The Church and COVID-19 Lockdown in Nigeria: A Discourse on Selected Issues
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Date
2021
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Department of Religions, Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, Nigeria
Abstract
The new coronavirus traced to Wuhan, China took the world by storm and necessitated a repeat of lockdown of human activities similar to the era of the 1918 Spanish Flu. Physical distancing was mandated to curtail the spread of the deadly virus. The resulting ban of gatherings for social, economic as well as
religious purposes ignite agitations from certain religious stakeholders particularly the Church in Nigeria and spur critical discussions on vital aspects of church life. Therefore, this paper engages the meaning and composition of the church, priesthood of all believers and evangelism and divine healing, which are some aspects of the Church life that were probed due to the lockdown. The question is, to what extent did the experience of the lockdown redefined aspects of the Church life and deepened the knowledge of Christians on their religion? Will the redefinition be sustained as the new normal or is it momentary? The interrogation is based on the fact that usually religion does not only respond to crisis; it is at the same time reconfigured by crisis of the magnitude of COVID-19. Historical survey and content analysis of relevant literature were adopted for the task. The issues raised during the lockdown must have enhanced the understanding of Christians about their faith thus the church sets the Church for maximizing the gains of the lockdown in respect of quality of Christian living and propagation of the faith.
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Fawenu, Bamidele Olusegun. 2021. "The Church and COVID-19 Lockdown in Nigeria: A Discourse on Selected Issues." Benin Journal of Religions and Society 5(1): 105-124.