André Suwalsky reviews ‘Where is God in a Coronavirus World?’ by John C Lennox

When times are changing, as in today's society, we find ourselves asking each other this question.

It was the one posited to the early church in 2 Peter 3:11, one of the latest books in the New Testament, when they were experiencing situations not too dissimilar to our own today. How did the persecuted Christians respond at that time?

Early Apologetics

There are a number of written records (which did not make it into the Bible) of what is known as Apologia, or writings defending Christianity to its accusers. The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus is one such example of Christian apologetics.

One particular chapter in a long letter thought to be to Diognetus (a tutor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, admired for his wise advice) from a disciple, gives some of the answers which are still relevant today. Read this section on how Christians were seen to be behaving then and meditate on whether it matches our understanding of how we should be seen to be behaving today:

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines.

But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers.

They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.

They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives.

They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life.

They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.

They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers.

When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."

How does this witness to you? Can you be an apologist in today's society so that those who are picking up the wrong message about Christianity can re-think all that they are currently believing? Do we have modern apologists who are prepared to fight the case for Christianity in the world today?

'Paradoxology' by Krish Kandiah (Hodder & Stoughton, 2014, 308 pages, £13.99, available on Amazon for £12.78)

To Western minds, paradox shouldn't exist. Everything should be explicable within a neat logical system. In Christianity we strive to produce systematic theologies to help us understand the complexities and mysteries of our faith. Yet instinctively we know that life isn't so simple.

In 'Paradoxology', the author recognises that Christianity was never meant to be simple. Paradoxes are not only to be expected, but embraced as pathways into a deeper truth. Rather than undermine faith, they make it more vibrant.

Each chapter takes one main biblical paradox and explores it via Bible characters (mainly Old Testament) and events. As such, it is a Bible-centred book (a key strength), although those already well-grounded in Scripture may find there is an excessive re-telling of Biblical narratives which can be rather tedious.

All the best-known paradoxes of the Christian faith are included. Through Abraham, Moses and Joshua we are led to think through how the God who needs nothing from us can demand so much, how God can be both close and far away, permanently with us and yet often elusive, and how a compassionate God can be associated with so much violence and slaughter.

Christianity is not meant to be simple. Its paradoxes should be embraced as pathways into a deeper truth: they make our faith more vibrant."

Moving on to Job, Hosea and Habakkuk, we consider suffering in the light of God's omnipotence, how a forgiving God can reject people, and how an unchanging God can be unpredictable, reliable yet surprising. Through Jonah and Esther we tackle issues such as free will and predestination, inclusivity and election; God loves us all and yet elects some more than others! Does God have favourites after all?!

The New Testament provides further material, most notably Jesus himself: the key paradox of divinity and humanity in one person. Judas illustrates choice versus fate, and the cross is seen as multi-paradoxical – how does it actually work? Can one event solve everything? Paul's letters to Rome and Corinth open up personal paradoxes: we are a new creation and yet do what we hate rather than what we should (Rom 7:15). He also considers the paradoxes of the Church as the Body of Christ and his Bride-to-be, yet often inadequate, ineffective and flawed.

Here is a comprehensive collection of Bible paradoxes which encourages a change of mind-set towards faith and the realities of life."

Issues such as these are often debated, but here is a comprehensive collection in one place. The result is a very full book, perhaps overlong. There is a sense that the author is putting in everything he can think of from his wealth of experience and expertise, including his scientific background (a bit technical!), personal examples and plenty of quotations. This is a book from an academic's study, one to read carefully and then keep on the shelf for future reference.

Its main value is that it might help change our thinking towards that of the Biblical writers, for whom paradox and mystery were normal. As our mind-sets become more Hebraic, we will be better able to wrestle with the complexities of our faith and the realities of life. In addition, our worship of God will become more meaningful and our ability to trust in him will increase.

This book does not seek to resolve the paradoxes of our faith- it encourages us to live with them productively."

The author is realistic enough to admit that the "paradoxes of our faith will not be resolved by this book, or any other book" (p307). But then, his main thesis is that we should not even try. Instead we should learn to live with them, and to that end his book makes a valuable contribution.