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Entry 67 of 240Reform

The Rise of Christianity

c. 30 CE/Near East/Roman Judea
Today The Roman Near East (from Judea across the empire)Span Early Christianity · 1st–4th c. CE

In a small province of the Roman Empire, a Jewish preacher named Jesus gathered followers, was executed by the Roman authorities, and — his followers proclaimed — rose again. What began as a tiny sect spread through the empire's cities and trade routes over three centuries, appealing especially to the poor, the enslaved, and women, until it captured the empire itself.

◆ Worth knowingFor its first 300 years Christianity was an often-persecuted minority faith. Then the emperor Constantine adopted it — and within a lifetime the once-hunted religion was banning the empire's old gods instead.
◆ The mechanismIdeological movement

A belief system rises, spreads, institutionalizes, and then schisms — changing the rules people accept as legitimate.

Also: Legitimating-narrative collapse

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