Bible Study — Sickness, Sabbath, and Social Distancing
The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve faced in our lives, but generations of Christians before us turned to scripture to find wisdom for persevering through plagues and pandemics such as this. Throughout April 2020, we’re going to be looking at subjects in the Bible like sickness, shame, Sabbath, and social distancing.
Here’s a look at some of the upcoming content of the Bible Study, which are subject to change as we invite in more teachers and voices:
Session 1: Sickness in Scripture, Shame, and Social Distancing
What does the Hebrew Bible say about social distancing and dealing with sickness as a community?
How has plague and sickness been interpreted by the Church historically — for better or, often, for worse?
What do the Gospels have to show us about how to deal with sickness in our lives and community, and our mission to be loving agents of God’s work in the world?
Session 2: Sabbath, Downtime, and life under Quarantine
What does Scripture have to say about setting time apart from everyday, productive civil life, whether we chose to set that time apart or not.
How do we manage our anxieties when we set time apart from participation in productive life? (Provided readings will include excerpts from Walter Brueggemann’s Sabbath as Resistance)
Session 3: Sickness, Healing, and Audacity in the Prophets
In 11 Kings 4 the Prophet Elisha enacts two miracles – he provides a widow with needed provision and brings a sick young man back to life. But these stories of provision and healing also highlight the audacity and courage of two woman who hope against hope in a moment of crisis. What can we learn from them in our own time of uncertainty?
Session 4: Apocalypse, Imagination, and the Quality of Time
This pandemic is often described as an “apocalyptic” event. For this session, we’re going to look at eschatology — the study of last things — to understand how Scripture talks about revelation and times of crisis. Is it the end of the world? Most certainly not! So instead, let’s ask: What is beginning?
Session 5: Counter-culture and God’s Imagination
This special sojourning period is a challenge to our imaginations. We’ve reckoned with what we’ve found unimaginable in our own lifetimes, and what we might imagine for ourselves going forward. And so, we’re going to embark on a two-part study on the prophetic imagination, where we’ll look at how the Old Testament calls us to abide in a greater sense of vision, ethics and social responsibility.
Sessions 6 and 7 to be announced… to be announced!
If you’d like to join us online — Wednesdays or Thursday nights from 6:00pm - 7:30pm — fill out the form below, and we’ll make sure to send you the Bible Study materials a few days in advance, as well as all updates about how to join in. We will provide voices from Bible teachers, readings, sermons, podcasts, and other supplementary materials for free, and anyone is welcome to join.
Otherwise, login details for each session can be found on the Calendar, and we hope to see you then!