古罗马帝国中后期的瘟疫与基督教的兴起

古罗马帝国中后期, 频繁爆发的瘟疫使业已危机丛生的社会局面更加动荡, 而传统宗教——异教无以应对, 于是社会出现了普遍的信仰危机。根据早期教会史家的记载, 基督教徒在这个危机的时期, 大力宣扬超越利己的教义, 并开展了卓有成效的社会救助行动。因此, 基督教的影响迅速扩大, 皈依者迅速增多, 形成了对异教的强大挑战。从这种意义上说, 帝国中后期的瘟疫为基督教的发展与壮大提供了有利的契机, 加快了它战胜异教的进程, 并在一定程度上也改变了欧洲社会甚至人类历史的发展走向。

The Plague and the Rise of Christianity During the Late-mid-Ancient Roman Empire

In Ancient Rome, plague broke out frequently, which made roman society turbulent, and social beliefs went into crisis. The traditional religions could not respond to the changing situations, while Christianity took advantage of it and defeated traditional religion whether in spiritual and practical realms, and then was regarded as state religion. In a sense, if plague hadn’t broken out frequently, Christianity would lose the opportunity to rise.