The Growth of Christianity

Taken from The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy

Despite the traditional claims, there is no evidence that the Roman persecutions led to a significant increase in the number of Christians. Christianity did not really take off until Emperor Constantine adopted the religion, at which point martyrdom was no longer an option as Christians were a favoured and protected group.

Christianity is usually pictured as spreading rapidly, especially amongst the poor and dispossessed, until it was the dominant force in the ancient world, waiting to take its destined place as the religion of the Roman Empire. But this is complete fantasy, first cultivated by Tertullian (c200), who makes outrageous claims that : ‘Nearly all the citizens in nearly all the cities are cities are Christians.’ Scholars now recognise that this is a ridiculous exaggeration. The more trustworthy Origen (c204) admits that Christians were actually only a tiny fraction of the ancient world’s inhabitants.

The question of how many Christians there were in the first few centuries is very difficult to answer. Inscriptions and Pagan texts make next to no references to Christians before 250. They are not mentioned either in the two most substantial histories written in the early third century. W e have only one actual statistic, and that from the fourth century Christian ‘historian’ Eusebius, who is an extremely unreliable source. He tells us that in 251 ‘more than fifteen hundred widows and poor people’ were supported by Rome’s Christians, who included 154 ministers of varying rank (52 of whom were exorcists!) Scholars estimate that by 250 about 2 per cent of the Empire’s population was Christian. After this time, it may have risen to around 4 to 5 per cent of the population. Even in the fourth century, however, Eusebius still knows of only three little townships which are Christian in the entire Holy Land.

The growth in the popularity of Christianity in the first three centuries CE was not unique, but part of a general upsurge in the popularity of the Mysteries throughout the ancient world. As it entered the new millennium, religious scepticism was rife within the Roman Empire. As Gibbon remarks, ‘All gods were seen by philosophers as equally true, by the politicians as equally false, and by the magistrates as equally useful’. But Plutarch tells us that the oracles that had been in decline during his youth were flourishing again at the beginning of the second century. During this century in Athens the ceremonies of Dionysus, which had lapsed completely, were reinstated and the number of people seeking initiation at Eleusis grew considerably. The Mysteries of Mithras also became hugely popular across the whole of the Empire.

Christianity was another Mystery cult gaining ground alongside many other such cults. However, it was attracting the attention of Pagan intellectuals. Their reactions to this new religion were similar to those of mainstream society to the many fringe religious cults of today. When Christianity became too popular to be simply ignored, its claims to originality were (justifiably) derided and its leaders accused of manipulating the gullible to line their own pockets and bolster their own egos.

Tacitus and Pliny (c112), the first Pagan writers to take any notice of Christianity, saw the Christians as just superstitious fanatics given to over-emotional enthusiasm. Celsus (c170) described them as ‘a people who have cut themselves off from the rest of civilisation’ by claiming their faith to be unique and in opposition to ancient Paganism. In his view, Christians are irrational, for they ‘do not want to give or receive a reason for what they believe’ but rather win converts by telling them ‘not to ask questions but to have faith!’