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 CHAPTER XVI

THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON THE EVOLUTION OF MEDICINE

The religion established by Jesus Christ in Judea during the early part of the first century remained confined within the limits of that region for a number of years, but already during the latter half of that period groups of Christians were to be found in every part of the Roman Empire, and in certain localities the membership of the new church had increased so greatly in numbers as to excite the alarm and hostility of the temple priests and of the governing officials. Persecutions, especially in the city of Rome and at the instigation of Nero, became more and more frequent and more and more pitiless, but they failed utterly to destroy the new religion, so firmly was it rooted in the followers of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact its spread was checked for only a few years, and then its adherents increased in numbers more rapidly than ever. Neuburger, in his "History of Medicine," makes the following quotation from the account which Dionysius of Alexandria gives of the great plague that occurred during the third century A. D.:

The majority of our brethren in their love for their neighbors did not spare themselves, but acted as a unit in their efforts to assist. They visited the sick without the slightest fear and gave them the very best of care, for the sake of Christ Among the non-Christians, however, the very opposite was true. As soon as any of their number fell ill they pushed them to one side, even those who were dearest to them, and, before they were more than half-dead, they threw them out into the street and took no care to bury the dead bodies.