Climate Change, Plagues & Political Conflict: The Era of the Early Christian Church

The early Christian church emerged and dramatically spread even as Rome’s political dominion dramatically declined, weakened by mass-casualty pandemics, environmental calamities, political instability, and dehumanizing poverty. In this chaotic era, observes Roman historian Dr. Kyle Harper (University of Oklahoma), the church grew and “boasted of being a ‘new ethnos,’ a new nation” that adhered to Christian ethics and attracted people far and wide. What was it about the early church and its response to life-threatening challenges that drew people into its orbit? What does history suggest to us today, as we contend with similar challenges?

Join Upper House for its third annual Geneva Forum at Upper House as it hosts Dr. Harper for an interdisciplinary lecture that interweaves the history of the Roman world, religion, disease, and the environment.