Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
A forbidden religion, originally composed of only a few devoted followers, eventually swept the western world. Believers think that the rise of Christianity was miraculous, and they argue that the stunning growth and eventual size of their religion is evidence that God really is on their side.
I argue that Christianity's spread is primarily due to its “memetic fitness” in a Roman pagan environment. Christianity's combination of evangelism, exclusivity, and novel ideas about the afterlife made for a fierce competitor to inclusive Roman polytheism. Christianity, in effect, created a zero-sum game with its pagan competitors and won that contest. Notably, its 3% average annual growth rate was humming along before Constantine converted. Christianity's success was not due solely to Constantine, but to its adaptive fitness, as well as its location: Christianity formed in the dominant Roman empire, ancestor to the modern western world.
The exclusivity of monotheism, the hope of heaven and the fear of hell, and the evangelism of Christianity gave it an adaptive edge over polytheistic, inclusive paganism.
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
Counter Apologetics: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/counter-apologetics/id1273573417
Walden Pod: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walden-pod/id1474408172
Support at Patreon.com/counter or /waldenpod
Tip Jar account.venmo.com/u/emersongreenpodcast
The Spread of Christianity counterapologetics.blubrry.net/2018/04/27/ca26-the-spread-of-christianity
originally released via podcast (04/27/2018)
transcript emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/the-spread-of-christianity
Bart Ehrman's The Triumph of Christianity amazon.com/Triumph-Christianity-Forbidden-Religion-Swept/dp/1501136704
Ehrman interview youtube.com/watch?v=LGIEKvkOHEM
Hitchens clip youtube.com/watch?v=BD_WptjCMPI
Pew religious data pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe
Estimating the number of people who have ever been born prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth
00:00 introduction
02:05 one-third?
8:08 does it all hinge on Constantine?
10:48 memetic fitness: evangelism, exclusivity, the afterlife
17:12 the only sadistic literature in the ancient world
20:27 in summary
22:47 goodbye
#apologetics #atheist #counterapologetics #atheism #christianity #thespreadofchristianity
A forbidden religion, originally composed of only a few devoted followers, eventually swept the western world. Believers think that the rise of Christianity was miraculous, and they argue that the stunning growth and eventual size of their religion is evidence that God really is on their side.
I argue that Christianity's spread is primarily due to its “memetic fitness” in a Roman pagan environment. Christianity's combination of evangelism, exclusivity, and novel ideas about the afterlife made for a fierce competitor to inclusive Roman polytheism. Christianity, in effect, created a zero-sum game with its pagan competitors and won that contest. Notably, its 3% average annual growth rate was humming along before Constantine converted. Christianity's success was not due solely to Constantine, but to its adaptive fitness, as well as its location: Christianity formed in the dominant Roman empire, ancestor to the modern western world.
The exclusivity of monotheism, the hope of heaven and the fear of hell, and the evangelism of Christianity gave it an adaptive edge over polytheistic, inclusive paganism.
https://linktr.ee/emersongreen
Counter Apologetics: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/counter-apologetics/id1273573417
Walden Pod: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walden-pod/id1474408172
Support at Patreon.com/counter or /waldenpod
Tip Jar account.venmo.com/u/emersongreenpodcast
The Spread of Christianity counterapologetics.blubrry.net/2018/04/27/ca26-the-spread-of-christianity
originally released via podcast (04/27/2018)
transcript emersongreenblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/the-spread-of-christianity
Bart Ehrman's The Triumph of Christianity amazon.com/Triumph-Christianity-Forbidden-Religion-Swept/dp/1501136704
Ehrman interview youtube.com/watch?v=LGIEKvkOHEM
Hitchens clip youtube.com/watch?v=BD_WptjCMPI
Pew religious data pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe
Estimating the number of people who have ever been born prb.org/articles/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-on-earth
00:00 introduction
02:05 one-third?
8:08 does it all hinge on Constantine?
10:48 memetic fitness: evangelism, exclusivity, the afterlife
17:12 the only sadistic literature in the ancient world
20:27 in summary
22:47 goodbye
#apologetics #atheist #counterapologetics #atheism #christianity #thespreadofchristianity
