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bangdazap t1_iz6fnyh wrote

At first, Christianity wasn't super successful. There were many other mystery religion in circulation at the time. In the Roman Empire, there was something called "Roman syncretism", various religions were tolerated as long as they didn't disrupt the social order.

Christianity was persecuted at times, but there wasn't a sustained campaign of annihilation over the centuries it took before Christianity became the Roman state religion.

Why Christianity succeeded were other religions failed is an interesting question. Mithraism was another mystery religion that was popular around at the same time, but Mithras was a war god at a time when Rome was consistently getting its butt kicked on the battlefield. By contrast, Christianity was a apocalyptic religion at a time when it seemed to Romans that the world really was ending. So the message of Christianity resonated more with the peoples of the Roman empire I think. Plus it appealed to the broad masses for whom other religions like the Greco-Roman pantheon offered little (slaves and women were more likely to convert in the early days).

Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and gave it favored status in the empire. Once the Christians had become powerful enough the struck out at the other religions, sending black-robed monks to ransack pagan temples and destroy statues. Other religions were ultimately banned, but as others have pointed out a lot of beliefs were incorporated into Christianity (e.g. Christmas was originally Saturnalia) making the transition smoother.

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flippythemaster t1_iz7etc4 wrote

This is a very good post and I agree with what you’re saying but I’m very pedantic and feel the need to point out that Saturnalia is unlikely to be the source of Christmas (at least, directly) because it was celebrated from the 17th to the 23rd. It seems more likely that it comes from the date of the winter solstice since that’s celebrated on the 25th of December on the Julian calendar. Interestingly enough, on the modern calendar the solstice falls on the 21st so we’ve been celebrating it wrong since the adoption of this newer calendar system. Open your presents early, kiddos! That said, I’m sure you’re right inasmuch as the celebration of Saturnalia at around the same time period (if not THE EXACT period) probably led to the easy adoption of Christmas by the public, since you can call it whatever you want as long as we get our gosh darned presents. Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but this is Reddit so that’s what we do

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PDV87 t1_iz8em5z wrote

As you say, the traditional celebration of the solstice was probably the main reason why December 25th was chosen as the date on which Christ's birth was celebrated. Some people argue that another contributing factor was the holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which celebrated the birth of Sol Invictus on December 25th; however, the Emperor Aurelian instituted this holiday in 274 AD, and many others argue that he did so because Christians were already celebrating Christmas on that date.

Regarding the choice of December 25th as the Nativity, Saint Augustine said: "Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase."

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FenrisGreyhame t1_iz8yql9 wrote

Interesting. So it would seem that Christmas, from the very beginning, was never a purely Christian thing. Or am I misunderstanding?

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Clio90808 t1_iza3e0v wrote

I was also taught that an important reason why Christianity succeeded and Mithraism did not was that at the time Christianity had a strong appeal for women...in the early Christian church women were very important, there are a lot of strong women figures in the New Testament for example. Mithraism was the religion of soldiers, of males....don't know what current scholarship says tho. Augustine's mother was a Christian...as was Constantine's.

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Lady_Nienna t1_izdsggj wrote

Let us not forget that Christianity united religion and philosophy. A lot of ancient pagan philosopher keep their religious beliefs totally separate from their doctrines. And because the ancient religion was mostly focused on rites, it lacked the dimension of belief and "lifestyle". Christianity did for the masses what Stoicism and Pitagoreanism meant for the chosen elite.

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xanaxandlean t1_j0gbv33 wrote

Are u familiar with the first council of niacea? Where they introduced a 3 in 1 god?

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