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Di Mana Allah dalam Dunia dengan Virus Corona
We are living through a unique, era-defining period. Many of our old certainties have gone, whatever our view of the world and whatever our beliefs. The coronavirus pandemic and its effects are perplexing and unsettling for all of us. How do we begin to think it through and cope with it?
In this short yet profound book, Oxford mathematics professor John Lennox examines the coronavirus in light of various belief systems and shows how the Christian worldview not only helps us to make sense of it, but also offers us a sure and certain hope to cling to.
John Lennox is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School and an Adjunct Lecturer for The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He is particularly interested in the interface of science, philosophy and theology. Lennox has been part of numerous public debates defending the Christian faith against well known atheists including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Peter Singer. He is the author of a number of books, including “Can Science Explain Everything?”
In this short yet profound book, Oxford mathematics professor John Lennox examines the coronavirus in light of various belief systems and shows how the Christian worldview not only helps us to make sense of it, but also offers us a sure and certain hope to cling to.
John Lennox is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School and an Adjunct Lecturer for The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He is particularly interested in the interface of science, philosophy and theology. Lennox has been part of numerous public debates defending the Christian faith against well known atheists including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Peter Singer. He is the author of a number of books, including “Can Science Explain Everything?”
81 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2020
23 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
John C. Lennox
71 books921 followersJohn Carson Lennox is Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science, and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University and at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and is a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum. In addition, he teaches for the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme at the Executive Education Centre, Said Business School, Oxford University.
He studied at the Royal School Armagh, Northern Ireland and was Exhibitioner and Senior Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University from which he took his MA, MMath and PhD. He worked for many years in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Wales in Cardiff which awarded him a DSc for his research. He also holds an MA and DPhil from Oxford University and an MA in Bioethics from the University of Surrey. He was a Senior Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow at the Universities of Würzburg and Freiburg in Germany. He has lectured extensively in North America, Eastern and Western Europe and Australasia on mathematics, the philosophy of science and the intellectual defence of Christianity.
He has written a number of books on the interface between science, philosophy and theology. These include God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (2009), God and Stephen Hawking, a response to The Grand Design (2011), Gunning for God, on the new atheism (2011), and Seven Days that Divide the World, on the early chapters of Genesis (2011). Furthermore, in addition to over seventy published mathematical papers, he is the co-author of two research level texts in algebra in the Oxford Mathematical Monographs series.
He studied at the Royal School Armagh, Northern Ireland and was Exhibitioner and Senior Scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University from which he took his MA, MMath and PhD. He worked for many years in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Wales in Cardiff which awarded him a DSc for his research. He also holds an MA and DPhil from Oxford University and an MA in Bioethics from the University of Surrey. He was a Senior Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow at the Universities of Würzburg and Freiburg in Germany. He has lectured extensively in North America, Eastern and Western Europe and Australasia on mathematics, the philosophy of science and the intellectual defence of Christianity.
He has written a number of books on the interface between science, philosophy and theology. These include God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? (2009), God and Stephen Hawking, a response to The Grand Design (2011), Gunning for God, on the new atheism (2011), and Seven Days that Divide the World, on the early chapters of Genesis (2011). Furthermore, in addition to over seventy published mathematical papers, he is the co-author of two research level texts in algebra in the Oxford Mathematical Monographs series.
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April 11, 2020
Una lectura sencilla y ligera que ofrece esperanza en medio de nuestro sufrimiento global sin pretender tener todas las respuestas. Lennox es Lennox; leerlo no tiene desperdicio.
May 3, 2020
Imagine sitting down with an Oxford academic who is as friendly as your grandfather. You sip a coffee and ask him where God is in this pandemic.
The answer he gives as you tuck into your cake includes history, theology, stories and compassion.
At the end he takes his glasses off and admits that he hasn’t answered everything, that there are still some rough edges.
But, you feel far more hope as he has helped you see something more than panic in the pandemic.
He has helped you see God in the midst of the suffering.
A brilliant response to the current situation. Easy to read in a couple of hours. Suitable for both those with faith and those without.
The answer he gives as you tuck into your cake includes history, theology, stories and compassion.
At the end he takes his glasses off and admits that he hasn’t answered everything, that there are still some rough edges.
But, you feel far more hope as he has helped you see something more than panic in the pandemic.
He has helped you see God in the midst of the suffering.
A brilliant response to the current situation. Easy to read in a couple of hours. Suitable for both those with faith and those without.
May 4, 2020
Très bon, à lire et à offrir !
April 13, 2021
Buku ini saya peroleh sudah lama sekali dari salah satu webinar yang saya ikuti tahun lalu. Buku ini secara keseluruhan bukan membahas dimanakah Allah tetapi membahas bagaimana bisa ada kejahatan alamiah & kejahatan moral.
Manusia yang diciptakan seturut Gambar Allah menjadi tercemar karena kejatuhan akan dosa.
Kejatuhan manusia pada dosa karena keinginan manusia yang ingin menjadi superior yg membuat Tujuan yg Allah berikan menjadi kacau. Kita tdk lagi berfokus kepada Allah tetapi kepada diri kita sendiri. Tuhan sendiri memberikan karunia kepada kita yaitu Kehendak bebas untuk memilih. dan ketika Manusia melakukan suatu kejahatan, itu bukan salah Allah. Allah hanya memberikan kehendak bebas
Kira-kira ilustrasinya seperti ini Ibarat Tuhan satu2nya itu pembuat pisau. Kemudian seseorang sebagai manusia diberikan pisau , lantas ketika seseorang tsb menggunakan pisau utk membunuh sesamanya, Apakah itu kesalahan si pembuat pisau?
Pada akhirnya adanya virus corona adalah pengeras suara dari Allah untuk berteriak pada dunia yg tuli ini. Allah ingin kita berelasi dengan dia bukan khawatir terus menerus dengan keadaan skrg. Pandemi ini juga harusnya turut mengingatkan kita bahwa kematian itu ada dan akan menimpa pada semua orang.
Buku ini juga menolong saya melawan pedapat para ateisme mengenai keberadaan Allah. Bahwa bagaimana dunia ini ada tanpa ada pencipta? Bagaimana kita bisa mengenal nilai moral( baik & jahat) , tanpa ada yang mengaruniakannya kepada kita?
Saya kembali diingatkan bahwa tdk cuma di situasi seperti ini kita mencari Allah. Tetapi carilah Allah di setiap waktu sebab Ia tidak pernah meninggalkan kita.
Manusia yang diciptakan seturut Gambar Allah menjadi tercemar karena kejatuhan akan dosa.
Kejatuhan manusia pada dosa karena keinginan manusia yang ingin menjadi superior yg membuat Tujuan yg Allah berikan menjadi kacau. Kita tdk lagi berfokus kepada Allah tetapi kepada diri kita sendiri. Tuhan sendiri memberikan karunia kepada kita yaitu Kehendak bebas untuk memilih. dan ketika Manusia melakukan suatu kejahatan, itu bukan salah Allah. Allah hanya memberikan kehendak bebas
Kira-kira ilustrasinya seperti ini Ibarat Tuhan satu2nya itu pembuat pisau. Kemudian seseorang sebagai manusia diberikan pisau , lantas ketika seseorang tsb menggunakan pisau utk membunuh sesamanya, Apakah itu kesalahan si pembuat pisau?
