Christianity advanced with marvelous rapidity over the
Roman world. At the close of the first century there were Christians everywhere
in Asia Minor. The second century saw the establishment of flourishing churches
in almost every province of the empire. A hundred years later there were
missionaries along the Rhine, on the Danube frontier, and in distant Britain.
"We are but of yesterday," says a Christian writer, with pardonable
exaggeration, "yet we have filled all your places of resort-- cities,
islands, fortresses, towns, markets, the camp itself, the tribes, town councils,
the palace, the senate, and the forum, We have left to you only the temples of
your gods." [18]
[18] Tertullian, Apology, 37.
CONDITIONS FAVORING THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
Certain circumstances contributed to the success of this
gigantic missionary enterprise. Alexander's conquests in the East and those of
Rome in the West had done much to remove the barriers to intercourse between
nations. The spread of Greek and Latin as the common languages of the
Mediterranean world furnished a medium in which Christian speakers and writers could
be easily understood. The scattering of the Jews after the destruction of
Jerusalem provided the Christians with an audience in many cities of the
empire. The early missionaries, such as Paul himself, were often Roman citizens
who enjoyed the protection of the Roman law and profited by the ease of travel
which the imperial rule had made possible. At no other period in ancient
history were conditions so favorable for the rapid spread of a new religion.
