Monotheism vs Polytheism Whether you believe in a religion or not, religion has a tremendous amount of influence over our daily lives. Even here in the United States, a country founded with religious freedom and a separation of church and state in mind, there are countless examples of how religions, especially Christianity, have dictated many aspects of our culture. From holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and to the Christian God being referenced on our currency as well as in our national anthem, Christian influences can be seen almost anywhere. As influential as Christianity has been on American culture the same could be said for Hinduism on Indian culture. According to 2014 polls, 70.6% of American adults identify themselves as Christian,
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History has been far more kind to Christianity than to any another religion. Even though in its very beginning it started out as a faith held and practiced secretly for fear of persecution, three main historical time periods helped it grow into the most popular religion in the world. The first of these time periods was during the height of the Roman Empire when the emperor at the time, Constantine the Great, saw a burning cross in the sky before a battle. He went on to decisively win that battle and from that moment on he became a Christian. He then quickly ended the persecution of Christians through out the empire with the Edict of Milan but never actually proclaimed Christianity as the empire’s religion. Still his conversion and his putting an end to the persecution of Christians allowed for the faith to grow at a stunningly rapid pace, quickly becoming one of the dominant religions throughout the vast empire. The second time period was during the Medieval times in Europe when the most powerful man in the world was the Pope. This came to be by the fall of the Roman Empire which lead to a tough time of little progress known as the Dark Ages. Through those tough times Christianity continued to grow and thrive becoming the sole source for moral authority in Europe. As kings once again began to come into power they still found they had to answer to the Pope who in the eyes of the vast majority of their people spoke the literal word of God which, carries far more weight than the word of any king. Other religions during this time faltered because of the oppression of the Church which caused other believes to lose influence and greatly increased the power of the Church. The third time period which produced far more converts than either of the other two was the European Colonialism time period, where Christianity was able to extend its influence to the far corners of the Earth.
History has been far more kind to Christianity than to any another religion. Even though in its very beginning it started out as a faith held and practiced secretly for fear of persecution, three main historical time periods helped it grow into the most popular religion in the world. The first of these time periods was during the height of the Roman Empire when the emperor at the time, Constantine the Great, saw a burning cross in the sky before a battle. He went on to decisively win that battle and from that moment on he became a Christian. He then quickly ended the persecution of Christians through out the empire with the Edict of Milan but never actually proclaimed Christianity as the empire’s religion. Still his conversion and his putting an end to the persecution of Christians allowed for the faith to grow at a stunningly rapid pace, quickly becoming one of the dominant religions throughout the vast empire. The second time period was during the Medieval times in Europe when the most powerful man in the world was the Pope. This came to be by the fall of the Roman Empire which lead to a tough time of little progress known as the Dark Ages. Through those tough times Christianity continued to grow and thrive becoming the sole source for moral authority in Europe. As kings once again began to come into power they still found they had to answer to the Pope who in the eyes of the vast majority of their people spoke the literal word of God which, carries far more weight than the word of any king. Other religions during this time faltered because of the oppression of the Church which caused other believes to lose influence and greatly increased the power of the Church. The third time period which produced far more converts than either of the other two was the European Colonialism time period, where Christianity was able to extend its influence to the far corners of the Earth.