Pada akhirnya adanya virus corona adalah pengeras suara dari Allah untuk berteriak pada dunia yg tuli ini. Allah ingin kita berelasi dengan dia bukan khawatir terus menerus dengan keadaan skrg. Pandemi ini juga harusnya turut mengingatkan kita bahwa kematian itu ada dan akan menimpa pada semua orang.
Buku ini juga menolong saya melawan pedapat para ateisme mengenai keberadaan Allah. Bahwa bagaimana dunia ini ada tanpa ada pencipta? Bagaimana kita bisa mengenal nilai moral( baik & jahat) , tanpa ada yang mengaruniakannya kepada kita?
Saya kembali diingatkan bahwa tdk cuma di situasi seperti ini kita mencari Allah. Tetapi carilah Allah di setiap waktu sebab Ia tidak pernah meninggalkan kita.
April 11, 2020
Un libro que es claro y conciso respecto al sufrimiento. Nos habla de las causas, consecuencias y propósitos del mismo, pero al mismo tiempo nos transmite la paz de creer en Cristo, de tenerlo a él como nuestro Salvador y Sustento en medio de las dificultades. Nos explica que en estos momentos de incertidumbre y preocupación, Dios está al control de las cosas. Nada se ha salido de sus manos. Y el tiene un propósito y sabiendo esto debemos confiar y esperar en El.
May 5, 2020
Solid and timely.
April 19, 2020
Just finished reading a short 50-page booklet on Kindle, “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” by John C. Lennox. An easy to read book with profound truths that will both challenge and comfort the reader. I highly recommend this book to whoever is asking this question or is being asked this question by others.
April 30, 2020
The author, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, tells us that we living through a unique, era-defining period. Whether we are a Christian or not, the coronavirus pandemic is perplexing and unsettling for all of us. How do we begin to think it through and cope with it? Never before have we experienced the lockdown of cities and even countries, the closing of borders, the banning of travel, the shutting of all but essential services, the banning of large sports gatherings, and the silent towns and cities that shout of fear and self-isolation. The rate at which the pandemic is spreading is putting enormous strain on national health systems. Fear is stalking the world and it grows by the day as more and more people are affected.
This short book consists of the author’s reflections on what we are experiencing right now. He encourages us to engage with the book like he was sitting with us in a coffee shop, and we have asked him “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” The words in this book is what he would say to us to convey some comfort, support and hope. Though this is a short book, there is much of substance here. He quotes others, including C.S. Lewis (who was one of his professors at Oxford), frequently.
One major effect of the present situation is the universal feeling of increased vulnerability. People fear for their health, both physical and psychological; for their families and friends, particularly the elderly and infirm; for their social networks, their food supply, their jobs and economic security, and a host of other things.
Since all over the world churches are being closed in order to limit the spread of the virus, many are asking where God is—that is, if he is there at all. Where or from whom can we get real solace or hope? He tells us that in times of crisis, hope is what we look for. When life seems predictable and under control, it is easy to put off asking the big questions, or to be satisfied with simplistic answers. But life is not that way right now—not for any of us.
Coronavirus confronts us all with the problem of pain and suffering. This, for most of us, is one of life’s hardest problems. The book concentrates on what is called the problem of natural evil (rather than moral evil). His focus is on fractured nature—principally the coronavirus, but also all kinds of diseases and natural catastrophes like earthquakes and tsunamis.
He writes that we each need to make sense of coronavirus in three different ways: intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. In addition, our worldview will make a difference to how we react to disasters like the coronavirus pandemic, and to earthquakes or tsunamis.
He writes that according to the Bible, it is not true that if someone suffers some severe illness or accident, we therefore should conclude that he or she has secretly been guilty of serious sins. On the other hand, it is clearly a part of Christian teaching that although not all disaster and disease is a judgment of God (as in the case of Job), nevertheless some is. He tells us to beware of anyone who interprets pain caused by natural evil as a divine punishment. At the same time, we should equally beware of anyone who says that God has nothing to say through this pandemic, particularly to Western societies that have largely turned their back on him as culturally irrelevant. Removing God from the equation does not remove the pain and suffering. But removing God does remove something else—namely, any kind of ultimate hope.
God is not taken aback by the coronavirus; he can work for good even in the evil of it, and his plans will not be thwarted by it. The author tells us that a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered.
The author writes that the coronavirus is so called because it visibly resembles a crown (“corona” in Latin). A crown is a symbol of power and authority—and certainly this virus has colossal power over us humans. But hope is found in another corona: the crown of thorns that was forced on Jesus’ head at his trial before his execution.
In a fractured world, damaged through the consequences of human sin, pain and suffering are inevitable. Perhaps we had hidden from this reality until the coronavirus rampaged across the globe. How should Christians respond to the pandemic? He gives us a few thoughts:
1. We would be wise to take heed of the best medical advice of the day.
2. We are called to love. We should be looking for how we might love others, even at cost to ourselves—for that is how God has loved every Christian in the person of his Son, by dying for them on the cross. He tells us that loving our neighbor also means avoiding that selfish, hysterical attitude to food and basic necessities that leads to empty stores and our neighbors having to do without.
3. We need to remember about eternity.
The author closes by telling us that only Jesus can give us peace in a pandemic. The issue for all of us is whether we will trust him to do so.
This short book consists of the author’s reflections on what we are experiencing right now. He encourages us to engage with the book like he was sitting with us in a coffee shop, and we have asked him “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” The words in this book is what he would say to us to convey some comfort, support and hope. Though this is a short book, there is much of substance here. He quotes others, including C.S. Lewis (who was one of his professors at Oxford), frequently.
One major effect of the present situation is the universal feeling of increased vulnerability. People fear for their health, both physical and psychological; for their families and friends, particularly the elderly and infirm; for their social networks, their food supply, their jobs and economic security, and a host of other things.
Since all over the world churches are being closed in order to limit the spread of the virus, many are asking where God is—that is, if he is there at all. Where or from whom can we get real solace or hope? He tells us that in times of crisis, hope is what we look for. When life seems predictable and under control, it is easy to put off asking the big questions, or to be satisfied with simplistic answers. But life is not that way right now—not for any of us.
Coronavirus confronts us all with the problem of pain and suffering. This, for most of us, is one of life’s hardest problems. The book concentrates on what is called the problem of natural evil (rather than moral evil). His focus is on fractured nature—principally the coronavirus, but also all kinds of diseases and natural catastrophes like earthquakes and tsunamis.
He writes that we each need to make sense of coronavirus in three different ways: intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. In addition, our worldview will make a difference to how we react to disasters like the coronavirus pandemic, and to earthquakes or tsunamis.
