Early Christians and Epidemics

Recently, I re-read Rodney Stark's chapter on epidemics and Christianity in the ancient world. These are some of my personal takeaways.

Reading:
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U. Press, 1996), Chapter 4, "Epidemics, Networks, and Conversion".

Some Points that Struck Me:

• [Plagues]  There have been major epidemics throughout humankind's history and we have some good records of some that occurred in the Roman Empire and the behaviour of Christians during plagues. In the immediate centuries after Christianity was born, these plagues had a substantial effect on its growth as shown by concrete instances within the Roman empire.
• [Flight and Status]  Whereas many non-Christians who were able to do so tended to escape from a plague-stricken places in order to keep themselves safe from infection, Christians generally stayed on in a plague-stricken place. This is connected in a major way with many Christians' low economic status. 
• [Christians Stayed on to Nurse the Sick]  One remarkable trait that marked the behaviour of many early Christians during an epidemic was their commitment to care for their sick members. This care also extended to people outside the community in many cases. Such a trait occasioned the famous praise noted in (church father) Tertullian's work even from those who were opponents of Christianity. "It is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another!'" (Apology 39, 1989 edition)
• [Religious Reasons for the Behaviour of Christians]  As mentioned, Christians stayed on to care for the sick because of the resources that the Christian religion itself was able to provide, such as: the spirit of service of others which was understood ultimately as a deed done for God, the traits of charity and compassion, the firm faith and hope in an eternal reward even if one should succumb to the plague, etc. 
• [Religious Resources Apparently not Present in Paganism]  These "religious resources" were by and large not present in non-Christian religions (paganism) and, hence, they were not really motivated to practice charity and compassion during an epidemic. E.g., The emperor Julian "the Apostate" urged pagan priests to provide some parallel spirit of charity to the poor that the Christians showed.
• [Nursing and Its Sociological Impact]  Many Christians practiced some form of nursing by caring for their sick. Studies have shown that even without active medical solutions (that the ancient world did not have), nursing can save lives. Hence, many Christians were able to survive during epidemics whereas many non-Christians with no one to care for them perished. The sociological and demographic effect of plagues then was that Christianity grew because of the higher percentage of Christians who survived them. 
• [Conversions as Another Result]  Another noteworthy effect of plagues was that a substantial number of pagans converted to Christianity precisely because they were inspired by the spirit of charity and service that they clearly saw among Christians during a plague. Again, this resulted in the growth of Christianity.

Reflection:
The real life context of the oft-quoted line, "See how they (Christians) love one another!" was the remarkable spirit of charity that was present among Christians particularly during epidemics. This we can still see in many of our front-line workers during this 2020 pandemic. Although many do not link their selfless service directly to God or Christianity, a similar selfless and giving spirit characterizes many of them, one can say. It's remarkable how the spirit of charity in early Christianity has been "institutionalized" in society now for the common good. This may be considered a good effect that the Christian tradition has bequeathed to society at large.