Christian commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic primarily waivers between it being an act of God and the work of Satan.

     One writer suggests that God is using the virus to cause people “to depend on and obey our Maker and Savior” and to make us “realize just how vulnerable we humans are in a broken world” so that we will “call out to . . . the Creator and Redeemer.”

     Along the “work of Satan” theme, other Christian writers say that the virus is brought by the devil “to kill off the elderly who are more knowledgable of the Bible than younger people” and as “a direct attack against” a coming global move of God.

     Those familiar with our blog, know that moving away from dualistic thinking has been a major part of our personal and collective ministry development in the past year. This means that we don’t spend a lot of time debating “this or that” but, instead, try to take an “all” viewpoint. What we have discovered (besides lots of freedom) is that there is always a third option.

     Thinking non-dualistically about COVID-19, we have come to that same conclusion.

     With no motive to change others’ beliefs, we submit this “third option” as a service to enlarge and enhance the current discussion and discernment. Held loosely, it can be considered without fear of indoctrination and, either, retained as valuable or discarded with yesterday’s trash.

     The rhetoric among Christians about COVID-19 involves a lot of finger pointing. God did it! Satan is doing it! Man is at fault.

     After much discernment, research, and prayer, our non-dualistic conclusion is that all of the above is true. This is the third option.

     To explain, we have to go back to what science knows about the origin of virus. This is where our “God did it” view is grounded.

     Viruses are natural. To date, science has no clear explanation for the origin of viruses but they agree that viruses are ancient and originated in wildlife.

     For Christians, who believe that the world was created and designed by God, the natural-origin of virus means that God is the source of their existence. Whether viruses were created on the fifth or sixth day (Genesis 1) with all other “living things” or later developed naturally in or among living things, doesn’t change the fact that they were part of God’s design for the world.

     So, God did it. He made viruses either directly or indirectly through His creation AND, as part of His creation, God declared them as “good”(Genesis 1:21 and 25). But how could something that God created as “good” cause the suffering and death of so many?

     This is where “Satan is doing it” comes in but not, at all, in the way that some Christians are concluding. The answer rests in the meaning of “good” as used in the story of creation.

     God’s declaration that something is “good” is entirely linked to it’s intended purpose in the whole scheme of creation. Creation is systematic. Everything that was created is connected in some way or another.

     Opposition to God’s “good” creation started in the Garden of Eden. Boiling down the whole Adam-Eve-apple story to it’s most simplistic form, what ensued was a power play by man. Operating with their God-given freewill, the first humans began to doubt God’s goodness, opened their minds and hearts to rebellion (sin/evil), and broke covenant with God.

     Their actions didn’t just upset their lives and life within the garden but also affected God’s entire creation, which is inexplicably, indivisibly, and eternally linked.

     This is where the finger points to man.

     The little that modern science knows about the origin of virus suggests that many of the “new” viruses (COVID-19, Ebola, SARS, HIV) likely originated in insects many million years ago and at some point developed the ability to infect other species. This is only conjecture on our part, but could it be that God’s plan for viruses at creation was to give the lowest creature on the food chain a significant natural defense mechanism? Regardless, God had a perfect plan for everything He created; right down to the tiniest virus only detectable with a high-powered microscope.

    The interconnectedness of God’s creation is clearly seen in the progression of virus from animals to humans. Monkeys, pigs, rats, birds, and especially bats are all natural hosts to virus. The natural immune systems of these animals, protect them from getting wiped out by the viruses they carry or by viruses carried by other animals. The animal’s unique immune system (particularly evident in bats), which is a safeguard to their survival, actually encourages the virus to strengthen and reproduce. When it crosses over to humans, through some kind of interaction with blood or other bodily secretion, it is highly contagious and incredibly fatal, such as what we are experiencing with COVID-19.

     Knowledge of this has been around the halls of science for a long time. But, unfortunately, there is a lack of widespread understanding and acceptance of scientific reality among the general population, including in the church. We should have seen this coming but we chose to look the other way.

     So where have we gone wrong? We have failed to understand that God created a unified, interconnected world. Since the first division (man from God in the Garden of Eden) we have continued to divide and separate ourselves from His creation. We have not treated His creation rightly. We have chosen to ignore the laws of science which God instituted when He created the natural world. We have let greed and love of money dictate how we treat animals, raise crops, process food, and steward the environment.

     COVID-19 is not God’s judgment or Satan’s attacks. C0VID-19 is a natural result of man’s ignorance about and lack of appreciation for God’s creation. And no one should be seeking more knowledge and have greater appreciation for the world than the Body of Christ.

     If this is a wake up call, let it be a wake up call to the Church.

     Let’s begin by seeking to genuinely understand the interconnectedness of God’s creation, pledge ourselves to humane common sense stewardship of the earth and everything in it, and show true appreciation for God’s handiwork so beautifully displayed in the world.