He writes that according to the Bible, it is not true that if someone suffers some severe illness or accident, we therefore should conclude that he or she has secretly been guilty of serious sins. On the other hand, it is clearly a part of Christian teaching that although not all disaster and disease is a judgment of God (as in the case of Job), nevertheless some is. He tells us to beware of anyone who interprets pain caused by natural evil as a divine punishment. At the same time, we should equally beware of anyone who says that God has nothing to say through this pandemic, particularly to Western societies that have largely turned their back on him as culturally irrelevant. Removing God from the equation does not remove the pain and suffering. But removing God does remove something else—namely, any kind of ultimate hope.
God is not taken aback by the coronavirus; he can work for good even in the evil of it, and his plans will not be thwarted by it. The author tells us that a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered.
The author writes that the coronavirus is so called because it visibly resembles a crown (“corona” in Latin). A crown is a symbol of power and authority—and certainly this virus has colossal power over us humans. But hope is found in another corona: the crown of thorns that was forced on Jesus’ head at his trial before his execution.
In a fractured world, damaged through the consequences of human sin, pain and suffering are inevitable. Perhaps we had hidden from this reality until the coronavirus rampaged across the globe. How should Christians respond to the pandemic? He gives us a few thoughts:
1. We would be wise to take heed of the best medical advice of the day.
2. We are called to love. We should be looking for how we might love others, even at cost to ourselves—for that is how God has loved every Christian in the person of his Son, by dying for them on the cross. He tells us that loving our neighbor also means avoiding that selfish, hysterical attitude to food and basic necessities that leads to empty stores and our neighbors having to do without.
3. We need to remember about eternity.
The author closes by telling us that only Jesus can give us peace in a pandemic. The issue for all of us is whether we will trust him to do so.
February 17, 2025
Although one can easily tell that John Lennox is a good, intelligent person, one of the things that bothers me most about his argument (and traditional theodicies in general) is that, although he vehemently denies that the coronavirus was God's judgement on the world, he nonetheless affirms that humanity is responsible for all instances of "natural evil." The corruption of the cosmos, in his view, came about as a direct result of a specific human moral choice--a choice that now visits those who did not make it. Apart from having no foundation in any plausible reading of natural history (the catastrophes we would call "natural evil" were happening millions of years before the appearance of humankind), this view also fails to sufficiently explain--within a Christian cosmology--the relationship between moral and natural evil. Does natural evil stem from a human moral choice? If, as it seems, Lennox's answer is yes, Has humanity merited natural evil or not? If so, is it therefore a form of God's judgement or not? If, at the end of this line of questioning, the answer is yes, how is this view substantially different from the (morally reprehensible) view of fundamentalists that, "The coronavirus was God's judgement"? Ultimately, although the response of this book was markedly more compassionate than that of John Piper (whose book on the coronavirus I admittedly have not read yet, but whose argument I can easily guess based on his theology), it fails to differentiate itself from the core of these less compassionate arguments.
For those interested in a more plausible theodicy, I might recommend David Bentley Hart's "The Doors of the Sea."
For those interested in a more plausible theodicy, I might recommend David Bentley Hart's "The Doors of the Sea."
April 19, 2020
¿DÓNDE ESTÁ DIOS EN UN MUNDO CON CORONAVIRUS?
-John C. Lennox
Conocido profesor cristiano de la Universidad de Oxford, John C. Lennox ofrece en este libro, que a decir de él escribió en una semana, sus reflexiones sobre importantes cuestiones respetadas por esta pandemia. Muchas de estas cuestiones son de larga data, pero su mirada me ha parecido buena, convincente y bien pensada. Sobre todo en el último capítulo donde da un abordaje razonado a la ética cristiana que debe imperar en estos momentos de coronavirus.
Deben leerlo, es fácil de leer, bien sustentado y gratuito en la página de Editorial Poiema.
-John C. Lennox
Conocido profesor cristiano de la Universidad de Oxford, John C. Lennox ofrece en este libro, que a decir de él escribió en una semana, sus reflexiones sobre importantes cuestiones respetadas por esta pandemia. Muchas de estas cuestiones son de larga data, pero su mirada me ha parecido buena, convincente y bien pensada. Sobre todo en el último capítulo donde da un abordaje razonado a la ética cristiana que debe imperar en estos momentos de coronavirus.
Deben leerlo, es fácil de leer, bien sustentado y gratuito en la página de Editorial Poiema.
May 24, 2020
Coronavirus: où est Dieu? est un court traité apologétique qui traite de la question de l'absence de Dieu face au mal naturel (spécifiquement: la covid). Bien que ce traité soit court, tout est abordé, avec beaucoup de maîtrise dans l'expression. Le niveau de lecture est accessible, sans sacrifier pour autant la validité et la solidité des arguments. Au vu du délai d'écriture et d'édition, c'est un petit exploit, et il vaut d'être acheté et offert sans remords.
January 9, 2021
A very quick and helpful read. I appreciated the way in which Lennox situated the pandemic in history in a way which brought healthy perspective.
I felt that the book could have been more specific; it was more of a general address of “natural evil”. (However I acknowledge that, at the time of writing, many of the specific issues brought about by the pandemic weren’t yet apparent. Also, the question raised in the title asks for God to be brought into the picture rather than answering specifics.)
Throughout the book Lennox pits the Christian worldview against an atheistic worldview. This felt a little out of date. The questions and reactions he was responding to seemed more characteristic of a previous generation in which Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” was popular. For example, Lennox took for granted that a sense of morality comes from God. Although this may be received as an apparent fact in history, it can no longer be assumed in a seemingly more subjective and post-truth age.
I felt that the book could have been more specific; it was more of a general address of “natural evil”. (However I acknowledge that, at the time of writing, many of the specific issues brought about by the pandemic weren’t yet apparent. Also, the question raised in the title asks for God to be brought into the picture rather than answering specifics.)
Throughout the book Lennox pits the Christian worldview against an atheistic worldview. This felt a little out of date. The questions and reactions he was responding to seemed more characteristic of a previous generation in which Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” was popular. For example, Lennox took for granted that a sense of morality comes from God. Although this may be received as an apparent fact in history, it can no longer be assumed in a seemingly more subjective and post-truth age.
April 13, 2020
John Lennox is one of the greatest authorities in Christianity and Science, anything written by him is worthy of note, this brief but informative book is no exception.
August 1, 2020
Did GOD self-quarantine? Did He abandon us? Is He even there at all???
Most, if not all of us are feeling very vulnerable right now. The lives we used to live were much more predictable. But not now.
However, there have been similar pandemics on this earth (9-10):
-The most ancient recorded instance is probably the so-called Antonine Plague or Plague of Galen in AD 165-180 (killing 5 million via measles or smallpox).
-The Plague of Justinian (AD 541-542), which was a bubonic plague that spread from animals (rats) via fleas to humans (killing 25 million).
-The Black Death, another bubonic plague (1346-1353), took place in Eurasia (killing 70-100 million: about 20% of the world's population).
-Cholera pandemics (killing over 1 million) in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
-A flu pandemic in 1918-1920 (killing 50 million).
-The Asian flu in 1956-1958 (killing 2 million).
-The Hong Kong flu in 1968-1969 (killing 1 million).
