There were certainly factors that proved ideal for the spread of Christianity. One was the Hellenistic culture that became a common patrimony among peoples. Another was the political-administrative structure of the Roman Empire that guaranteed peace and stability. Still, we must not idealize the age as amenable to Christian aspirations. Apostles like Paul and his converts faced personal dangers and debilitating experiences in living their faith. That Christianity would take the world at that time by storm, soon supplanting other religions, could only point to its inner power. Paul’s gospel had given them the true God, and to come to know the true God is to receive hope. By virtue of that hope, they could face their present, and the present, even if arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads toward a goal. And their goal is their salvation. Christians could make their own Paul’s conviction, solid as rock: “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38).
