Whilst reading the numerous media articles on the coronavirus pandemic one thing I have come across is a comparison of it with the Spanish Flu outbreak between 1918-20. I must confess that I did not really know anything about Spanish Flu previously. According to Wikipedia the dead toll was estimated to be between 17 million and 50 million, a staggering number.
A good question to ask ourselves in 2020 is: are there any lessons that the church can learn from their response to the Spanish Flu outbreak that would be useful for the current situation we face with coronavirus?
Well according to the Think Theology blog the answer to that question is yes! In a very interesting article written by Kristine Nethers entitled: We’ve Been Here Before: Lessons from the Church’s Responses to the Spanish Flu of 1918-19, she lists 12 similarities and 5 things we can learn from the church’s response 100 years ago.
This is a very good article which I recommend.
Still Learning 