-The HIV/AIDS pandemic, which peaked from 2005-2012 (killing around 32 million).
So, these are not UNPRECEDENTED times, but they ARE for a good number of us!
Now, the problem of suffering and evil is one of the most popular of the "BIG" Questions. This is related to that, but the Coronavirus is not moral in nature. It is considered natural evil, which is not as commonly addressed, but John C. Lennox will cover it briefly in this short, 61 page book.
We need to make sense of this in 3 ways: intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
First, pain warns us of danger. If, for example, you put your hand too near the fire, your nervous system alerts your brain and you feel pain, which makes you withdraw your hand and so protects it from injury. We cannot say, then, that pain is all bad (See the book "The Gift of Pain" by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand). (17)
Second, a certain amount of pain is involved in physical development. For instance--if athletics, mountaineering or the physically demanding games of American football, British rugby and boxing are anything to go by--sports enthusiasts will put up with a great deal of pain to excel.
Third, at a deeper level still, suffering and pain can contribute to character formation. There are many examples of resilience and fortitude in the face of suffering--moulding characters of great quality. There is truth in what the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky had his character Raskolnikov say: that he could not imagine a great person who had not suffered. "Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart." (18)
Parents are often aware of this. On occasion, they will allow a child to go through a painful experience that, they know from their own journey, will profit their child in the end. (18)
Now, since our attitudes are influences by our worldview, it's helpful to see James Sire's paradigm that there are essentially only three major families of worldviews, from his VERY helpful book called "The Universe Next Door":
-The theistic, or Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
-The atheistic faith
-The pantheistic, or karmic faiths (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism)
Now, agnosticism still comes into play, but agnostics are not agnostic about everything, and they usually lean towards one of these three "families" (although there are definite differences between each religion--just ask anyone who takes their holy book seriously).
Then he goes into how not all disaster and disease is a judgment of God, but some is. (Message me if you want to discuss this.)
Next, the book asks, "Can Atheism Help?"
It is worth observing how some atheists believe in some sort of "fate" or "judgment" by adhering to the phrase "they had it coming to them."
Atheists typically use the problem of suffering and evil to show how theists should abandon God acknowledge reality as it is--without God.
3rd century BC Greek philosopher, Epicurus, says it like this:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent? Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent? Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"
Famous atheist and Oxford biologist, Richard Dawkins, says:
"The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect is there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music."
Dawkins' deterministic version of atheism removes the categories of good and evil. However, rejecting these implies that any talk of the coronavirus being bad or evil makes no sense (though it is hard to imagine Dawkins actually believing that). Saying the coronavirus is bad, has consequences, including the fatalities it inflicts, which are simply atoms rearranging themselves.
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, "If God does not exist, everything is permissible." In other words, there is no rational warrant for the concepts of good and evil if there is no God.
There are many arguments, including those of atheists, that demonstrate the necessity of a God for there to be objective evil. (Message me for details.)
Lennox then goes into how 99% of viruses are helpful to our world.
Then he shares some research results of geologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee, who ultimately conclude: "It may be that plate tectonics [mountains] is the central requirement for life on a planet and that it is necessary for keeping a world supplied with water." (34-35)
The nature of humanity (freedom of choice) is covered next by discussing our good capacity makes us capable of evil, even though it does not give us permission to do evil. Theologians distinguish between God's permissive will--the fact that God created a universe in which evil is possible--and God's decretive (or directive) will--those things which God actively does.
God gave humans a choice, and he remains sovereign--the Bible declares both clearly, but Christians differ on exactly how that "works." (36-37)
Why Things Are the Way They Are
See:
-Genesis 2:17; 3
-Romans 8:20
-Genesis 3:17-18
We are part of the problem--even though it is SO easy for us to see the faults in other people. (46)
A Christian is not a person who has solved the problem of suffering but one who has come to love and trust the God who has suffered FOR THEM. (47)
The coronavirus gets it's name from "corona" in Latin, because it visibly resembles a crown. A crown also is a symbol of power and authority--and certainly this virus has colossal power over us humans.
But hope is found in another corona: the crown of thorns that was forced on Jesus' head at his trial before his execution. (48)
In a fractured world, damaged through the consequences of human sin, pain and suffering are inevitable. Perhaps we have hidden from this reality until coronavirus rampaged across the globe. Now we cannot ignore it, nor the big questions about life and death which it prompts. Here is C.S. Lewis again:
"We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
Perhaps the coronavirus might function as a huge loudspeaker, reminding us of the ultimate statistic: that one out of every one of us dies. If this induces us to look to the God we may have ignored for years, but who wore a crown of thorns in order to bring us back into relationship with himself and into a new, unfractured world beyond death, then the coronavirus, in spite of the havoc it has wreaked, will have served a very healthy purpose. (49)
Final Chapter: THE DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES
How should we respond to this pandemic?
First, we would be wise to take heed to the best medical advice of the day.
Second, maintain our Christian perspective, which can be very winsome.
Third, love your neighbor--even if it means sacrificially. This is what the Christians of old were known for.
Fourth, remember eternity and heaven and they can help in priceless ways.
I REALLY appreciated the metaphor of "The Climb," which a woman used to describe her ascent to the mountaintop. Some think base camp is the goal, but it's the mountaintop. As one ascends, it may involve altitude sickness and other things, but God is calling us forward. I should quote the whole thing at length in another writing. (58-59)
Peace in a pandemic? Only Jesus can give that. The issue for all of us is this: will we trust him to do so? (61)
Most, if not all of us are feeling very vulnerable right now. The lives we used to live were much more predictable. But not now.
However, there have been similar pandemics on this earth (9-10):
-The most ancient recorded instance is probably the so-called Antonine Plague or Plague of Galen in AD 165-180 (killing 5 million via measles or smallpox).
-The Plague of Justinian (AD 541-542), which was a bubonic plague that spread from animals (rats) via fleas to humans (killing 25 million).
-The Black Death, another bubonic plague (1346-1353), took place in Eurasia (killing 70-100 million: about 20% of the world's population).
-Cholera pandemics (killing over 1 million) in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
-A flu pandemic in 1918-1920 (killing 50 million).
-The Asian flu in 1956-1958 (killing 2 million).
-The Hong Kong flu in 1968-1969 (killing 1 million).
-The HIV/AIDS pandemic, which peaked from 2005-2012 (killing around 32 million).
So, these are not UNPRECEDENTED times, but they ARE for a good number of us!
Now, the problem of suffering and evil is one of the most popular of the "BIG" Questions. This is related to that, but the Coronavirus is not moral in nature. It is considered natural evil, which is not as commonly addressed, but John C. Lennox will cover it briefly in this short, 61 page book.
We need to make sense of this in 3 ways: intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
First, pain warns us of danger. If, for example, you put your hand too near the fire, your nervous system alerts your brain and you feel pain, which makes you withdraw your hand and so protects it from injury. We cannot say, then, that pain is all bad (See the book "The Gift of Pain" by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand). (17)
Second, a certain amount of pain is involved in physical development. For instance--if athletics, mountaineering or the physically demanding games of American football, British rugby and boxing are anything to go by--sports enthusiasts will put up with a great deal of pain to excel.
