5 Famous Christian Conversions

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Christianity is a religion that is built on converts. In its early days, the faith had few to no children who were born into Christian families. Instead, most Christians came from either a Jewish or Greco-Roman pagan background. Some of these converts were lucky enough to be converted by Jesus Himself. Many others eventually joined Christianity after hearing the sermons of the Apostles, especially Peter and Paul. These converts then went on to convert others. Some converted their families to Christianity, others converted friends, strangers and, since early Christianity was very popular among servants and slaves, their masters or employers.

Evangelism could be life-threatening in early Christianity when the religion was practically under siege. Rome cracked down hard on the faith culminating with Nero using Christians as scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 A.D. Despite the danger, Christians continued to spread their faith, and the religion continued to grow in the shadows. While every convert was valuable, some had a greater influence on the fledgling religion than others. Here are five famous Christian conversions that helped shape Christianity.

Saul of Tarsus

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Saul of Tarsus was born to a devout Jewish family between 5 B.C. and 5 A.D. He was a Pharisee and a Roman citizen which made him an unlikely candidate to convert to Christianity in the early days of the religion. In fact, Saul originally did far more than refuse to convert. Saul was known for actively hunting and persecuting Christians. He was the man who held the coats of the mob that martyred Stephen and later described himself as trying to destroy the young Church. Yet Saul would become one of the most devout and influential Christians in history when he left Jerusalem and set out for Damascus. It was on that long road that he was blinded by a bright light and heard a voice asking one of the most famous questions in Christian history: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul of Tarsus, of course, is better known as the Apostle Paul. As a Roman citizen, Paul was essential in establishing Christianity in Rome, and the story of his conversion to Christianity, from persecutor to apostle, continues to move Christians to this day.

Constantine the Great

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Constantine the Great was the senior western emperor in the early second century and one of several Roman emperors vying for control of the entire empire. During these wars, Constantine faced one of his main rivals, Maxentius, at the Milvian Bridge in October of 312 A.D. When the two armies met in battle, Constantine’s soldiers carried shields painted with an unfamiliar sign: the Greek letter Chi traversed by Rho. This symbol was carried by Constantine’s forces as a result of a dream or vision he received that told him to carry the unfamiliar sign. Constantine vowed that if he won the battle he would follow the unfamiliar god speaking to him, the God of the Christians. Constantine won the battle and became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.

Following Constantine’s conversion and his issuance of the Edict of Milan, Christianity could finally step out of the shadows and Christians could practice their faith openly. In addition, Constantine called the First Ecumenical Council, built a number of churches and over the course of his reign transformed Christianity from a hidden and outlawed religion to the favored religion of the most powerful empires in the world.

Clement of Alexandria

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Clement of Alexandria was born around 150 A.D. Tradition holds that he was born in Alexandria Egypt, but Epiphanius Scholasticus claims Clement was actually born in Athens. Clement was born to pagan parents who taught him a great deal about their religion. Clement was intimately familiar with Greek mythology and the various pagan mystery religions, and he had knowledge that could only belong to someone who was once a religious insider. After he converted to Christianity because of his perception of paganism as morally corrupt, Clement used his extensive knowledge of pagan mythology and traditions to convert other pagans to Christianity. His three major works survived in their complete forms which is extremely unusual for documents written in the late 190’s A.D. His three major works are “Protrepticus,” “Paedagogus” and “Stromata.” Most of his other works only survive today in fragments with the exception of “Who is the Rich Man who is Saved?” which is an extensive meditation on the implications of Mark 10:25.

St. Augustine

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St. Augustine was born in 354 A.D. in Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother. Augustine’s father taught his son to concern himself with worldly pleasures, a lesson the young Augustine learned a bit too well. When Augustine was 16, he stole fruit from a neighbor’s garden. The teen did not steal because he wanted the fruit, though, he stole because he wanted to feel the thrill of doing something forbidden. In his autobiography, “The Confessions,” Augustine wrote that “it was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own error–not that for which I erred, but the error.”

At the age of 32, however, Augustine heard a voice tell him to read Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Augustine did so and converted. The man gave to the poor and became so devout that he was consecrated Bishop of Hippo in 295 A.D.

Nameless Biblical Converts

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Some of the most famous and important converts were those whose names have been lost to time. These converts were the first Christians, and their stories are preserved in the Scriptures. Almost none of them are called by name. They are simply “a blind man,” “a Gentile woman” or “a rich man.” Yet these unnamed and seemingly meaningless converts were the beginning of Christianity. Without them, the religion may have never truly taken off. It was those nameless, faceless converts who began to spread the tales of the Messiah. They were the ones who convinced friends, family members and neighbors to go hear this strange new teacher speak. They were the ones who took in the Apostles after Christ’s death and kept them fed and watered while the Apostles set up the small home churches that would be the bedrock of Christianity for two centuries.