"A Plague Broke Out among Them”: Reflections on the Bible and the Pandemic: A Journal of Bible and Theology

This essay seeks to utilize ideas and texts found in the Hebrew Bible in order to historically contextualize the COVID-19 pandemic and to illuminate various existential, religious, political, and ethical issues raised by the current pandemic and our responses to it.

All you need is love: the relationship between agape and work outcomes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to lay the necessary conceptual and empirical groundwork of agape in organizations. Specifically, the authors reviewed literature on agape;advanced formal definition of agape;explained the relationship of agape with related variables;developed a scale to measure agape and provided evidence of its reliability and construct validity;showed how agape uniquely predicted employee outcomes beyond transformational leadership;and showed how agape compensated for the lack of transformational leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey with 214 working executives who rated their manager on transformational leadership and agape behaviours, and later indicated their own work attitudes. Next, the authors conducted a 20-min between-subjects vignette experiment with 147 business management students who were provided with a description of a supervisor and asked to indicate their work attitudes under the supervisor.FindingsThe authors advanced an operational definition and a scale to measure agape. The findings of this study indicated that agape was a unidimensional construct with high reliability. It had significant positive relationships with followers' job satisfaction, faith and loyalty, team commitment, satisfaction and risk-taking;explained incremental variance in employee outcomes beyond transformational leadership;and compensated for the lack of transformational leadership.Research limitations/implicationsThe present research has the potential to inform recruitment, selection, training, promotion and performance evaluation decisions in organizations.Originality/valueThe authors responded to calls for developing a clear and consistent conceptualization and operationalization of agape for improving scholarly research and leadership training and development.

Global Perspectives on Dialogue in the Classroom: Cultivating Inclusive, Intersectional, and Authentic Conversations

This book explores globally-informed, culturally-rooted approaches to dialogue in the classroom. It seeks to fill gaps in communication and education literature related to decolonizing dialogue and breaking binaries by decentering Eurocentric perspectives and providing space for dialogic practices grounded in cultural wealth of students and teachers. We first describe the book's genesis, contextualize dialogue within the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and share guiding concepts of inclusion, intersectionality, and authenticity in dialogue and pedagogy. We also distinguish dialogue from other practices and times in which dialogue may not be possible. The book brings fresh and urgent perspectives from authors across different disciplines, including ceramics, religious studies, cultural studies, communication, family therapy, and conflict resolution. The chapters distill the idea of dialogue within contexts like a bible circle, university sculpture studio, trauma and peacebuilding program, and connect dialogue to teaching, learning, and emerging ideas of power disruption, in-betweenness, and relationality. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege by Dominique DuBois Gilliard (review)

Labberton poses a question central to Gilliard's work: "How do we hold, deploy, or sacrifice what is ours for the justice and thriving of others?" (xv) In his introduction, Gilliard establishes a framework for the reader to "see privilege, address discrimination, and share power" in ways that "equally prioritize the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandment" (xviii;xxi). In this vein, as Gilliard's message is important for the world and the global Church, it will be appropriate to have translations of this book in multiple languages. Gilliard's experience as an ordained minister shines in this prophetic book: he not only exegetes these passages to reveal their biblical truths to a world hurting from abuse of privilege, social injustices, and the COVID-19 pandemic, but also, he reads current events into his interpretation of the biblical stories. [...]as Gilliard writes about biblical figures leveraging privilege to witness to God's salvific power, he exhorts readers to do the same and shows how by his example.

Mission as ‘being with' in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

This research investigated the impact measures (such as lockdowns) used to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) have on the church's mission. When people face travel and assembly restrictions, the church as a community of witnesses testifying and participating in Christ's work risks is being neutralised, and its presence weakened. What then does mission as ‘ being with ' look like in these situations? Is faithful presence something one can turn on and off at will depending on the situation? If faithful presence was no more, what then was the impact of such absence on the church's mission? These questions underscore the relevance of this research which sought to ascertain the impact the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown had on the church's mission. The crucial area this research sought to explore are the lessons from the COVID-19 lockdown that will help the church prepare for future pandemics which scientists say are inevitable. The research made use of a qualitative interview method to discover the meaning of ‘ being with' in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown. The results revealed six attributes of a missional church. Based on these attributes, the research recommends a seven-step process to prepare the church for possible future pandemics. Contribution: This research has provided the church with an opportunity to shift from being ‘inward-looking' to a church that is community focused, a church that prepares, trains and equips its adherents for the work of ministry in their own communities such that the work of ministry continues with or without gatherings.

