Background: On March 29, 2020, The Times published an article entitled Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To, written by N.T.Wright.
N.T. Wright, one of the most important New Testament scholars in the 20th century and the author of over 80 books, writes, “Rationalists (including Christian rationalists) want explanations; Romantics (including Christian romantics) want to be given a sigh of relief. But perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament...
God was grieved to his heart, Genesis declares, over the violent wickedness of his human creatures. He was devastated when his own bride, the people of Israel, turned away from him. And when God came back to his people in the form of a person—the story of Jesus is meaningless unless that’s what it’s about—he wept at the tomb of his friend. St. Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit “groaning” within us, as we ourselves groan in the pain of the whole creation. The ancient doctrine of the Trinity teaches us to recognize the One God in the tears of Jesus and the anguish of the Spirit.”
The professor concludes, "It is no part of the Christian vocation, then, to be able to explain what’s happening and why. In fact, it is part of the Christian vocation not to be able to explain — and to lament instead. As the Spirit laments within us, so we become, even in our self-isolation, small shrines where the presence and healing love of God can dwell. And out of that, there can emerge new possibilities, new acts of kindness, new scientific understanding, new hope."
If N.T.Wright is right - Christianity offers no answers about the coronavirus and it’s not supposed to - then what can it bring to people under the pandemic?
Christian Times, a Shanghai-based Christian newspaper, interviewed three church workers on the topic of Christianity’s contributions to this unprecedented disaster.
Brother L is a member of a community fellowship in a second-tier city in eastern China and was born in the 1980s. Brother X is a millennial campus fellowship leader in a fourth-tier city in eastern China. Brother M is a church pastor in central China and is in his thirties.
Christian Times: What do you think of N.T. Wright’s opinion that “Christianity offers no answers about the coronavirus and it’s not supposed to”? Do you agree or disagree?
Brother X: I hold that there is no answer. Christians should accompany people.
Brother L: Since the coronavirus outbreak, many people have been asking, “Why God allowed such a thing to happen?” Many Christians offer an answer that disasters result from humankind’s sins and God’s judgment.
Brother X: You cannot just state it is wrong, but the answer is very simple and rude. For happy people, you can say that, but the answer is too cruel for miserable people.
Christian Times: When a disaster happens, many churches explain it with the “God’s judgment” rhetoric. That causes many controversies.
Brother X: It’s impossible to avoid most disaster topics. The whole Bible interprets it. Churches explain it as “God's judgment”, regardless of whether people like it or not. However, it's a wrong impression that many churches do so. In fact, just a few churches use this rhetoric and their voices are not the mainstream, but the label is stuck on all churches.
There are many worldly sins and misconducts, but churches do not speak aloud to them as they themselves are vulnerable groups.
Christian Times: Do you mean that under this social condition, churches speak little about public topics?
Brother X: Yes. Churches have been pushed out from public topics. They can’t speak because their voices will be scolded as was the case with the anti-Christian movement in the 1920s.
Many places encounter similar dilemmas. For example, Christianity should be “politically correct” in some European and American countries.
Christian Times: Why does that phenomena exist?
Brother L: It demonstrates that there is no room for traditional Christianity. The perspectives, ways, and focus of traditional Christianity on public topics have broken away from public views.
We live in a world filled with entertainment, secularism, and hope, but traditional Christianity advocates pessimism and horrible eschatology. We’re in an era which is very different from the Roman Empire period or the Middle Age full of disasters and poverty.
Christianity can pay attention to many areas, but not it only concerns dark and negative problems. Actually, the gospel can bring positive energy to the world but it has become a negative force.
Facing a man born blind, Jesus’ disciples asked him who sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus answered, “Neither this man or his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Our focus should reflect the light of God in the darkness in the society, rather than be darkness and amplify it. Today Christians neglect the way of Jesus, they take tooth for tooth.
Brother X: Where did we take tooth for tooth?
