Abstract

VENTER, R.. Divine hiddenness, the melancholic self, and a pandemic spirituality. Acta theol. [online]. 2022, vol.42, suppl.33, pp.207-225. ISSN 2309-9089.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18820/23099089/actat.sup33.15.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted societies worldwide and occasioned intense intellectual reflection to make sense of the phenomenon. The state of insecurity has become a new horizon for doing Christian theology, and the new experience makes it inevitable that the spiritual implications be explored. The article attempts to undertake constructive spirituality for a specific historic moment, and to enquire about the contours of a pandemic spirituality. The disciplinary contribution is to be found in the threefold effort to propose a specific naming of God, discern a unique self-understanding, and intimate corresponding practices. Central notions such as hiddenness of God, melancholic self, and practices of everyday life, of lament and of othering are employed coherently to delineate a contextual pandemic spirituality. A multidisciplinary approach is used to interpret these constituent elements.

Keywords : Hiddenness of God; Melancholic self; Pandemic; Spirituality; Verborgenheid van God; Melancholiese self; Pandemie; Spiritualiteit.

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