Virus As a Summons to Faith : Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Uncertainty

"Why bother with the interpretive categories of biblical faith when in fact our energy and interest are focused on more immediate matters? The answer is simple and obvious. We linger because, in the midst of our immediate preoccupation with our felt jeopardy and our hope for relief, our imagination does indeed range beyond the immediate to larger, deeper wonderments. Our free-ranging imagination is not finally or fully contained in the immediacy of our stress, anxiety, and jeopardy. Beyond these demanding immediacies, we have a deep sense that our life is not fully contained in the cause-and-effect reasoning of the Enlightenment that seeks to explain and control. There is more than that and other than that to our life in God's world!" -- Publisher, page four of cover Why bother with the interpretive categories of biblical faith when in fact our energy and interest are focused on more immediate matters? The answer is simple and obvious. We linger because, in the midst of our immediate preoccupation with our felt jeopardy and our hope for relief, our imagination does indeed range beyond the immediate to larger, deeper wonderments. Our free-ranging imagination is not finally or fully contained in the immediacy of our stress, anxiety, and jeopardy. Beyond these demanding immediacies, we have a deep sense that our life is not fully contained in the cause-and-effect reasoning of the Enlightenment that seeks to explain and control. There is more than that and other than that to our life in God's world! -- Publisher's description Foreword by Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev Preface 1 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND: Leviticus, Exodus, Job 2 PESTILENCE . . . MERCY? WHO KNEW? 2 Samuel 24:1–25 3 UNTIL THE DANCING BEGINS AGAIN: Jeremiah 4 PRAYING AMID THE VIRUS: 1 Kings 8:23–53 5 THE “TURN” FROM SELF TO GOD: Psalm 77 6 GOD’S NEW THING: Isaiah 43:18–19 7 THE MATRIX OF GROAN: Isaiah 42:14–15 Bibliography Further Reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18