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
