Why Did Christianity Survive As A Religion?

Christianity is one of the most dominant religions of today’s world. The central tenet behind this monotheistic religion stem from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus. However, the development of Christianity in the Roman world was filled with carnage and brutality. It consisted of Christian mobs massacring rival followers; emperor’s calling meetings of all the bishops of the empire; violent destruction of pagan temples, and so on. So how did Christianity survive as a religion, when many others of the time did not? There were many different factors that contributed to the religions survival. Including Constantine granting Christians freedom of worship, ridding the empire of all pagan religions, and the alliance between the state and church.
That all followers were promised gifts of wealth and considered equal in God’s eyes. Making it much more appealing to the public and answering the question as to why Christianity became the religion of Rome. The person with the strongest influence in Christianity’s survival and success was Constantine I, the first ever Christian emperor. The primary source evidence on Constantine proves this. Eusebius of Caesarea, a bishop in Roman Palestine, documented Constantine’s experience before the battle of the Milvian Bridge. Constantine confirmed by oath that he saw with his own eyes a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “By this sign you will conquer.” He contemplated the meaning behind this and in his sleep that night he was visited by the Christ of God, appearing to him with the same sign. Commanding him to make use of it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies. Shortly after
In other words, a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim in the Roman Empire. One of the other main reasons Christianity prevailed in Rome, was due to the elimination of pagan traditions throughout the empire. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, exemplified this as he turned down Symmachus’ petition to bring back the pagan Altar of Victory. Ambrose’s argument for why the altar should not be put back was that “Hannibal also worshipped the same gods. If these sacred rites conquered in the Romans, then they were overcome in the Carthaginians; if they triumphed in the Carthaginians, they certainly did not benefit the romans.” Hannibal was a Carthaginian general who had carried out many attacks on Rome. In other words, Ambrose argued that the old Pagan traditions were a threat to the Christians because it benefited the enemies too. This is just one instance of the empire ridding itself of different forms of paganism, giving Christianity the perfect opportunity to advance. Jerome, a Latin stylist, who had cut himself off from the world to become a monk added to the spread of a very similar idea. He told the story of when he went to Jerusalem and was attacked by Satan. Which left him with a fever that attacked his body and had him fighting for his life. Jerome said that a light finally shined down and “granted me the opportunity to repent of my error and then to exact the penalty if I ever read books of pagan