N. T. Wright recently published an article in Time[1] in which he discusses appropriate Christian reactions to the current coronavirus pandemic. For those unfamiliar, Wright is a leading academic in early Christianity, with a focus on Paul — and Paul’s letter to the Romans in particular. His concern was not merely for the first century church, however, serving as Bishop of Durham for eight years. With such experience, Wright is known not just for his academic work, but his ‘popular’ texts, translating the complexities of first-century culture and early Christian thought to a lay — as opposed to academic — readership.
In this article, Wright questions the ‘natural’ reactions in our modern world to seek answers: ‘Why did god allow …?’ or ‘This must be a sign that…’. These are components of a worldview which must have an explanation (rational or otherwise) to everything. There do appear, however, certain cases in which these are most appropriate: Why is the grass green? The sky blue? The sun rise? Or how does warm milk generate latte layers?[2] These are asking questions about the nature of reality. The comparable coronavirus question might be, ‘how did it start?’, ‘why is it so contagious?’, ‘why is it deadly?’, and so forth. But the answers to these inquiries do not resolve underlying concerns which pose a deeper ‘why?’: How could god allow these things? Is god punishing us for ignoring him for so long? For global warming, or perhaps immorality? And so forth… Wright is suggesting that these latter questions, despite our desperation, are not ready-made tools available in the Christian’s toolkit. Christians have no answer — worse, any answer they provide would be as misplaced (though well-intentioned) as Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar in their consolation of Job.
1 Job and his friends, Ilya Repin, Public domain
No answer is provided in Job, nor by Wright. Instead, he implores Christians to take up the practice of lament. To mourn and cry out to their god, asking why the darkness feels so deep. In doing so we echo the cries of pain in the Bible, though poignant in the Psalms – in particular, 88 and 89, from whose darkness there is no resolution, no hope. Psalm 88 ends with abandonment and isolation:
You have removed loved one and friend far from me,
My acquaintances far from my darkness.
The Jewish scriptures are replete with expression of grief and lament. Jesus too grieved for the dead Lazarus; and upon the cross, cried out in pain and loneliness, ‘God, why have you abandoned me?’ While that incident ended in joy and celebration (ours too will resolve in joy when the burdens are lifted and ‘Lent ends’), Wright too hints that the practice of lament should not be isolated to periods of global pandemics. Rather, this should be regularly exercised — for the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized even when the world is not gripped by global pandemic. For places where the innocent suffer in war-torn regions. Lament, then, we must learn, and find a space for in the Christian toolkit.
- https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08577-8