Covid-19 pandemic: aspects of Christian theodicy in the discourse of Roman Catholic priests and Brazilian Baptist pastors

Abstract

This study originated from an informal online consultation held in early June 2020 with a group of Christian leaders regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the conceptions and actions of their communities, seeking to ascertain their attitudes towards the issue of poverty. In this article, we develop one of the aspects raised in that research, namely, the theodicy regarding poverty in the account of 18 Roman Catholic priests and 19 Baptist pastors, analyzed in the light of Peter Berger's considerations on theodicy and Rodney Stark's considerations on epidemics at the beginning of Christianity. We sought to verify in the opinion of the subjects consulted which types of theodicy in relation to poverty are implicit in the convictions declared in the context of the pandemic.  Our findings showed the tendency to a theodicy centered on the human, which puts as a key question no longer the classic «why did God allow this»?, but «why did human beings do this»?, and places in the hands of Christians the responsibility to act to provide more just social conditions, through love and care for each other.