Third, at a deeper level still, suffering and pain can contribute to character formation. There are many examples of resilience and fortitude in the face of suffering--moulding characters of great quality. There is truth in what the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky had his character Raskolnikov say: that he could not imagine a great person who had not suffered. "Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart." (18)
Parents are often aware of this. On occasion, they will allow a child to go through a painful experience that, they know from their own journey, will profit their child in the end. (18)
Now, since our attitudes are influences by our worldview, it's helpful to see James Sire's paradigm that there are essentially only three major families of worldviews, from his VERY helpful book called "The Universe Next Door":
-The theistic, or Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
-The atheistic faith
-The pantheistic, or karmic faiths (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism)
Now, agnosticism still comes into play, but agnostics are not agnostic about everything, and they usually lean towards one of these three "families" (although there are definite differences between each religion--just ask anyone who takes their holy book seriously).
Then he goes into how not all disaster and disease is a judgment of God, but some is. (Message me if you want to discuss this.)
Next, the book asks, "Can Atheism Help?"
It is worth observing how some atheists believe in some sort of "fate" or "judgment" by adhering to the phrase "they had it coming to them."
Atheists typically use the problem of suffering and evil to show how theists should abandon God acknowledge reality as it is--without God.
3rd century BC Greek philosopher, Epicurus, says it like this:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent? Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent? Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"
Famous atheist and Oxford biologist, Richard Dawkins, says:
"The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect is there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music."
Dawkins' deterministic version of atheism removes the categories of good and evil. However, rejecting these implies that any talk of the coronavirus being bad or evil makes no sense (though it is hard to imagine Dawkins actually believing that). Saying the coronavirus is bad, has consequences, including the fatalities it inflicts, which are simply atoms rearranging themselves.
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, "If God does not exist, everything is permissible." In other words, there is no rational warrant for the concepts of good and evil if there is no God.
There are many arguments, including those of atheists, that demonstrate the necessity of a God for there to be objective evil. (Message me for details.)
Lennox then goes into how 99% of viruses are helpful to our world.
Then he shares some research results of geologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee, who ultimately conclude: "It may be that plate tectonics [mountains] is the central requirement for life on a planet and that it is necessary for keeping a world supplied with water." (34-35)
The nature of humanity (freedom of choice) is covered next by discussing our good capacity makes us capable of evil, even though it does not give us permission to do evil. Theologians distinguish between God's permissive will--the fact that God created a universe in which evil is possible--and God's decretive (or directive) will--those things which God actively does.
God gave humans a choice, and he remains sovereign--the Bible declares both clearly, but Christians differ on exactly how that "works." (36-37)
Why Things Are the Way They Are
See:
-Genesis 2:17; 3
-Romans 8:20
-Genesis 3:17-18
We are part of the problem--even though it is SO easy for us to see the faults in other people. (46)
A Christian is not a person who has solved the problem of suffering but one who has come to love and trust the God who has suffered FOR THEM. (47)
The coronavirus gets it's name from "corona" in Latin, because it visibly resembles a crown. A crown also is a symbol of power and authority--and certainly this virus has colossal power over us humans.
But hope is found in another corona: the crown of thorns that was forced on Jesus' head at his trial before his execution. (48)
In a fractured world, damaged through the consequences of human sin, pain and suffering are inevitable. Perhaps we have hidden from this reality until coronavirus rampaged across the globe. Now we cannot ignore it, nor the big questions about life and death which it prompts. Here is C.S. Lewis again:
"We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
Perhaps the coronavirus might function as a huge loudspeaker, reminding us of the ultimate statistic: that one out of every one of us dies. If this induces us to look to the God we may have ignored for years, but who wore a crown of thorns in order to bring us back into relationship with himself and into a new, unfractured world beyond death, then the coronavirus, in spite of the havoc it has wreaked, will have served a very healthy purpose. (49)
Final Chapter: THE DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES
How should we respond to this pandemic?
First, we would be wise to take heed to the best medical advice of the day.
Second, maintain our Christian perspective, which can be very winsome.
Third, love your neighbor--even if it means sacrificially. This is what the Christians of old were known for.
Fourth, remember eternity and heaven and they can help in priceless ways.
I REALLY appreciated the metaphor of "The Climb," which a woman used to describe her ascent to the mountaintop. Some think base camp is the goal, but it's the mountaintop. As one ascends, it may involve altitude sickness and other things, but God is calling us forward. I should quote the whole thing at length in another writing. (58-59)
Peace in a pandemic? Only Jesus can give that. The issue for all of us is this: will we trust him to do so? (61)
Read
April 23, 2020This pandemic has caused alot anxiety for people. Many are driven inside their homes for weeks. Locked with them are fears, doubts and questions. What will happen if me and my family gets this deadly virus? When will this pandemic end? Some also might ask spiritual questions. Is this virus judgment for our sin? Why is this world full of pain and suffering? Where is God and what is He doing to take this COVID19? Thank God there are Christians who heed the call of God to give answers from His Word. One of those resources is this book from John Lennox, Where is God in A Coronavirus World?
This latest release by Oxford mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox, attempts to answer the question: Where is God in the pandemic? There are plenty of things he wants to hit in this book and I was excited to dive into.
The earlier part of the book, Lennox presents his case as he dissect the topic and defining things. This appealed to me on because he is about to go on detective mode. However when I got to the part of the book about free will, for me it was a letdown. As Lennox finish off his book he is walking on egg shells as he suddenly became cautious in mentioning sovereignty. But he manage to give some good points for Christianity by throwing the usual answers an evidentialist would do. He adds some C. S. Lewis in the mix to help glue his arguments (and as a added content). It’s not that I’m against evidential apologetics, but I cant read convictions as he lays down these reasonable answers in believing in Christianity. I can see also in this book that while he is a good apologist, he lacks the pastoral care that could be a good combination to comfort both mind and heart of the reader.
Where is God in A Coronavirus World? is a fine read and that you can find valid arguments in believing God, the existence of evil etc,. However, the book is all over the place and lacks of conviction. I think the brevity of the book is the reason and Lennox writing hurriedly to give Christians resources relevant to the pandemic. If only he could have elaborated and expanded more of his points, the book might have more strength. Then again, you can go and look for other titles from the author to have a more elaborate treatment of the subject.
My verdict:
3 out of 5
(Review copy of this book is provided by The Good Book Company)
This latest release by Oxford mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox, attempts to answer the question: Where is God in the pandemic? There are plenty of things he wants to hit in this book and I was excited to dive into.
The earlier part of the book, Lennox presents his case as he dissect the topic and defining things. This appealed to me on because he is about to go on detective mode. However when I got to the part of the book about free will, for me it was a letdown. As Lennox finish off his book he is walking on egg shells as he suddenly became cautious in mentioning sovereignty. But he manage to give some good points for Christianity by throwing the usual answers an evidentialist would do. He adds some C. S. Lewis in the mix to help glue his arguments (and as a added content). It’s not that I’m against evidential apologetics, but I cant read convictions as he lays down these reasonable answers in believing in Christianity. I can see also in this book that while he is a good apologist, he lacks the pastoral care that could be a good combination to comfort both mind and heart of the reader.
