What is God doing through the coronavirus? John Piper offers six biblical answers to that question, showing us that God is at work in this moment in history.
[Edit: The Kindle book normally retails at USD3.29 on Amazon US but is currently offered free through Crossway]
I don't want to jump into the religious arguments that are happening in the comments, but I'm really not sure this is a 'deal'. For that reason I'm negging it. It reads more like propaganda material to me — a free audiobook/ebook that serves evangelical purposes for a certain ideology at an opportune time. It's not like the material was being sold and is now heavily discounted (to my understanding). All power to those that want to read it and find comfort in it, but this forum is for deals and I struggle to see this being one.
I also have concerns from a public health perspective — this material seems to reinforce that these events were planned and part of a greater scheme ("showing us that God is at work in this moment in history"). This isn't the case. These events unfolded because of poor public health practices in Wuhan, followed by a rapid spreading due to a globalised economy and international actions (or lack thereof).
Agree 100%. As one of the commenters noted above, there are plenty of churches / church associated charities doing great work to help vulnerable groups during this period. To me, those actions speak much louder than opportunistic material such as this.
How is this any different to a church handing out pamphlets in the street?
It's different because this deployment method is far easier to send out and relies on a hit-miss ratio, I guess.
True, this is worse. I guess social distancing makes it harder to deploy the propaganda in person.
What? Free pamphlets? Where!! I love free pamphlets!
Exactly my reasons for negging. This isn't a bargain and it should not be posted here as such.
Amen to that
My reason for negging as well.
I agree, but Its not exactly fair to neg this based on content when we don't have the same standards for other deals. If you neg this for that reason then we need to neg almost every other free ebook that gets posted. Most of them are basically low quality blog posts.
Thanks for your feedback folktaliesin. I’ve edited the post.
Belongs in the fiction section alongside Scomo's Monday modelling.
God created the corona virus because he doesn't want us to go to churches. He wants us to worship from home alone.
PRAISE BE TO KEVIN MCALLISTER!
Oh from home alone.
Report this to admins.
1) it's not a deal
2) it spreads misinformation on an important topic
Point 2 is my biggest problem with this kind of deal. For transparency, I don't know the contents of this audiobook but tying religion with the pandemic in any sense is incredibly destructive as we've seen from many cases around the world.
I think it's okay to have your own beliefs but when it's posted as a "deal" as this was, it becomes more like propaganda.
Sorry but free religious material doesn't seem like a deal
Are religious bargains the new gun sales bargains for Oz bargains?
I still prefer santa claus.
First it was that stupid Islamic center nonsense, now this? At the very least we should be consistent and either + them all or - them all or make it a fairy tale free site.
There's no deal here. It's just opportunistic propaganda.
Perfect for god-bothering people like slowmo. Using a pandemic to propagate a religion. George Pell would be proud.
Nut-baggery has no place in dealing with actual life-threatening situations like this, best leave it to science or there will be nobody left to sing the praises of the almighty lord.
Jesus Christ almighty.
this is an advertisement, not a bargain
But Jesus loves you, and he sends Pell as his messenger.
something something, there's no money like high court appeal money
Propaganda is not a deal
This picture sums up God's choices quite nicely: https://ibb.co/QmghVxj
That is assuming that he even exists.
At least the Easter Bunny brings you chocolates
You can shove your preaching.
Also our Lord and saviour has been very busy this week but has somehow found the time in his already hectic schedule to miracle the s_#@t some hopeless appeals and repeatedly denounce condoms as a viable prevention to the spread of aids in sub Saharan Africa (through CEOs announcement).
He moves in mysterious ways but at least the latest one of his tests applies equally to the western world for a change…….. Oh hang on, not quite, old habits are hard to break after all.
This is just dangerous junk, it's not a deal in any way.
This is just the social distancing version that guy on the street with a megaphone yelling about how we are all going to hell.
This is not a worthwhile "deal".
Lies spread faster than viruses
Exactly why so many don't believe in Christ
Religion won't help you at all with coronavirus, this is not a good deal wrt the virus.
eChristianity - phishing for men
I knew I shouldn't have looked at this "deal" all my negs gone in 5 minutes.
Also, not a deal. Just an excuse for an evangelist to proselytise during a time of great uncertainty.
As said above: this is an advertisement, not a bargain.
I want to upvote just for the comments but I also wanna downvote for the deal.
Now I have been baptised etc Catholic (more of a Christmas and Easter Christian tho lol), but science is what's going to help us here.
God/Jesus has been around for 2000+ years and it seems the only thing that's stopping this from becoming the black plague is the knowledge and technology we now have. Not blind faith in a dude in the sky.
Free religious or political material isn't a "bargain" and shouldn't be allowed on OzBargain
Who’s god? So he’s the one behind all this then (i.e. the pandemic)?
As mentioned, this is just advertising. Is not a bargain.
Are we the phaeros in Moses story?
Bush fires
Plage
Next our first borns all die or locusts eat all the crops…
no, we are Hosea's wife and children
Are we the gays or rape victims in Leviticus that are meant to be executed?
we're children who picked on a balding man … our mauling is just and fair
Hell yes in regards that the damage we did to mother nature and there are the consequences. However we are luckier than America, according to you Christians your god sent us Scomo and sent US Trump, the later obviously is a lot more powerful in turns of the ability of multifying the disasters.
Kenneth Copeland used Gods wind to blow coronavirus away, so there's no real need for this.
On another note, I had an ex in AA. Because of the existence of religious AA, there weren't any government funded or non profit ones. The AA leader of AA said nobody wasn't capable of stopping alcoholicism until you did the ten steps, the fourth step was accepting God. That's disgusting crap.
My point is that alot if the good done in the name of religion would be done better by others if religion didn't exist.
Ready to be downvoted. Come on ozb, crucify me.
Just FYI, but all AA is religious. By being started by religious fundamentalists to having a step that asks you to become a slave to some universal power, welp, yeah.
Do they pray the thirst away?
If I find a piece of rubbish on the ground, do post on OzBargain and say that it is free? No I do not.
1) Free ebooks are not a deal, most of the time. There may be exceptions if it was, say, a popular book that usually costs $20 or something.
2) This ebook is spreading misinformation / disinformation at a critical time. Religious gatherings have already caused havoc with Corona - just look at what happened in South Korea and is currently sweeping through the US.
Religion, the greatest hand wave in the history of history.
I mean mysterious ways….yada yada yada….
Is this even a deal?
Are any of the free ebooks worth deal posts? I'm getting good entertainment from the comments of this one at least.
If only this was a Udemy course as well…
Free lesson in mental gymnastics
Really embarrassing stuff. I know these are hard times, but please guys, learn about actual science rather than this utter garbage.
"What is God doing through the coronavirus?" - Sweet fck all it would seem, looking at the amount of people dying from it
How do you know they aren't sinners? God works in mysterious ways.
Those children who were abused by Pell, they were sinners too? Look at what religion does - it turns otherwise perfectly reasonable and good people into absolute savages who think that some people must die because they're "sinners"; whatever that means.
children who were abused by Pell
The whole case was a joke. Glad he got justice in the end.
@CocaKoala The 7 Justices of the High Court of Australia found unanimously that Pell had been denied a reasonable doubt as to his guilt, by a jury that failed in its duty to rationally weigh the evidence presented. I've only perused the decision/findings, but the unanimous decision by the High Court suggests to me that those jurors comprehensively neglected to even consider that Pell might be innocent. If a panel of Australia's best legal minds found unanimously that Pell was not given a fair trial, how can we criticise our legal system while doing exactly what the jurors did in internet forums?
Death to the poor.
Isn't everyone a sinner?
I was joking you idiots.
some might say it's the way the written word is interpreted, that's of paramount importance.
It astounds me that all the religion haters profess to know exactly what this book is about and are judging it and hating on people of faith without the faintest idea.
This book is neither blaming COVID-19 on sinners, nor is it written evangelically toward “fresh meat” (as one kindly commenter phrased it). It’s just giving a scriptural basis for Christians to consider how God is at work in a crises, and how such times present even more opportunities for us to put love into action at a time when human needs are many.
Ironically, I think even the most bigoted here - upon reading it - would toss it aside and go “yep, I sure hope more of those gullible christians follow THAT advice”.
Propaganda in disguise - not a deal
Don't worry everyone, the FSM will guide and protect our scientists, who will provide bounteous benediction with a vaccine in approximately 12-18 months, in which time you will be touched by his noodly appendage (in a non-sexual way).
May the Flying Spaghetti Monster be with you all.
If this is a bargain, someone should post the 5G coronavirus link free video.
Fairy-tail's praying on people's fear/hope.
@Viper8 'tale', 'preying'. But other than 1/3 spelling errors thank you for being the voice of "educated folk"…
The use of the word "Praying" was very deliberate. :)
I'd gladly pay up to 100 dollars for this, so 0 is indeed a bargain.
It reminds me of this which I took a photo of the other day on the window of a bible study shop near me. Absolutely disgusting that they use a pandemic to instil even more fear into the public to preach their rubbish.
What I find even stranger is that they talk about the current 'world system' (economy/finance) being 'a front for the darkest spiritual forces' and led by the Devil. But the United States is both the world's largest economy and has the largest percentage of Christians.
So the majority of people in the US support both God and the Devil?
None of it makes an ounce of sense and the more you try to find any shred of logic in any of these arguments you'll start going crazy.
This is the sort of s hit why I left religion in the rear view mirror.
Unfortunately as I left it in my early adulthood, a lot more of my friends around the same time turned to it, to help with relationship/ family troubles
It's all a facade, religious beliefs won't fix your broken relationship anymore than having a baby will.
Come on guys, this snake oil ain’t gonna sell itself!
This is trash, not a deal.
lol.
While his/her god is sadistically teaching lessons to people by killing innocent people through this virus, my god is working in the hospitals, supermarkets, essential services and labs trying to save lives and find a cure. Better the author stop wasting time on his/her god and start writing about my god.
I am surprised that the people were paying for this and are now finding this to be a bargain.
How have this helped people in Rome or elsewhere please specify?
Milan you mean. Rome okey dokey bud
"What is God doing through the coronavirus?" I know this one = F**k all.
Nothing can save you from the virus but Jesus can help!
I'm religious too but if a book claims to know what god is doing about ____ situation, then the author is an idiot.
Lies lies lies, everyone knows we were genetically created after the last great flood by Aliens.
By definition God created the virus that is targeting old people.
Trust religion to exploit the venerable, yet science has saved people.
Take this trash and delete it, its actually killing people by spreading ignorance.
Yeah, we should get rid of the doctors from the hospitals and get the priests in to treat them. Faith in the Lord will cure them from their lungs filling up with fluid. "Front-line priests"
My mother actually believes kissing a religious painting in the church is safe because it is a "holy" item. Same as drinking from the communion (she doesn't know its the alcohol content that's killing some bugs in the communion). Who am I to convince her anyway, I'm just a scientist and a pharmacist.
There will also be a priest doing the rounds to the religious households soon to "bless" the corona virus away from homes. He charges $10. I would love to kiss his hands as is custom but I hope he won't mind if I sanitize his hand first.
You greek?
Yeah, Greek orthodox background.
![[eBook, Audiobook] Free - Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper @ Crossway](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/56/529656.jpg?h=b35b125f)
Shove your bible thumping shit up your arse