The secret of how Christianity spread across the world

by Terry 108 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  maksym

  Early Christianity largely spread because of the viral nature of political expediency among pagan leaders, rulers and kings whose mothers, daughters and wives had accepted the Christian Faith. The wife has the ear. The wife has the influence. The wife has the emotional persuasion. Moral suasion, you might call it. And certainly the long-term influence over children as I mentioned above.

  Women in the Roman empire were ready and willing to embrace the peaceful aspects of christianity after centuries of seeing their sons grow up and die in silly wars. Christinaity was "turn the other cheek." Christianity was pro-family. Christianity was anti-politics.

  Slowly but inexorably it was women who made Christianity a powerful and mighty influence.

  Men retained the power as long as they possibly could by creating marginal status for their christian wives and daughters, but, today we see that women have finally broken through the "glass ceiling" of prejudice and Pauline prohibitions.

  Is this just your opinion? Can you quote sources? This sounds just like another emotional diatribe from an ex cult member. I am a student of historical Christianity. You are completey off-base. Biased in my opinion in every respect.

  If you want to have any weight in that statement quote your sources otherwise it is just words.
• 

  Midget-Sasquatch

  While I remember Stark mentioning the role of women in spreading Christianity, I seem to recall that in one of his books he attributed an even greater reason for the spread of christianity. That being how the christians acted during the periods of epidemics and plagues that befell Rome.

  You'd have the best known Roman physician high tailing it out of the city to avoid the pestilence, to hell with the sick. Alot of pagan romans shunned the sick as well. Damn it must be my Italian heritage then thats responsible for my being a little upset when someone hacks half a lung right in my face. I'm screaming internally get away!

  In contrast you had the christians....actually taking care of the sick without worry of getting ill themselves. Stark postulates that it was that concern for people that served as one major draw for chrisitanity. No doubt the women were acting as nurses in those cases.
• 

  wobble

  So that is why the JDubs have such success in their making of converts, all the selfless work they do in the community like............

  Oh, Wobbles got that one wrong.

  Interesting thread this, it is a fascinating phenomenon, the spread of a religion, the original reasons can be determined, but it is strange that it continues centuries later when so much has changed, but perhaps not enough changes , so religion that frees people from some sort of oppression still appeals, even though the milieu has changed.
• 

  Curtains

  maksym

  Is this just your opinion? Can you quote sources? This sounds just like another emotional diatribe from an ex cult member. I am a student of historical Christianity. You are completey off-base. Biased in my opinion in every respect. If you want to have any weight in that statement quote your sources otherwise it is just words.

  this is what I have been asking Terry. But as his assertions are so colourful and inflammatory they are very entertaining. He is a great voice for xjws and I always pay attention to him except when he makes mysognistic assertions.
• 

  PSacramento

  It spread because it filled a void.

  It was maintained because it KEPT that void filled.

  That void was different things to different people and that is why it works so well, even when it shouldn't and it was abused.

  Just rememberone thing, no matter how Paul MAY be painted in the many SELECTIVE views of the doctrines attributed to him, Paul was NOT anti-woman in any way shape or form, as it is made clear in the final chapter in Romans.

  One passage that is attributed to Paul ( that was probably not even wrtiiten by Him) in the pastoral Letter to Timothy, does NOT cancel out what Paul clearly states in ALL THE REST of his writings.

  That is JW and WT MO people and we should all see it for what it is by now.
• 

  Robdar

  Hmmm, I wish I could give Terry's assertations in this thread more credence except that I cant. Because in my family, it was my father who converted to JWs and dragged the rest of us along screaming and kicking. Granted, years later, when my father wanted to leave, my mother hounded him into staying. Thank God all of us have finally left.

  I don't interpret the Bible literally. Hell, I don't even believe most of it. But all I have to do is look around me and see how men are still blaming women for all their faults and I can almost believe the story where Adam blamed Eve for his sin. Please open your Bible and let's read from Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 8-12.

  8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

  10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

  11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

  12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

  As this thread and scripture clearly indicates, it is ALWAYS the woman's fault. We all know men would be blameless if it weren't for women.

  Granted, I have converted to Judaism and the Jews DO NOT interpret the above scripture in the same way Christians do. In Judaism, Eve is blameless and it was Adam who sinned. Women do not even have to participate in Jewish ritual unless they choose to do so. It is men who must make ammends to God. I also have problems with the Jewish interpretation but that is a different discussion for a different day.

