rodney stark the triumph of christianity

Hence, when their first symptom appeared, victims often were thrown into the streets, where the dead and dying lay in piles. But for those who could not flee, the typical response was to try to avoid any contact with the afflicted, since it was understood that the disease was contagious. During the first plague, the famous classical physician Galen fled Rome for his country estate where he stayed until the danger subsided. Once again the Greco-Roman world trembled as, on all sides, family, friends, and neighbors died horribly. Then, a century later came another great plague. At the height of the epidemic, mortality was so great in many cities that the emperor Marcus Aurelius (who subsequently died of the disease) wrote of caravans of carts and wagons hauling out the dead. During the fifteen-year duration of the epidemic, a quarter to a third of the population probably died of it. Whatever the actual disease, it was lethal-as many contagious diseases are when they strike a previously unexposed population. Some medical historians suspect this was the first appearance of smallpox in the West. In the year 165, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a devastating epidemic swept through the Roman Empire. ' Perhaps we can draw some insight from these historical reflections as we weigh whether to hide out in our houses, or wisely and carefully venture out to care for the weak and suffering. Below I will include a few paragraphs from Stark’s book, 'The Triumph of Christianity.

Sociologist and historian Rodney Stark mounted a powerful argument that one of the principal reasons Christianity grew while Roman paganism waned in the 1 st-4 th centuries was because of the mercy Christians displayed toward people who physically suffered, and in particular, how Christians showed mercy during two plagues that ravaged the Roman Empire. Twenty-first century followers of Jesus might profit from viewing a page from our own Christian history as we consider how to navigate this looming crisis known to most as Coronavirus-that is, how to navigate this peril as Christians. But in the midst of all this worry, let’s take a moment and reflect on how Christians dealt with plagues in the past. The focus of these efforts, naturally, is protection of self and others from the spread of the virus. In my section of the world, people are stockpiling hand sanitizers, facemasks, toilet paper and bottled water, and some have already self-quarantined. COVID-19 is spreading across the globe as I write these words.

Rodney stark the triumph of christianity