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HIS BOOK BEGAN AS a reaction to what people were saying on
Facebook about Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Bible, and theology.
There was a disconnect in what people say about the situation and the Christian
faith. Some were quick to dismiss the idea that God has anything to do with the
COVID-19. Based on their belief that COVID-19 has nothing to do with God.
As a student of the
Bible and a theologian, I refuse to engage in speculative interpretation not
only of the Bible but more so of various circumstances in relation to the
Bible. While I do not disregard and dismiss other interpretations, I also don’t
want my students, some of my colleagues and my congregation to be left at the
mercy of biblical and theological ideas that are either imaginative
speculations - with neither explicit nor implicit support from the Scripture -
or hyper spiritualized assertions.
As a Christian, I
believe that COVID-19 and what is happen-ing as a consequence are not
independent of who God is and what He is doing. Life is a correlation of beings
or an intersect of realities happening in space and time. What life is and who
God is have an effect on who we are. Hence, there is a need for reflection—an
activity that brings life’s questions such as “What [it] is,” “Who God is,” and
“Who we are” to the discourse of life. It is best to do such a dynamic or
interactive reflection in the midst of the situation itself.
In this book are 43
reflections on the many issues touched by this pandemic concerning life and
faith. Each entry is written through the Christian worldview as shaped and
influenced by the Holy Scripture and takes on the sacred task of theology.
I wrote about the
topics as they came to my attention in my daily life, activities, and interactions
with people in the middle of the pandemic. I originally shared them with my
Facebook friends, who would give me some feedback in the form of affirmations,
criticisms, and suggestions. These reflections have been tried, tested, and
edited for the final versions that you now have in this book. I kept them short for further studies and
deeper reflections because these are not the final thoughts on the subjects I
have written here because I believe that theology as a task is an on-going and
growing prayerful reflection of the Holy Scripture or a personal reflection of
life’s circumstances in relation to the Holy Scripture. Further theological
reflection will lead to a more mature understanding of our faith as Christians,
but it will never arrive at its final conclusion. I hope that these 43
REFLECTIONS will lead you to hunger and thirst for more of the word of God and
its theological insights. I hope that you would not only read these entries but
may be encouraged to also do your own prayerful and personal reflections on
COVID-19, the Bible, and theology as it would lead us to a deeper understanding
of who we are, what is wrong in this world, what is happening right now and
what is the future going to be.
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