The Roman Empire's failure to suppress Christianity was the exception, not the norm. Most other countries that also attempted to suppress Christianity like China and Japan were successful and even today, Christians barely have a presence in these countries. The Soviets also successfully destroyed the influence of Christianity in Russia and although there was technically a “revival” after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it’s on paper only since most Russian “Christians” barely attend church to begin with and only identify as Christian for nationalist reasons. East Germany also suppressed Christianity and even today, former East Germany despite its far-right leanings is also the most irreligious region in Germany.
>>18459277chirstianity is a religion
>>18459277While I agree that it's the exception, I don't think it was exactly a failure. The Roman emperors starting with Constantine saw in Christianity a way to consolidate power over an increasingly divided empire, and practically invented the form of divine legitimacy which was later perfected by medieval European kings. Adopting christianity may have had negative consequences for the empire as a whole, but that's besides the point - they were looking for ways to increase their personal or family power, not necessarily the power of the state they led.
>>18459277It depends on what you mean by countries and the time period involved. China is estimated by the Chinese government to be about 4.4% Christian. This represents a very significant growth over the percentage of Christians living in China in the past.Japan is estimated to be about 1% Christian. And Korea taken as a whole is estimated to be about 27.6% Christian. Each of these countries experienced various persecutions of Christians over the centuries. But the Japanese case is the only one where the percentage of Christians now is lower than it was in the past. In the case of Korea Christianity has become an increasing fact of daily life despite past persecution.This is different from Russia and East Germany which were both characterized by Christian state churches, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Lutheran German Church. When those countries underwent political change their state churches were taken over by political figures seeking to either co-opt or dismantle Christianity. In both cases they were only able to do so because the state church was under their centralized control.Nevertheless, Christianity does still exist within the countryside in Russia, particularly among people who no longer identify with the state church.In the case of East Germany the situation is probably statistically better than that of the Czech Republic or Estonia. Christianity has grown and shrunk in England on three separate occasions, these difficulties are just part of God's story. A story very much still being written.
>>18461259Ngl bringing up Korea as an example of Christian persecution failing is disingenuous. Korea's Christian population only began to grow after Japan colonized it and only exploded after WW2. Prior to this the impact of the religion in Korea was negligible.
>>18461271Prior to Japanese rule they were being persecuted. As for disingenuous, so is bringing up East Germany without ever mentioning Poland.
