COVID-19, NATURAL EVILS, DIVINE AND NATURAL LAWS

Abstract

In the world today, atheists and non-Christians think that they are under no obligation to obey Divine laws, and thus they could deliberately and recklessly flout them. This flagrant disregard for Divine laws accounts for the multiplication of natural evils in the world, including the latest COVID-19 pandemic. This paper employs the method of hermeneutics and analysis to argue that while God's ordinances and instructions are only applicable to the Israelites regarded as the chosen people of God in the Old Testament, all humans are now subject to Divine laws by virtue of sacrificial and salvific death of Jesus Christ that brings redemption and salvation to mankind, irrespective of religion, creed, tribe, race, nationality, gender, and social status. Thus, Divine retribution could be inflicted on indivisible humanity in the wake of violations of God's laws to redress human iniquities and prompt humans to expiate their sins in distress, return to God, and seek the remission of sins. The study shows that the COVID-19 outbreak is a corollary of disruption of natural order of things by consuming certain animals and birds that are made unclean by what they feed on, as well as disobedience to God's instruction to avoid eating certain animals and birds that are unfit for human consumption. The paper concludes that the outbreak of COVID-19 is a wake-up call to humanity to return to God, the ground of being, and abide by Divine and natural laws to heal the world.