“Afterwards there broke out a dreadful plague, and excessive destruction of a hateful disease invaded every house in succession of the trembling populace, carrying off day by day with abrupt attack numberless people, every one from his own house. All were shuddering, fleeing, shunning the contagion, impiously exposing their own friends, as if with the exclusion of the person who was sure to die of the plague, one could exclude death itself also. There lay about the meanwhile, over the whole city, no longer bodies, but the carcasses of many, and, by the contemplation of a lot which in their turn would be theirs, demanded the pity of the passers-by for themselves. No one regarded anything besides his cruel gains. No one trembled at the remembrance of a similar event. No one did to another what he himself wished to experience.” [Pontius of Carthage, Life of Cyprian<\/em>].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “The Plague at Ashdod” by Nicolas Poussin<\/p><\/div>\n The plague nearly destroyed the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n “… the history of Rome is a confusing tangle of violent failures. The structural integrity of the imperial machine burst apart. The frontier system crumbled. The collapse of legitimacy invited one usurper after another to try for the throne. The empire fragmented and only the dramatic success of later emperors in putting the pieces back together prevented this moment from being the final act of Roman imperial history.” [Kyle Harper,\u00a0 The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire,<\/em>” Chapter 4, 2017].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yet, in the midst of this chaos, Eusebius records,<\/p>\n “Most of our brethren showed love and loyalty in not sparing themselves while helping one another, tending to the sick with no thought of danger and gladly departing this life with them after becoming infected with their disease Many who nursed others to health died themselves, thus transferring their death to themselves. The best of our own brothers lost their lives in this way — some presbyters, deacons, and laymen — a form of death based on strong faith and piety that seems in every way equal to martyrdom. They would also take up the bodies of the saints, close their eyes, shut their mouths, and carry them on their shoulders. They would embrace them, wash and dress them in burial clothes, and soon receive the same services themselves.<\/p>\n “The heathen were the exact opposite. They pushed away those with the first signs of the disease and fled from their dearest. They even threw them half-dead into the roads and treated unburied corpses like refuse in hope of avoiding the plague of death, which, for all their efforts, was difficult to escape.” [Eusebius,\u00a0The Church History, Dionysius and Dissent; Strife and Plague in Alexandria<\/em>, 7.22.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Because of the Christians’ unwavering confidence in the face of death, many were drawn to the faith.<\/p>\n May we be like our brethren in the past. Whether the current concerns of the coronavirus proves deadly or not or whether we face a pandemic in the future, let us be resolved to never push away those who need comfort among the sick and dying. In showing love for our neighbors we glorify the name of our Lord. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another<\/em>” (John 13:35).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A friend of mine recently posted a passage written by Eusebius, an early historian of the church, which I wish to share with you. At the peak of the Cyprian Plague, which ran from about A.D. 249 to 262, there were as many as 5,000 deaths per day throughout the Roman…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[741,908,65],"class_list":["post-20795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-diseases","tag-health","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44743,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-there-a-time-lapse-between-the-plagues-in-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":0},"title":"Was there a time-lapse between the plagues in Egypt?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, I have always been a bit analytical, too bad it did not help me with math. My question is one that plagues me every time that I read Exodus. If all the livestock died from disease, then how could any have been around for the hail? Did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53884,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-winepress-of-gods-wrath\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":1},"title":"The Winepress of God’s Wrath","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve A. Hamilton \"So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image\" (Revelation 16:2). The date was 541 A.D. Roman Emperor Justinian was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35968,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-those-who-were-killed-by-the-angel-know-there-was-a-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":2},"title":"Did those who were killed by the angel know there was a God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband wants to know if the 70,000 killed by a plague by an angel knew there was a God? Answer: You are referring to those who died as a result of David's sin in numbering the men of war in Israel. \"So the LORD sent a plague upon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23465,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-pray-for-the-end-of-the-covid-19-plague\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":3},"title":"Should we pray for the end of the COVID-19 plague?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I hope this coronavirus will end soon. What should we pray for in this crisis? I believe God knows what is happening so how should we pray and what should we pray for? Answer: Prayer is the time to tell God about our desires. Consider that Jesus knew that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30945,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-david-wrong-in-numbering-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":4},"title":"Why was David wrong in numbering Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In II Samuel 24:1-2, it was written that David commanded Joab to take a census of Israel. After the census was taken, in II Samuel 24:10, David knew that he had sinned and God sends a pestilence upon Israel as a consequence. Why did God consider David commanding a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2770,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-wear-animal-skin-or-furs\/","url_meta":{"origin":20795,"position":5},"title":"Is it okay to wear animal skin or furs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it okay to wear animal skin or furs? Answer: Before sending Adam and Eve out of the garden because of their sin, God made them proper clothing to replace their inadequate clothing made from fig leaves. \"Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made\u00a0tunics of skin,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20795\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Nicolas-Poussin-The-Plague-at-Ashdod.jpg\")