Bring Back the Lions? [Why Christianity Spread]

Christian nobles boast of the religion's spread around the globe as testament to its divine message and how it inspires faith, hope, love and everlasting Life. But a look at Christian beginnings offers a clue to what is really behind Christian popularity. Constantine, known as the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity, did not do so until on his deathbed. Before that, he conspired with Church hierarchy for the prestige he was losing with his own Roman nobles. What did he do? Tolerant of all religions de jure, pagans and Jesus cultists all, he lavished honors and commissions on Christians and showed some disfavor to pagans in higher taxes. In education, we might call this giving a cue, provoking a desired response. With the result that Christianity grew in popularity. Hellenism [pagans] grew to the fringes. Recall that 19th century British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, was born into a Jewish family but his father had him baptised in the Church of England [Anglicans], so he could have access to better schools and social mobility. Christianity has spread the globe in large part because the Masters of the Earth have wielded the Bible and Cross in their conquests and lavished prizes on the converts, and the conquered have followed the lead. Peculiarly, in much the same way poor Third World countries have found AIDS scares to be enormously lucrative, even inflating HIV rates to get western money they would not get otherwise, Christianity has covered the world. But what of Religion? What has been lost in the abandon of ancient, earth religions and their gods for a bribe?