On when plagues came to town

The Book of James talks about humans being made in the image of God. And the Christians, through reading Genesis, wanted to promote that in their everyday behaviour. And so they looked for ways in which they could help the needy, when they could be with those who were suffering. And by the time Christians have some power, by the time that they have – maybe they’re 10 per cent of the population in the Empire, and you have plagues sweeping through the Empire – well, Christians believe that each person is made in the image of God, and thus each person should be cared for, even if they are very ill. And so Christians were known to care for people who had the plague. And this shocked pagans, who were really anxious to get out of the way of any kind of sickness – they just would flee a city or a town. And the Christians stayed. That made a real impact on the pagans, who wondered, how could these Christians love, even at the cost, perhaps, of their own lives?