Virtual Mediation of the Holy Spirit: Prospects for Digital Pentecostalism

This article explores the prospect for an academic account of digital Pentecostalism given the propensity that Pentecostals have towards the use of modern technology. It uses a recent Roman Catholic discussion of "virtual communion" as a point of departure and aims to transpose the discussion into a Pentecostal key. Using the concept of the mediation of the Holy Spirit as a bridge between the two traditions it considers the transposition of virtual communion, virtual logic and remediation, as well as the internet as an ancillary or alternative space. The intention of the article is not to offer a definitive account but to develop a conversation around digitally mediated Pentecostalism. This is a conversation that has already started but, in light of a greater dependency on internet communication due to Covid-19, invites more sustained attention.

A Satanic Master Signifier: The Prosperity Preacher, the President, and the Disobedient Virus

This article presents an account of prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Copeland's unwavering support for Donald Trump. Employing an approach to discourse derived from Ernesto Laclau and Chantelle Mouffe, I examine two aspects of Copeland's teachings and practices. First, I examine his infamous judgement upon Covid-19 (The Judgement), in which he declares war on the virus as a satanic plot. Second, I consider his spiralling teachings on faith, which, like The Judgement, pay considerable attention to the figure of Satan. Both of these aspects reveal Satan's central role in establishing the stability of Copeland's discursive world. Satan functions, in Laclau's terms, as an empty signifier. I call this empty signifier the master signifier, a play on the master Satan. I claim that to understand Copeland's commitment to Trump, Trump's relationship to the master signifier is crucial. Copeland casts Trump as an anointed king, a central player in the cosmic battle to realise America's divine destiny. To be a member of the prosperity gospel community, despite its twists and turns, is to be committed to standing with the anointed against the external foe, Satan.

Jesus and the Leper in Mark 1:40-45: A Biblical Theology Index for the Management of COVID-19 Pandemic

Jesus' response to the leper's request in Mark 1:40-45 tempers the harsh reality of laid down protocols for the management of leprosy. Against the physical distance of the time, Jesus takes the risk of touching the leper. He restores his battered dignity, heals him, and shows solidarity. The COV-ID-19 pandemic has stigmatized the human person as a weapon of infection. This situation has questioned the nature of man as a social being and impeded inter-human relationships. Using the synchronic approach of the historical critical method for the study of this text of Mark, this work compares the challenges of the leper in the ministry of Jesus with the threats posed by COVID-19. It concludes that both situations stereotype the human person and affect interpersonal relationships. It proposes Jesus' compassionate disposition and sense of solidarity as indices for the management of the COVID-19 crisis. © 2022 Strossmayer University of Osijek, Catholic Faculty of Theology in Djakovo. All rights reserved.

Victory in the Time of c ovi n Defying a Pandemic at an Indian Megachurch

The global COvID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 required significant ritual adjustment in churches worldwide, particularly the larger ones. It has also provoked theological reflection on the origins on the virus, as well as on what God's Word had to say in response. This article investigates the adjustments and reflections at one Indian megachurch, Bangalore's Full Gospel Assembly of God (FGAG), with special reference to its utilization of a victory-oriented and defiant gospel of divine care, protection, and health. The question that animates this investigation is: Can a gospel of victory and health survive a global pandemic? The answer, somewhat counterintuitively (but in another sense - for those familiar with prosperity theology - not at all) is that it not only survives, but thrives. The article attempts to account for this thriving with reference to two distinctive characteristics of the soft version of the prosperity gospel that are manifest in FGAG's victory gospel, both of which are inculcated through ritual repetition and performance: 1) Its paradoxically simultaneous insistence that the faithful are, by God, already victorious, and that miraculous reversals await those who aren't, and 2) its boldly defiant response to evidence that all is not well..

Progressivism, Old and New: The Spiritual Moorings of Progressive Reforms.

With the tide of progressive reforms facing strong headwinds today, this essay offers a retrospective look at the progressive movement in the U.S.A. and reflects on the lessons to be learned from its triumphs and failures. The case is made that major advances in the progressive agenda came at historical junctions precipitated by dramatic events. The stretch between 1900 and 1920 saw the first wave of social reforms following the late nineteenth century recessions and upsurge in labor unrest. The New Deal took shape in the 1930s in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The Civil Rights movement burst onto the scene in the 1960s in the face of bitter attempts to shore up segregationist practices in southern states. And the 2020s spike in progressive activism gained momentum against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the January 6 Capitol riots. Special attention is paid to the interfaces between Social Gospel theology and efforts to ground progressive rhetoric in what John Dewey called "common faith," Robert Bellah "civil religion," and Richard Rorty "liberal pragmatism."

