How and why did the persecution of Christians lead to the spread of Christianity?

Question

What was it about the persecution of the Christians or the Christians at all that caused many to convert? What was it about them that attracted others so much that they were willing to suffer for it?

Answer 1

Many saw and heard about the miracles of Christ , then many saw the converson of Paul .Also they saw how the Christians acted while being persecuted

Answer 2

I think that one of the chief motivational reasons for the spreading of the Gospel by persecuted or non-persecuted Christian's is brought about through the realization of what God has done for those individuals. Evangelism is an outward response to an inward reality. Spreading the Gospel is an act of loving obedience to the commands of God that are inspired by a deep and profound love towards Jesus.

Simply put, when a person finds a great restaurant they go and tell all of their friends and others about it prompting them to check it out.

The same is with Jesus. When a person truly experiences the Savior they can't help themselves so they go out a spread the news. It is a similar metaphor but with with Jesus it is much more profound in fact its profound enough to die for.

Great question friend!

Answer 3

Christianity gave people the ability to have eternal life, and a personal relationship with one powerful "father".

Once Jesus died, Bishops arose as the authority and became very involved in everyone's everyday life. Eventually, there was no choice but to convert.

That's how it spread.

Persecution? You mean what the Christians did to Muslims and Jews during the Crusades?

Also, remember that many Monarchs spent a great deal of effort and money to convert their entire countries.

Then you have the witch burnings, and the Inquisition. Who wouldn't convert to avoid going through that mess?

Answer 4

--IF YOU ARE TALKING about the Christianity of the early disciples up until the death of the apostles about 100 A.D. and somewhat there after , this is an account of what took place and would for a while!
This commentary is on the affect Peter, John & Paul and others,through the reliable Biblical record and how Paul comments on why Christians increased in both activity & numbers:

*** w82 4/15 pp. 17-18 ‘Happy Are You When People Persecute You’ ***

Early Christians Persecuted

9 In harmony with Jesus’ warning, early Christians did experience persecution, which at times was very severe. Many were driven from their homes and forced to flee to other areas, as in the case of the congregation in Jerusalem. (Acts 8:1) Others, like the apostle John, were exiled. (Revelation 1:9) The apostle Paul and those working with him in the public ministry were stoned and flogged. (Acts 14:19; 16:22) Many of the early Christians experienced imprisonment, some had their belongings plundered and some were even killed. (Colossians 4:3; Philemon 9, 10; Hebrews 10:34; 13:3; Acts 12:1, 2) But they were able to rejoice, because they fully understood why they were being persecuted.

10 Did such persecution have the effect of stopping or even slowing down the work of ‘speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus’? No, for the early Christians refused to be intimidated. The account in Acts 5:40-42 tells us that the officials of the Jewish Sanhedrin court “summoned the apostles, flogged them, and ordered them to stop speaking upon the basis of Jesus’ name, and let them go.” What did these Christians then do? “These, therefore, went their way from before the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.”

11 Earlier, the apostles Peter and John had been before the Sanhedrin because of having healed a lame man and because of teaching on the basis of Jesus’ name. The account tells us: “With that they [the rulers and older men] called them and charged them, nowhere to make any utterance or to teach upon the basis of the name of Jesus. But in reply Peter and John said to them: ‘Whether it is righteous in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves. But as for us, we cannot stop speaking about the things we have seen and heard.’ So, when they had further threatened them, they released them, since they did not find any ground on which to punish them and on account of the people.”—Acts 4:18-21.

12 They were not frightened by the threats. The record shows that the apostles and the disciples fittingly prayed not for Jehovah to remove the persecution but that he would give them strength through his spirit to continue speaking his word with boldness. And that he did.—Acts 4:29, 31.

13 Paul’s imprisonment in Rome had beneficial results, as he explained in his letter to the Philippians: “Now I desire you to know, brothers, that my affairs have turned out for the advancement of the good news rather than otherwise, so that my bonds have become public knowledge in association with Christ among all the Praetorian Guard and all the rest; and most of the brothers in the Lord, feeling confidence by reason of my prison bonds, are showing all the more courage to speak the word of God fearlessly.” (Philippians 1:12-14) Yes, the persecution of Paul led to a greater witness being given, not only because of the publicity and opportunities that he had to witness to court officials, but also because other Christians were there encouraged to increase their activity."

Answer 5

Here's a good example of how God uses the persecution of His people to further the spread of the Good News:

Over 7,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the former USSR were shipped off to Siberia in the 1950's, sentenced to slave labour. They preached to people already living there, many of whom had never heard of God and by 1997 there were over 13,000.

Answer 6

Easy. Christianity was the religion of masochists at first, sadists later, and sado-masochists in its prime up until now...they wish that people were still being crucified today, so that they could be martyr for the day....

They flocked to the religion because they wanted to be persecuted...or because they thought "Hey, that guy's getting flogged to death for talking about that Jesus guy....he must be important to get punished that harshly for believing in Him". I assume that the last one is incredibly more valid than the first...but the first was more entertaining for me to come up with...

Answer 7

Christianity was a religion that gave everyone an equal chance at getting into heaven, that's why so many people liked it.

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure Christianity spread because the Roman Empire conveniently adopted it as its state religion.

Answer 9

The devil tried to stop the Word of God. But because the people knew the work and miracles of Jesus and what Jesus taught was real and true, it has made it's way to today.

Answer 10

Martyrdom instills great fear and awe into those who witness it, for one would only sacrifice their own self for a truly just and pure cause.