Christianity's Success

There was not one important factor in the success of Christianity, but a combination of factors. The time that this religion started to form and Paul’s accomplishments were the main factors that kept Christianity alive.

The time when Christianity was developing was a time when there was a clear and extreme contrast in socio-economic class. The majority of the population was illiterate, uneducated and struggling with life as a peasant. Jesus’ teachings were appealing because the messages were delivered through parables and he did not focus on following the rules of the Torah exactly. He instead focused on the spirituality of God. This was especially alluring because those who were struggling to live were able to focus more on survival without the guilt of breaking some of the laws of the Torah. Because of the element of philosophy, Jesus’ teachings also attracted some of the educated upper class who were seeking a more philosophical alternative to the traditional Greco-Roman religions.

Paul’s “conquests” also had a massive impact on the success of Christianity. Paul was able to spread the word of Christianity, but also build a foundation for it by establishing communities across the Roman Empire. He was responsible for the independence of Christianity from Judaism. The fact that Paul allowed non Jews to become Christian allowed more people to join and ultimately create a larger following. Paul probably would not have been able to accomplish this however had it not been for what was happening at the time.