Some of the greatest victories in history have come in the midst of the greatest catastrophes. In our current national trauma, the examples of history give us hope that Americans can prevail against the spiritual, economic and cultural challenges ahead.
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, devastating pandemics swept through the Roman Empire. The first plague lasted for fifteen years, wiping out a fourth of the Empire’s total population. A century later, an even worse pandemic struck, ultimately contributing to the total collapse of the Roman government. Yet during these tragedies a new faith emerged in the Empire: Christianity. Adherents of this faith—who called themselves Christians and vowed allegiance to Jesus Christ—became an army of compassion and the greatest healing and liberating force ever seen.
Rome and other cities in the empire “were far more crowded, crime-infested, filthy, disease-ridden and miserable than are the worst cities in the world today.” [1] One can only begin to imagine the depth of despair brought on by a plague in these places. Rome’s pagan gods and priests provided no solace to the suffering people. Their idols brought no hope or relief, and the cruel Roman rulers had no interest in the plight of fellow human beings. In fact, they demanded to be worshiped. Life for the individual was of little value. “The individual was regarded as of value only if he was a part of the political fabric and able to contribute to its uses, as though it were the end of his being to aggrandize the State.” [2]
During the pandemic of the 3rd century, Dionysius was Bishop of Rome. He described how the pagan Romans treated their sick: “At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest [family members] throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treating unburied corpses as dirt …. In the pagan world, and especially among the philosophers, mercy was regarded as a character defect and pity as a pathological emotion….” [3] Without the hope of heaven or the fear of judgment, people of the Empire lived in a culture of death. Murder, suicide and infanticide permeated the entire society.
Into that decayed and dying world, the followers of Christ brought compassion and a high view of human life. They were ambassadors of a new eternal Kingdom and an everlasting King. Condemned for their kindness, they were persecuted by emperors and even thrown to lions in the Coliseum. Many sought refuge in the catacombs beneath the city. These soldiers of faith army were not armed with swords but with mercy and love for all people as they followed their Lord’s admonition to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Their character and bravery became legendary throughout the empire. Entire cities, such as Antioch, began to embrace the Christian faith. In times of plague, the Christians nursed not only their own families and those of the faith, but cared for anyone in need or stricken with sickness. They continued to grow in number and influence throughout the empire.
In the midst of the epidemic, Christianity provided an island of mercy and security. Bishop Dionysius observed the Christian response during the pandemic: “Most of our brethren were unsparing in their exceeding love and brotherly kindness. They held fast to each other and visited the sick fearlessly, and ministered to them continually, serving them in Christ. They died with them most joyfully ….” [4]
One of the leaders of this new force faced off with the governor of Rome during the second pandemic. Lawrence was the leading pastor of the church that met in the catacombs. The church had a powerful ministry, especially to the poor and downtrodden. Lawrence recorded a list of around 1,500 needy people who were fed and cared for with the voluntary gifts of Christians. The Roman governor heard of the gold and silver vessels that were said to be used in the services of the church. His plan was to seize this wealth for the empire. He had Lawrence arrested and dragged before him. The governor demanded that Lawrence give him the riches. The pastor replied, “In three days I will bring before you the greatest treasures of the church.” With this assurance, the governor released Lawrence.
After three days the governor came back to Lawrence, “Are the treasures collected?” … The pastor replied, “They are, my lord, will you enter and view them?” He opened a door and displayed, to the astounded gaze of the governor, the poor pensioners of the church, a chosen number — a row of the lame, a row of the blind, orphans and widows, the helpless and weak. The governor turned fiercely upon Lawrence, saying; “What mean you by this mockery? Where are the treasures of gold and silver you promised to deliver up?” Lawrence replied, “These that you see before you, are the true treasures of the church. In the widows and orphans, you behold her gold and silver, her pearls and precious stones. These are her real riches. Make use of them by asking for their prayers; They will prove your best weapons against your foes.” [5]
The governor, enraged at not securing the gold, commanded his guards to seize Lawrence and have him burned. The saint triumphed over the tyrant to the last. He did not cry out in the flames, but in his dying breath prayed for the conversion of the entire empire. Lawrence’s executioner, witnessing his great faith, was converted in that moment and was also martyred.
