How did it make it big?

[John Wayne]

How did the world's big religions (Christianity, Islam, Budhism, Hindi, etc...) make it big? How come they did not fall to the wayside as many other religous sects have in the past? Was it their message? The preacher(s) of the message? The wars and conflicts fought in the name of their God(s)? The absolute need for some people to rebel against the majority until THEY are the majority?

[Stalins Ghost]

My quick summary (not enough time to fully explain it), is that they eventually became adopted by major political powers, and consequently, conquered regions adopted the national religion to avoid various forms of persecution- e.g. after the conquest of Persia, Zoroastrians were taxed by the new Islamic rulers, so they converted.

[Maron]

I agree with stalins ghost

They were embraced and spread by some of the most powerful/influential empires in history.

[Zenith Darksea]

Hinduism is actually a collection of various minor religions that share a similar culture. As a result, it could hardly fail to make it big.

Islam was primarily spread by Arab conquest in the seventh century.

Buddhism is an interesting case; I'll have to look into that some more.

Christianity - you can say to some extent that it was a result of the Roman Emperor adopting it. But at the same time, he wouldn't have adopted it if it wasn't already a pretty major force in the Mediterranean world. The idea that it spread because of the Roman Empire is only partially accurate.

[John Wayne]

But why and how did Christianity become popular enough for a Roman Emperor to adopt it?

[Maron]

But why and how did Christianity become popular enough for a Roman Emperor to adopt it?

well...the story goes that before the battle of milvian bridge in 312 a.d., Constantine the great saw a cross in the sky along with the words: "Under this sign you will conquer".

Constantine then prayed to the christian god for a victory and it was delivered. So from that day forth, constantine declared that christianity would be the official religion of the empire.

EDIT: I checked my facts and realized that i made a mistake. While constantine converted to christianity and allowed christians to practice (it was previously illegal)
he did not make it the official religion. It was Theodosius I in 391ad who actually adopted it as the official and only religion of the empire. However it was the emperor Constantine that set the trend of emporers adopting the christian faith.

[MaximiIian]

But why and how did Christianity become popular enough for a Roman Emperor to adopt it?

The empire by then had fallen on hard times, economically. People were desperate for some kind of closure and explanation, and the Roman mythos just weren't cutting it. So, they did what desperate people do in such situations: they accept what sounds nice, and a post-mortem eternity in a supposed paradise sounded nice to poor folks.

[Sétanta]

And it was partly adopted because Christianity was on the rise within the Roman Empire and Paganism was on the decline.

So Constantine said "If you beat 'em, join 'em."

He picked the religion that looked like it would come out the winner and stuck with it, for there was major tension and direct warfare between Pagans and Christians.

[Turnus]

Also remember that Christianity is monotheistic and so instead of merely spreading to other regions and being added onto already established beliefs, it had to supplant them.

[Zenith Darksea]

There are lots of opinions on that. Partially it was due to the extremely good communications of the Roman Empire that allowed the rapid and easy spread of ideas. It has also been argued that it was due to its message of an afterlife, though this cannot be entirely accepted as this was not a new feature of religion. Was it because it promised a better life for the poor? Again, other religions did this in some way or another already. Was it because of the examples of martyrs? This is probably something to do with it - the sight of people willingly going to their death for their religion was quite a powerful one, presumably. Was it due to economic gains? Almost certainly not. Was it because of miracles? That's a tricky issue.

Was it because it was true? That depends on your perspective.

[Kino]

Deleted by user.

[Zenith Darksea]

Julian the Apostate had a good go at reversing the trend, but look where that got him.

[I Have a Clever Name]

What I find especially ironic is that as soon as Christianity was legalized, the persecution of other religious groups began with vigour.

[Zenith Darksea]

Such as? I'm not aware that the persecution of other religious groups did begin with vigour, actually. Christian heresies were strongly condemned, it is true, and occasionally the bishops were a little harsh on the heretics, but I'm not aware of any great pro-Christian persecutions.

[I Have a Clever Name]

The fact that villain derives from the latin word for villager should give you some indication.

The rural folk who still practiced the pagan religions were subject to brutal persecution.

[Zenith Darksea]

Examples?

[Farnan]

Christianity made it big since it pressed morality and decency in a hedonistic Roman world. Thus the teachings of Christianity were loved by the social reformers and those who were disgusted with hedonism...

[I Have a Clever Name]

Examples?

At the moment I'm quite tired and removed from my classical sources, however if you're interested look into the Theodosian decrees and you should see what I'm referring to. A customary google search should hopefully yield some information. It marked the beginning of major religious (and to an extent cultural) intolerance within the Roman world, whereas previously all religions were accepted provided the Emperor was included in the worship (hence the Romans' incessant troubles with the Jews and, later, Christians). PM me if you want to discuss it further!

[the Black Prince]

new religions are also a strong force with people disaffected with existing ones. they seek for answers that the current priests or druids cannot provide or refuse to give, or they simply are a member of that religion, because they grew up in it and know nothing else, and suddenly they are exposed to this new and wonderful thing preached to them by persuasive peopl, and they think, this explains the gap in my life, this is whats missing, this is the way that real answers lie

the same thing is said for the neo-pagan/new age revival of the old religions. people disaffected with the current big 6, especially in the west, turning to new ways to fill a spiritual gulf inside them now they have lost christianity or whatever. they turn to something that provides a new way to find the answers they seek, a way that is often markedly different from the way that currently exists, which gives it its big selling point.

christinaitry was very different from most of the popular existing religions, because while one person might be a devotee of Mithras, or Jupiter, or Mars, and hold him in special affection, they had a passing regard for all the Gods, and were surrounded every which way by deities.
chruistianity was something different, and different can often prove popular.

[Zenith Darksea]

Well the impression that I get is that with secularisation and capitalism, the West has begun to start dropping away from Christianity and other members of the 'big 6'. A lot of people are feeling the spiritual gap lefet by this however, and because of our frightful consumer culture are turning to the quick fix neo-pagan religions. What we need is a good dose of Socialism.