Brother L: Churches always care about darkness and social sins, claiming that since plagues happen, we should repent because of sins.
I regard it as a solution offered by religion. It leads people to a religion, not bringing man to God as Jesus did.
Jesus’ solution was to inspire people to see God's grace amid the darkness. He did not say that God was a sharp sword that pierced people more even though they were in pain and then they should have repented.
Brother X: There are many healing cases by Jesus in the Bible. You should not cite that one alone.
Brother L: My point is that we need to see this world in a positive perspective.
Brother X: I agree that we should not analyze things in a fixed pattern. It is wrong to say that every person who is in misery has committed some sin. Some people just have bad luck. But we should not avoid the sin issue, either.
Brother M: This complicated issue is not simple. The “God’s judgment” rhetoric simplifies complex issues too much. It holds that once people repent, the plague disappears. According to this simple idea, don’t we need to put control measures and be quarantined?
Could we use the Deuteronomic formula that you are blessed if you obey commandments and vice versa in today’s world? I don’t think so. The Deuteronomic idea is simple - this world is either black or white.
However, common sense tells us the world is complicated. You cannot explain everything with a simple spiritual formula. For example, earlier, the United States held a national prayer movement for the pandemic, but the situation got worse.
We need to consider again and again in the face of many complicated things.
Christian Times: In ancient times when medicine and technology were not advanced, people at that time regarded life and death as the issues of God. But today we can protect our lives with much medical technology. Therefore, we cannot directly apply biblical principles to our times.
Brother L: The Bible and our faith are right. It is wrong that we are too “mechanical”.
Christian Times: Then what can Christianity offer to people during this pandemic?
Brother L: When Jesus was sailing with his disciples, he slept peacefully while they encountered storms and cried out to him. It reveals to us that facing a disaster, we should have peace like Jesus so that we can calm down. We can be examples of faith to people.
We believe in God who is in charge of everything, while we ought to do what we can. We do not panic or become scared, but take measures to protect ourselves and be involved in disease control.
Brother X: Yes. Christianity offers us inner faith, courage, and peace to better deal with the conditions. Wright claims there is no answer for COVID-19. So do I.
As God's son painfully cried out “Abba father” on the cross and God did not respond, it is normal for Christians to receive no answer for disasters. Jesus never promises us answers, but promises empathy and compassion. He is with us as he also went through storms, disasters, and death.
It is very painful to be infected with the virus and to suffer alone, so I approve of Italian priests who stayed with patients in hospitals. Those priests were infected and dozens of them died. I am unable to do that, but I respect them. Though we are limited, it’s good to make a call to others.
Brother M: We are different from Italy where Catholics are the majority. Italian priests have heavy tasks in caring for the sick. But the Christian percentage is low in China. Of course, it is necessary to keep patients company whether they are Christians or not.
