Religious conversion Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Fostering conversion == {{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}} Different factors and circumstances may operate and interact to persuade individuals of groups to convert and adopt a new set of religious doctrines and habits. [[Religious enthusiasm]] for proselytism can play a role. For example, the [[New Testament]] chronicles the personal activities of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] and their followers in inspired [[preaching]], [[miracle]]-working and the subsequent gathering of followers. Freshly-converted [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Irish]] and Anglo-Saxon priests [[Anglo-Saxon mission|spread their new-found faith]] among pagan British and Germanic peoples. Missions of the 19th century spread against a background of North Atlantic [[Christian revival|revivalism]] with its [[emotion]]alism and mass-meeting [[crowd]] psychological behaviours. [[Messianism]] may prepare groups for the coming of a [[Messiah]] or of a [[savior (disambiguation)|saviour]]. Thus the 1st-century [[Levant]], steeped in expectations of overturning [[Judea (Roman province)|the political situation]], provided fertile ground for [[Jewish Christians|nascent Christianity]] and other Jewish messianic sects, such as the [[Zealots]]. Some religious traditions, rather than stressing emotion in the conversion process, emphasise the importance of [[philosophy|philosophical thought]] as a pathway to adopting a new religion. [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]] [[Areopagus sermon|in Athens]] fits here, as do some of the [[Indic religions]] (such as [[Buddhism]] β insofar as it ranks as a religion β and [[Jainism]]). The historical [[God-fearer]]s may represent a philosophical bridge between Hellenism and [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic faith]]. A religious creed which can capture the ear and support of secular power can become a [[social prestige|prestige]] movement, encouraging the mass of a people to follow its tenets. Christianity grew after becoming the [[Armenian Apostolic Church|state religion in Armenia]], in the [[Roman Empire]], and in [[Ethiopian Church|Ethiopia]]. [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] expanded when it gained [[Christianization of Kievan Rus'|official sanction in Kievan Rus']]. Some people convert under the influence of other social conditions. Early Christianity attracted followers by offering [[Christian communism|community material support]] and enhanced status for disadvantaged groups such as women and slaves.<ref>{{bibleverse|Galatians|3:28}}</ref> [[Spread of Islam|Islam allegedly spread]] in North Africa through just administration, and in the Balkans by integrating new believers with improved tax conditions and social prestige. [[Colony|Colonial]] missions since the 19th century have attracted people to an implied nexus of material well-being, [[civilisation]], and European-style religion. Force can β at least apparently β coerce people into adopting different ideas. [[Religious police]] in (for example) [[Guidance Patrol|Iran]] and [[Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)|Saudi Arabia]] answer for the correct religious expression of those in their purview. The [[Inquisition]] in France and in Iberia worked to convert [[heresy|heretics]] β with [[Conversos|varying success]]. [[Francia|Frankish]] armies spread [[Latin Church|Roman Catholicism]] eastwards in the Middle Ages. Religious wars and suppression shaped the histories of the [[Northern Crusades|Baltic tribes]], the [[Hussites]] and the [[Huguenots]]. On the other hand, [[Religious persecution|persecution]] can drive religious faith and practice underground and strengthen the resolve of oppressed adherents β as in the cases of the [[Waldenses]] or the [[BahΓ‘ΚΌΓ Faith]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page