Religion, Science, and Pentecostalism: RCCG and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic flustered dimensions of public and private life in varied ways. In Nigeria, as in several parts of the world, faith-based groups variously tried to make sense of the event as they also try to cope with government ‘lockdown’ measures introduced to contain and limit the spread of the virus. This study focuses on the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of the largest megachurches within global religious landscapes. The study compares the narratives birthed within the RCCG to what obtained among other Pentecostal denominational leaders to make sense of the pandemic as everyone confronted a befuddling global event. Both science and religion became instruments of discerning the meaning of the pandemic, sometimes as competing and sometimes reconciled.