Browsing by Author "Msibi, Msizi Cyprian"

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    Facing a masculine God : towards a pastoral care response in the context of gender-based violence
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03 ) Msibi, Msizi Cyprian; Mouton, Dawid P.; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aimed to provide a critical theological reflection on the possible links between masculine images of God and gender-based violence. The objectives of the study included exploring possible alternative images of God that could be helpful in providing pastoral care to victims of gender-based violence (GBV). As such the study further set out to explore and reframe appropriate pastoral care approaches in response to the plight of victims of GBV. Osmer’s four tasks of practical theology provided a broad framework for the research methodology and theological reflection. This study made use of desktop research to conduct an extensive literature survey as input for the conceptualisation presented in the thesis. In addition to engaging with pastoral care, as an academic field and its associated concepts, the thesis also unpacks and engages the concepts of gender, gender-based violence and various nuances in the discourse on masculinity and its relation to GBV. It includes reflections on Biblical texts containing potentially problematic notions of masculinity with regard to characters in these texts and which are also applied to God. In engaging with some of the violent and abusive male metaphors of God in Scripture, the study highlighted the potential for these depictions to be abused in perpetuating the phenomenon of GBV. However, the study also succeeds in presenting life-giving and feminine images of God which might offer tools for pastoral care and hope for those living with the effects of GBV. These alternative female images of God have been employed as a pastoral care response to the scourge of GBV. Feminist pastoral care, womanist pastoral care and narrative pastoral care together may offer a framework for even more practical responses in this regard.