Thorny the paths they tread, Zimbabwean women and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A womanist reflection

This study investigated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the women of Zimbabwe. Drawing from womanist perspectives, the study reflected on pastoral care, gender equality and proposed new ways of engaging the Bible while recognising the impact of hermeneutics on lived realities. The research examined situational analysis reports from government and nonprofit organisations, journal articles and other academic sources focusing on various aspects of Zimbabwean women's contexts. Womanist perspectives were engaged to provide parameters for the reflection and the recommendation of alternatives that have potential to contribute towards the enhancement of women's lives. The study revealed a significant economic impact on those in the informal sector, which is largely occupied by women. Moreover, during periods of lockdown, there was a significant increase in the cases of gender-based violence (GBV), intimate partner violence (IPV) and child marriages. Churches were also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted their operations even though many continued in their efforts to make a positive contribution to their members and society at large. While many churches had to discover creative ways to provide pastoral care for their flocks, when it comes to the complex challenges such as GBV, IPV, rape and child marriages, there is a lack of evidence demonstrating the church's practical attempts towards addressing them. Contribution: This paper suggests that gender equality and the employment of gender -sensitive biblical hermeneutics are alternatives that have real potential to contribute towards efforts targeted at safeguarding the liberation, well-being and flourishing of women during the pandemic and beyond. It also introduces seMadzimai , a womanist African-Zimbabwean Bible-reading approach.

BIKERS for Bibles

The article discusses that bikers from Bloemfontein and neighboring towns came together for the first Bible Run, held on August, 2021 since the Covid-19 pandemic started.

Revisiting the History of Religious Resistance to Vaccination in the Netherlands

This article provides a new framework for the history of religious objections to vaccination in the Netherlands. In public opinion and scholarly literature, these are often associated with the contemporary group of conservative Reformed people or inhabitants of the Dutch Bible Belt and projected back onto the past in a static way. In early modern times, however, reluctance to perform any preventive medical act on the human body was embedded in a general perception of the divine governance of daily life. During the eighteenth century, the innovation of inoculation was gradually accepted by medical and theological specialists, replacing providentialism by supernaturalism. In the nineteenth century, under the influence of orthodox Protestant opinion leaders, spiritual hesitation and anti-science feelings took the form of conscious religious choices and decided positions on personal freedom, especially in education. In the twentieth century, the movement against the vaccination policy of the national state became entangled with political and social mobilisation and theological legitimisation. The COVID-19 crisis reconfirmed the mix of religious and other objections. The reinterpretation of these developments bears on the direction and content of further cultural-historical research. © Fred van Lieburg.

Heteropatriarchy’s Blame Game: Reading Genesis 37 with Izitabane during COVID 19

The COVID 19 pandemic compounded the insecurity and vulnerability experienced by LGBTIQ+ people who remain confined to their family homes during the lockdown in South Africa. LGBTIQ+ people are often referred to as Izitabane, a term that gives derogatory expression to the othering, stigmatisation and exclusion experienced by LGBTIQ+ people in African contexts in general and African faith communities in particular. As the pandemic unfolded, faith leaders reached out to their flock via social media through online worship services and daily devotions. In some instances, these devotions sought “theological clarification” for the pandemic and in the process evoked violence towards the LGBTIQ+ community who were held responsible. In order to engage critically and creatively with these life-denying realities and to search for impulses of hope and life, an episode from the Joseph narrative found in Gen 37 has been appropriated as a reflective surface in the development process of Contextual Bible Study resources engaging the African faith and sexuality landscape. Building on insights gained from employing the tools of Queer Biblical Hermeneutics to read Gen 37, the final part of the essay describes the Contextual Bible Study developed jointly by the Ujamaa Centre at UKZN and Inclusive and Affirming Ministries and offers it as a resource for Izitabane to resist normalisation, correction and annihilation when the Biblical text is used in a life-denying manner © 2022. Old Testament Essays.All Rights Reserved.

EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

JFSR [Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion] and CoLaboratory will begin curating related information from the organization's history, including retrospective contributions such as roundtables, lists of editors and board members from the very beginning, etc." Peter Sabo and Rhiannon Graybill's article, "The Bible and Margaret Atwood's The Testaments," continues the twin themes of misogyny and reimaginings in examining how Atwood's novel subversively draws upon the Bible to suggest the liberatory power of infinite interpretations in rewriting stories replete with "misogynist representations of gender, violence, and patriarchy," and whether such an approach is successful (132). Haruka Umetsu Cho takes us to Japan in her analysis of writings from the 1970s by female Japanese Christians, who simultaneously relocate-an interpretive act-"the oppression of women in the church within the larger issues of Japanese colonial legacy" (185) and are blinded by reflection on race, bringing us full circle to the deep connections between colonization and racism also drawn in several of the reflections in the roundtable.

Trauma as Tutor: Posttraumatic Growth in the Ruth Narrative

When emotional, physical, or spiritual suffering overwhelms the ability of body and soul to handle it, we generally call that trauma (Herman, 1992, p. 33). According to Meichenbaum (2012), it would be in keeping with an Eastern cultural approach to accept trauma as a companion" that helps integrate trauma into the narrative of one's life (p. 7). The first mention of trauma in the book of Ruth comes in the first verse: there was a famine in the land" (New International Version Bible, 2011, Ruth 1:1). A growing body of research suggests that social support and safe environments generally help facilitate resilience in the aftermath of trauma (Lenore & Revenson, 2006, pp. 33-36).

Preaching Addressing Environmental Crises through the Use of Scripture: An Exploration of a Practical Theological Methodology

This article considers the critical roles of preaching in addressing the environmental crises by way of engaging with Paul Ballard’s work as a particular practical theological methodology, namely the use of Scripture. This methodological consideration is followed by highlighting the work of the Earth Bible Team, which compliments Ballard’s work. Both works are used as an example of a homiletical practice as well as a learning exercise, demonstrating how Scripture can be used as a homiletical resource of and hermeneutical source for doing practical theology with an eye to address environmental crises.

Apocalypse then and now! – Political and religious interpretations of tribulations in apocalyptic mind-sets

The article has three parts. Firstly, we give an overview on how the Greek-Hellenistic imperialism provoked apocalypticism as a way of resistance to colonization (e.g. Egypt and Judah). Secondly, we show how the early African apocalypticism is very similar to that of the Ancient Near East. In many African countries, colonization was perceived as an apocalyptic phenomenon. Within this mind-set, apocalypticism became an information system that speculated about the true nature of time, space and being. This information system also gave solutions to how the coming destruction could be ameliorated by human ingenuity and actions. This ideology informed liberation movements like the Chimurenga and others. Thirdly, we analyse how the anti-imperial apocalypticism was calmed by an imperially formatted Christianity. Elements like the belief in heaven created a naïve world-denying attitude: ‘this world is not my home I am just passing through.’ Within the African apocalyptic mind-set, COVID-19 is an ambivalent phenomenon. Initially, it was perceived as God’s judgment on the ungodly West, but perceptions quickly changed as it later ravaged Africa. Many government officials voiced that COVID-19 is a well-promoted hoax by fake news of prominent western media houses. Some dismissed the existence of the pandemic while others declared that the vaccine is the dreaded 666 mark of ‘the beast’ or the protective masks were blamed the masks of ‘the beast’. COVID-19 apocalypticism thus can be understood as an anti-modern, xenophobic way of constructing identity. © 2021. Open Access/Author/s.

The Way of Subtraction and Subversion: Four Metrics for Teacher Spiritual Formation