Nimi Wariboko’s The Pentecostal Hypothesis and African Pentecostalism during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the world in significant ways just as it has opened new vistas of thought in both secular and religious circles. This article is situated within the frames of African Pentecostalism, which found itself in a gap during the lockdown in early 2020. This ‘gap’ is grounded on Nimi Wariboko’s The Pentecostal Hypothesis, which I use as a theoretical framework to interrogate how the African Pentecostal churches, which inadvertently found themselves in a ‘gap’ responded to the predictions that Africa would be the most hit by the pandemic, and how it also impacted on their teaching and praxis. The thrust of The Pentecostal Hypothesis is the creation of, and insertion into, a gap between sense and spirit, and how such a gap creates an opportunity for meaning-making: “It does not make sense, but it makes spirit.” That is, even though something may not make sense on the basis of scientific data and rational argument, there is a sense in which appealing to spiritual data, it will still be meaningful. In order to achieve this, the author adopted interpretive method, a qualitative method that helps to engage Wariboko’s socialtheological worlds of the Pentecostals within the context of COVID-19. Through this method, we analyze the responses of African Pentecostals and attempt to validate them against The Pentecostal Hypothesis. It was thus observed that many Pentecostals’ theological explications of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot pass as absolute epistemology of the pandemic as some of them assumed. Consequently, it is concluded that there is the need for a constructive engagement so that sense and spirit can be utilized for human flourishing in a pandemic or crisis situation. © 2022 Open Access/Author/s - Online @ http//: www.pharosjot.com

Pentecostal spirituality in the context of faith and hope gospel (prosperity preaching): African Pentecostal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 has challenged humanity in several ways and has created the opportunity for reflection on our spirituality and the hope for divine healing of the world, while scientific communities do their best to find solutions to the pandemic from their perspective. In light of this, the article seeks to address issues of spirituality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the Pentecostal community is responding to this challenge through the preaching of faith and hope messages. The article addresses the issue of "prosperity preaching" from the perspective of the concept of faith and hope gospel. The article argues that the faith and hope messages of the Pentecostals are not only proclaimed as means of the spiritual sustainability of members but also for psychological/emotional stability. It also argues that although Pentecostals are doing their best in their religious and spiritual response to the pandemic, they should accommodate the application of the theology of the sovereignty of God in every situation and encourage their members to seek medical attention where applicable.

The "Righteous Vaccinated" and the "Unrighteous Unvaccinated"? How Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara and the Gospel of John might help us understand the ongoing pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic turns two how should those who feel like we have been responsible neighbors (kept our distance, worn our masks, availed ourselves to the vaccine) respond to those we feel have not been-and specifically toward those who have refused the vaccine as a sign of political loyalty? How might those of us tempted to react from anger cultivate an alternative response? This paper explores the texts of two religions traditions-Mahayana Buddhism's Bodhicaryavatara and Christianity's Gospel of John-searching for resources for a response other than anger and blame.

Normal, post-normal and new normal: A theology of hope in John 20:1–29

This article re-reads John 20:1–29 to foreground the normal, the post-normal and the new normal realities within the Johannine resurrection narrative. The narrator of John demonstrates the normal situational aspects by taking into consideration the setting, characterisation, thematic development, point of view and plot development of the story in closer relationship with the temporal and spatial mechanisms. The ordinary, local and existent realities are expressed to reveal the colourless human experiences in relation to the divine aspects within the narrative framework. The resurrection of Jesus introduces a post-normal situation within the Sitz im Leben Jesu and the Sitz im Leben Kirche. The post-normal situation was introduced by placing the story of Lazarus at a strategic place (Jn 11:1–45) and thereafter by unfolding the essentials such as speed, scope, scale and spontaneity. The unfolding of the divine within the existential human realities created a post-normal situation where the Johannine community had to undergo expulsion and persecution from the side of the dominant structures. The narrator gives the reader a hope about a new normal situation above and beyond the existent struggles of the Johannine community. Contribution: This article presents a new perspective concerning the normal, the post-normal and the new normal realities and dynamism within John 20:1–29 and suggests a new way forward in interpreting the Fourth Gospel by taking into consideration the existential aspects of the COVID-19 and Omicron pandemic situations. As a contextual and theological interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, this article fits well within the scope of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies. © 2022, AOSIS (pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 Pandemic: How Pastors Communicate Faith and Hope to Virtual Congregations

This paper examines how pastors engaged an online presence to preach the Word of God and address the needs of their congregations, during the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in South Africa. This is set against the Biblical instruction of Jesus Christ to Peter, to “feed my sheep” in John 21: 17, as it is the very same instruction that holds for pastors in churches today. However, the normal operations of the ministry have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Christian church, a close-knit group of believers to whom social and physical distancing are foreign concepts, has had to adapt. Worship sites have been abandoned, and the absence of worshipers has become the norm. Pastoral ministries have been disrupted and call for pastors to embrace new technology to ensure that they have a digital presence with their congregation through social media. This paper argues that these circumstances give the church of God a unique opportunity to rethink how to continue ministry without physical contact. It adopted a mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach, using an online questionnaire and telephonic surveys to engage pastors. The paper utilises the Two-way Communication Model (TCM) and the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT). It concluded that pastoral care and spiritual counselling are essential in crises, that pastors have embraced social media in their mission, and that there is support for digital technology. The article recommendations that there should be a balanced communication strategy for Pastor’s ministries, and that government partners with faith-based organisations in different ways in a joint effort to combat the virus, while encouraging and supporting congregants © 2021 Open Access