Pandemic & The Holy Spirit: From Lament to Hope and Healing

Description:

How may the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced Spirit-empowered theology and practice? What are diverse initial responses? Which unique strengths can Spirit-empowered communities offer during times of global crisis?

Academics and reflective practitioners gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to discuss these issues at the 2021 Scholars Consultation of Empowered21. This book is the outcome of those conversations, combining the nine original studies with eleven subsequently commissioned chapters.

The book is organized thematically, beginning with two chapters examining a biblical perspective of pandemics and offering an applied Lukan Pneumatology to post-pandemic life. The book then gives three historical studies before moving to themes of pain, suffering, and depression, justice and oppression, theologizing during the pandemic, and institutional responses, respectively. Among other examples, these chapters share specific case studies of the racialized dimension of the pandemic, as well as how Spirit-empowered communities ministered hope.

Through current and historical case studies and theological examination, this book offers unique insight into Spirit-empowered responses to the pandemic.

Review Quotes:

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been experienced throughout the world. It has caused significant death, destruction and disruption in families, society, and communities- including Christian communities. This collection address aspects of the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic from a Christian, specifically a Pentecostal, perspective. The writings investigate historical responses throughout church history. The collection also describes beliefs about healing, the place of medicine, and mitigation strategies for prevention as a form of healing. The writings challenge Christians to respond compassionately with wisdom, to love others as well as self, and act justly both reactively and proactively in society.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic stretched healthcare systems and provoked a rethinking and consolidation of public health policies throughout the world. The importance of Christian spirituality and the impact of the Spirit in achieving holistic healing was brought to the fore during the crisis. It is in this vein that I consider this volume a wonderful compendium of vital issues that interlace the work of the Spirit in a world struck by a disease that ran a destructive course. This is a book to hold in high esteem.

This book is important in the light of our current global context. It addresses the question of health and illness in relation to human flourishing through the lens of the recent pandemic . . . The pandemic is an urgent call to reimagine life framed by the Lordship of Christ and to find our story not in modernity's illusion of progress and control but in the kingdom that is here and not yet (from the Foreword).