galatia,

Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1).

St. Andrew preached in Scythia (Russia and so he is the

intercessor of the Russian Church), Besporan Kingdom and the

Barbarian Lands to the east of the Black Sea (Now within Russia),

Turkey and Sebastpolis, Colchis, Apsaros, Trebizond, Amasia,

Nicea, Nikomidea to the south of the Black Sea and finally he

attained the crown of martyrdom in Greece. St. Bartholomew

preached in the Besporan Kingdom, India, Yemen, and Armenia. St.

Matthew preached in Persia and Ethiopia.

Simon the Patriot. St Thomas preached in Odessa, India.

St. Thaddeus preached in Bakr Lands (Iraq) and Odessa where

he healed her king Abgr. St. Simon preached in Babylonia, and

Syria. The third group includes St. John and St. Philip where

they preached in Asia Minor.

St. Paul preached in Damascus, Syria, Tarsus, Antioch,

Cyprus, Asia Minor in Antioch of Pasadena, Derba, Galatia,

Ephesus, Greece in Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Peria,

and in Western Europe in Italy and Spain and finally attained his

crown of martyrdom in Rome (Romans 15:19-24, 1 Corinthians 15:10

and 2 Corinthians 11:32).

With Christianity becoming widespread, it became a problem

for the Roman Empire. For historical background, the Romans

practiced Pax deorum, which turned to be something of a main

thing in their culture, laws, and society.

Pax deorum (“peace of the gods”) denotes the central goal of

Roman state religion: a mutually beneficial state of peace

between Rome and its deities, with the gods safeguarding Rome's

public welfare (salus publica; cf. Cic. Rab. perd. 5) and the

Romans providing the gods their desired worship and cult.

the places they conquer- so long as the religions were made

Roman, joined into their pre-existing gods in order to appease

the gods they believed, the very gods that they believe were

keeping their empire alive.

Christianity, of course, with their beliefs towards there

being only one God and refusal to worship the Roman gods, and

their inability let the Romans change their religion to fit it

into their pax deorum, made the Romans deem them as a threat to

the empire, which then lead to Christian persecution. The

persecutions did nothing to make Christian beliefs falter, if

anything, the martyrdom attitude made Christianity stronger in

the face of their adversary, making more converts as time went

on.

Whilst this was happening, the New Testament was slowly

getting codified as Christianity tried to figure out what it is,

due to it being split over its Judaism and Hellenic roots; Jesus

was a Jew and most of his followers, but most of the places Paul

sent his letters on how great Jesus was were in Greek.

Christianity then decided to make itself both Greek and Jewish.

A little more context of the above would be the historical

accounts of the 'Apostolic Council' or the 'Council of

Jerusalem'. It was held in Jerusalem, probably in 48 A.D. At the

Christianity met. One party comprised the Aramaic-speaking Jewish

Christians of Palestine, who were faithful to the Law of Moses.

The other party represented Hellenistic Christians whose centre

was Antioch. Their community was comprised mainly of

uncircumcised Gentile Christians. They did not think that the

commands of the Law of Moses were binding on Christians. They

spoke Greek and were very active in mission throughout the Greek-

speaking world. The Antiochene delegation was successful in its

objective: Peter, John and James recognized the independence of

the Hellenistic churches and their right to decide for themselves

on their attitude to the Law.

Thus, a compromise between the Hellenistic Christians and

the Christian Jewish Church.

At the reign of Constantine, Christianity was gaining

grounds within the Roman empire. Emperor Constantine wasn’t an

heir, he had to earn his title by conquering the entirety of Rome

by combat, and during such battles he had a dream- in which he

was instructed to paint the Christian symbol Chi-Ro to his

soldier’s shields. He did and won the battle for control of the

lands that contained Italy and North Africa, so in 313, he

delivered the edict of Milan.

Constantine and Licinius, that proclaimed religious toleration in

the Roman Empire. Thus Christianity was given the tolerance to

exist. Emperor Theodosius made Christianity an official state

religion at 380 CE.

More than any witness, martyr, or written antiquity,

Christianity has been spread as a result of the need of mankind

and the love of God. It has been said that if there were no god,

man would have to invent one. But since God is, He gave His son

Jesus to answer that need and demonstrate His forgiving love

(John 3:16-17). Through the Holy Spirit of God, mankind is drawn

to seek Him out, fill the void, and feed the hunger of our needs

for atonement and restoration. God forgives and it is by the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ that it was made possible.

Jesus instructed His disciples (students) in the ways they

were go forth and teach others. He tells them in Matthew 28:19:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . ." The book of

Acts is a history of the beginnings of the early church and is

important in proving the truth of Jesus' teachings. Christ's

followers dealt with many adversaries though.

They were highly persecuted for their faith and for pursuing

this Great Commission. Many did not want Christianity to expand

any further and ordered them to stop speaking in the name of

yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather

than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and

heard." (Because they saw first-hand the things Jesus did, they

had very strong convictions about the message Jesus wanted them

to spread.)

Their secure belief in Jesus and His teachings enabled them

to speak confidently and effectively. Even in the face of

persecution, they were compelled to speak what they knew was

true, and the movement continued to grow. The spiritual hunger of

the people they met needed to be fed and the spirit within those

audiences quickly latched on to what they learned to be truth.

Christianity survived and spread because of the Resurrection

of Jesus Christ and the power of God's Holy Spirit. Paul writes

to the church in Thessalonica: ". . .our gospel came to you not

simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and

with deep conviction. . ." (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Works Cited

Dunn. (2003). Jesus Remembered. Eerdmans Publishing: 342.

Frend. (1965). In The Early Church (p. 137). SPCK.

Holy See Press Office. (2019). Presentation of the Pontifical

Yearbook 2019 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2017.

Online Library:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/978144433838

6.wbeah17327

Lenski. (2005). Reign of Constantine. Cambridge University Press.

Raisannen, H. (1992). Primitive Christianity was a Jewish

movement. Retrieved from The Followers of Jesus:

http://www.helsinki.fi/teol/pro/_merenlah/oppimateriaalit/te

xt/english/follower.htm

All About Religion. (2020). Spread of Christianity. Retrieved

from: https://www.allaboutreligion.org/spread-of-

christianity-faq.htm
“HOW DID CHRISTIANITY SPREAD

OUT FROM JERUSALEM TO THE

UTTER MOST PART OF THE WORLD?”

Vidal, Stacy Caren A.

Sagario, Alexandra S.

Estabillo, Oliver B.

Gunayon, Reynald L.
Pagulayan, Christian Carrie G.

Funamoto, Aira Klaire S.