![]() ![]() Even pagan observers noticed a constant charity and love for others. This response of the Christian community is often cited as one reason that this faith in Jesus grew among the population. Most historians reflect on this era of Roman history as a critical time in Christian history as well. Only the Christians were brave enough to love, in spite of the dangers. These values resulted in a bravery that was not witnessed in the rest of the community or in the civic rulers. A life where love triumphed danger and where the values of the kingdom of God overruled the safety of one’s life. The Christians lived in search of love and in search of a response that looked like Jesus’ life. These anomalies of common sense stayed to care for the wholeness of the community, dealing with the ravages of death and infection rather than running to the hills in search of safety. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ…” In 260 CE Dionysius wrote a tribute to their efforts saying, “Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and only thinking of one another. They put their hands on the hurting and brought comfort to their suffering. As people suffered in the community, they responded with love, care and concern. These so-called Christians that lived within the Empire were found with the sick and dying, not running from them. Who were these lunatics that stayed and cared for those who were dying? Who was this group that ran into the plague instead of fleeing in panic? They were known as Christians. They cared for the sick, buried the dead, attempting to thwart the plague by burying bodies and covering them in lime, or burning bodies that had been piled in the streets. However, as many fled, there was one group of people that stayed. ![]() The empire was dying in epidemic proportions! At one point, up to 5000 per day were falling in Rome alone. It caused panic among the public, resulting in many fleeing to the countryside to escape the confines and tighter living of city neighborhoods. The sick were driven out into the public areas to die a slow and painful death. Plague and Panicīodies were left in the streets, being removed from houses so that remaining inhabitants could hopefully live in relative safety from whatever was attacking. ![]() Proximity was spreading illness at unprecedented rates, causing fear and panic as people saw their friends and family quickly falling ill, only to escape symptoms by death. Whole households were disappearing to the ravages of the disease. Most historians think the invader was akin to Smallpox or Bubonic Plague, based on the early descriptions of symptoms. It was not an army it could simply defeat on the battlefield, but a plague that swept through parts of the empire. The year was 250 CE and Rome found itself facing, invaded even, by a different kind of enemy. ![]()
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