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THE FUTURE and DIVINE PROVIDENCE Prof. Ikechukwu TUJAMSS, Vol. 7, No. 1, April, 2020 SAINT AUGUSTINE AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE FUTURE AND DIVINE PROVIDENCE Prof. Ikechukwu Anthony KANU Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Tansian University Umunya, Anambra State [email protected] Abstract Scholars on Augustine have continued to raise questions regarding the position of Saint Augustine in the evolving state of affairs. His works are so immense that he has become a central figure not just in secular issues but in ecclesiastical circles as well. He possesses the qualities of the Fathers of the Church, such that it can be said that the thought-current of the Fathers culminates in the writings of Saint Augustine. In 2019, the Corona Virus pandemic befell the world bringing about changes in thought and organization all over the world, in both secular and ecclesiastical spheres. In the midst of the various questions arising regarding the state of affairs, this paper sets out as a response to the issue of the relevance of religion in the face of Covid-19. Taking from Augustine’s rich theological and philosophical backgrounds, it argues that God is beyond COVID-19 and that humanity must entrust herself to divine providence while taking the necessary precautionary measures listed by the government. For the purpose of this study, the Augustinian model of theology that places theology at the service of humankind was employed. Keywords: Augustine, COVID-19, Pandemic, Providence, Future, Church Introduction At the closure of church buildings and mosques in view of the Corona Virus, someone supposing that churches and mosques should be open at this time remarked: ―So religion failed‖. This phrase came at a time when the Corona Virus Disease (popularly known as COVID-19) globally had 292,142 confirmed cases with 12,784 deaths and still counting; these words were served at a time when the Western Pacific Region had recorded 94,787 cases with 3438 deaths; it came at a time when confirmed cases had risen to 151,295 in the European Region, 23,669 cases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 19, 685 in the Region of the Americas and 739 confirmed cases in the African Region with deaths not less than 20. It came at a time when more than 350 cases had already been confirmed in Nigeria- a time when everyone was beginning to panic and feel unsafe. 151 TUJAMSS, Vol. 7, No. 1, April, 2020 At the heart of these several concerns is the question: where is God in the face of all these? Why are churches and mosques closing up instead of providing healing? Why can‘t the God that we serve save us at this moment? The suffering Job, in about the beginning of the 5th century BC, had systematically questioned the compatibility of human suffering with the presence of a God whose nature is benevolent. In about the 4th century, Epicurus had also made enquiries in this regard. Hume in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion puts the following words into the mouth of Philo: Epicurus‘ old questions are yet unanswered. Is he [Deity] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil? The British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in his autobiography: Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair. Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. (p. 3). The questions arising from our hearts at this moment of the Covid-19 were questions that Augustine once dealt with. In the face of evil and human suffering, he asked ―Whence then is evil? …How did it steal into the world? …Can it be that there is simply no evil? Whence then does evil come if God made all things, and because he is good made them good too?‖ (Confessions. 138). Taking from the teachings of Saint Augustine, an attempt would be made at finding meaning in the face of the present pestilence. The primary question, therefore, looming at the horizon is: what is Augustine saying to us at a time like this? 152 TUJAMSS, Vol. 7, No. 1, April, 2020 Theology at a Time of Pestilence The scholastics understood theology as faith seeking understanding, however, in Augustine the study of God takes a step further, not as a point of departure, but rather it opens up in theology an aperture for a God-discourse for the service of humanity. Theology in Augustine becomes the study of God as Summa Simplicitas (Highest Simplicity) affirmed from our human point of view. Theology, therefore, within the context of Augustine, would involve an attempt to understand God, know Him and His perfections, the way He relates with us and the universe at large. From this perspective, we know God, not from what He is, but what He is not, also known as the via negativaor the apophatic approach- thus Augustine writes that: ―If you understand (something); it is not God‖ (Sermo117, 3, 5). The basis of this theological approach towards understanding God is the limitation of the human intellect and language to capture or express the fullness of divinity. These limitations provide a ground for faith in Augustinian theology. Theology in Augustine would be incomplete without faith. He cannot be a theologian who has no faith. This is because whatever we succeed in knowing about God must be understood and verified in the light of faith or divine revelation, and even here, the analogies we draw in articulating our faith are often ―inexplicably surpassed‖. The theological implications here, is that even what we have come to know through faith will only be fully understood when we ―see Him face to face‖ (1 Cor. 13:12) and so the Augustinian theologian cannot but ―Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love and the future to His providence‖. What then are the implications of the Augustinian model of theology in this time of pestilence? 1. Theology should provide answers to man‘s innermost and deepest longings, that is, the search for happiness (God), which the present pestilence of corona virus threatens 2. Theology would be irrelevant if it lacks a pastoral role. It should be able to respond to questions such as: what is the role of theology in a believer‘s concrete life? 3. What people are suffering (fear, loss, death, etc) at this moment of pestilence can better be understood within the context of our relationship with God 4. There is a limit to what we can understand in relation to the present suffering since our God who is Mystery cannot be separated from the mystery of human suffering 153 TUJAMSS, Vol. 7, No. 1, April, 2020 5. Since God is involved, and our limited minds cannot go further than their capacities, we need faith at such a moment to make meaning or transcend the present darkness to see light 6. Augustine‘s stretching of the understanding of the relationship between God and man into eternity (when we shall see him face to face) reassures the living that even the dead are captured in this scope of hope God is in Control In spite of the present pestilence, divine providence is not in doubt. God, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe, and is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8). Augustine insists that nothing happens by chance but within divine providence: ―But, perhaps what is commonly called fortune is itself governed by a certain hidden order. What we call a matter of chance may be only something whose why and wherefore are concealed. Perhaps nothing fitting or unfitting happens in a part which is not suited to the whole‖ (Contr. Acad. 1. 1.1). He strongly believes that Divine Providence is demonstrated in the event of creation and in the sustenance of the created order (Cf., Retr., 1,32; De mus. 6,17,56; Civ. Dei, 1,28; 12,4). Augustine wrote a specific work entitled “On Providence”, which was addressed to Christians who were scandalized by the presence of evil in the world. This homily addresses the objections of those who deny God‘s providence and especially refuse biblical testimonies by claiming that God does not care for the world He created nor interested in the affairs of mankind. Augustine disproves these objections with recourse to argument from the order in nature. He went on to teach that the apparent disorder in the world is an order that surpasses our understanding. The most sublime of all proofs of God‘s care and providence for the affairs of mankind is the event of the Incarnation of Christ, which not only shows that God cares, but also reveals to what extent God is interest to go for the human person.
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