If Christianity were just one religion among many, in what areas would it be more widespread? In urban and rich areas or in rural and poor areas?

[dk900]

A few days ago I had an idea for a CK3 mod, an alternative history with many point of divergence (Like a much more Hellenic Roman Empire more weak and less extended but more resistant, Celtic and Scythian migrations instead of germanic, Kush still ruled by queens, a more successful and prosperous diadochy kingdoms and many more)

In this history Christianity and islam still exist but they do not expand as much as in our timeline because pagan religions are much more organized.

My doubt is that in this context, what are the areas where they would be most successful?
In cities, the coast and other urban areas with a rich and cosmopolitan population? Or in the poorer and rural inland regions with peasant communities?

 

[Salvador79]

Your early PoDs would probably butterfly Christianity, and certainly Islam.

 

[Mario]

Well, as it happened during the early classical Empire, Christiniaty, just like other 'Eastern religions', was better received at urban areas, which were more open to these new mystical ideals coming from the East (not only Christianity, also cults to Isis, Mitras etc.). Rural areas were sticking more to Pagan traditions (hence the term 'Paganism' = 'from the Pagus, the countryside').

In a TL were Paganism resisted the spread of Abrahamic religions, these would have persisted better at urban areas.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

I feel like the problem is that Christianity as a religion among others was more of a zero sum game. This was the same problem with the Jews under Rome. The difference being the ancient Jews were a religion tied deeply to an ethnic group, and Pauline Christianity was about the gentiles also being allowed to be Christians and not requiring circumcision or other Hebrew observations to be Christians. Christians unlike pagans could not pay tribute to other gods or reinterpret other gods into their own dogma, nor could they view the Emperor as a god. The whole of Rome's political infrastructure was based on its own gods and bodies related to them. Not to mention the constant persecution of Christians which varied in severity throughout the life of the non-Christian period of the empire.

Basically, the Christians could not incorporate the pagan Empire into itself, nor could the pagan Empire incorporate Christianity into itself. Doing so required either tolerances and exceptions that the Empire failed to make consistently, or full assimilation. It was always an outsider group until it becomes the only group. If the Romans would legally accept the Christian movement via exemptions and exceptions, perhaps it was possible. But I don't know if the Empire would have kept that up, rather than tolerance until the next Emperor came along that decided to persecute the Christians. Similarly, if the Christian churches made more dogmatic exceptions to living among the pagan religions, perhaps it was possible but I don't know if they would do that either. Doing so could frankly prove blasphemous in a way that could never be excused to the faithful.

 

[kholieken]

as @Salvador79 said, early POD that cancel Roman Empire, everything would be changed.
less unified Med would hinder development of "universal" religion, which primarily caused because interaction of different people within unified Med.

assuming Jesus still born, and his teaching and students still mostly same. Christianity would spread among Greek-speaking poor urban denizens of Seleucid Empire.