The rich man and Lazarus: COVID-19, class and identity in Nigeria

Benson O. Igboin

doi:10.4102/tv.v46i1.134

Benson O. Igboin

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/tv.v46i1.134

Copy DOI

Abstract

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31) has attracted many interpretations from different cultural and theological contexts. But one thread that holds most of the works together is structural disparity in human society and the reality of judgement in the afterlife. This article re-reads the parable within the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This method of re-reading the parable in this particular context (of COVID-19) is to serve two major purposes within the Nigerian and global sphere. First, it demonstrates how humans in their (dis)ingenuity try to outwit the moral and theological, and even the eschatological, import it is meant to serve. Second, it elucidates that despite human efforts to manoeuvre theological truth, the faithful should be encouraged to abide in the truth.

Highlights

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16: 19–31) raises issues of class and identity, which are still a matter of contemporary interest in human or societal relations
She disrupted the claim of the political that there is social mobility in Britain based on hard work, presenting brutal evidence to maintain her position that social mobility is a myth rather than a reality
It was the social deprivation that the lower class people suffered that led to their perception of COVID-19 as ‘the rich man’s disease’ and a ‘divine and deserved https://theologiaviatorum.org punishment from God upon them’ because of their corruption that has brought the country to its knees (Onwughalu 2020), even though Zizek (2020) will want us to believe that it is purely a natural pandemic

Summary

Introduction

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16: 19–31) raises issues of class and identity, which are still a matter of contemporary interest in human or societal relations. What is interesting here is first, that the rich man was buried when he died and Lazarus was not; and second, Lazarus has his name mentioned, identified and can still be related with even whereas the rich man has no name and identity, but class These two points raise issues for African Christian theology and normative nuances and interpretations of death and burial in responding to COVID-19 victims. It was the social deprivation that the lower class people suffered that led to their perception of COVID-19 as ‘the rich man’s disease’ and a ‘divine and deserved https://theologiaviatorum.org punishment from God upon them’ because of their corruption that has brought the country to its knees (Onwughalu 2020), even though Zizek (2020) will want us to believe that it is purely a natural pandemic.

24 Dan Foster

Conclusion