I have always wondered how the church grew so fast in the early centuries in spite of the persecutions. Can you help me?
First, let us look at the facts. Historians and sociologists calculate that the early church grew at a steady rate of some 3.4 to 4 percent a year, resulting in exponential growth that was truly extraordinary.
The estimated number of Christians in 40AD was some 1000, in 200 AD 200,000, and in 300 AD 6 million, some 10 percent of the population of the Roman Empire. This growth took place in the midst of bitter persecutions, when it was exceedingly dangerous to be a Christian.
It should be understood that the persecutions were not a continuous, empire-wide campaign, but were rather sporadic, depending on who was the emperor, and often localised, depending on the attitude of the regional governor.
The persecutions lasted for some 250 years, from that of Nero, who was emperor from 64 to 68 AD and who put Saints Peter and Paul to death, to that of Diocletian (303-311 AD).
An especially severe and widespread persecution was that of Decius (249–251 AD), who required all citizens to obtain a certificate that they had offered sacrifice to the Roman gods, under pain of imprisonment or execution.
The last and most severe persecution was that of Diocletian, who ordered the destruction of churches, the burning of scriptures, and the execution of Christian leaders. The persecutions ended, at least officially, when emperors Constantine and Licinius, with the Edict of Milan in 313, granted Christianity legal status and toleration.
Such was the growth of the Church that in 380 co-emperors Theodosius I, Gratian and Valentinian II issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which declared Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire.
Why did the Romans persecute Christians? The answer is principally because they viewed them as a threat to public order and civic duty, since Christians refused to worship the Roman gods and goddesses and the emperor, whom the Romans regarded as divine. For this reason, they were considered guilty of treason.
Paradoxically, the Roman efforts to destroy the church actually accelerated its growth. The early ecclesiastical writer Tertullian summarised it in his Apologeticus around 197AD: “The more you mow us down, the more we grow. The blood of Christians is seed.”
There are various reasons for the rapid growth of the church during the persecutions. Among them are the following.
First, persecution gave the small, little-known church wide-spread public exposure, making it known to people who had never heard of it. The Romans executed Christians in huge amphitheatres to deter others from becoming Christian. Instead, the courage of the martyrs, including women and children, was a powerful witness to the faith, drawing pagans to want to be like them.
Second, persecution acted as a natural filter, attracting to the faith only those with firm convictions and courage. When being Christian could result in the loss of property, liberty, or life, outsiders saw the church as a community of absolute integrity and conviction, making it highly attractive to those seeking genuine spiritual truth.
Third, every time a localised persecution broke out, many Christians fled from the cities to rural towns and provinces, and even beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, establishing new communities in regions where the Gospel might otherwise not have reached for decades.
Fourth, when deadly plagues struck the empire, pagans fled and abandoned their sick relatives to die, while Christians stayed behind, nursing both their own and their pagan neighbours. As a result, Christian survival rates were much higher, and many pagans converted to the faith out of gratitude.
Fifth, by strictly banning common Roman practices like infanticide, abortion, and the abandonment of female newborns, Christian communities experienced higher birth and survival rates.
Sixth, unlike the case in Roman society, Christianity taught that everyone – slaves, women, and the poor – had equal worth before God, making it very attractive.
