Guidance from Unexpected Places after COVID-19: Learning from Jesus and the Early Christian Communities in Responding to Trauma

Scott Geminn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging and traumatic for many, with its effects still being felt four years later. This article contends that the witness of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian communities can serve as guides for navigating post-pandemic life. This article will do so by examining the historical context of first-century Jewish Palestine with attention given to the Roman Empire’s brutality and traumatizing impact. It will then provide an analysis of the Matthean Jesus’ call to love one’s enemies and the Markan Jesus’ emphasis on bearing the cross as constructive responses to the trauma Matthew and Mark’s communities went through. Lastly, it will show how Jesus and the early Christian communities reveal that pain and trauma can be healthily transcended for better ways and behaviors. Thus, what has happened to us, however painful, can bear the seeds of a healthy purpose and meaning that can lead to us and our world becoming more humanized. The research methodology in this article is interdisciplinary, employing biblical theological, historical, and psychological methodologies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)800
Number of pages1
JournalReligions
Volume15
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • early Christian communities
  • Jesus
  • trauma

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