Issue 57 Converting the Empire

What's inside

Evangelism in the Early Church: Did You Know?

Little known or remarkable facts about church growth in the ancient pagan world.

the Editors

From the Editor — Hodgepodge Evangelism

Early Christians used a hodge-podge of methods to draw their neighbors’attention to Christ.

Mark Galli

The Empire Within the Empire

Setting the context.

The Editors

Defending the Cannibals

How Christians responded to the sometimes strange accusations of their critics.

J. David Cassel

Ordinary Saints at First Church

It wasn’t revivals or eloquent preachers that most influenced pagan society but everyday Christians doing everyday evangelism.

E. Glenn Hinson

The Exile and the Slave Girl

Two of the least known but most effective early evangelists.

Gregory P. Elder

Evangelism in the Early Church: A Gallery of Key Converts

Rejecting paganism, these five Christians helped evangelize an empire.

Gregory P. Elder

Live Longer, Healthier, & Better

The untold benefits of becoming a Christian in the ancient world.

Rodney Stark

Evangelists to the Death

It took centuries for Christian martyrs to impact pagan society.

William H.C. Frend

The Competition

When Christianity came to town, the religious marketplace was already crowded.

Everett Ferguson

From Black Magic to Mystical Awe

Glimpses of many-sided Roman paganism—from engravings, parchments, and tablets of the ancient world.

Ramsay Macmullen and Eugene Lane

The Emperor’s New Religion

The story of early Christianity’s most famous—and most controversial—convert.

Bruce Shelley

The Emperor Strikes Back

How the once illegal religion became the law of the empire.

John O. Gooch

Christian History Interview — Roman Redux

Today’s evangelistic challenge is not all that different than it was for the early church.

Robert Louis Wilken

Evangelism in the Early Church: Recommended Resources

Resources for further study of evangelism in the early church.

the Editors
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