Where is God in A Coronavirus World? is a fine read and that you can find valid arguments in believing God, the existence of evil etc,. However, the book is all over the place and lacks of conviction. I think the brevity of the book is the reason and Lennox writing hurriedly to give Christians resources relevant to the pandemic. If only he could have elaborated and expanded more of his points, the book might have more strength. Then again, you can go and look for other titles from the author to have a more elaborate treatment of the subject.
My verdict:
3 out of 5
(Review copy of this book is provided by The Good Book Company)
August 3, 2020
Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? by John C. Lennox is a short essay about “the problem of natural evil,” the suffering that is “a result of natural disasters and diseases, for which humans are not (directly) responsible.” By contrast, “the problem of moral evil” is “suffering for which men and women are directly responsible” (page 14). In other words, Lennox’s book is an outline of theodicy.
The problem of evil, in whatever form—natural or moral—is often taken to be an argument against the rationality of belief in God, as well as for the rationality of atheism. In the words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume put it, citing Epicurus: “Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” (page 26).
Unfortunately, however, atheism—at least the kind informed by evolutionary naturalism—is unable to explain why something is good (or bad). Lennox quotes evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins here to good effect:
"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reasons in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music" (page 26).
Perhaps this bleak determinism appeals to some, but with Lennox, I am inclined to see it as both unreasonable and unlivable.
"If, however, there is no God, and therefore there are no transcendent values, then how can there be any objective standard of God? If there is no good or evil in any case, the concept of morality disappears, and moral outrage is absurd. The so-called “problem” of evil—moral or natural—dissolves into the pitiless indifference of uncaring matter" (page 29).
Once Lennox dismisses atheism, he turns to Christian theism. “How can there be a coronavirus if there is a loving God?” (as the title of chapter 4 puts it). He begins to answer that question by paraphrasing Penn State viral ecologist Marilyn Rossock, who argues that “viruses are essential to life, and that at most 1% (a high estimate) of them are pathogenic—that is, harmful to their hosts” (page 34). In other words, he appeals to laws of nature—that is, scientific descriptions of the way things work—as a theodicy.
That only pushes the question back further, however, as Lennox recognizes. He asks, “could God not have made a world without viral pathogens?” (page 35). His argument then takes an anthropological turn and gestures at a free-will theodicy:
"In fact, people who wish they inhabited a world without the possibility of evil are actually wishing themselves out of existence. The reason is that one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is that of free will. We can yes or no, and that capacity opens up wonderful things: love, trust and genuine relationships with God and each other. However, that very same wonderful and good capacity makes us capable of evil, even though it does not give us permission to do evil" (36).
In the biblical narrative, it is Adam and Eve’s misuse of free will that introduces both moral and natural evils into the world. “What happened in Genesis 3 was that the human rejected God, and sin entered the world,” writes Lennox. “The consequences were huge. There was death—first in the spiritual sense of a rift in the relationship between humans and God, and, later, in the sense of physical death” (pages 38–39).
Interestingly, Lennox concedes that “none of us has ever been satisfied with the outcome of that particular discussion,” that is, about “what a good, loving and all-powerful God should, could or might have done” (42). As a Christian, I do not think the atheist use of the problem of evil, in whatever form, makes an airtight case against belief in God. The case has too many leaks, especially since it proceeds on a sense of moral evaluation that it cannot maintain metaphysically. But that doesn’t mean theodicies are airtight arguments either, at least from a philosophical point of view.
So, Lennox turns to a different question: “If we accept—as we must—that we are in a universe that presents us with a picture of both biological beauty and deadly pathogens, is there any evidence that there is a God whom we can trust with the implications, and with our lives and futures?” (page 43).
Here, Lennox dives back into the biblical narrative, focusing on the Incarnation:
"Christianity claims that the man Jesus Christ is God incarnate—the Creator become human. At the heart of the Christian message is the death of Jesus Christ on a cross just outside Jerusalem. The question at once arises: if he is God incarnate, what was he doing on a cross? Well, it at the very least means that God has not remained distant from human pain and suffering but has himself experienced it.
"Therefore, a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering, and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered (page 44).
And, obviously, Christ’s story does not end in death but in resurrection. “The importance of this cannot be overestimated,” Lennox writes. “It addresses a fundamental difficulty that the atheistic worldview cannot cope with: the problem of ultimate justice” (45). And not only justice. The death and resurrection of Jesus also make a way for the salvation of those who do evil. Those who repent and confess faith in Jesus “receive forgiveness; peace with the personal God who created and upholds the universe; a new life with new powers; and the promise of a world where suffering will be no more” (page 47).
Where Is God in a Coronavirus World is short, coming in at only 64 pages, and my review has gone on long enough. What I appreciate about the book is three things: 1) It clearly identifies the problem. 2) It shows the deficiency of atheism in accounting for the objective nature of good and bad. 3) It offers several lines of theodicy that are elements of a Christian theistic account of evil, whether natural or moral, even as it recognizes their philosophical limitations. And 4) it focuses on the heart of the Christian narrative—the Incarnation of the Word of God—as a way of accounting for both the reality of evil and for hope that it will be overcome in the future.
Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? is more like a sketch of directions on a napkin rather than a detailed topographical map. But it will get the average reader where he or she needs to go.
Book Reviewed
John C. Lennox, Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? (Charlotte, NC: The Good Book Company, 2020).
P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.
The problem of evil, in whatever form—natural or moral—is often taken to be an argument against the rationality of belief in God, as well as for the rationality of atheism. In the words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume put it, citing Epicurus: “Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” (page 26).
Unfortunately, however, atheism—at least the kind informed by evolutionary naturalism—is unable to explain why something is good (or bad). Lennox quotes evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins here to good effect:
"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reasons in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music" (page 26).
Perhaps this bleak determinism appeals to some, but with Lennox, I am inclined to see it as both unreasonable and unlivable.
"If, however, there is no God, and therefore there are no transcendent values, then how can there be any objective standard of God? If there is no good or evil in any case, the concept of morality disappears, and moral outrage is absurd. The so-called “problem” of evil—moral or natural—dissolves into the pitiless indifference of uncaring matter" (page 29).
Once Lennox dismisses atheism, he turns to Christian theism. “How can there be a coronavirus if there is a loving God?” (as the title of chapter 4 puts it). He begins to answer that question by paraphrasing Penn State viral ecologist Marilyn Rossock, who argues that “viruses are essential to life, and that at most 1% (a high estimate) of them are pathogenic—that is, harmful to their hosts” (page 34). In other words, he appeals to laws of nature—that is, scientific descriptions of the way things work—as a theodicy.
