Despite the stigma metal music carries in certain Christian circles, it is often a great vehicle for theological reflection. To this effect, I stumbled across a song recently that gave me pause. It is written from the perspective of a Viking raider, possibly even one raiding Lindisfarne. Here is the chorus: “Now, where is your God?/Does he hear your prayers?/Does he even care for you?/His silence speaks loud and clear.”
As far as historical accuracy is concerned, this sentiment is precise. A Nord would never even imagine that the Christian God was not real; He would simply think that his own god, Odin, or Thor, or whoever, was stronger, hence why he had given the upper hand to the raiders. The same insight can be seen on shirts one might still stumble upon which say something like, “My god has a hammer, your God was nailed to a cross, get the picture?” Long before such shirts were produced, St. Athanasius highlighted that this displays God’s strength rather than His weakness. He points out in On the Incarnation that it is precisely because the true God is omnipotent that He could descend to our weakness, take on our form, die on a cross, and achieve victory. In other words, it is because God is unchallenged and unchallengeable that He can humble Himself to save us. A less-powerful God could never condescend in the same manner.
Nonetheless, our Viking makes an interesting point about God’s people. If the Christian God is as powerful as we have claimed, why could He not have saved the monks in Lindisfarne? More pressing to our current circumstances, why could He not save us all from the pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill?
It is possible that God did not stop the raid on Lindisfarne or the onslaught of COVID because both are His punishment. There is Biblical precedent for this. In fact, God says that He will punish Assyria and its king because they believe that it was their own power, and not God, who delivered Israel to them (Is. 10:5-19). The Book of Job, however, cautions us against this approach. There, the innocent Job succumbs to a number of calamities. His friend, Eliphaz, argues that Job has been punished, therefore, he must have sinned. When He appears, God judges Eliphaz wrong. Additionally, when seeing a man blind from birth, the Apostles ask whether he or his parents sinned to obtain this punishment. Jesus responds, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (Jn. 9:3). In other words, God could unleash punishment for sin, but one may not reason backwards from a calamity to assume that it is God’s punishment.
So, what are we left with? Where is our God in the midst of this pandemic? Could it be that God has chosen to display His strength in weakness, just as He did in the Incarnation? The monks at Lindisfarne died and the Vikings enjoyed a seeming victory over them. Not long after, St. Boniface cut down the tree sacred to Odin, and their sons and grandsons bowed down to Christ. The monks earned the crown of martyrdom and are now in bliss with their Lord. Who really won at Lindisfarne? By the same token, Christians today have been barred from the Sacraments, some have died, and some are suffering today. It is easy to see how this might come off as a defeat. But we must remember that we are seeing things from the middle rather than from the end. How are we to predict how the God who turned the seeming defeat of the Cross into the victory of the Resurrection will turn this seeming defeat into a victory?
Here is what we know. Our God is not easily overcome. He might work in mysterious ways, but we know that “all things work together for good for those who love Him” (Rom. 8:28). We also know that in this darkness there is a Light that shines and the darkness cannot overcome Him. Even if we are called to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we should fear no evil, for He is with us (Ps. 23:4). So, together with the Psalmist, let us say, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me” (Ps. 3:5).
Featured image courtesy of Kim Traynor via Wik
Gjergji Evangjeli served as the Editor-In-Chief of The Torch. He had previously served as the Executive Editor and the World News section editor. He is currently pursuing a ThM at the BC School of Theology and Ministry. Gjergji is interested in the patristic period, specifically in the apologists of the second century. He is an ardent defender of the Oxford comma.
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Strength in weakness: Lord, my enemies surround me, but grant me the faith of a mustard seed and deliver me unto your glory. What sustains and perseveres is in and of Him — the love that never ends.
Let us have faith to the end. Thank you for the article and the thoughts, Gjergji. This is fortifying.