Pibil 1
Jace Pibil
ENC
29 October 2020
Final draft
A Rhetorical Analysis of “A Christian Response and Witness in the Time of Covid-19”
I am a Religion major and I have chosen to research the Christian discourse community
and the ongoing conversations in it regarding Covid-19. My research question is this: how can
Christians respond in a way that is biblical and shows why Christians are content with their lives
even if Covid-19 is bringing so much sorrow to their lives? The article I am choosing to analyze
is “A Christian Response and Witness in the Time of Covid-19” by Annette Brownlee. This
article is featured on the Wycliffe College website and Brownlee argues what the proper
response is for Christians during the coronavirus pandemic and how Christians can find
satisfaction with Jesus. Furthermore, Brownlee argues how to biblically respond to the Covid-19
crisis. Brownlee’s main audience are the readers of the Wycliffe College website and also
Christians, or believers, and divides her argument into two areas of a believer’s life, practically
and theologically, theology is the study of God. The summation of Christianity is that 2,000
years ago, God loved us enough to send His beloved Son in the person of Jesus Christ to take the
wrath of God, that we deserve because of our sins, on the cross for us to be reconciled with Him.
This is what the Gospel, or good news, means. That we do not get to face the wrath of God on
Judgment Day because Jesus already paid the fine of death when he was tortured and suffocated
to death on a cross (Romans 6:23). For me and as a Christian, I generally agree with Brownlee’s
arguments and I think she brings forth some solid points that Christians can and should mirror
during the pandemic.
Pibil 2
To start, Brownlee’s main audience is the Church, specifically students and alumni of a
major Christian theological school in Canada. Brownlee is a “Chaplain, Professor of Pastoral
Theology and Director of Field Education at Wycliffe College” and her article is posted on the
Wycliffe College website (Brownlee). Wycliffe College is an evangelical graduate school of
theology in Toronto, Canada. This shows that Brownlee is an educated theologian and is very
knowledgeable of the God of the Bible and can be trusted and reliable. This article was published
on March 18, 2020, which is around the relative start of the pandemic in America and the start of
lockdowns. This is an important topic because Covid-19 is unprecedented in the way society was
shut down and as Christians, we are commanded to be a light to the world, meaning, Christian
believers need to figure out what the best way to represent Jesus, their Lord, to the rest of the
world for unbeliever’s sake. Brownlee provides a biblical way of continuing the Great
Commission of making disciples of all nations during the pandemic. The article’s argument is
biased because Brownlee is a professing Christian and believes in the God of the Bible. As a
result, Brownlee’s arguments come from the Bible and they are not her thoughts and Brownlee is
rooted in the Word by giving her audience multiple references.
Next, Brownlee starts off her article by giving her readers three practical ways that
Christians should biblically respond. The first way is to obey officials and follow their guidelines
because these, after all, are meant to protect us. This is biblical because Christians are
commanded by Scripture to obey the authorities that “have been established by God” (Romans
13:1). Secondly, Brownlee urges believers to pray, specifically for the healthcare workers risking
their safety and their family’s safety. The reason why I love this is because this is exactly what
the Bible tells us to do, Philippians 4:6 says “in every situation . . . present your requests to
God.” The Bible tells us that God hears our prayers and wants to answer our prayers. If we have
Pibil 3
any concerns we should talk to God about it because after all, that is what prayer is. The last
practical way to respond to Covid-19 is to care for people more affected than us. This is also
very biblical. A major theme of the Bible is to be selfless and truly embody valuing other people
more than we value ourselves. If the life of Jesus is examined, the whole purpose of his life was
to serve other people, particularly people that were looked down upon, such as prostitutes, tax
collectors, and beggars. Jesus, who is God, valued these people’s lives more than he valued his.
But more importantly, to prove he truly embodied being a servant to all is how he died. Jesus
was nailed on a cross where he suffocated to death. This is the most excruciating death humans
have ever invented and Jesus gave himself up and died this way just so we can be reconciled
with God. Giving ourselves up to death is also what Jesus commands his followers to do. Jesus
says this in Luke 9:23, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their
cross daily and follow me.” Jesus is telling us to lose our lives and die to ourselves daily to live.
This message is no different during a pandemic, it makes this more realistic. I like these three
responses to the pandemic. Each of them is proven by scripture and simple enough to do right
away. I believe these are very effective and boost Brownlee’s credibility moving forward.
Later in the article, Brownlee looks at plagues that happened in the Bible and how God
handled situations of mass death. For example, in Exodus God sent plagues to Pharaoh and the
Egyptians to set his people free from their slavery. The point of this is to point all of that
destruction to God and an opportunity “to recognize God’s sovereignty over creation” because
Pharaoh did not revere God (Brownlee). Natural disasters can and will eventually bring glory to
God. One of Brownlee’s arguments is that God will use this pandemic for his glory as he does
for all things. The evidence for this is in Exodus 9:15-16 and how God used the 10 plagues “to
show his power” and make his “name resound through all the earth.” The Bible supports these
Pibil 4
claims. Moving on, I will discuss my favorite argument from this article. Brownlee calls
quarantine a “civil sabbath” and that lockdown is a chance to rest and reflect on the fact that “we
are first and foremost recipients—and not the creators—of all that is good in our lives”
(Brownlee). A big theological point Christians like to hit on is that humans are naturally
self-loving and God-rejecting and Brownlee relates this point to the whole pandemic. Since the
whole world was put on hold, people were able to reflect on the fact that they rely on things of
this earth for satisfaction and happiness. But, Christians have seen in their lives that they have
stood firm in their faith because they know that all good that has come from their life is from
Jesus. Even if everything is taken from them, they still have their savior. As a result of
Brownlee’s point of a civil sabbath, this grabs my attention and proves that Brownlee is
theologically sound and I can trust her. Brownlee first starts her argument with evidence from the
Bible and then expands on that for her argument. The fact that Brownlee is relating the pandemic
to the Bible makes her argument very effective. The biggest thing a Christian can do in an
argument is to relate it to the Word. Brownlee bases her arguments on the Bible which shoots her
ethos through the roof, so to speak. After all, God’s Word is eternal and is “God-breathed” (1
Timothy 3:16).
Lastly, I will be able to use this article in my research paper with Brownlee’s arguments
from the Bible of how to practically respond by praying and embodying a selfless life, and how
to think about the pandemic theologically by relating Covid-19 to God’s glory forever. In my
argument, I will use this as a source for Scripture-based evidence of why Christians have to
suffer to have joy and an argument of why Covid-19 is happening and why God would allow it.
Another way I can use this for my research paper is the three ways Brownlee describes how
Pibil 5
Christians should respond, biblically, to the coronavirus. This will be one of my calls to actions
and responses after reading my research essay.
Pibil 6
Works Cited
Brownlee, Annette. "A Christian Response and Witness in the Time of COVID-19." 18 Mar.
