Crisis as a catalyst : early Christian texts and the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

While scholars of early Christianity generally know how to approach ‘κρίσις’ in the ancient sense of the word, ‘crisis’ in the modern sense of the word, at least as it has become part of the lived realities of many in the COVID-19 pandemic, is another story. In this special issue of JSNT ‘crisis’ is taken as a vantage point for researching early Christian sources and their reception(s). In so doing, both an exploration of ‘crisis’ (a seldom-used vantage point) is offered and, at the same time, insight is given into a variety of ways in which biblical texts are reflective of negotiating crises, or have been received in contexts of crisis as resources for dealing with the same, often through forms of ‘meaning-making’. This often constitutes ‘attempt[s] to reduce public and political uncertainty and inspire confidence … by formulating and imposing a convincing message’ (Boin, ’t Hart, Stern and Sundelius 2016: 79). Taking seriously strategic ‘meaning-making’ frequently associated with crisis situations, the current pandemic moment here serves as a catalyst to generate new insights within the discipline.