That only pushes the question back further, however, as Lennox recognizes. He asks, “could God not have made a world without viral pathogens?” (page 35). His argument then takes an anthropological turn and gestures at a free-will theodicy:
"In fact, people who wish they inhabited a world without the possibility of evil are actually wishing themselves out of existence. The reason is that one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is that of free will. We can yes or no, and that capacity opens up wonderful things: love, trust and genuine relationships with God and each other. However, that very same wonderful and good capacity makes us capable of evil, even though it does not give us permission to do evil" (36).
In the biblical narrative, it is Adam and Eve’s misuse of free will that introduces both moral and natural evils into the world. “What happened in Genesis 3 was that the human rejected God, and sin entered the world,” writes Lennox. “The consequences were huge. There was death—first in the spiritual sense of a rift in the relationship between humans and God, and, later, in the sense of physical death” (pages 38–39).
Interestingly, Lennox concedes that “none of us has ever been satisfied with the outcome of that particular discussion,” that is, about “what a good, loving and all-powerful God should, could or might have done” (42). As a Christian, I do not think the atheist use of the problem of evil, in whatever form, makes an airtight case against belief in God. The case has too many leaks, especially since it proceeds on a sense of moral evaluation that it cannot maintain metaphysically. But that doesn’t mean theodicies are airtight arguments either, at least from a philosophical point of view.
So, Lennox turns to a different question: “If we accept—as we must—that we are in a universe that presents us with a picture of both biological beauty and deadly pathogens, is there any evidence that there is a God whom we can trust with the implications, and with our lives and futures?” (page 43).
Here, Lennox dives back into the biblical narrative, focusing on the Incarnation:
"Christianity claims that the man Jesus Christ is God incarnate—the Creator become human. At the heart of the Christian message is the death of Jesus Christ on a cross just outside Jerusalem. The question at once arises: if he is God incarnate, what was he doing on a cross? Well, it at the very least means that God has not remained distant from human pain and suffering but has himself experienced it.
"Therefore, a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering, and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered (page 44).
And, obviously, Christ’s story does not end in death but in resurrection. “The importance of this cannot be overestimated,” Lennox writes. “It addresses a fundamental difficulty that the atheistic worldview cannot cope with: the problem of ultimate justice” (45). And not only justice. The death and resurrection of Jesus also make a way for the salvation of those who do evil. Those who repent and confess faith in Jesus “receive forgiveness; peace with the personal God who created and upholds the universe; a new life with new powers; and the promise of a world where suffering will be no more” (page 47).
Where Is God in a Coronavirus World is short, coming in at only 64 pages, and my review has gone on long enough. What I appreciate about the book is three things: 1) It clearly identifies the problem. 2) It shows the deficiency of atheism in accounting for the objective nature of good and bad. 3) It offers several lines of theodicy that are elements of a Christian theistic account of evil, whether natural or moral, even as it recognizes their philosophical limitations. And 4) it focuses on the heart of the Christian narrative—the Incarnation of the Word of God—as a way of accounting for both the reality of evil and for hope that it will be overcome in the future.
Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? is more like a sketch of directions on a napkin rather than a detailed topographical map. But it will get the average reader where he or she needs to go.
Book Reviewed
John C. Lennox, Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? (Charlotte, NC: The Good Book Company, 2020).
P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.
September 2, 2020
This very short book (about 60 pages of a pocket-sized book) is all about how Christians view so-called ‘natural evil’ (i.e. evil that does not directly result from human decision) in general, and the issue of COVID-19 in particular.
Lennox writes in a conversational and affable tone. He wants you to imagine you discussing the topic in a coffee shop, and presents the work as how he’d answer the question: where is God in a coronavirus world?
The book is written with non-Christians in mind, and seeks to provide a worldview contrast between how Christianity and atheism approach this same issue.
Lennox does a fairly good job to get across the Christian message of hope in suffering and that God is not the author of evil. He points out that suffering is not necessarily linked to sin, on an individual or corporate scale. However, Lennox does seem to imply one must have supernatural insight to determine if suffering is God’s judgement. He almost reluctantly leaves judgement as a possibility for God’s actions.
What is actually presented in this book is a troubled view of God’s sovereignty, mostly founded on a slightly strange exegesis of Luke 13. As in his other works, Lennox unfortunately does not acquit himself as a theologian.
Where Lennox shines, though, is his critique of an atheist worldview. Those who hold this worldview must come to terms with its inherent nihilism and meaninglessness of the current pandemic. In fact, I think this book would have fared much better, and present a far stronger statement for the validity of the Christian message, as a polemic against the atheistic worldview.
Lennox writes in a conversational and affable tone. He wants you to imagine you discussing the topic in a coffee shop, and presents the work as how he’d answer the question: where is God in a coronavirus world?
The book is written with non-Christians in mind, and seeks to provide a worldview contrast between how Christianity and atheism approach this same issue.
Lennox does a fairly good job to get across the Christian message of hope in suffering and that God is not the author of evil. He points out that suffering is not necessarily linked to sin, on an individual or corporate scale. However, Lennox does seem to imply one must have supernatural insight to determine if suffering is God’s judgement. He almost reluctantly leaves judgement as a possibility for God’s actions.
What is actually presented in this book is a troubled view of God’s sovereignty, mostly founded on a slightly strange exegesis of Luke 13. As in his other works, Lennox unfortunately does not acquit himself as a theologian.
Where Lennox shines, though, is his critique of an atheist worldview. Those who hold this worldview must come to terms with its inherent nihilism and meaninglessness of the current pandemic. In fact, I think this book would have fared much better, and present a far stronger statement for the validity of the Christian message, as a polemic against the atheistic worldview.
December 2, 2020
Ревю | Къде е Бог в свят с корона вирус?
А аз си мислех, че онази руска книга за Короната беше зле. Не! Въпреки че има още месец до края на годината, може би това е претендента за най-зле написана публицистика, ако това изобщо се нарича така, на темата. Авторът е професор по математика в един от елитните университети в САЩ, но това не му пречи на наивитета на вярващ. Книгата е еднакво сантиментално захаросана и извадена с аргументи оттук-оттам, съшити с бели-беленички конци....
Текстът е качен в читанка и може да се прочете оттам, ако ви се прииска нещо забавно: https://chitanka.info/book/10056-kyde...
А аз си мислех, че онази руска книга за Короната беше зле. Не! Въпреки че има още месец до края на годината, може би това е претендента за най-зле написана публицистика, ако това изобщо се нарича така, на темата. Авторът е професор по математика в един от елитните университети в САЩ, но това не му пречи на наивитета на вярващ. Книгата е еднакво сантиментално захаросана и извадена с аргументи оттук-оттам, съшити с бели-беленички конци....
Текстът е качен в читанка и може да се прочете оттам, ако ви се прииска нещо забавно: https://chitanka.info/book/10056-kyde...
April 19, 2020
This is a remarkable little book to write in 1 week, and yet it provides a very clear Christian perspective on the Coronavirus pandemic. I found chapter 6 on ‘the difference that God makes very helpful.
May 7, 2020
Primera lectura de John C. Lenox. Pude apreciar y disfrutar su estilo lineal, lógico, coherente y claro. Pero más allá de eso, esperanzador y motivador en su mensaje final. Un regalo de amor a su prójimo.
