so HOW did Christianity spread in the beginning?
Adolph von Harnack is widely considered to be one of the greatest Church Historians of all time. Here are his conclusions as to what the "most important" factors were in the spread of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. He writes: "In its missionary activities, the Christian religion presented itself as something more than the gospel of redemption and of ministering love; it was also the religion of the Spirit and of power. No doubt, it verified its character as Spirit and power by the very fact that it brought redemption and succor to mankind, freeing them from demons (see above, pp. 125 f.) and from the misery of life. But the witness of the Spirit had a wider reach than even this. “I came to you in weakness and fear and with great trembling; nor were my speech and preaching in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. ii. 3, 4). Though Paul in these words is certainly thinking of his conflict with demons an...