Constantine converts the Roman Empire to Judaism rather than Christianity

Minty_Fresh

Banned
I think Judaism, with its dietary restrictions and cultural practices, would simply not be appealing on a wide scale for conversion to be possible.
 
Could Christianity actually die out in this timeline?


Why should it?

It had been around (and steadily growing and spreading) for three centuries before Constantine was even born. His support no doubt accelerated its growth, but was in no way essential to it.
 

Spengler

Banned
Did they come in with Islam or were they already traditional in the Mideast at that time?
They were traditional. Also they conquered their empire, and it was a long process lasting well into the second half of the Muslim first millennium until most of the areas of what had once been known as the Caliphate were majority Muslim.
 
Also nothing stops someone else from adopting Christianity.

Indeed. If I can believe Wiki, Constantine's rival Maxentius had called off the persecution as early as 306, though he didn't restore the Church's confiscated property until 311, the same year that Galerius (the chief author of the Great Persecution) issued the Edict of Toleration - all of this before the Milvian Bridge.
 
Wouldn't a bigger Judaism actually benefit Christianity somewhat (as opposed to a pagan Rome; obviously officially endorsed Christianity would be the best outcome for Christian proselytization)? If the Roman nobility were Jewish rather than pagan, they'd be easier to convert, I assume.
 
Wouldn't a bigger Judaism actually benefit Christianity somewhat (as opposed to a pagan Rome; obviously officially endorsed Christianity would be the best outcome for Christian proselytization)? If the Roman nobility were Jewish rather than pagan, they'd be easier to convert, I assume.

Well, there are a number of problems. First of all, Judaism at the time was still closely tied to the Jewish revolts in the popular memory and was not viewed favorably. A Roman nobleman who converted to Judaism would lose a great deal of standing, very quickly, and would likely find his patriotism questioned. Those who converted to Christianity did as well, but the faith was already changing to be more welcome to Grecco-Roman sensibilities and ideas and so had a bigger draw than Judaism ever would. Now, even if we presuppose a larger Jewish movement, that doesn't necessarily mean that its going to have good relations with Christianity; by this point the Christian Church was already beginning to exhibit a pretty start Anti-Jewish philosophy. You can actually see this in the Gospels; with each Gospel the Jesus' crucifixion is blamed more and more on the Jews and the Romans are further exonerated (by John, Pontius Pilot is going out of his way to save Jesus, but the Jewish crowd is having nothing of it!). There are a number of reasons for this; early Christians were competing with other Jewish sects for converts amongst the Jewish community itself and, perhaps more relevant to this discussion, Christian writers were constantly trying to show that they weren't like the Jews who rebelled against Rome, but loyal Romans.
 
It didn´t stop Islam from getting popular.

Circumcision isn't mandatory in Islam like it is in Judaism, although it is regularly practiced. Also, as many other posters above and stated (and made the case far better than I could) Islam's rise is a very different set of circumstances that wouldn't apply to this alt-Judaism. Furthermore, the fact that circumcision (and the dietary requirements) in Judaism actually was a major obstacle for the average Roman can be proven very easily. Prior to the Jewish revolts, Judaism actually came into fashion among some Roman elites. They were called the "God Fearing" because they honored the Jewish god. However, they were not allowed to convert because they refused to get circumcised or follow Jewish dietary laws! Many of them eventually became early converts to Pauline Christianity which did not have those restrictions.
 
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