Quote Originally Posted by M54 Powered
we have the Spanish and the Romans to thank for that, not Jesus.
Only partly true sirM54, remember, there were hundreds of religions nung Roman times. Why choose Christianity over them all? Lalo na, pre-Constantine medyo good entertainment lang mga Christians, pang lion food, pang crucify, pang bbq, etc.

Ito po analysis alam ko:

1.) 1 central unifying God (kahit trinity sya), so walang kaaway na worthy. Very nice symbolism for the Roman Empire.
2.) Promise of eternal bliss and salvation: by Constantine's time, parang pa-end of the world na mga Romans... the barbarians were at the gates... sacrifice and be united and you will be saved (besides ang tigas ng mga Christians noon, oks lang sa kanila to be fed to lions, di man lang sinapak yung lion, very good example). And so the Empire was safe, for a few hundred years.
3.) after Constantine, dating na mga Huns, Goths, Vandals, and others... and they were winning and massacring... talagang end of the world. So where do you turn? Why to the ones who can promise you eternal salvation in exchange for your suffering, kumbaga may point yung suffering mo. Kahit na-axe ka ni Attila, oks lang, you go to heaven. Very convenient.

No other religion was this 'lucky,' parang may divine plan. Is it the plan of God to make Christianity (His religion) greater through all this great suffering?

Ito imho na po, I don't think so, I think He just picked up and cleaned up after the mess of man, and did it through Christianity. He gave man hope, inspite of man abusing free will to the point of using His Name in vain (Crusades, Inquisition, Witch Hunts, Constantine's forced Baptism of the Empire). For example, the Popes may have been a$$hole$, but who were the ones writing books in the Middle Ages, and thus saving knowledge from extinction? Yes, the monks, no less Christian than those crazy Crusading Popes. You can see God's hand at work throughout history.