Christianity is one of the three world religions, which is today the leader in terms of the number of adherents. His influence is enormous. The territory of the spread of Christianity covers the whole world: it did not leave any corner of the globe without attention. But how did it come about and what made it such a success? We will try to answer these questions in this article.
Messianic aspirations of the ancient world
First, let's turn to the religious atmosphere of the world at the turn of our era. We are talking, of course, about the Ecumene - the Greco-Roman civilization, which became the cradle of modern Europe and humanity as a whole. At that time, there was a strong tension and an intense religious search. The official religion of Rome did not suit people who wanted depth and mysteries. Therefore, they turned their attention to the east, looking for some specialrevelations. On the other hand, the Jews who settled all over the world carried everywhere the idea of the imminent coming of the Messiah, who would change the face of the world and turn history around. He will become a new revelation of God and the savior of mankind. A crisis was ripening in every respect in the empire, and people just needed such a savior. Therefore, the idea of messianism was in the air.
Traveling Preachers
Of course, in response to the request of the age, many prophets and preachers appeared who declared themselves the sons of God and offered salvation and eternal life to their followers. Some of them were outright swindlers, others sincerely believed in their calling. Among the latter, indeed, there were quite a few great people, a striking example of which is Apollonius of Tyana. But they all organized their local communities, schools, then died, and the memory of them was erased. Only one such itinerant teacher was more fortunate than the others-Jesus the Jew.
Jesus appears
There is no reliable data about where he was born and what kind of life he led before his preaching, Jesus, later known as the Christ. Biblical stories on this subject are accepted by Christians on faith, but the degree of their historical authenticity is not very high. It is only known that he was from Palestine, belonged to a Jewish family and, possibly, to some kind of near-Jewish sect, like the Qumranites or the Essenes. Then he led a wandering lifestyle, preaching peace, love, the soon coming of the kingdom of God and, as itaffirmed in the New Testament, considered himself the Messiah promised by the Jewish prophets. However, whether he considered himself to be such or his followers imposed this role on him is a moot point. In the end, near Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified by the Roman authorities at the insistence of the Jewish clergy. And then the fun began.
The rise and spread of Christianity
Unlike his fellow saviors of mankind, Jesus was not forgotten. The disciples of Christ proclaimed the thesis that he was resurrected and was taken up to heaven. With this news, they first went around Palestine, and then focused their attention on other cities of the empire. It was this doctrine of the posthumous resurrection of Jesus that became the subject of the sermon that later secured such a stable position in the empire that Christianity had. Its distribution area extended from the British Isles to India. And this is only in the first century of its existence.
Apostle Paul
But the Apostle Paul especially labored in the field of preaching. It was he who, as they say, doctrinally "made" Christianity. The territory of distribution of his influence covered most of the empire. Starting from Antioch, he subsequently reached Spain and Rome, where he was killed on the orders of Nero. Everywhere he founded communities that grew like mushrooms after rain, multiplied and established themselves in all provinces and the capital.
Official religion
The spread of Christianity in the world took place in stages. If in the first period of its existence Christians were persecuted andthe preaching work rested on the bare enthusiasm and deep religious zeal of its adherents, then after 314, when the emperor made Christianity the state religion and ideology, the scope of proselytism acquired hitherto unknown proportions. Christianity, the territory of which spread throughout the empire, like a sponge, absorbed the bulk of the inhabitants - for the sake of a career, tax benefits, etc. people were baptized by the tens of thousands. Then, together with merchants, it began to spread beyond the empire - to Persia and beyond.
Patriarch Nestorius
Condemned as a heretic and expelled from Constantinople, Patriarch Nestorius led a new formation in the church known as the Nestorian Church. In fact, these were his followers, who, being expelled from the empire, joined the Syrian believers and subsequently launched a grandiose mission, traveling with their teachings almost the entire East, preaching Christianity. The territory of their influence covers all eastern countries, including China, up to the border areas of Tibet.
Further distribution
Over time, missionary centers covered all of Africa, and after the discovery of America and Australia - and them. Then, already from America, Christian preachers set off to conquer Asia and the territories of Hindustan, as well as other corners of the world lost far from civilization. Today, there is still active missionary work in these places. However, after the advent of Islam, significant Christianthe territories were lost for the church and deeply Arabized and Islamized. This applies to the vast territories of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, Syria, etc.
Rus and Christianity
The spread of Christianity in Russia began around the 8th century, when the first communities were founded in the Slavic territories. Western preachers asserted them, and the influence of the latter was not great. For the first time, the pagan Prince Vladimir decided to convert Russia for the first time, who was looking for a reliable ideological bond for the disunited tribes, whose native paganism did not satisfy his needs. However, it is possible that he himself sincerely converted to the new faith. But there were no missionaries. He had to lay siege to Constantinople and ask for the hand of a Greek princess to be christened. Only after that, preachers were sent to Russian cities, who baptized the population, built churches and translated books. For some time after that, there was pagan resistance, revolts of the Magi, and so on. But after a couple of hundred years, Christianity, the territory of which had already covered all of Russia, won, and pagan traditions sunk into oblivion.
