Which of these was a major reason for the appeal of Christianity in its early stages? A) The religion was open only to Roman citizens. B) Christianity promised the end of other religions. C) The new teachings of Christianity promised freedom from Roman rule. D) Christianity offered a new spirit of hope to poor, downtrodden people.

D) Christianity offered a new spirit of hope to poor, downtrodden people.

D) Christianity offered a new spirit of hope to poor, downtrodden people.

Explanation:

Christianity began among a small number of Jews. In the third century, Christianity grew to become the dominant congregation in the Mediterranean world. During that age, work was considered ignoble by classical civilization, which socioeconomically was based on the slave mode of production. The slaves were the lowest and the largest stratus of the society, and they were treated with benevolence by the new religion.

The birth of Christianity occurred in a cultural context in which it lived and collided with the Greco-Roman and Hebrew classical culture. As for money and wealth, the pre-Christian views were radically different. While the Hebrew culture valued material wealth (it was understood that God would bless his people with riches if it followed his commandments); for classical culture, as for the Christian, material wealth was indifferent or held in low regard, when not condemned.

However, despite the explicit assessment of the work and the condition of the humble in the first texts of Christianity, this did not mean the denial of their servile condition or justification for disobedience to the masters. This benevolent estimation of humble and poor people was an important factor of expansion among the poor layers of the Mediterranean societies of that time.