Pandemics in Rome exposed the cruelty of pagan religion, but also showcased the compassion and unconditional love of Christians. The people of the Roman Empire began to turn from their pagan ways to the God of Christianity. Just 60 years after Lawrence’s death, Constantine became the first emperor to bow the knee to the compassionate, all powerful Christ. He legalized the faith. The old empire would soon die. But a far more compassionate and advanced Christian civilization would arise.
In 1345, the Black Death, a bubonic plague, became the greatest pandemic in recorded history. It ravaged Asia, then descended upon Europe in 1345 and swept into England in 1348. The deadly bacteria were carried by flea-infested rats on ships from Asia. The plague killed up to 50 million people — roughly 60% of the entire population of Europe. Life came to a standstill except for the mass burials of the dead.
Like the headless horseman, the Black Death marched up the Thames River in England, killing 100,000 people in London alone. When the plague reached Oxford University, half of the students and professors were struck down. A young student, John Wycliffe, saw his friends die agonizing deaths, with raging fever and black boils covering their bodies. It seemed that the end of mankind was at hand.
Wycliffe “passed days and nights in his cell groaning … and calling upon God to show him the path he ought to follow.” [6] He threw himself on the mercy of God as he studied Scripture. John was transformed as he learned that salvation came only as an unearned gift of grace from His Savior. This brilliant scholar poured all his energies into the work of translating the Word of God from Latin into English.
For decades John was under constant attack by royal tyrants and church prelates. Yet undaunted, he trained an army of “poor preachers” to teach everyday people to read — especially to read the Bible. The Bible was a forbidden book during the Middle Ages.
Throughout the 15th century, Wycliffe’s disciples, called Lollards, reached much of England with the liberating truths of Scripture. Although many were persecuted and martyred, these Christians changed the future of England and the world. This transformative movement was launched by one young college student who was brought to Christ in the middle of the greatest plague in world history.
In November of 1620, four hundred years ago, the Pilgrims arrived in New England. They soon became victims of a deadly epidemic which took the lives of half their number within a few months. They had been transformed by the love of God and learned from the Scriptures the sacred value of each human life. As Jesus taught: “Do to others as you would have them do to you …. Love your
neighbor as yourself …. Greater love has no man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.”
On Christmas Day 1620, the Pilgrims began constructing their first building. Soon they were challenged to obey the words of their Lord. During the deadly sickness that winter all but six of the 102 settlers were bedridden and writhing in pain. William Brewster was their spiritual leader and the eldest among them. He was among the six or seven who worked tirelessly to save his fellow settlers.
The disease began to take the lives of the sailors still aboard the Mayflower. About half of the crew were sick and dying, including the ship’s officer who was among those who cursed at the Pilgrims during the voyage. But the officer now praised the Pilgrims who were nursing him. He said, “You … show your love like Christians indeed to one another; but we let one another lie and die like dogs.” [7]
Bradford
By winter’s end, half of the Pilgrims had died. They were buried in a common grave. But these Pilgrims, as well as the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, became the first pioneers of the army of compassion in the New World.
The surviving Pilgrims became friends with King Massasoit, of the neighboring Wampanoag tribe. When the king became deathly ill, the Pilgrims nursed him back to health. They signed a peace treaty of mutual assistance with the Wampanoags. The treaty was upheld for 50 years. [8]
When the Mayflower returned to England in the spring of 1621, not one of the surviving Pilgrims chose to return. But the testimony of the Pilgrims’ brave compassion reverberated throughout England. The word spread that America could be settled in peace.