[...]I am proposing the value of these metrics to a broad spectrum of readers and teachers, whether 'securely oriented' to church and parish, or perhaps disconnected, disoriented or liminal in relation to the concrete living out of their faith and spirituality. 5 In short, our pedagogical and SF vocations require a renewed focus on anti-careerism, care for creation, dialogue, dignity, discernment and hope.6 Our lives and ministries need to be delineated by humility, justice and service, along with prophetic denouncement of today's 'throwaway culture'.7 This throwaway culture broadcasts the anti-gospel stance that 'what is thrown away are [sic] not only food and dispensable objects, but other human beings themselves',8 including the poor and disabled, the 'not yet useful' such as the unborn, and the 'no longer needed' like the elderly.9 Cultivation of these four metrics is vital for the development of an integrated and authentic teacher SF, to promote Francis' life-giving agenda, and to mitigate against the toxic stances that the Pope cautions against. Moorhead notes ways in which, due to COVID-19 restrictions, admirers are challenged, perhaps for the first time, to pay attention to these frescoes in minute detail-artworks that they would otherwise not see close-up during their lives. [...]the resulting images have been published as an 'experience', not just as a documentary record or an academic aesthetic commentary.17 Such an event can serve as a metaphor for what Jesus calls his listeners and disciples to in the Gospels-to a life of continuous waking up and paying attention, often characterised by discomfort and metanoia.18 The need to pay attention is highlighted by a variety of words and expressions in the Bible, such as 'look' and 'pay heed'. Le Bas comments on the demands of such attention, which often overlap with the demand to stay awake: 'It is all about paying attention, paying attention to God, paying attention to ourselves, paying attention to others, paying attention to what is-to reality-seeing what is in front of us, and the promise of the Bible is that if we can do that properly it will bring us the true rest we really need'.21 The quality of attention should evolve to such a degree that it morphs for teachers and others into a unison of love of God and neighbour and as a '"pedagogy of presence," in which listening and "neighbourly empathy" are not just a style but the content of catechesis'22 and of one's SF.

"What are we eating?" A theological-ethical analysis of the effects of food additives on human beings, especially in South Africa

This article discusses Christian theological-ethical questions related to the processing offood and especially to the widespread use offood additives. First, the aims, parameters and methodology of the article are discussed. Secondly, the theme of food in the Bible is briefly explored, along with its theological implications. Thirdly, the wider cultural context of food production and processing is noted, along with the commercialisation of food. Next, the nature of food additives of various kinds, the reasons for their use and their effects on human beings are analysed to determine the extent to which their use is injurious or harmless. Throughout, and especially in the final section, a theological-ethical analysis of the use of food additives, especially in a South African context, is provided.

When a Pandemic Strikes the Vineyard: Searching for the Meaning of Pastoral Care During COVID-19.

A student asked, "What is pastoral care amid the COVID-19 pandemic?" The student and the professor embarked on a conversational journey to explore the layers of suffering during the pandemic that prompted the question and to interpret the neoliberal characteristics of the relational pains in the experience. Through the participatory case study of this conversation, this article puts the pandemic experience of the student in dialogue with the Matthean passage on the vineyard workers to expose the limits of the neoliberal rationality that feeds into the suffering during the pandemic. The ensuing theological reflection culminates in a conversation about the understanding of the Matthean evil eye, Emmanuel Levinas's understanding of the face, and Bruce Roger-Vaughn's concept of third-order suffering. The reflection concludes with an answer to the question about pastoral care during COVID-19.

On the 50th Anniversary of the Asia Theological Association

[...]is the Journal of Asian Evangelical Theology, edited by Dr. George W. Harper. [...]is the Asia Bible Commentary series: commentaries by scholars in Asia that are biblical, evangelical, relevant, pastoral, and prophetic, intended for the benefit of the churches of Asia. Originally ATA published these commentaries on its own. Since 2015, Langham Partners and ATA have published them jointly, so that they have an international voice.

Hearing the transformative potential of metaphor in scripture? Honouring J. Wentzel van Huyssteen

Christians worldwide are (re)discovering the power of scripture in their daily lives, especially in the context of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. The present turbulent time provides the biblical sciences an opportunity to support other theological disciplines and the church to search for ways scripture can give encouragement to people. The argument in this article is that the power of biblical writings lies in their metaphors which open an alternative moral world. For the appropriation of scripture in new contexts, the transformative potential of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen’s metaphorical hermeneutic is explored as a framework. The article gives a brief overview of the influence of his work as a mentor, colleague and friend. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article focuses on the dynamic nature and intentions of New Testament Studies (intradisciplinary aspects), and uses the philosophical hermeneutic of a systematic theologian as well as insights from literary theory and cultural anthropology to support the argument and open up interdisciplinary discourse.

Reception of biblical discourse in Africa

According to him, COVID-19 has exacerbated the levels of poverty, inequality and increased unemployment. [...]Mdingi argues that the introduction of the Bible into Africa operated on two major frontiers, firstly, the oral tradition of the missionary who possessed both the Gospel message by word and in the written text (gadget). [...]the rise of missionary schools opened the door to the reading of the text.