And it probably didn't hurt that the main proponent of sticking with Judaism was James, Jesus' brother, who was killed by the Romans. Reason number two is related to reason number one, and it's all about a dude named Saul. No, not that Saul. Yes, Saul of Tarsus, thank you. Saul, having received a vision on the road to Damascus, became Paul and began visiting and sending letters to Jesus' followers throughout the Mediterranean. And it was Paul who emphatically declared that Jesus' followers did not have to be Jews, that they didn't have to be circumcised or keep to Jewish laws or any of that stuff. This opened the floodgates for thousands of people to convert to this new religion.