- Translated by Karen Luo
福音对谈丨话题：疫情大背景下，基督教能给出什么答案
背景资料：
2020年3月29日，《时代周刊》上登载了汤姆·赖特（Nicholas Thomas Wright，简称N.T.赖特）一篇文章《基督教没有提供关于新冠病毒的答案，它也不应该提供》的文章。
N.T.赖特是20世紀最重要的新约学者之一，曾任英国圣公会主教，是英国圣安德鲁斯大学的新约及早期基督教研究制教授，牛津大学威克里夫高级研究员（Senior Research Fellow）。他被评价为“牧养和学术兼备的主教神学家”。同时，赖特也是著有近百本神学书籍的著名作者，其中包括《新约与神的子民》、《邪恶与上帝新世界》、《翻天覆地——重新看见耶稣是谁》等。
作为当今最著名的新约圣经学者之一，N.T.赖特在此次《时代周刊》的文章写到：
“理性主义者（包括基督教理性主义者）想要解释。浪漫主义者（包括基督教浪漫主义者）希望可以松一口气。但是也许我们比任何一个都需要的是恢复圣经的‘哀歌’（lament）传统。当人们问‘为什么？’却得不答案时，需要的是哀歌。”“创世纪（6章）记载耶和华见人在地上罪恶很大，终日所思想的尽都是恶，耶和华就心中忧伤。当他的‘新娘’——以色列民远离他时，他伤心欲绝。当上帝道成肉身来到他的百姓之中时——除非那是真的，否则耶稣的故事是没有意义的——耶稣站在自己的朋友拉撒路的坟墓旁哭泣。使徒保罗（在罗马书8章中）说当圣灵在我们里面‘叹息’时，我们和一切受造之物也都一同‘叹息’。三位一体的古老教义教导我们可以透过圣子耶稣的眼泪和圣灵的痛苦认识到上帝是怎样的一位。”“因此，能够解释‘发生了什么’和‘为什么发生’不是基督教的呼召。实际上，基督教呼召的一部分是无法解释——却代之以去哀歌。当圣灵在我们里面哀叹时，即使我们处在自我隔离的状态的下，也可以成为上帝的临在、医治和爱可以居住的圣殿。由此，随之而来的是新的可能性、新的善举、新的认识、新的希望。”
对谈主题：面对着已经成为“全球大流行”的新冠疫情，基督教能够提供答案吗？
当年二战德国轰炸英国，英国士气很低落时，C.S.路易斯出来在BBC做广播给大家讲基督教的教义，给整个英国民众盼望和忍耐抗争下去的力量，后来广播的内容整理出来就是《返璞归真》这本书，见证者当年基督徒带给时代的属灵力量。
如果N.T.Wright说的是对的，“基督教没有提供关于新冠病毒的答案，它也不应该提供”，那么，在2020疫情这个时代大背景下，基督教能够提供给民众的是什么呢？
针对此话题，基督时报4月下旬邀请了三位不同地区80后/90后教牧同工进行在线交流讨论。
L弟兄：华东80后二线城市一社区团契成员。 X弟兄：华东地区四线城市90后青年团契带领人。 M弟兄：中原地区一80后教会讲道人。
对谈内容：
主持人：对于N.T.赖特的观点“基督教没有提供关于新冠病毒的答案，它也不应该提供”，各位是怎样看待的呢？是同意还是不同意呢？
X弟兄：我认为：没有答案，就是陪伴。L弟兄：疫情发生后，很多人会问“为什么上帝会允许这样的事情发生？”，我看到很多基督徒给出的答案是：灾难来自人类的罪和上帝的审判，“天谴论”的思路。X弟兄：这种答案不能直接说它是错的，但是很简单粗暴的。对于幸福的人来说，这种答案可以听一下，但是对于遭遇痛苦的人来说，这个答案过于残忍。
主持人：当灾难发生时，不少教会一般都会“天谴论”这样的思路去解释，引起很多争议。X弟兄：大部分的灾难话题不可能避而不谈的，不可能不谈的，整个圣经就是这样的。教会是这样的，它就是要这么说，你爱听不爱拉到，没有必要拍人的马屁。但是，我觉得认为“灾难一发生，教会就会用天谴论解释”是一种错误的印象。其实教会这样写的这样说的并不多，在很多声音中是很小众的，但这个帽子都盖在了教会身上。当今世界上出现很多罪恶，但是其实教会对这些没有多少声音，因为教会本身是一个弱势群体。
主持人：你的意思是，现代社会的背景下，教会对公共话题发声的很少？X弟兄：是的，教会在公共话题领域是被赶出去了，它不能在公共领域发言，很多时候它没法发言，因为一发言就被骂，就跟1920年代的非基运动一样。现在全世界很多地方的大环境都这样。比如在欧美，基督教现在也面临很多“政治正确”。
