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The early Church was able to grow and prosper, despite persecution, because worldly success does not necessarily equate to spiritual success; in fact, it is often quite the opposite. Many Church leaders were captured and executed, but this fact did not hinder Church growth; it probably aided it. Though property was frequently destroyed or taken away from Christians, this did not prove to be an impediment; rather, it was the opposite. Most compellingly, the martyrdoms of the early Church did not alienate prospective converts, but served as an impetus for their conversion.

Though it might seem as though the incarceration and execution of Church leaders might have demoralized the Christians, it at least did not hinder Church prosperity and growth, and, at the most, aided it. When viewed from a purely worldly perspective, the loss of a leader is a bad thing; it disheartens followers and makes it necessary for a new leader to be found. However, from the spiritual perspective, the loss of these leaders was a sad thing, but it was not a harmful one, since the ultimate leader of the Church is God. St. Ignatius says this himself; when writing of the flock he left behind in Antioch, he asserts that he is not worried about their welfare, since God will be their leader in his absence. In addition, the examples of courage and zeal Church leaders such as St. Ignatius set when going to death and martyrdom was something positively beneficial for their flock to see and imitate.

The loss of Church and individual Christian property was also a circumstance which did not hinder Church prosperity or growth, and in all probability greatly aided it. Jesus told his disciples that where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be. A loss of worldly goods, therefore, is almost always beneficial, if viewed from the spiritual perspective. It is coincidental that the harshest persecution of the early Church, one in which Church buildings were razed to the ground, scriptures burnt, and the property of individual Christians taken away, followed a period of lax morals and degeneration in Church virtue. The loss of property had a purifying effect on the individual Christian, and purity of virtue and religion was necessary for Church growth and well-being. Loss of property therefore aided the Church in achieving these objects.

One of the most paradoxical aspects of early Church growth is the fact that, though hundreds of Christians were tortured and martyred for the faith,

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