How the Church Won: Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 15 Part 4
The rapid rise of Christianity has often been considered to be a remarkable event in itself, and the fact that it acquired so many adherents so quickly is often held to be a miracle in its own right that further confirms the truth of the message. Recent calculations are a bit more sober. Prior to its official adoption growth was impressive but far from unbelievable. In fact it is in line with and if anything even a bit slower than the the much better documented recent growth of Mormonism.