In 1630, thirteen hundred English settlers arrived in Boston. They contracted the same deadly illnesses the Pilgrims had endured. The Pilgrims sent their doctor, Dr. Fuller, and others to nurse the new settlers back to health. Dr. Fuller died in his efforts. The Boston settlers, coming from the higher classes of English society, had mocked the “separatist” Pilgrims when they were in England. But in the New World, they came to love them and even emulated their form of representative government.
This single event changed the course of history. It set America on the path towards a self-governing, representative republic rather than a top-down monarchical, tyrannical society. In 1720 there was a stock market collapse in London that led to a great depression in England and the American colonies. It was a time of spiritual apathy and decay in both places. The mighty French threatened to annihilate the colonies. At the same time, filth, disease and death ravaged the workers in the coal minds of Wales and the child sweatshops of London.
But in the 1730s, a new wind blew across the English-speaking world. John Wesley and George Whitefield began their preaching throughout the British Isles as the people flocked to hear the transforming gospel. The revival of faith spread to America. Whitefield joined with men like Jonathan Edwards to spark America’s First Great Awakening. This Awakening of repentant hearts toward God was not an escape from the world. These new believers did not separate from their civil duties, but now dedicated themselves to reforming, first themselves and then their society. Professor Olasky says that the revived Americans “emphasized God’s sovereignty over all … They strove for holiness in government as well as in their own lives.” It is estimated that one-half of the people in the south and one-third of those in the north, came to faith in Jesus Christ just before the War of Independence. John Adams, father of the American Revolution, said that the real war was fought and won before the British invaded. He said “What do we mean by the American Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people … a change in their religious sentiments [convictions].” [9] Triumph emerged from terror.
In 1857 in New York City, another Great Awakening was birthed. It began with a pastor and a prayer meeting of six men. They prayed for a revival in Manhattan, as most people had drifted away from the faith. Suddenly, another stock market crash occurred on Wall Street. The prayer meeting grew from six men to hundreds and then thousands of men. Within a few months 10,000 men had taken over the Broadway theaters at lunch for two-hour prayer meetings. The awakening spread from New York to England, Scotland and then around the world. After the Civil War began in 1861, an infectious disease decimated the ranks of both the North and the South. It is well known that over 600,000 men died in the Civil War. But most people are unaware that more than half of those men died of disease, not in battle. Pastors were asked to preach in the battle camps. Untold tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides committed their lives to Christ. After the war, the nation slowly healed, as Christian forgiveness and compassion soothed and comforted the people. Once again, America and the world, need a Great Awakening. The words of Abraham Lincoln speak to us today. “ … It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all of history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord …“…We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceit fulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It Behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” March 30, 1863, Proclamation Appointing a National Day of Fasting.
Oh, dear Lord, forgive us, heal us, awaken us to serve you and no other.
— Marshall Foster
Endnotes
- Stark, Rodney, The Triumph of Christianity (HarperCollins, 2011) p. 102
- Frothington, R., The Rise of the Republic of the United States (Brown, Boston, MA, 1910), p. 6
- Stark, op. cit., p. 112-115
- Schmidt, A.J., How Christianity Changed the World (Zondervan, 2001) p. 152
- Foxe, John, Christian Martyrs of the World (Mantle Ministries, 1986) p. 84-86
- D’Aubigne, J.H. Merle, History of the Reformation (Baker Book House, 1976) p. 703
- Bradford, William, The Plymouth Settlement (American Heritage Ministries, 1988) p. 78
- Ibid. p 79
- D’Souza, Dinesh, What’s So Great About Christianity (Tyndale House Publishers, 2007) p. 72
The original of this article first appeared as an edition of the World History Institute Journal, May/June 2020 edition, as a circular newsletter, and on the site of the World History Institute.
Compelling speaker and writer Dr. Marshall Foster, Founder of the World History Institute, has led the forefront of teaching God’s Providential, overcoming and victorious history for decades.
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