Suffering and death and events like our current experience with the coronavirus generally lead humans to ask at least two questions about God. Does God exist (because, how could God exist if there’s all this suffering and death)? And, if God does exist, what is God like (because if God is God, then God must be powerful, and if this is how God’s power gets worked out, then God must not be loving…)?
I have lots to say on these questions, but for today I wanted to just offer three articles from mainstream news sources I’ve read recently that do a wonderful job of grappling with these questions in the public sphere in relation to suffering, the coronavirus, and God:
Casey Cep wrote a beautiful essay for The New Yorker about the significance of the church: The Gospel in a Time of Social Distancing
N.T. Wright writes in TIME a really helpful exploration of what Christianity does, and does not, offer in this moment: Christianity Offers No Answers in the Time of Coronavirus: It’s Not Supposed To
Father James Martin writes for The New York Times about wondering where God is in the midst of suffering: Where is God in a Pandemic?
None of these writers pretends to have answers. But they point us towards a faith that can root and ground us even when the world is shaking. I am grateful for their words.
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Want to read more? Here are some suggestions:
- Social Connection in a Time of Social Distance {Ep 102}
- The Foundation is Shaking: Coronavirus and Living in Love {Ep. 103}
- When God Looks at Us with Love
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