Monday, May 25, 2020

Homework: May 25th Late Middle Ages: Dying from the black death; dying for the Christian faith

Compare and contrast the black death with COVID 19.

These men all defied existing authority. Would you say their refusal to obey was legitimate? Why or Why not?

8 comments:

Kaelyn said...

The Black Death:

The black death was much worse than COVID-19. Two million people died in total, and that was almost half of the population! In contrast, only around three thousand people have died of Covid, and the death rate is .2% in comparison to 40-90% during the black death. There are some similarities, like both of the plagues originated in China. It took over two centuries for the population in Europe to reach what it was before the plague, and it will not take that long to recover from Covid.

Church:
I think that the men who stood for the faith had a right to disobey authority. The only reason why they had this right was because the Catholic Church was teaching things that were not taught in scripture. Whenever this happens, the duty of a Christian is to stand up for and preserve the faith. They had every right to stand up for the truth, but they did end up dying for it.

Josh Zwicker said...

There is a huge difference between COVID and the Black Death. First off, the Black Death is exponentially higher in fatalities than COVID. And with a smaller population in its time, the Black Death makes COVID look pathetic. The Black Death destroyed Europe multiple times, changing the course of history forever. Coronavirus is not quite even close to that yet. Of course, COVID has not fully run it's course yet, so there still is a possibility that it wreaks more havoc.

At this time in society, the Catholic Church was very corrupt, no doubt about it. So, these men thought someone needed to fix the doctrines of Christianity. Their disobedience was beneficial to society and it was legitimate. I'm not sure what all their actions consisted of, but from these videos, these men did the right thing. It is important to remember that their main goal was not to destroy the Catholic Church, but rather to correct it. After all, Christianity was founded on Catholicism. It is also important to remember that not just the Catholics, but every church has some error in their beliefs and doctrines.

Noah Gazmin said...

The black death was one devastating pandemic that had a extraordinary fatality rate. If COVID-19 was the plague around back then, it would have had a worse effect than it has now in Canada. This is because medical advancements have been made such as ventilators, and others. However, the coronavirus would not have been nearly as destructive as the black death even if it had struck 500-800 years ago. Because the economy has become so enormous over the past few decades the world has seemed to come to a standstill in a way that would not have been possible in the middle ages. I doubt there were even laws passed about social distancing or staying home. So while the black death was much more fatal than COVID-19, the effects that COVID is having on the today's economy is greater.


John and John were role models for future reformers including Martin Luther. I know that the Bible commands Christians to obey authorities, but if there was something seriously wrong with what they were preaching, I would have encouraged them to stand up against the corrupt church. Following God's law correctly is more important than following man's law. I have come to the conclusion that their refusal to obey was not only legitimate, but it was the right thing to do, and I also believe that there will come a time when we will have to take our own stand against government.

Alana said...

The Black Death and the Coronavirus are very different. The Black Death wiped out 40% of the current world's population which would be about 3.5 billion people if that happened in today's world. Meanwhile, only about 3000 people have died from the Coronavirus. The Black Death wiped out all of Florence's population and it took them hundreds of years to reach their same population again. Both the Coronavirus and the Black Death originated in Wuhan, China. Wonder what the Chinese are up to.

I think that the men of the faith like John Wycliffe and John Huss had the right to stand up against authority. Their disobedience benefited the future. Wycliffe stood up for biblical authority. He argued against purgatory and indulgences. Although the Bible teaches for us to respect authority, following God's law is more important than submitting to man's law. These brave Christian men's refusal to obey was definitely legitimate. They are examples to us, as one day, we may have to stand up against the government too.

Daniel said...

I think that our government and the media are tremendously exaggerated the problem of Covid-19 and are out to make it sound like this is a virus that will severely harm humanity. However, compared to the Bubonic plague or Black Death, Covid-19 is nothing. Covid-19 has a .2-2% fatality rate, while the Black Death was as high as a 50% fatality rate. Furthermore, the Bubonic plague could kill anyone of any age, while Covid-19 typically only kills people in retirement homes who already had existing medical problems. If the world was able to recover from the Black Death, I am confident that it can recover from Covid-19.

I would say that men such as John Wycliffe and John Huss had good reason to stand up to authority. While some people may argue whether their beliefs were right or wrong, the freedom of speech and expression should always be tolerated. Without brave men like these, we may never have had so much freedom to tell a church/government on what they are doing wrong.

Anna said...

I think the COVID and the Black Death are extremely different. I believe that the numbers the authorities are telling us are so different from what they really are. People are so sceptical now and do not and cannot trust the government. I think the age groups also are different because the black death killed so many young and old, whearas COVID is mostly killing the old and the immune compromised. I think the government is exaggerating the size of it, but i understand they want this to end, however i don't think it is possible. The laws are also two faced. It is one law for some and another for us. It is not fair, but we must live with grace and patience.

I think these men had the right to stand up to authority, mainly because they were standing up because the church was corrupt. They were brave and new what would happen when they did. However, they stood up for what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Sorry, I didn't know there was homework.

Emma Whatley said...

I didn't know there was homework either, i am sorry.

The Black Death is similar to COVID because it is something that kills anyone in its path and that even if someone survives they will never be left the same again. However, the two diseases are different because The Black Death killed less than half of the entire population of Europe. Over 200,000,000 people. Right now, COVID has only killed just under 400,000 people.

I think that that the only reason why these men had legitimate reasons to defy the church is that the church was going blatantly against the scripture. The church wasn't just supporting a controversial topic, it was supporting something that had no scripture to back it up. These men's refusal to obey was legitimate.

Jed.S said...

i had no idea, i sincerely apologize.

COVID-19 and the black death have many differences but in a way they are quite similar. Both caused pandemics and caused people to be quarantined. Both also were transferred quite easily by touch or by even breathing on someone. the two diseases are different because the death rate of COVID-19 right now is far less that the Death rate of the black death.The black death and has killed more that 2 million people while the COVID disease has killed about under 400 Thousand people.


i would say that theses men were people who had true passion for scriptures. it would have been easy to just go with it and keep their position of power in the church. but these man were so passionate that they stood up for what was right.thought they knew what the consequences would be the did what was right. the church council, on the other hand, went completely against scripture and became the very things they had sworn to defeat.