God and the Pandemic

A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and its Aftermath

What are we supposed to think about the coronavirus crisis?

Some people think they know: ‘This is a sign of the End,’ they say. ‘It’s all predicted in the book of Revelation.’

Others disagree but are equally clear: ‘This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he’s telling us to change.’

Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: ‘It’s the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization…’

Tom Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he invites you to consider a different way of seeing and responding – a way that draws on the teachings and examples of scripture, and above all on the way of living, thinking and praying revealed to us by Jesus.

Tom Wright is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is the author of over seventy books, including The Day the Revolution Began (2017), Paul: A biography (2018), The New Testament in its World (with Michael F. Bird, 2019), History and Eschatology (2019) and The New Testament for Everyone (2019).