Conclusion

The World of Christianity

Christianity spread like a wildfire across the Roman world and the amazing thing is that it originated on the outskirts of the Roman Empire, in the ancestral homeland of the Jews. Judaism was considered a minority religion, yet its roots were firmly planted in Gentile soil.

Paul the apostle was well-suited for the task, educated as a Pharisee but also very exposed to the Hellenistic culture of his native home in Tarsus, he would be the man to bridge the gap between the Hebrew traditions and the Gentile world.

Paul seem to focus his church planting missions on such places as Ephesus, Corinth, and other cities which, like Tarsus, were cosmopolitan trading centers with large, diverse populations. In cities like these the new teachings regarding Christianity were more likely to be tolerated.

Even though the apostle Paul would minister the Word to his Jewish brethren initially, his main converts were usually Gentiles, who proved increasingly receptive to the beliefs and the morals of this new religion, which was a far cry from most of Roman society.

Paul and his companions, empowered by the holy spirit, laid a deep foundation across the ancient world and the culture of Western civilization was forever changed because of the courage and faith of these men who laid down their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of salvation to them that believe, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile."
- Paul The Apostle, 1st century AD