New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a professing Catholic, said recently that it wasn't God who has flattened the curve of covid cases in his state, it was New Yorkers. "Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus," he claimed, "God did not stop the spread of the virus."
A couple of days later he added, "The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that."
To which Michael Stone at Patheos replied: "Cuomo is right. Prayers do not effect [sic] the virus. Some imaginary God does not effect [sic] the virus. But people, human behavior, can and do effect [sic] the virus."
Now I don't profess to know what role God has played in this disease, if any, but I do know that, despite their arrogant asseverations to the contrary, neither Cuomo nor Stone knows either. Indeed, both of these men might profit from a little more intellectual humility.
Another thing I know is that one of the most potent defeaters skeptics have employed over the ages against theistic belief is what's often called the problem of evil.
Those who believe in the existence of a wholly good, all-powerful deity are often challenged to come up with an answer to the question why such a being would not prevent completely gratuitous suffering, or why, in a time of plague, God wouldn't act sooner to mitigate the effects of the disease? Why, in the present case, has an allegedly loving Father allowed so many good people to have their lives cut short by this corona virus?
Peter Kreeft, a philosopher at Boston College, presents an interesting introduction to this vexing problem which has perplexed believers ever since the time of Job and surely before. Kreeft's treatment gives us a good idea of the direction in which possible solutions might lie.
The video is only about five minutes long, but it covers a lot of ground and is well worth watching:
