Do You Think The Christian Dark Ages Could Have Been Avoided?

[Xavier]

Historians generally say that the actions of individuals and individual events are mostly irrelevant in the long term and history tends to converge towards the same point regardless.

Christianity was undoubtedly the most violent and intolerant religion to come out of the classical Greco Roman world, and thus as soon as it gained power its adherents persecuted non Christians to an extent no other religion would have done.

If Constantine didn't convert to Christianity could things have turned out completely differently?
Or could there have been a counter revolution to Christianity at some point in the 4th century which would prevent the abominable religion from taking over everything.

[KichigaiNeko]

Who cares?? postulation ....the factor remains that Constantine DID reek 'holy havoc' on Europe via xtianity. So I doubt it could have gone any other way.... "The Old Religion had to die" just like the abrahamic religions now "have to die"

[The Grand Nudger]

Well, the Dark Ages get a bad rap that is undeserved in many ways. There was an explosion of agricultural tech and method. I have to say though, that the whole period had more to do with the power/knowledge vacuum left in the wake of the fall of the Roman Empire. I don't think that the Roman Empire could have stumbled along ad infinitum. They compartmentalized the knowledge they did have (which directly contributed to or perhaps even led to its loss in the absence of their social structure). Their system of governance wasn't sophisticated enough to effectively rule the territory they had claimed. They had found the limits of their military machine (and others had been adopting their weapons and tactics, with an aim to gain power for themselves). Environmental pressures where making life difficult all across The Med and Europe. Christianity was just one of the problems that they had, they were circling the drain without it.