  Actually, my husband and I agree that this whole discussion borders on silly. Some men are spiritual, some men are not. Some women are spiritual, some are not. Some men are gullible, some are not. Some women are gullible, some are not. It has everything to do with the person in question, and nothing to do with gender. Greg also wanted to add that he doesn't describe as gullible somebody who doesn't agree with him.

  We're leaving for a small vacation, so we will not be back for a while. We hope everybody has a good week.

  Robyn & Greg
• 

  Terry

  Thinking about things we have always accepted in a NEW or FRESH way isn't easy, I know.

  There is a tension which is hard to overcome.

  One way to approach things from a fresh perspective is to begin with humilty.

  Yes, humility. A willingness to be wrong if the facts can persuade.

  But, without a willingness to let go you will never change your ideas.

  This is what keeps people inside the Kingdom hall. They are UNWILLING to ever be wrong and all too willing

  to automatically accept from Authority that something simply IS exactly what is asserted.

  Read the following and give it some consideration without automatically trying to resist at every turn.

  Mull it over. See if you get any fresh ideas from it. It is one of many sources.

  Basing his conclusions on history, studies of modern cults and modern sociological studies, Rodney Stark of the University of Washington, argued persuasively in his book: The Rise of Christianity that Christianity went from being a fringe sect in the Roman Empire to dominate religion of Western Civilization through the efforts women and the educated classes in the same way that religion the Unification Church of Rev. Moon attracts followers today.
  
  Stark argued that Constantine did not introduce Christianity to Rome but rather reacted to rapid growth of Christianity within the empire. Stark believed that Christianity grew in the Roman Empire at a rate of 40 percent a decade, growing from around 1,000 (0.0017 percent of the population) in A.D. 40 to nearly 34 million (56.5 percent of the population) in A.D. 350, when it reached "a critical mass” of at least 10 percent of the Roman Empire.
  
  Stark said conversions did not take place with rallies in marketplace but rather quietly through relatives and friend. Basing this claim on the fact that Mormon missionaries convert only one of 1,000 by cold house calls but covert one of every two people they meet through friends and relatives, wrote "conversion tends to proceed along social networks formed by interpersonal relations.” He said that by not requiring “converts to observe the [Jewish] law, they created a religion free of ethnicity.”
  
  Book: The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark (Princeton, 1996).
  Women and the Spread of Christianity

  Women and the Spread of Christianity
• 

  Terry

  Christianity condemns divorce, incest, marital infidelity, and polygamy. Christians eliminated the double standard of pagans wherein women should remain virgins until married, but men had concubines and other intimate relations before marriage. According to Christianity, a wife should be treated with love and respect by her husband. A husband is not allowed to abuse his wife. An example of this is found in the Bible, which says, “[The husband] Forbids withholding what is due, and requires treating the wife with tenderness and understanding” - 1 Corinthians 7:3-5; 1 Peter.
  Some historians disagree that women were treated better because of
  Christianity. They think that it is a bit of a stretch, considering that even
  today in many societies, women are not treated as equals. But even if you
  look at society today, you will notice that Christian women are treated better
  than females in other religions. In certain Christian religions, women can
  become ministers or reverends. This cannot be said in Judaism or Islam.
  
  Another thing that Jesus brought forward was that women had the
  right to divorce their husband if they so wished. He tried to remove the
  invisible stool that put men above women. His efforts paid off in Rome. Two
  hundred or so years after the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, women
  were given the right to leave their husbands. Even better, rich ones were
  allowed to leave and take a large sum of money with her.
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/7950/How-Jesus-and-Christianity-changed-the-World
• 

  tec

  I tend to agree with Robyn. I do not like these generalization thoughts. All women are this; all men are that. It does depend on the person.

  As for growing, even after reading Terry's info, it was both men and women, leaders and empires, wars and families that spread Christianity. Not one factor, but many.

  But even this shows that it was not women who are solely responsible for spreading Christianity:

  The Church encouraged women to marry pagan husbands, even Senators.

  Women followed the church, which was made of... men.

  Tammy
• 

  Terry

  For those of you who can't be bothered reading paragraph after paragraph of writing I think this one thought

  really bears profound scrutinty.

  Read it. Think about it. Reflect on it. Then, if you like, comment.

  The Church encouraged women to marry pagan husbands, even Senators. This allowed Christianity to penetrate the aristocracy through conversion of spouses and children. The ban on abortion and female infanticide allowed more Christian women to give birth to Christian children.