How did Christanity progress after Jesus's crucufixion?

Question

I mean after Jesus' deat on the cross, how did people become Christians,what made people like romans convert to Christianity, i know about the resurretion but how did other people belive the resurecction apart from the disciples, basically how did Christianity progress , what made people belive in Jesus that they never beliverd in him before,

Answer 1

by intimidation

Answer 2

Downwards. All the disciples went on after Jesus' death and told very different stories (the gospels) about the same supposed set of events, and by the time the Church was a formally established "power" it decided which accounts of Jesus' life they wanted and which they did not, and we get left with the versions that suited their agenda. For example many early accounts of Christ depict him as just a normal man, a great man maybe, but a normal man (and not a god/the son of god) all the same. The gospel of St.Peter (the most important disciple according to the bible) was left out completely because he suggested that Jesus didn't suffer on the cross, and this was a useless recruitment tool if you wanted, as the church did, to recruit people looking for a sense of salvation and an antidote to their struggle and pain. And so it has gone on. It doesn't really reflect on any individuals who would call themselves Christians today, and I wish no offence, but the whole religion, and the Bible without doubt, is based on a set of "Chinese whispers" and conflicting accounts, and the only way to get away from that fact is to surround yourself with lots of other people that believe the story selected for us is true, therefore you don't have to think about it, or to shut your eyes tight, stick your fingers in your ears, and shout "lalalalalala" as loudly as possible.

In relation to the part of the question about spreading Christianity - there have been many great, charismatic evangelists spreading the word of Jesus (whichever interpretation they had chosen!) from the disciples right through to the modern day, and many will answer here the Christianity has spread because it offers, hope, salvation and a connection to god, etc. But like most other religions in the world, the truth is that from shortly after Christianity was adopted by the Romans (who decided under Constantine that they needed one unified religion across the empire), right the way through to just a few decades ago (some would argue it is still happening) Christianity has been FORCED on people, and severe penalties, ostracisation, banishment, punishment, torture, genocide and death have acted as a pretty good motivation to adopt the Christian religion.

Answer 3

Basically the surviving apostles began preaching about Christ after he left them to ascend into heaven.They started out in Jerusalem and spread out from there.In the Acts of the Apostles it describes how Paul of Tarsus spread the news across the greco-roman world even to Rome itself.Christianity basically hid underground from the time of Caligula until the rise of Constantin.Once Christianity began the official religion of the roman empire there was no stopping its spread into the rest of Europe.
AS to why people believed in Jesus maybe it was just the force of the apostles belief ,along with the fact that they where said to work miracles that convinced people,Also i think the message of a new religion kind of excited people, maybe the Romans et al believed that there old gods weren't doing anything.

Answer 4

Christianity progressed through the power of the spoken word which mainly came from the Apostles. The story was powerful and especially during the time of Jesus when people had little or no real hope. This is how they came to believe.

Christianity spread beyond its origins within the Jewish religion in the mid-first century under the leadership of the Apostles, especially Peter and Paul. Christianity spread east to Asia and throughout the Roman Empire, despite persecution by the Roman Emperors until its legalization by Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century.

In 391 Theodosius I established Nicene Christianity as the official and, except for Judaism, only legal religion in the Roman Empire.

During the Migration Period of Late Antiquity, various Germanic peoples adopted Christianity. By the Middle Ages distinct forms of Latin and Greek Christianity increasingly separated until cultural differences and disciplinary disputes finally resulted in the Great Schism, which formally divided Christendom into the Catholic west and the Orthodox east.

Beginning in the 7th century, Islam began a long series of military conquests of Christian areas, and it quickly conquered areas of the Byzantine Empire, Asia Minor, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and even southern Spain. Numerous military struggles followed, including the Crusades, the Spanish Reconquista, the Fall of Constantinople and the aggression of the Turks.

In the early sixteenth century, increasing discontent with corruption and immorality among the clergy resulted in attempts to reform the Church and society. The Protestant Reformation began after Martin Luther published his 95 theses in 1517, while the Roman Catholic Church experienced internal renewal.

During the following centuries, competition between Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political struggles among European states. Meanwhile, partly from missionary zeal, but also under the impetus of colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas, Oceania, East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Answer 5

The disciples went to the Jewish community, but Apostle Paul who Christ stopped on the road to Damascus spread the gospel throughout the known world. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul spent 3 years in the Arabian desert receiving from the Lord. Therefore, Paul tells us about new things given to him by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christians were persecuted in the most horrible ways and they refused to deny Jesus Christ. It would have been so easy to deny Christ and live, but the disciples, Apostle Paul and many early Christians refused to deny Christ at the risk of losing their lives. Death wasn't easy - bulls gored them, lions ate them and they refused to deny Christ.

Pick up a Bible - Read the Book of John - Faith comes by hearing the gospel. Don't overlook John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The Book of John tells you Scripture Cannot Be Broken. There has not been one lie found in the Bible. All prophecy has come true.
The past, present and future are in the Bible and very few people even take time to read it. That includes Christians. Because we have our being in Christ Jesus, God tugs at our heart. He wants all of us to know Him.

Answer 6

I think it was the same things that work today....

The Gospel was shared. (Gospel means "Good News" in Greek). At that time, because of the Polytheisitic nature of Romans and Greeks, it may have been easier for people to say to themselves, "Jesus, yeah that one sounds good to me". So the ground was fertile, so to speak.

Also, Christians lived differently than others. They lived simpler lives less decadent then normal. God lets us know what's right and wrong and I think people watched the Christians and knew that something was different about them and it was just 'right' to them.

And I'm also sure that the Holy Spirit had a lot to do with it.

Answer 7

The book of Acts covers this.

Acts 5:12-14 (Amplified Bible)

12Now by the hands of the apostles (special messengers) numerous and startling signs and wonders were being performed among the people. And by common consent they all met together [at the temple] in the covered porch (walk) called Solomon's.

13And none of those who were not of their number dared to join and associate with them, but the people held them in high regard and praised and made much of them.

14More and more there were being added to the Lord those who believed [those who acknowledged Jesus as their Savior and devoted themselves to Him joined and gathered with them], crowds both of men and of women,

Answer 8

I believe that Jesus will take 99 steps too you, he'll knock on your door, but it's completely up to you whether you take the one step to him and open the door for him to come into your life. I feel when you reach out to God he reaches back and you know it's him, you feel him, and feel his love and see his awesomeness. When the disciples went out and preached (and Paul wrote romans, a letter to the romans) these were testimonies that people accepted and once they accepted it God showed them who he was with his heart.

I hope that explains it a little clearer for you, good question!

Answer 9

Slowly, by word of mouth and deed. THe first Christians were the apostles and disciples. They preformed mircals in the name of God and Christ, but they couldn't worship openly for they were pursecuted. Many died in the beginning.

IT wasn't until Constine allowed Christianity to be allowed did it actually start gathering open followers. Most who followed until then had to keep it a secret. Once in the open, the members grew because the message wasn't as muted.

Answer 10

Christianity spread through Jesus' disciples.

Answer 11

Very slowly at first. Then like the wind they engulfed the world. One entire third of the Earth is now Christian. They are in regression at the moment but I have no doubt they will bounce back. It is a powerful religion. xx