Heedless of Danger, They Took Charge of the Sick

Rodney Stark made the claim in The Rise of Christianity that Christianity exploded because, in part, Christians served their cities sacrificially, to the point of death. In the third century after Christ, in the Roman Empire, a horrific plague struck its cities. Tens of thousands perished. But what is particularly striking about this is how many Christians responded. Hear the words of Dionysius:

Most of our Christians brothers showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pain.