主持人：为什么会出现这样的现象呢？L弟兄：这只是说明传统基督教的模式没有空间了。传统基督教的关注角度、关注方式、关注内容...等各个方面已经和公共视角脱离了、二者相差很远。我们现在生活在一个充满娱乐、世俗和希望的世界里，但是我们还去宣传一种悲观、末世的色彩，会很难。我们现在所处的时代跟罗马帝国时期和中世纪被很多灾难贫穷困扰的时代已经不一样了。时代不一样了，但是关注的如果还停留在过去，肯定不行。基督教可以关注的东西很多、可以关注的领域很多，但唯独只是关注黑暗的问题。其实基督教的福音是光明的，在社会上去发展一种可以给予正面积极的力量的，但是现在常常成为一种负能量了。耶稣面对天生瞎眼的人，他的门徒说这个人天生瞎眼是因为他自己的罪还是他父母的罪呢？但是耶稣说：“也不是这人犯了罪，也不是他父母犯了罪，是要在他身上显出神的作为来。”我们面对社会的黑暗要去做的是彰显上帝的光，而不是只看聚焦黑暗、放大黑暗。今天把耶稣的方式忽略掉了，而是以牙还牙的方式。X弟兄：哪里以牙还牙了？L弟兄：总是看黑暗面和社会罪恶，说就是因为这些，所以灾难来了、瘟疫来了，所以要悔改。我认为这是一种宗教的方式，使人转到宗教里去，而不是像耶稣一样使人回到上帝那里。耶稣的方式是在激励中使人看到上帝恩典，而不是上帝是一把利剑，人已经很痛苦了还去刺人一下，然后说要悔改。
X弟兄：圣经上耶稣医治的例子很多，也不能只说这一个。L弟兄：我的焦点是说我们要用积极的方式去看待这个世界。X弟兄：我同意看待很多事情时候不能一刀切，不能说每个有可怜遭遇的人都是犯了罪，有些人就真的不是自己犯了罪，就是倒霉。有些人天生就是残疾，不能说是因为他们犯了罪。但反过来犯罪的东西，我们也不能避而不谈。M弟兄：关于这个问题很复杂，不是简单的。天谴论就是把复杂的问题简单化“因为犯罪所以遭受瘟疫，反过来人们悔改了瘟疫就消失了”，只是这样理解的话，面对疫情人也不需要防疫、隔离等措施了吗？能不能简单把旧约申命记的模式“你们祝福就蒙福你们战争就遭瘟疫”套在这个时代？我认为是不行的，这是不恰当的。用申命记这个模式来看的话很简单——这个世界不是黑的就是白的。但是从常识来看，世界很复杂的，不能用简单的属灵公式来搞一刀切的。例如美国前段时间搞全国祈祷，按照旧约的模式就是悔改后瘟疫就停止了，但现在看美国悔改了疫情反而蔓延了。所以，一刀切的话是不行的。我觉得面对世界很多复杂的问题，需要去思考。
主持人：古代的医学科技还不发达，所以当时的人把生死看成是神的事，但是现在医学科技发达了，能用医学、防疫等很多方式来保护自己的生命，所以很多时候不能直接套用圣经。
L弟兄：圣经没有错，信仰没错，错的是我们太机械了。
主持人：那么，在疫情的大背景下，基督教能够提供给民众的是什么呢？L弟兄：耶稣跟门徒在海上航行时，遇到风浪，门徒非常惊惶去喊耶稣，但是耶稣在这种生死关头反而平安地睡着了。从中我们得到的启发是，我们面对灾难时应该要像耶稣一样有平安，可以冷静下来。我们可对民众提供一种信心，提供信心的榜样。我们相信上帝，相信所有的都有上帝在主管，但是我们该自救的还是要去自救，但是我们不害怕不恐慌，该做什么就做什么，而不是像没有信仰的人一样非常害怕非常恐慌。我因为有平安，所以可以冷静，遵守社会的秩序，保持信心和理性，同时做我们力所能及的抗疫和自救。X弟兄：对。我觉得基督教能给我们提供的是内心的信心、勇气和平安，让我们可以更好地回应环境。赖特说没有答案，我也认为没有答案。上帝的儿子被钉在十字架上那么痛苦的呼喊“阿爸父，阿爸父”，上帝都没有回应，我们基督徒遇到灾难，也很正常。耶稣没有承诺给我们答案，但他给我们共情、同理心，让我们看到耶稣也经历过风浪、灾难、生死，他与我们同在。有陪伴，大家一起面对会好一点，如果只是一个人的话会很痛苦。疫情中得了这种病是很痛苦的，没有陪伴是很痛苦的，所以为什么我认可意大利那些神父的做法。神父为了去安慰那些感染的人，自己也感染了，几十个神父去世了。虽然我做不到，但是我尊重他们。我们虽然能做的有限，但是打个电话关怀一下也是好的。M弟兄：我们跟意大利不一样，意大利基本上都是天主教徒，那边他们神父的任务是很重的。我们这边信徒的比例是很低的，当然我们身边有人不幸感染了，无论是信还是不信，以恰当的方式表达关心陪伴是需要的。
Background: On March 29, 2020, The Times published an article entitled Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To, written by N.T.Wright.
