A gospel robed in hospitality, hope, and healing has the power to change history.
*Burning eyes,
*Shaking fevers,
*Constant vomiting,
--Flaming bonfires incinerating victims.
*Constant vomiting,
--Flaming bonfires incinerating victims.
The imagery of the apocalypse.
No, not a dystopian sy-fy short – but the descriptive
reporting
on the debilitating conditions in the third century city of Luxor. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage recorded the prognosis: if death was not imminent (about two-thirds of the population died in Alexandria, Egypt), people could expect to be blind or deaf.
on the debilitating conditions in the third century city of Luxor. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage recorded the prognosis: if death was not imminent (about two-thirds of the population died in Alexandria, Egypt), people could expect to be blind or deaf.
Candida Moss, PhD
wrote a CNN piece on the discoveries made in a recent archeological dig. She is the coeditor of Disability Studies and Biblical Literature along with SITD lecturer Jeremy Schipper. In the article Dr. Moss hints at a claim that the
Christian response to disease and disability may have had a large affect upon
the spread of Christianity, perhaps even greater than early persecution. Reading through a disability-privileged
perspective, she highlights Cyprian’s comments on deafness and blindness – two key
words which have a rich history in the Biblical literature and an ethical
mandate of compassion and inclusion.
(Jeremy Schipper reminds us that these disabilities range across a
spectrum – from poor eyesight to complete loss of vision, or hearing impairment
to total deafness).
Early Christians tended to view this epidemic, death, and
disability not as a judgment for evil (the epidemic effected all equally), but
a confirmation that the pagan gods were powerless to stop it. As one of the few religious systems that
accepted death and believed in an afterlife, they joyfully spread the gospel
even with threat of martyrdom. Their non-discriminating
systems of care for those sick and with onset disabilities became early models
of hospitality and helped spread Christianity as a caring religion with an
eschatology of hope.
Current evangelical church expansion efforts can derive a lesson from the early church.
Placing concern for the socially unwanted, underprivileged, and
unsuccessful at the heart of a church plant will yield inexplicable results: A gospel robed in hospitality, hope, and healing has the power to change history.
