In addition to the requirement of explaining the apostles' willingness to die for their beliefs, the skeptic has another challenge. They must explain the rapid, if not explosive, growth of the early church.
Robert Louis Wilken, emeritus professor of history at the University of Virginia, states that at about 100 AD, “There were fewer than ten thousand Christians in the Roman Empire.” But by 300 AD, the number had grown to make up “10 percent of the population, approximately 6 million [people].”
Why would a religion that ran counter to everything adherents previously believed spring up out of nowhere if it were founded on fiction? Especially since proclaiming oneself a Christian was often a death sentence!