Britannica wrote:

First off, he’s right. Constantine had nothing to do with the global influence of Catholicism. He only influenced what was within his reach at the time. He mainly dominated the Roman Empire and in fact, did use Catholicism as a political force. The global influence of Catholicism has been due to missionaries. The main reason for the spread of Catholicism can be attributed to groups such as the Jesuits, the Dominicans, and many others. Constantine was known for making Catholicism the center of Rome, not for globally spreading Catholicism. To say that Constantine is responsible for the widespread influence of Catholicism nowadays is an extremely fallible statement.
Second off, Wikipedia is the least reliable resource on the internet. Research found that Wikipedia is actually founded by a pro-white supremacist. In addition, anyone can alter information on Wikipedia.

So he was indeed correct in his judgment was not responsible for Catholic global influence. Note that many Spanish and Portuguese were accountable for the spread of Catholicism. Several of these individuals who found these missionary groups were normal common people.

Catholicism is not a violent religion. There are definitely flaws in the practice of Catholicism in past history. Such examples include the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. However, Catholicism itself acknowledges that its own followers are sinful. Therefore, it would be unwise to say that Catholicism itself is responsible for the violence that occurred. It is better to blame the individuals such as Pope Urban, who was responsible for the Crusades.

Etain wrote:

Yes you are correct in stating that the further spread of Christianity to other areas of the world was due to the work of missionaries. However, before Constantine, Christianity was a more minor, threatened religion. He was the one who made it an official religion of the Roman Empire.

The missionaries you speak of spread Christianity later on in history. Their influence came from the version of Christianity founded in the Roman Empire (e.g. Roman Catholicism). For example, the Christianization of the British Isles came about through Roman conquests. True, the result was something different than Roman Catholicism (Celtic Christianity or Celtic Catholicism as it is called), but the originating influence was Roman in origin.

There were, indeed, missionaries who spread Christianity to some of the regions nearer to the middle East *possibly* before the time of Constantine, but since Catholicism was the only thing referenced by the previous poster, I assumed we were talking about a more Western form of Christianity. Other forms of Christianity (such as Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, etc.) do not define themselves as “Catholic”.

There were additional influences of Constantine, such as the first council of Nicaea, from which we get the Nicene Creed, but this is getting a little long-winded.

As to your final point, I notice you completely ignored the 2 other sources I provided, but focussed solely on the one I mentioned in passing. I indicated that information could also be found on Wikipedia because that is a source with which many of the people on here are comfortable dealing. I could reference scholarly articles for you, but you would need an ID from my university in order to view them.

Finally, I never made any intimation that I view Catholicism as a violent “religion” (actually the religion is “Christianity”, Catholicism is a branch of Christianity), so I’m not quite sure why that was referenced in response to my post.

Britannica wrote:

The last line was not a reference to you; rather, it was a reference to other people who claimed that Catholicism is a violent religion.

Christianity was not entirely a minor religion. It was not the supposed dominant religion of the time. You need to remember the dominance of a religion was normally decreed by the emperor who served during that timespan. Christianity was already spreading its influence. In the Bible, there were definitely many missionaries mentioned who spread the influence of Jesus. Note Peter and Paul as examples. Peter was also the Pope at some point before he was crucified upside down. His era marked the rise of Catholicism.

ramunematt wrote: A few? Millions of people have been killed because they didn’t share other people’s religious beliefs.

Catholic wrote:

Religion is a belief. Note that many of the greatest people were affiliated with religious groups. So next time, stop making weak statements that are not supported by conclusive evidence. Religion is not an imagination. Are you saying that a person such as Jesus or Muhammad never existed? Because many textbooks acknowledge the existence of the people.

Britannica wrote: Check again. I am very correct in my statement. I did not say that the Pope is a genealogical descendant of Peter. Peter was the first Pope. This fact is taught in religious classes. Have you taken a religion course anytime? Are you Catholic? I am just wondering.

3min wrote: etain, youre 27. do you have a job? just wondering. or are you unemployed.

Sarah Palin wrote: Um... the ones that are in front of me?

isn’t any need for religion in the modern day, that’s why your starting to see atheist movements.

Weasel 16 wrote:

do you think it should be outlawed?