Transport-Related Spread of Christianity
We usually think of transportation systems as carrying people and freight. Transport
systems can carry other things such as viral pathogens as well as ideas. A prime example of an
idea that is distributed by transportation networks is Christianity.
I. Roman Roads
The Roman roads should be considered one of the engineering marvels of the ancient
world. The road system spanned over 250,000 miles, of which 50,000 miles were stone paved
(Crawford, 14 March 2023). It spanned Europe as far north as Britain, from Portugal in the west
to the Euphrates River in the east. It also extended across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and
ran from Alexandria along the Nile River to the Red Sea. Tunnels and bridges were also built,
and road signs were used to provide directions.
Since the Roman Road network included branches into Jerusalem and Galilee (Roll,
1983), these roads must have been used by Christians not only to escape persecution but also to
spread the Gospel. Paul the Apostle apparently made use of those roads as shown by modern
reconstructions (Knecht, 2014) of his three missionary journeys.
II. Ocean Routes
Christianity came to America via another transportation system: ocean routes. Traveling
on the Mayflower, Pilgrims arrived in New England in 1620 to practice their faith away from the
Church of England. Ten years later, the Winthrop Fleet of 11 ships arrived in Massachusetts
carrying anywhere from 700 to 1000 Puritans, including future governors of Rhode Island
Colony and the Province of New Hampshire.
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) would leave England and settle in New
Jersey, Delaware, and of course Pennsylvania in the 1670s - 1680s. Catholicism came to Florida
from the Spanish, and to the Gulf Coast through the French. In addition, the Russian Orthodox
Church established missions and churches in Alaska starting in 1794.
Once these colonies and missions were established following long sea voyages,
transmission of Christianity into the interior continued via overland transportation methods. This
continues to the present day: truck stops along all major US highways sometimes have trailers
providing places of worship for over the road drivers and other travelers. (Pierce, 26 August
2020).
III. Modern Communication Networks
Communication networks are also transportation systems. Instead of thinking of
transportation systems as roads, shipping routes or air traffic routes, the Internet itself is a
communication network that not only connects most of the world (Long, May 2023), but it is
also connected to other networks such as the phone systems.
Christianity has spread on the internet through blogs and online videos. Further, social
media has allowed the formation of virtual communities that allow discussion of theological
issues by geographically dispersed individuals as well as evaluation of current and historical
events from a Biblical worldview.
Conclusion
As seen from these examples, the spread of Christianity was thus multimodal: it started
by first using Roman roads, switching to ocean routes, continuing overland through road
networks on other continents, and now transmitted using communication networks such as the
Internet.
References
Crawford, M. (14 March 2023). “5 Engineering feats from the Roman Empire”. American
Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved 15 May 2024 from
https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/5-engineering-feats-from-the-roman-
empire
Knecht, F. J. (2014). A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. Aeterna Press (Original work
published 1923).
Long, M. L. (May 2023). “Information warfare in the depths: An analysis of global undersea
cable networks”. U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 149(5). Retrieved 16 May 2024 from
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/may/information-warfare-depths-
analysis-global-undersea-cable-networks
Pierce, S. (26 August 2020). "Outreach over the road: Truckstop Ministries has been serving
truckers for nearly 40 years." The Trucker. Retrieved 16 May 2024 from
https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/trucking-life/outreach-over-the-road-
truckstop-ministries-has-been-serving-truckers-for-nearly-40-years
Roll, I. (1983). “The Roman Road System in Judaea.” The Jerusalem Cathedra. Retrieved 16
May 2024 from
https://milestones.kinneret.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/the_roman_road_system_in
_judea2.pdf
