Why did the early church grow so rapidly and what impact did this Research Paper

Why did the early church grow so rapidly and what impact did this success have on the church - Research Paper Example A good number of early religious believers and evangelists were stoned to death while others were imprisoned for failing to renounce their belief. However, despite of the endless critics and attempt to exterminate Christianity, the religion survived all attempts to get rid of it existence and is at present the leading religion in the world in terms of followers, wealth, and infrastructural development1. Just like in any other part of the world, Christianity in South Korea faced infinite resistance and denunciation from a section of the country’s population. However, the development of Christianity in South Korea was to a great extent facilitated by the support from the country’s elites and a good section of members of the general public. In the field of religious study, the research on growth and development of churches in South Korea is one of the most interesting and less studied topics. In addition, the South Korea churches are commonly known for their expansive grow th and adverse number of mega churches. The number of protestant followers has in the last few years grown significantly and is current more than 30% of the total South Korean population. Most religious believers are however for the view that, the development and growth of churches in South Korea and in the entire world is greatly facilitated by the work and power of the Holy Spirit. Scholars and thinkers hold different opinion on the factors that contributed to the significant growth of Churches in the world and especially in South Korea. According to modern scholars, contemporary development of churches all over the world is a contribution of cataclysmic economic, social, and political crises in the world. Others facets recognized for the success of Christianity are the contributions of indigenous religious tradition. The paper therefore focuses on the causes of early rapid growth of churches in the world and its impacts on churches. The essay will also seek to evaluate the lesson learnt after the 20th century Korean experiences. The utmost rationale behind the rapid development of churches was its appeal to the masses. Most of the people who were transformed to Christianity were Gentile as opposed to reformed Jews. Initially, Christianity started as a small group in Jewish community. The expansion of Christianity believers was however accelerated by consistent transformation of Gentiles into Christianity. The Gentiles were unwilling to accept Judaism due to its Strict Kosher Dietary Laws and their circumcision practices. Christianity lacked strict laws therefore it was more applying to the population at that particular historical time. The increase in the number of Christian followers therefore led to construction of more churches in the world and most specifically in areas that were densely occupied by Gentile community2. Christianity accommodative teachings were as well associated with rapid growth of churches in the world. The perception that, all people are equal in the eyes of God played an incredibly decisive role in the spread of Christianity in the world. At this historical period, people were divided into several classes according to their wealth and power. Christianity promised and preached equality to everyone in the society. Additionally, there were significant similarities in beliefs and practices between pagan religion and Christianity. As a result, Christianity incorporated approximately the entire pagan beliefs. The identification of correspondences between