How Did Mary Magdalene Help To Spread Christianity

Jesus’ teachings created the religion of Christianity. Though Christians were persecuted during the beginning of time in which they began to spread, many factors helped to shape Christianity into the popular religion it is today. Christianity was able rise from just a Jesus ministry to a popular religion with the help of martyrdom, missionaries, governmental support and Jesus himself.

Martyrdom helped to spread Christianity because when people heard about the deaths, they realized that Christianity was important enough for people to die for. For example, Perpetua, a Christian martyr was killed because she went against the Roman emperor’s law in order to be baptized and convert to Christianity. Since she sacrificed her life and died a terrible death in order to join the religion she believed in, many decided to convert to Christianity. Additionally, she wrote about her belief that she would go to

heaven when she died which had its own appeal. Another reason many converted to Christianity because the martyrs were handled very carefully when they were buried.
Many missionaries such as Paul helped to spread Christianity by preaching the ideas of Christianity to people all over. People found Paul’s message appealing because it prioritized love and kindness to others. At the time, the Roman government was very harsh, so a faith that sounds so peaceful and happy was very tempting. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans says “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For a main that believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” The idea of being “saved” also seemed very pleasant, and attracted many to christianity. St. Paul’s letters helped to spread the ideas from just a “Jesus movement” because if you converted fully to christianity, you wouldn’t have to follow the old law unlike the jews who believed in Jesus.
Through many different methods, governmental support was able to help Christians become stronger and more legitimate. Though the Roman Empire treated Christians badly at first, Constantine, a leader of the Roman Empire himself, was able to help Christianity rise to the popular religion it is today. First, Constantine had a vision during the Battle of Milvian Bridge. After this vision and his victory, Constantine was able to welcome Christianity to the empire by making Christianity legal with the Edict of Milan. Furthermore, Constantine helped to narrow down the texts that would become the bible. For example, he got rid of the Gnostic gospels but kept the gospels of the Evangelists; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Additionally, Constantine called the Council of Nicea in order to work out disagreements among leaders of the early church. He helped to decide that Jesus was of the same being as His Father rather than just similar to him and therefore fully divine and not just “like” God. Finally, Constantine was a great defender of Christianity and the rights of Christians. In his empire, he made sure that the Christian religion was protected.
Jesus’ message was very appealing which helped his religion to spread. People found the idea loving god and your neighbors appealing because it was happy and would help to strengthen a community. Additionally, an afterlife gave them something to look forward to.
Women were especially attracted to Christianity when it began to rise as a religion based on the roles they would have as a Christian woman.

For example, Thecla, a Christian woman in the second century, was able to leave her husband to follow the words of Paul and become a missionary. Though her family did not believe in this, Thecla is still capable to do what she wishes. Mary Magdalene is another example of a powerful Christian woman. She was highly respected in the church and thought to be a leader of her Christian community. Mary Magdalene worked on allowing women to teach. Considering that just before she met Jesus she was going to be stoned to death because she was a prostitute, Christianity saved her because she was given forgiveness. Because these two women and many more were successful following the Christian faith, many more women were attracted to it considering that their lives before were terrible (couldn’t make their own decisions/ were “owned” by their fathers or husbands) and Christianity offered forgiveness for sins that could have gotten them

killed.