If God is good, why the pandemic?

If God is good, why the pandemic?

The Coronavirus pandemic suggests the theodicy problem that many religions suffer from. Theodicy is the term theologians use to attempt to free God from the problem of evil. Put simply theodicy is this: How can all the innocent suffering that happens, or that is happening because of the Coronavirus, Covid-19, be explained if God is almighty and good? 

“The word theodicy itself suggests that God is accused of a crime, and therefore needs to be defended and declared righteous. And this is the theodicy problem in a nutshell. It’s about an all-powerful God. If God is good, why is there so much evil? Why does God allow evil to happen?” writes Sören Dalevi, the Bishop of the Karlstad Diocese in his book Christianity for the Curious.

Dalevi says that often metaphors are used to defend God. He recalls a philosopher he once read who defended God like this: “A monkey on a treadmill in a laboratory doesn't understand that the suffering he is experiencing serves a higher function.” Meaning that perhaps people don't see the whole and what seems to be bad in the short term is not bad but good in the larger perspective ­ like the monkey on the treadmill.

According to Dagens Nyheter, during the weeks of work at home and reduced mobility during the corona crisis, many activities and phenomena in society have changed. Some have increased, some have decreased, sometimes dramatically. In other areas, it is too early to see trends. A few examples.

Traffic on the streets of Stockholm has decreased by between 10 and 35 percent during the month of March, city estimates show. This means that nitrogen oxides and soot particles have decreased accordingly. The amount of traffic on all of Sweden's roads has decreased more and more week by week since the crisis began according to Swedish Transport Administration figures.

If the decrease persists for several months, better air quality can lead to between 10 and 20 fewer premature deaths during the period, according to researchers at Stockholm University, who also believe that better air strengthens the immune system against Covid-19.

Corresponding measurements elsewhere in Europe show the same tendency, in some cases even stronger.

Perhaps, Covid-19 obliges us to challenge old habits. Will we simply return to our former ways? Or will there be a new normal? It’s hard not to see this virus as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to right the wrongs that so many of us consider normal such as wealth disparity, division by race/ethnicity/gender, and the abuse of our planet as the necessary cost of modernity and personal comfort. 

Bearing this in mind, read this text recently posted on Facebook:

When the corona virus is over

When this is over,

may we never again 

take for granted

a handshake with a stranger,

full shelves at the store,

conversations with neighbors,

a crowded theater,

a Friday night out,

the taste of communion,

a routine health check,

school every morning,

coffee with a friend,

a roaring stadium,

each deep breath,

a boring Tuesday,

life itself.

When this ends,

may we find

that we have become

more like the people

we wanted to be,

we hoped to be,

and may we stay 

that way – better

for each other

because of the worst.

Scott Schneitzer