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| Emperor Constantine c 302 AD |
There are two specific people deserving the lion's share of credit for
Christianity's facebook-like success—Constantine and
Charlemagne. Nothing can pull an underground movement out from the
shadows like state endorsement. Constantine was an early 4th Century
Roman emperor who was responsible for exactly that. Before his rein,
Christians were a persecuted lot. After all Jesus was crucified for
sedition, real or not. And most of the ancient Mediterranean was pagan,
whereas Christianity required reneging on many naughty but potentially
fun elements of paganism. Maybe that's why Constantine waited a very
long time before being baptized.
On the other side of the condemnation coin was Judaism itself—Jews
didn't care for Christians because most didn't hold that Jesus was the
Messiah, not to mention the fact that Christ's teaching seemingly went
against the Jewish mainstream current. Add to that the whole idea that
gentiles were welcome in the new faith. In other words Jesus went
outside the tribe and Jews didn't appreciate it.
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