[LOOKAYANNER]

No, my religion began for most when the son of God died on the cross and rose from the dead.

It still started as a small cult following. It wasn’t a major world religion in those days. And it didn’t really get going until about 50 years after Jesus’ death when it was written about in the Gospels. If anyone is to be given credit for the spread of Christianity it is Paul and his writings, which require a leap of faith because it’s second hand observation. Paul himself didn’t see any of the last days of Jesus.
And what really gave it the boost it needed was it’s acceptance by the Roman Empire. Without that happening it would probably would have been one of many different cults that sprang up in the region in those times and withered away to be replaced by others. Christianity happened to occur at just the right time in history for survival. And the rest is history.