N.T. Wright, one of the most important New Testament scholars in the 20th century and the author of over 80 books, writes, “Rationalists (including Christian rationalists) want explanations; Romantics (including Christian romantics) want to be given a sigh of relief. But perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament...
God was grieved to his heart, Genesis declares, over the violent wickedness of his human creatures. He was devastated when his own bride, the people of Israel, turned away from him. And when God came back to his people in the form of a person—the story of Jesus is meaningless unless that’s what it’s about—he wept at the tomb of his friend. St. Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit “groaning” within us, as we ourselves groan in the pain of the whole creation. The ancient doctrine of the Trinity teaches us to recognize the One God in the tears of Jesus and the anguish of the Spirit.”
The professor concludes, "It is no part of the Christian vocation, then, to be able to explain what’s happening and why. In fact, it is part of the Christian vocation not to be able to explain — and to lament instead. As the Spirit laments within us, so we become, even in our self-isolation, small shrines where the presence and healing love of God can dwell. And out of that, there can emerge new possibilities, new acts of kindness, new scientific understanding, new hope."
If N.T.Wright is right - Christianity offers no answers about the coronavirus and it’s not supposed to - then what can it bring to people under the pandemic?
Christian Times, a Shanghai-based Christian newspaper, interviewed three church workers on the topic of Christianity’s contributions to this unprecedented disaster.
Brother L is a member of a community fellowship in a second-tier city in eastern China and was born in the 1980s. Brother X is a millennial campus fellowship leader in a fourth-tier city in eastern China. Brother M is a church pastor in central China and is in his thirties.
Christian Times: What do you think of N.T. Wright’s opinion that “Christianity offers no answers about the coronavirus and it’s not supposed to”? Do you agree or disagree?
Brother X: I hold that there is no answer. Christians should accompany people.
Brother L: Since the coronavirus outbreak, many people have been asking, “Why God allowed such a thing to happen?” Many Christians offer an answer that disasters result from humankind’s sins and God’s judgment.
Brother X: You cannot just state it is wrong, but the answer is very simple and rude. For happy people, you can say that, but the answer is too cruel for miserable people.
Christian Times: When a disaster happens, many churches explain it with the “God’s judgment” rhetoric. That causes many controversies.
Brother X: It’s impossible to avoid most disaster topics. The whole Bible interprets it. Churches explain it as “God's judgment”, regardless of whether people like it or not. However, it's a wrong impression that many churches do so. In fact, just a few churches use this rhetoric and their voices are not the mainstream, but the label is stuck on all churches.
There are many worldly sins and misconducts, but churches do not speak aloud to them as they themselves are vulnerable groups.
Christian Times: Do you mean that under this social condition, churches speak little about public topics?
Brother X: Yes. Churches have been pushed out from public topics. They can’t speak because their voices will be scolded as was the case with the anti-Christian movement in the 1920s.
