I used to more regularly post links to readings I was finding interesting—this was for me a replacement for Facebook or Twitter, which allow for very quick sharing. (I do once again have Facebook and Twitter, but I never post anything as a rule, because I don’t trust myself—it is strictly for communicating with specific people and communities who don’t like to use email or other messaging services like Signal and WhatsApp.)

I haven’t done as much sharing of links lately, but I might get back into it. WordPress used to make it very easy with the “Press This” link you could install on your browser, which would save a link (and even an excerpt) of a web page as a draft post. Then I would gather all the information when I had 5-7 links/excerpts, and share them in a single post. Sadly, WordPress no longer has this as a free feature–you can install a plugin with a paying service, which I’m not prepared to shell out for.

But, I digest…

Anyway, I’ve accumulated quite a few readings that relate to the church’s response to the pandemic, which is something I’ve been writing about in the last year. I’m trying to stay away from scientific topics per se, because I’m not a scientist–I’m a biblical scholar, a pastor, and (dare I say it) a theologian. Nevertheless, the limits and proper place of science in society is an issue that I feel needs to be addressed by the church exercising its prophetic witness in society.

It should go without saying that (just as with everything I share elsewhere on this site) I am not sharing because I agree with everything in these essays/talks, but because I find them provocative, thoughtful, and interesting.

Here are some essays and podcasts that address the issue of technology in the church’s worship and formation, including the role of art.

• Is Communion via Live-Stream Communion? — G.P. Wagenfuhr (March 19, 2020)
• Worship and Sacrament When the Church Is Scattered — Center for Pastor Theologians podcast with Chris Ganski and Benj Petroelje (March 23, 2020)
• The Road of Technology, the Path of the Church — Center for Pastor Theologians podcast with Dan Brendsel (conference talk recorded in 2019, pre-COVID)
• The Perennial Urgency of Theological Education — Aaron Edwards, European Journal of Theology (March 2021)
• Form and Meaning in Liturgical Art — Ponder Anew, guest post by Michael Dodaro (June 2021)

These essays are unified by the theme of the church’s need to actually live in the world as if we believed these things are true: physical death is inevitable for all of us; physical death is not the end of our existence; and the care and feeding of souls is just as important as–if not more important than–the preservation of physical life.

• Saint Charles Borromeo’s Courageous Response to the Plague — Domenick Galatolo (April 2020)
• Living Death: An Ecclesial Apostasy — Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin (January 15, 2021)
• What We’ve Learned From GraceLife Baptist Church — Esther O’Reilly (April 2021)
• Metaphysics, Medicine and Modern Science: Why the Christian Response to COVID-19 Must Change — Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin (May 31, 2021)
• Gospel Lockdown? A Biblical Perspective on the Church’s Response to the Pandemic – Guest Post by Rob Hawksworth — Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin’s blog (June 29, 2021)
• Radical Hospitality – A Theological Argument against Vaccine Passports in Churches — Rev. Dr. Jamie Franklin (August 31, 2021)

A few recent essays (and one video) cover the overreach of elites as they have lost, and continue to lose, the trust of the church and the public. Even as we must call it out, the church should lament this loss of trust in authorities, because we need true expertise in society.

• From Sword to Syringe — Peter Leithart (June 2021)
• The West has lost its virtue — Paul Kingsnorth (August 2021)
• Will Science Survive COVID19? A Scientist Reflects — Vinay Prasad (September 2021)
• The Failure of Evangelical Elites — Carl Trueman (November 2021)
• Paul Kingsnorth Hits Vaccine Tipping Point — Rod Dreher (November 2021)