Converting The Modern Roman Empire - New Evangelizers

Many Christians look at the modern world with despair.

The old Christian culture has faded into the background and a new secular one is on the ascendancy. People embrace the wonders of technology along with the horrors of hedonism. And with each passing day, it seems to many of us that the world is drifting further away from Christ.

I am not here to deny that this is truly happening. Nor am I here to say this is not a major concern.

But what I am here to say is that this modern world has created the conditions for new wave of conversion.

To see this, we have to look back at the first days of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In those first days of Christianity first spreading throughout the Empire, Rome had connected much of the ancient world. In addition, there was relative peace and prosperity. To be sure, the ancient Rome was always a place of harshness and brutality. But in Apostolic Age, there was enough peace so that there could be free travel throughout the empire. Because of this prosperity, the people were able to spend time with several entertainments and diversions. Once bare survival was taken care of, people could use their disposable income to go to the see the dramas or even the gladiator fights.

But just as material prosperity and plentiful entertainments began to fill up the lives of the people in the Roman Empire, a spiritual hunger began to emerge. The people began to turn to more and more to spiritual practices and philosophical disciplines. We can see a rise in the stoic philosophers in this era, as people look for something more to ground their existence and give it meaning. They hungered less in their bodies, but they hungered more in their souls.

Apostles like Paul understood that spiritual hunger and learned how to feed it. As Paul traveled from region to region, he gave people something that filled their spirits. This is true of all of the Apostles as they went from place-to-place in the Roman Empires spreading the Good News so that the faith spread like wildfire.

And the conditions for another spiritual wildfire are present today.

In our modern day, we find much the same about America. While there are military conflicts around the world, our homeland enjoys relative peace and prosperity. Because of this relative peace, we are presented with several entertainments and diversions. Television, movies, video games, music, and social media fill up the empty hours of the day. I think about my life in America and how I am not constantly worried about invasion or starving to death. And like the Romans, I often throw myself into entertainment and diversions, especially with the internet. But when I do this, I still feel a great spiritual hunger. There are times when I spend a lazy Saturday on the couch eating junk food and playing video games, where I have all of my physical indulgences met, but I feel a sense of waste and emptiness.

The internet has also made the world a much more interconnected place. We may not all be traveling around the world, but we can be connected to almost any part of it. I was once in a discussion with someone about why popular culture in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s felt so distinctive, but that in the 2000’s it all feels like it blends together. My friend said that the internet changed it. For example, popular trends would start as regional until they became distinctive. Think about the Seattle Grunge culture that developed in the early 1990’s. Only after it had taken on its distinctive form was it introduced the rest of the popular culture through television and radio as something very distinctive. However, those distinctive cultures don’t get a chance to grow regionally. The internet makes us too connected. As soon as anything becomes popular in one area, it goes viral all over the world.

My point is that just like the Roman Empire we have these specific conditions in modern America:
1. Relative peace and prosperity
2. An abundance of entertainments
3. An interconnected society
4. A deep spiritual hunger because of the above three.

We can every material need met and every physical delight at our finger-tips. But this will only highlight the emptiness of the soul. Just like in the ancient days, I’m noticing a rise in adherents to various modes of stoicism. People, especially young men, are looking for some responsibility that will give their life meaning beyond hedonistic entertainment. The are searching for this because they now that they are called to more than mere satisfaction. They are called to a great adventure that will fulfill them in their souls.

While there are many things about this modern world that make sharing the Gospel challenging, we also have to see it as an opportunity. We can do that too. As a high school teacher, I can say that the young are spiritually hungry, but they don’t recognize what the hunger is. If we can help them recognize their hunger and help fill that longing, we can be like the early disciples.

And the fire of the Holy Spirit can renew the face of the earth.

Copyright 2025 WL Grayson

W.L. Grayson

I am a devoutly Catholic theology teacher who loves a popular culture that often, quite frankly, hates me. I grew up absorbing every movie, TV show, comic book, science fiction novel, etc. I could find. As of today I’ve watched over 2100 movies and tv shows. They take up a huge part of my life. I don’t know that this is a good thing, but it has given me a common vocabulary to draw from in order to illustrate whatever theological point I make in class. I’ve used American Pie the song to explain the Book of Revelation (I’ll post on this some time later) and American Pie the movie to help explain Eucharist (don’t ask). The point is that the popular culture is popular for a reason. It is woven into the fabric of our lives and imaginations, for good or ill. In this blog I will attempt to bring together the things of heaven with the things of earth. Of course this goal may be too lofty for someone like me.