How did Christianity grow into a major religious movement?

D DURING THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR TIBERIUS (r. 14–37 C.E.), in the Roman province of Judaea, which had been created out of the Jewish kingdom of Judah, a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth preached, attracted a following, and was executed on the order of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. At the time, all of these events were relatively minor, but Christianity, the religion created by Jesus’s followers, came to have an enormous impact, first in the Roman Empire and later throughout the world.

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Christian Oil LampWhen Christianity spread in the Roman Empire, many believers purchased household goods with Christian symbols. This pottery lamp for an ordinary home, dating from the fourth century, is marked with a common symbol for Jesus, the letters XP (chi rho), the first two letters in Greek for Christos, “Christ.” (Zev Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com)