The Plague and the Church’s Response

By Rev Dr Alun Tudur, UWI minister in Cardiff

At the beginning of the year (2021) the Rev Dr Alun Tudur was invited by the Welsh Congregational Historical Society to deliver a lecture on ‘The Plague and the Church’s Response’. In accepting the invitation, his initial reaction was to think that there might not be many sources available on this topic. But he soon realised that this was not the case as it appeared to be a prolific subject. Plague has always been a part of human history. Here is a synopsis of the lecture.

Plagues in general

In his book, The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark notes with surprise that historians, and especially Christian historians, have ignored the far-reaching significance of plagues on religious, social and economic developments.i For example in the history of the Roman Empire the impact of serious infections on the populations has been largely ignored until recently. In the past it was thought that the sudden fall of the Roman Empire was the result of immorality and the power of the Barbarians, but it is now thought that it all stemmed from the impact of a serious plague that killed a large percentage of the population.

John Davies, in his definitive history book Hanes Cymru, (The History of Wales), maintains that there were similar circumstances in the early history of the Welsh when he wrote:

No doubt the English success after 550 a.d. can be attributed partly to the devastation that the Britons faced as a result of the plague. It originated in Egypt in 541 a.d., and reached western Britain by 549 a.d., when Maelgwn Fawr died of it. It seems that the English were not affected by the plague, as they they did not have, as the Britons had, a direct link to the Mediterranean.ii

There are a number of factors, as we now know, that contribute to the spread of infections which cause the socially deprived to suffer the most. Preventing the spread of infection requires knowledge, sanitation, clean water and nutritious food. Before the second half of the 19th century these were not widely available in Wales. A major contributor to ill health in Wales was poor diet and hunger. The Welsh diet for centuries was based on oatmeal, rye flour and barley bread, and foods such as porridge, ‘bwdran’ (gruel) and ‘llymru’ (flummery). These foods were rich in carbohydrate but deficient in protein and vitamins. More often than not subsistence was entirely dependent on local harvests and when these failed, hunger followed. Throughout the centuries Wales was a mostly poor country and there were periods of famine in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Plagues in Wales

The infections that mostly affected Wales over the centuries were the ‘Pla Du’ (Black Death), the ‘brech wen’ (smallpox), the ‘Fad Felen’ (Yellow Plague or yellow fever), ‘gwahanglwyf’ (leprosy), ‘haint y nodau’ (pestilence), the ‘clefyd chwysu’ (the sweats), ‘geri marwol’ (cholera), typhus and ‘darfodedigaeth’ (tuberculosis).

i Stark, Rodney, The Rise of Christianity, (Harper One, 1996) p. 74 ii Davies, John, Hanes Cymru, (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1990), p. 67. Also Glyn Penrhyn, Newyn and Haint yng Nghymru, (Llyfrfa’r Methodistiaid Calfinaidd, Caernarfon, 1962.) p. 33 iii Gruffydd, Eirlys, Ffynhonnau Cymru, cyfrol 1, (Carreg Gwalch 1997), p. 24 iv The work of N. Culpeper translated into Welsh by D. T. Jones, published in Llanrwst, 1818

Churches’ response to infections

The churches responded in two ways to the plagues. Firstly, spiritually and secondly practically.

Spiritually, some saw the coming of a plague as a sign of God’s judgment on immorality. This understanding is based on Bible verses stating that God punishes people with plagues, e.g. book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28: 58–61. It is likely that in the 19th century, the churches’ main response to the plagues was to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus so that they would be assured of eternal life before death. The faithful were also encouraged to pray for deliverance from infections.

Secondly, practically there was little they could do to prevent the spread of plagues. Nevertheless, Christians throughout the centuries showed great love in their willingness to care for those who were suffering. They realised early on that some diseases were infectious and that isolation was not always possible. They would have to continue to supply water and produce crops for food despite infections.

Wells

Until the late 19th century, wells were used to seek healing e.g. Trisant’s Well not far from Devil’s Bridge, Ceredigion, west Wales. Here, there are three fountains next to each other. It was believed that one was able to heal eye defects, the second was effective on skin disorders and the third used for all manner of diseases.iii

Medicines

Medicines were also prepared, usually from plants and herbs. The twelfth century Meddygon Myddfai (Physicians of Myddfai), near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, were wellknown as herbalists, and a collection of their remedies are to be found first in the Llyfr Coch Hergest (Red Book of Hergest) manuscripts dating from the fourteenth century. There were a number of medicinal books such as the Brittany Herbal or Llysieulyfr Brutanaidd in exsitence, containing numerous recipes and instructions on how to prepare medicines, or physics, to deal with various ailments.iv

Concluding thoughts

Pandemics change the direction and tack of history, they also change what happens in the life and testimony of the Christian church. With the plagues the church faced new challenges and there are things that we can learn today from their successes and mistakes.

Pandemics force us to reconsider the foundations of our theology. How do we understand the coming of serious viruses today in a Biblical context especially in the light of scientific developments?

We foolishly and perhaps selfishly thought that due to scientific advances, pandemics would never again be a real problem to humanity.With Covid-19, we realise that we cannot take this for granted and that things are not under our control. Indeed, humanity never dictates the events of history. God does.

Alun Tudur was born in the city of Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales in 1962. He attended St Paul’s Welsh medium primary and Friars High School. The family attended Pendref Congregational Church where he came to faith and was called to ministry. He attended the Bala-Bangor Independent College, Bangor, where he read Theology and was awarded a PhD, for his thesis ‘O’r Sect i’r Enwad. Datblygiad enwadau Ymneilltuol Cymru, 1840–70’. (From Sect to Denomination. The development of the Nonconformist denominations of Wales, 1840–70.) In 1986 he was ordained as the pastor of Ebeneser Independent Church, Wrexham, and then in 1995 at Ebeneser, Independent Church, Cardiff where he is currently serving. He is married to Vikki and has two grown-up children, Gwilym who is married to Alex, and Lowri. He is the author of a number of books and is the chief editor of the congregational weekly magazine, Y Tyst. Interests include songwriting, reading and watching rugby, his playing days ended many moons ago.