Many places encounter similar dilemmas. For example, Christianity should be “politically correct” in some European and American countries.
Christian Times: Why does that phenomena exist?
Brother L: It demonstrates that there is no room for traditional Christianity. The perspectives, ways, and focus of traditional Christianity on public topics have broken away from public views.
We live in a world filled with entertainment, secularism, and hope, but traditional Christianity advocates pessimism and horrible eschatology. We’re in an era which is very different from the Roman Empire period or the Middle Age full of disasters and poverty.
Christianity can pay attention to many areas, but not it only concerns dark and negative problems. Actually, the gospel can bring positive energy to the world but it has become a negative force.
Facing a man born blind, Jesus’ disciples asked him who sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus answered, “Neither this man or his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Our focus should reflect the light of God in the darkness in the society, rather than be darkness and amplify it. Today Christians neglect the way of Jesus, they take tooth for tooth.
Brother X: Where did we take tooth for tooth?
Brother L: Churches always care about darkness and social sins, claiming that since plagues happen, we should repent because of sins.
I regard it as a solution offered by religion. It leads people to a religion, not bringing man to God as Jesus did.
Jesus’ solution was to inspire people to see God's grace amid the darkness. He did not say that God was a sharp sword that pierced people more even though they were in pain and then they should have repented.
Brother X: There are many healing cases by Jesus in the Bible. You should not cite that one alone.
Brother L: My point is that we need to see this world in a positive perspective.
Brother X: I agree that we should not analyze things in a fixed pattern. It is wrong to say that every person who is in misery has committed some sin. Some people just have bad luck. But we should not avoid the sin issue, either.
Brother M: This complicated issue is not simple. The “God’s judgment” rhetoric simplifies complex issues too much. It holds that once people repent, the plague disappears. According to this simple idea, don’t we need to put control measures and be quarantined?
Could we use the Deuteronomic formula that you are blessed if you obey commandments and vice versa in today’s world? I don’t think so. The Deuteronomic idea is simple - this world is either black or white.
However, common sense tells us the world is complicated. You cannot explain everything with a simple spiritual formula. For example, earlier, the United States held a national prayer movement for the pandemic, but the situation got worse.
We need to consider again and again in the face of many complicated things.
Christian Times: In ancient times when medicine and technology were not advanced, people at that time regarded life and death as the issues of God. But today we can protect our lives with much medical technology. Therefore, we cannot directly apply biblical principles to our times.
Brother L: The Bible and our faith are right. It is wrong that we are too “mechanical”.
Christian Times: Then what can Christianity offer to people during this pandemic?
Brother L: When Jesus was sailing with his disciples, he slept peacefully while they encountered storms and cried out to him. It reveals to us that facing a disaster, we should have peace like Jesus so that we can calm down. We can be examples of faith to people.
We believe in God who is in charge of everything, while we ought to do what we can. We do not panic or become scared, but take measures to protect ourselves and be involved in disease control.
Brother X: Yes. Christianity offers us inner faith, courage, and peace to better deal with the conditions. Wright claims there is no answer for COVID-19. So do I.
As God's son painfully cried out “Abba father” on the cross and God did not respond, it is normal for Christians to receive no answer for disasters. Jesus never promises us answers, but promises empathy and compassion. He is with us as he also went through storms, disasters, and death.
It is very painful to be infected with the virus and to suffer alone, so I approve of Italian priests who stayed with patients in hospitals. Those priests were infected and dozens of them died. I am unable to do that, but I respect them. Though we are limited, it’s good to make a call to others.
Brother M: We are different from Italy where Catholics are the majority. Italian priests have heavy tasks in caring for the sick. But the Christian percentage is low in China. Of course, it is necessary to keep patients company whether they are Christians or not.
- Translated by Karen Luo
Topic: What Answers Can Christianity Offer For Being Under The Pandemic?
