Explain the expansion of Christianity at the same time that Rome was in decline. Are these factors related?
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ANSWER:
Some historians argue that the popularity of the church is in part measured by the declining power and offerings of the Roman Empire and that the church filled a void left by the withdrawal of Roman authority during the first few centuries C.E. Christianity provided a kind of universal identification that was the religious equivalent to the political identification as Roman. Additionally, while the collapse of the Roman political and administrative structure undermined the integrity of the empire, the church was building in membership and organization. Not only did it fill a spiritual need, but it also provided a sense of security that was formerly provided by the empire. The fact that the early church based its organizational hierarchy on the administrative structures of Roman bureaucracy is not coincidental (that is, organization into dioceses). In a very real sense, the church picked up the slack left by the fragmentation and decentralization of Roman political decline (especially in the third century). Constantine's endorsement of Christianity was a subtle recognition of this fact.
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