N.T. Wright, a renowned Anglican New Testament scholar, published a piece titled “Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus” in Time Magazine. He states a number of claims, or rather, a refutation of what Christianity answers in light of the pandemic…in that it doesn’t.
According to Wright, the Christian response is to lament and offer no explanations.
“Rationalists (including Christian rationalists) want explanations; Romantics (including Christian romantics) want to be given a sigh of relief. But perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament…”
Wright continues and states his main point:
“It is no part of the Christian vocation, then, to be able to explain what’s happening and why. In fact, it is part of the Christian vocation not to be able to explain—and to lament instead…”
Since I was a child, I remember always wondering why death existed. This question came front-and-center with the early passing of my grandmother. “Why did she have to die Lord?” I remember praying. It was in search of this answer that I ended up seeking answers in the Bible. And I came to one in Genesis 2: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The Christian explanation for the why of coronavirus is clear: it is because of sin.
While Wright is probably drawing attention to the foreign ancient idea of lament, his bedside manner is wanting. Titling any piece in general: “Christianity Offers No Answers About the coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To” is probably best served by another title. It is inflammatory when it didn’t need to be.
Perhaps this is Wright’s purpose: to cause Evangelical Christians to reconsider their response to coronavirus. Wright has historically been a critic of modern Evangelicalism and this may be more in the vein of seeing Christians across the world dealing with the coronavirus in a variety of ways. Some good. Some bad. I don’t disagree that there are many poor responses to this crisis.
But there is more than lament. There is a reason for suffering as a result of sin. There is a hope that Christianity does offer.
That hope, is the redeemer of the world. Through the work and the person of Jesus Christ.
“But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Let it be said that this modern illness also, this coronavirus, is ultimately for the glory of God.
References
https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A17&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A4&version=ESV