Disruptions in Church History 3 - The Bubonic Plague

Week 3 of our 4-part series on Disruptions in Church History. This episode covers the Bubonic Plague. This one is probably the most comparable to what we’re going through right now with COVID-19. And the church’s response looks BLEAK. Find the audio below. But first, take a look at how the plague made its way across Europe to kill more than 30% of the population.

In case you missed it, here’s the description of what we’re doing…

Welcome to a new format for the Postmodern Missionary Podcast.  Let me tell you about it!

Many have requested that I add a teaching component on here in addition to my interviews, which has been in the works for a while.  I had teachings on how to do mission well.  I had teachings on what Neo-colonialism looks like.

AAAAND then Corona happened.  My life and your life and every church and the whole world has been disrupted by the ‘rona.  So instead I decided to take the opportunity to see what certain episodes in history might teach us about how to handle this disruption…the Black Plague, for example.  So here we are with a four part series on Disruptions in Church History.  

Now, I few things you need to know:

One, each week we will look at one disruption in Church History.  We will wade through what the disruption was and then we’ll ask the question of how the church responded to it.  You will find that sometimes the church handled what they were facing in a really positive and constructive and gospel-centered way.  And sometimes…not so much.

Two, this is by no means an exhaustive list, only stuff that I’ve encountered that I find instructive and interesting.

Three, and this is important.  I decided to do this topic before the most recent uprisings against police brutality in the US and before we started this newest critical conversation about race for our generation.  Truthfully, it seems like now there are two disruptions going on.  HOWEVER, I think this topic has something to say about this conversation too.

Four, I personally am doing my own spiritual work toward becoming truly anti-racist, and I have been for a while now.  This work is CENTRAL to being a postmodern missionary that does not cause harm. But this podcast is not directly about that.  (Not directly about that.) My plan is to tell you how these disruptions were handled by sections of the church…for good or ill.   

I know that there will be parallels that can be drawn between the stories I tell here and what we’re facing together today.  Now, I’m not going to make those connections in this podcast.  Instead, I’m going to let you and the Holy Spirit and maybe some friends on your journey do that work together.  My firm belief and conviction is that the church must respond to the disruptions of today…. Even if we don’t respond, that is still a response.  Maybe looking back will help us to look forward. 

Number 5, and also very important, I think this is gonna be fun. I mean, like, nerdy fun.  But still fun. And I’m super glad you’re here!

REFERENCES

Cantor, N.F. (2015) In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. Simon & Schuster.

Cohn, Samuel Jr. Plague violence and abandonment from the Black Death to the Early Modern Period. https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_ADH_134_0039--plague-violence-and-abandonment-from.htm# Accessed 9 August 2020

Gonzalez, Justo L. (2010) The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Reformation. Revised and Updated. New York: HarperCollins.

Mark, Joshua J. (2020) Religious Responses to the Black Death. https://www.ancient.eu/article/1541/religious-responses-to-the-black-death/ Accessed 2 August 2020

Noll, Mark A. (2012) Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic.