Christianity and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pastoral and Theological Reflection from the Ghanaian Context

ABSTRACT

Ghana has since March 2020 experienced the COVID-19 pandemic with its diverse effects the lives of the populace. In spite of various attempts by religious leaders to explain the origin of the pandemic and its remedy, there is still an urgent need for a theological and pastoral guidance for Christians in Ghana. This brief literature-based study was therefore conducted based on historical and biblical data on the COVID-19 pandemic, the main argument being that the COVID-19 pandemic is neither a divine punishment to end the world nor a tool of the Antichrist to suppress Christianity. Though a serious crisis, the historical data available indicate that the current pandemic is not the worse the world has experienced. Therefore, like other pandemics that the world has experienced, the remedy to the present crisis involves primarily calling upon God as Christians and taking responsible actions as responsible citizens.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• Christians
• Ghana
• Pandemic
• theological
• pastoral

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Welle, “Coronavirus”.

2 BBC, “Coronavirus Symptoms”.

3 Pobee, “HIV/AIDS in Africa,” 2.

4 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Dealing with a Spiritual Virus”.

5 Madam Mary Ampomah, for instance, suggested to the writer in a conversation on 30th April 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic will bring the world to an end.

6 Amevenku and Boaheng, “The Christian Hope and the Problem of Evil”.

7 CDC, “History of 1918 Flu Pandemic”.

8 Amevenku and Boaheng, “The Christian Hope and the Problem of Evil,” 43–44.

9 Calys-Tagoe, “Theological Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic,” 4.

10 Apostle Kofi Nkrumah Sarkodie, for example, was arrested in Kumasi for contravening the ban on social gatherings imposed in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) in Ghana. Source: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/coronavirus-pastor-arrested-for-contravening-ban-on-social-gatherings.html.

11 Okechukwu cited in Calys-Tagoe, “Theological Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic”, 4.

12 Turaki, “The Church and the State,” 1397.

13 Kasali, “Romans,” 1397.

14 Shim, “John Wesley’s Eucharist,” 241. See also Patrick Dixon, Cyberchurch, 47–58.

15 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Taking Territories & Raising Champions”, 13.

16 Yakubu, “Duncan-Williams Declares Thirty-Days Fasting”.

17 Kuma, Jesus of the Deep Forest, 17.

18 Akan is one of the main tribes in West Africa (inhabiting Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, some other parts of West Africa) that speak the Twi language. The Akan comprises the Adansi, Akwamu, Asante, Asen, Akyem, Akuapem, Awowin, Ahanta, Nzema, Bono, Fante, Sefwi, Kwahu, and Twifo.

19 Kuma, Jesus of the Deep Forest, 34.

20 “Only Prayer Can Stop Coronavirus from Killing Ghanaians”.

21 Pobee, Toward an African Theology, 49.

22 Boaheng, Poverty, the Bible and Africa, 23.

23 Asante, African Traditional Religion, 35.

24 The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is one of such churches.

25 Niba, “Focus on Africa”.

26 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Dealing with a Spiritual Virus”.

27 “Coronavirus has Exposed Ghanaian Prophets – Preacher Mocks”.

28 “Coronavirus has Exposed Ghanaian Prophets – Preacher Mocks”.

29 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Where is God?,” 7.

30 McGrath, Mere Apologetics, 164.

31 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Where is God?,” 9.

32 Pobee, “HIV/AIDS in Africa,” 26.

33 Boaheng, A Study of Amos and Hosea, 148.

34 Jauregui, “What is the effect of COVID-19”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Isaac Boaheng

Isaac Boaheng is a PhD Student and a research fellow at the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. Boaheng is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church Ghana, a part-time Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament lecturer at Christian Service University College, Sunyani Campus, Ghana and also serves as a translator for the Bible Society of Ghana.