September 4, 2020
I consider myself to be a christian. However, I did not like this book very much. He tries to tackle enourmous problems in tiny book. I appreciate some thoughts but I think that it is too brief to provide satisfactory answers.
May 25, 2020
Lennox is a master at persuasive writing. Here he reminds us that the answer to the Coronavirus, as it is the answer to all things, is the gospel.
Notes:
Paperback
Many of us had got used to a fairly stable world, we’re life was reasonably predictable. Now that all appears to be crumbling away (eight)
It is not surprising that, whatever your faith or belief system, the big questions of life are breaking through to the surface, demanding attention (13)
The problem of natural evil (13)
The word “evil“ has moral connotations and neither earthquakes nor viruses are moral agents (14)
Christianity has something to say about the issue of natural disasters like coronavirus--something that is not to be found elsewhere (21)
Luke 13:1-5
Beware of anyone who interprets pain caused by natural evil as a divine punishment. But equally, beware also of anyone who says that God has nothing to say through this pandemic, particularly to Western societies that have largely turn their back on him as culturally irrelevant (25)
If there is no God, where do the concepts of good and bad that all of us possess come from in the first place? We are left unable to say that the coronavirus and it’s effects are in any sense “bad“, because it’s consequences, including the fatalities it inflicts, are simply atoms rearranging themselves. ( 27)
Justifiable outrage against natural or moral evil presupposes a standard of “good“ that is objectively real and independent of us, so that we expect others to agree with us and condemning certain things (29)
If these people did not receive justice in this life. According to atheism, since death is the end, there is no next life in which justice could be done. If there is no final judge, there can be no ultimate Justice (45)
A Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who’s going to love and trust in God he has himself suffered A Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who is going to love and trust of God who has himself suffered (44)
It addresses a fundamental difficulty that the atheistic worldview cannot cope with: the problem of ultimate justice (45)
Atheism is an affront to our moral sense (45)
The coronavirus is very rapidly demolishing the illusion that we can build perfection on earth (48)
What to do?
1 heed the medical advice
2. Maintain perspective
3 love your neighbor
4. Remember eternity
Notes:
Paperback
Many of us had got used to a fairly stable world, we’re life was reasonably predictable. Now that all appears to be crumbling away (eight)
It is not surprising that, whatever your faith or belief system, the big questions of life are breaking through to the surface, demanding attention (13)
The problem of natural evil (13)
The word “evil“ has moral connotations and neither earthquakes nor viruses are moral agents (14)
Christianity has something to say about the issue of natural disasters like coronavirus--something that is not to be found elsewhere (21)
Luke 13:1-5
Beware of anyone who interprets pain caused by natural evil as a divine punishment. But equally, beware also of anyone who says that God has nothing to say through this pandemic, particularly to Western societies that have largely turn their back on him as culturally irrelevant (25)
If there is no God, where do the concepts of good and bad that all of us possess come from in the first place? We are left unable to say that the coronavirus and it’s effects are in any sense “bad“, because it’s consequences, including the fatalities it inflicts, are simply atoms rearranging themselves. ( 27)
Justifiable outrage against natural or moral evil presupposes a standard of “good“ that is objectively real and independent of us, so that we expect others to agree with us and condemning certain things (29)
If these people did not receive justice in this life. According to atheism, since death is the end, there is no next life in which justice could be done. If there is no final judge, there can be no ultimate Justice (45)
A Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who’s going to love and trust in God he has himself suffered A Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who is going to love and trust of God who has himself suffered (44)
It addresses a fundamental difficulty that the atheistic worldview cannot cope with: the problem of ultimate justice (45)
Atheism is an affront to our moral sense (45)
The coronavirus is very rapidly demolishing the illusion that we can build perfection on earth (48)
What to do?
1 heed the medical advice
2. Maintain perspective
3 love your neighbor
4. Remember eternity
June 6, 2020
This book could just as easily have been titled, “Where is God in a ____________ World?” You fill in the blank: “racially divided,” “politically turbulent,” “cancerous,” “starving,” etc. Mr. Lennox focuses on natural evil, but his answer to the title question is compassionate, thorough, and profound, so much so that it could address so many of the issues we face today. The reality of the matter is that although the coronavirus is “novel”—that is, “new”—pandemics are not. Natural evils are not new either. In fact, “there is nothing new under the sun.” What has changed then? Context. Our modern world was shocked to its core when coronavirus hit, as though we are titans of technology who should somehow be above such primitive things.
God is still in control. No technological advance can or will ever change that.
Where is God then? How can He allow such horrible things? Where is God when millions lay dying of untreatable diseases and famine and starvation and earthquakes and floods and killer hornets?! Where is God when a man kneels on another man’s neck for almost nine minutes, taking his life tragically and seemingly without provocation?
This book scratches the surface in answering those questions. If you’re struggling with such questions, START HERE. Then dig deeper. I think you’ll find that God has been there all along and in ways you never thought.
God is still in control. No technological advance can or will ever change that.
Where is God then? How can He allow such horrible things? Where is God when millions lay dying of untreatable diseases and famine and starvation and earthquakes and floods and killer hornets?! Where is God when a man kneels on another man’s neck for almost nine minutes, taking his life tragically and seemingly without provocation?
This book scratches the surface in answering those questions. If you’re struggling with such questions, START HERE. Then dig deeper. I think you’ll find that God has been there all along and in ways you never thought.
January 17, 2025
Классная книга о том, как простым языком объясняется, что все зло в этом мире имеет лишь малую часть над добром, сотворенным Богом, что даже то смертельное является малым процентом из исцеляющих и жизненно необходимых в плане Бога в устройстве мира и творения. Отличные сравнения наших благ с проклятиями, которые могут запросто друг друга сместить и заменить, да только мы не замечаем этого и теряем нашу надежду в отчаянии, забывая, что Спаситель стер точку в нашей жизни и ставит лишь одни запятые и все события мира - лишь механизм огромного и великого Божьего плана для нас!👏👏
April 26, 2020
Great little book of wisdom and insight. It reads like listening to a friend earnestly share his experience and faith. The message should be a constant reminder whether it be Coronavirus, or some other source of fear and pain in the world.
April 27, 2020
A really helpful apologetic looking at probably one of the biggest questions at the moment!
January 3, 2021
I received this as a Christmas gift from friends. (Thanks, guys!) It doesn’t answer all of the questions people probably have in the midst of all of the chaos and uncertainty, but it gives a lot of hope and speaks to many of the truths I’ve personally been holding close throughout the past nine or 10 months.
January 19, 2022
Give a right perspective of this pandemic. A must read.
December 28, 2021
A refreshing, short read if you need groundedness after reeling from the years that were 2020 and 2021. Message me if you want me to send you a copy!
April 17, 2020
A very quick read (I finished it in less than an hour) from a very intelligent writer (a Professor of mathematics at Oxford University)- it provides helpful perspective in this current time. Final chapter summary: heed advice, maintain perspective, love your neighbour & remember eternity! ;-)
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