A People’s History of Christianity:

The Other Side of the Story

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

May 3, 2005

The Plague of Galen (165 – 180 CE)Ancient pandemic brought back to Roman Empire by troops returning from military campaigns in the East.Total deaths estimated at five million.Devasted the Roman army.

St. Cyprian of Carthage, writing later, described the plague as an opportunity to discern

whether the well take care of the sick, whether relatives dutifully love their kinsfolk as they should, whether masters show compassion for their ailing slaves, whether physicians do not desert the afflicted.”

Chapter 3:Ethics – The Love of Neighbor

Because Christians did not fear death, they stayed behind in plague-ravaged cities while others fled. Their acts of mercy extended to all the suffering regardless of class, tribe, or religion.

One of the reasons Christianity spread so quickly in the 1st – 2nd centuries was because Christians did “risky, compelling, and good things for people.”

Lucian, a critic of Christianity, wrote of the lavish hospitality Christians offered a local prisoner:“The efficiency of the Christians show whenever

matters of community interest like this happen is unbelievable; they literally spare nothing.”

Love of Neighbor:Christian Hospitality

What is the imperative for Christian Hospitality?

“Come, you that are blessed by my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Matthew 25: 34 - 36

Love of Neighbor:Christian Hospitality

Civic unrest resulting from the death of 25 year old African American Freddy Gray, who died will in police custody.

Baltimore Riots – April 25, 2015

A young boy offering water to a Baltimore police officer in riot gear on April 28, 2015 has gone viral on the internet and shared over 60,000 times. Facebook post had over 600,000 hits. What does this picture convey?

From what many church historians gather, hospitality, not martyrdom – served as one of the main motivators for the growth of early Christianity.

For ancient Christians, morality was not equated with sexual ethics as much as it was tied into welcoming the stranger. They seem to have been less concerned with who was sleeping with who and more about who was feeding the hungry, and who was taking care of the sick.

Christian Hospitality in the Early Church

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Acts 2: 44-45

The early church had wealthy members, but hospitality and giving money to the poor was insisted upon, and so the wealthy were expected to give generously.

Easy for the church at this time to shun property as long as Christianity was a persecuted sect under the Roman Empire.

Hospitality and the Communal life of the Early Church

Born into a wealthy family in modern day Turkey. As a bishop in modern day Cappadocia, he used nearly all of his family’s wealth to feed the poor through the creation of one of the first food pantries, earning him the title

“Basil the Great.” He also built one of the first Christian hospitals and a hospice. (Hospitality, hospital, and hospice all come from the same Latin root).

Basil of Caesaerea (330 – 379)

Made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 313.This created a seismic shift in the way the religion of Christianity was practiced. The church became wealthy,especially bishops and priests, and a more allegorical interpretation of Christ’s

command to “sell everything you have and give the money to the poor” was preferred

Emperor Constantine

Chrysostom means “golden-mouthed” was a title given to him because of his ability to speak truth to power and corruption

in a way that inspired many.One of his chief concerns was the corruptivepower of wealth. He once proclaimed “the Desire to rule is the mother of all heresies.” Chrysostom preached against the excess of The church, and ultimately was exiled from thechurch because of it.

John Chrysostom 349 - 407

What did the church lose when Constantine sanctioned Christianity as the official religion in 313?

What did the church gain as a result of Emperor Constantine’s decision?

How did the practice of hospitality and love of neighbor likely change in the church in light of Constantine making Christianity no longer a persecuted faith?

Hospitality is the practice that keeps the church from becoming a club, a members-only society. How does St. Andrew’s practice hospitality today? In what ways can the church do more?

Table Conversation

Next week: Chapter Four: Christianity as Spiritual ArchitectureChapter Five: Devotion: Paradise Restored