The Asian Origins of Christianity

While Christianity is often associated with Europe and the Mediterranean, its earliest foundations were undeniably Asian. The religion emerged in Jerusalem, the site of Jesus’ birth, ministry, and crucifixion. Its original language was Aramaic, a Semitic tongue of the Near East, and its theological framework was deeply rooted in Judaism, shaped by Israel’s history and the exiles in Egypt and Babylon. Unlike the Greco-Roman world, early Christian narratives were steeped in the imagery of deserts, floods, and famines—landscapes unfamiliar to Europeans.

Christianity’s spread westward is well-documented, but its expansion eastward was equally dynamic, if not more so. The faith first traveled through Jewish communities in Mesopotamia, where Aramaic-speaking converts received accounts of Jesus’ life in their native tongue, not Greek. Key trade hubs like Edessa (modern Urfa, Turkey) became vital centers for missionary activity due to their strategic location at the crossroads of major trade routes.

Persecution and the Roman Dilemma

Initially, Roman authorities were baffled by Christianity. Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor in the 2nd century, famously wrote to Emperor Trajan, unsure how to handle Christians brought before him. He executed some for their “stubbornness,” yet Trajan advised tolerance—unless Christians were openly defiant. This ambivalence soon hardened as Christianity’s growth alarmed traditionalists, particularly in the military, who saw its teachings on sin and pacifism as threats to Roman values.

By the 3rd century, brutal persecutions erupted under emperors like Decius and Diocletian. Christians were executed as public spectacles, with martyrdom literature memorializing their sacrifices. Apologists like Tertullian (c. 160–225 AD) defended the faith, arguing that Christians were upstanding citizens who merely rejected pagan rituals. His pleas—comparable to Shakespeare’s Shylock—highlighted the prejudice they faced: “Do we not share your food, your clothing, your customs?”

Christianity’s Eastern Expansion

While Rome wavered, Christianity flourished in the East. By the 3rd century, communities dotted the Caucasus, Persia, and even the Persian Gulf. Archaeological evidence, such as coral-carved tombs in Bahrain, reveals its reach. The Book of the Laws of Countries noted Christians as far as Kushan-ruled Afghanistan.

Persia’s expulsion of Christians under Shapur I inadvertently spread the faith further. Figures like Bishop Demetrius of Antioch relocated to Gundeshapur (Iran), establishing new dioceses. High-profile converts, like the Roman courtesan Candida, faced martyrdom for refusing to renounce their faith. Christian writers framed these stories as moral victories, contrasting their “enlightened” practices with Zoroastrian traditions—claiming, for instance, that converts no longer practiced incest or cannibalism.

The Clash of Faiths and Empires

Zoroastrian priests, mirroring Rome’s persecutions, retaliated against Christianity’s growth. The priest Kartir’s inscriptions reveal a hardening state religion, equating Zoroastrianism with Persian identity. This orthodoxy, however, alienated minorities, driving some toward Christianity as a form of resistance.

The tide turned dramatically when Armenia’s King Tiridates III converted in the early 4th century—allegedly after being cursed as a boar and healed by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Meanwhile, Rome’s Emperor Constantine famously embraced Christianity after a vision at the Battle of Milvian Bridge (312 AD). His conversion reshaped the empire: gladiatorial games were banned, pagan temples dismantled, and Jerusalem’s holy sites, like the Holy Sepulchre, were lavishly rebuilt.

Constantine’s Ambition and Its Consequences

Constantine’s zeal had unintended repercussions. He positioned himself as protector of all Christians, even beyond Rome’s borders, writing to Persia’s Shapur II to demand tolerance for Persian Christians. This meddling, coupled with Georgia’s royal conversion, provoked Persia. After Constantine’s death (337 AD), Shapur II unleashed violent reprisals, accusing Christians of being Roman collaborators. Bishops and priests were executed en masse, and the faith was branded a foreign threat.

Legacy: A Divided Faith

Constantine’s embrace of Christianity secured its future in Europe but jeopardized its Eastern growth. The religion’s Asian roots were overshadowed by its Roman reinvention, and Persian Christians paid the price. Today, the Assyrian Church of the East and Armenian Apostolic Church remain testaments to this overlooked history.

The story of early Christianity is not just a European narrative but a global one—born in Asia, shaped by empire, and fractured by geopolitics. Its Eastern legacy, though marginalized, endures as a reminder of the faith’s complex, multicultural origins.