Kovida teoloģija: trīs pieejas

Abstract

In the current article, the author reviews three publications from 2020 by three prominent authors: Let Us Dream by Pope Francis, Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper, and God and the Pandemic by Tom Wright. Each of these works represents a different Christian tradition (Roman Catholic, North American evangelical, Anglican) and comes from different part of the world (Argentina / Rome, USA, United Kingdom). The emphasis of this review is on the way the three different approaches interpret God’s role in the pandemic, human involvement and relation with God, and the way COVID is generalised in these three publications. The analysis also looks at the genre of the works, their sources, audience, and literary structure. After considering each work separately, the last section of the article provides a brief commentary on the three approaches. There are certain similarities among the three works, like God’s rule over all and the emphasis on the active role of believers during the pandemic. However, there are also notable differences, particularly in distinct emphases of the authors. Attempting to summarise these approaches, the article concludes with three questions that could be used as a simplified summary of each approach: “How can we change the world for better after the COVID with God’s help?” (Pope Francis); “Why has God punished me with the COVID pandemic?” (John Piper); and “Will we be content with simple answers about God’s role in the COVID pandemic?” (Tom Wright).