Browsing by Author "Vosloo, Robert"

Now showing 1 - 17 of 17
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    The Bible and the justification of apartheid in Reformed circles in the 1940's in South Africa : some historical, hermeneutical and theological remarks
    (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2015) Vosloo, Robert
    This article focuses on the way the Bible was used in the 1940s in some Reformed theological circles in South Africa as part of the discourse to justify apartheid. Attention is also given to some voices critical of this endeavour. The article therefore offers a close reading of influential texts by prominent theologians who provided a biblical justification of apartheid, such as JD du Toit (Totius) and EP Groenewald. In addition, the article attends to some of the writings of theologians such as BJ Marais and BB Keet, who strongly opposed any attempt to justify apartheid in this manner. The article is especially interested in identifying the constructions of identity and otherness that seem to be operative in the discourse connected to the biblical justification of apartheid during this period.
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    Commemoration, rememoration and reformation: some historical-hermeneutical remarks in light of the 1917 reformation celebrations of the Dutch Reformed Church
    (Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press, 2016) Vosloo, Robert
    In 2017 the 500th anniversary of the Reformation will be commemorated worldwide through various conferences, church and cultural events, and publications, also in Southern Africa. How should we commemorate the 16th-century Protestant Reformation in 2017 in Reformed circles in Southern Africa? Against the backdrop of this question, this article argues for the need of a self-critical reflection on the possible abuses associated with commemorations as such, as well as by a heightened historical consciousness of the way in which past commemorations of the Reformation functioned in processes of identity construction and 'othering'. With this in mind, the article proceeds in two parts. In the first part the aspect of commemoration is problematised by referring to the critique of the possible abuses of memory associated with commemorations, as highlighted in the work of Tzvetan Todorov, also with reference to his distinction between commemoration and rememoration. The second part of the article then turns to some historical documents that give us a glimpse into the 400th anniversary of the Reformation in 1917 in Reformed circles in South Africa, and specifically within the Dutch Reformed Church. This is followed by some concluding remarks.
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    Democracy is coming to the RSA : on democracy, theology, and futural historicity
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2016-05-25) Vosloo, Robert
    This article brings the concept of democracy – as an open-ended tradition – in conversation with notions dealing with historicity and the future, such as ‘democracy to come’, ‘promise’, and ‘a democratic vision’. It is argued that although these notions are rightfully associated with the future, they also imply that democracy should not be disconnected from an emphasis on an inheritance from the past. With this emphasis in mind, the first part of the article attends to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s intriguing term, ‘democracy to come’, whereas the second part of the article takes a closer look at some aspects of the work of the South African theologian John de Gruchy on democracy, with special reference to his distinction between a democratic system and a democratic vision. The third, and final, part of the article brings some of the insights taken from the engagement with Derrida and De Gruchy into conversation with the continuing challenges facing theological discourse on democracy in South Africa today.
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    Die verhouding Christus en kultuur in die denke van H. Richard Niebuhr
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1990) Vosloo, Robert; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of . Dept. of .
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    The feeling of time : Bonhoeffer on temporality and the fully human life
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology, 2008) Vosloo, Robert
    This essay explores the notion of temporality in Bonhoeffer’s thought. After an introductory reference to an early text of Bonhoeffer that reveals his passion for movement and the moment, the essay comments briefly on the direction of Emmanuel Levinas’s reflections on temporality. It is argued that both Levinas and Bonhoeffer link their understanding of temporality to otherness and death. The main part of the essay traces Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the timeful nature of reality, with special reference to his Berlin dissertations, Sanctorum Communio and Act and Being, two of his Barcelona sermons, his Ethics and his Prison writings. The last section of the essay offers Bonhoeffer’s timeful engagement with life as a challenge to a reductive economization of time.
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    Memory, embodiment, ethics : in conversation with Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology
    (AOSIS, 2021-11-30) Vosloo, Robert
    This article focuses on Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology, attending especially to his emphasis on the temporal and narrative dimension of personal identity. In this regard, Van Huyssteen draws on the thought of Paul Ricoeur, including his view that memory is the gateway to the self. With this in mind, the first part of the article highlights some key features of Van Huyssteen’s engagement the last decade or two with the question what it means to be human, namely the affirmation of interdisciplinarity, embodiment and vulnerability. The argument is put forward that Van Huyssteen’s work invites and displays the need to uphold the interconnections between embodiment, memory, vulnerability, imagination and empathy. It is furthermore claimed that his constructive proposals ‘in search of self’ should be seen as inextricably connected with its crucial ethical and theological motivation and contours. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article focuses on the South African theologian Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology. He is internationally renowned, and this article discusses key features of his views and brings it into conversation with the work of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur and perspectives from memory studies. As such, it presents a novel engagement that can enrich systematic theological discourse.
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    'Memory, history, and justice : in search of conceptual clarity'
    (Stellenbosch University, Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, 2012-12) Vosloo, Robert
    How should we reconfigure the relationship between memory and history as two distinguishable yet interconnected epistemological routes to knowing the past? This article seeks some conceptual clarity on the intricate and complex interrelation between memory and history, also in conversation with some questions that arise from contexts associated with historical injustice. With this purpose in mind, the article engages especially the later work of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur. Ricoeur’s response to the memory-history problem is not to view memory and history as adversaries, but to view them as conjoined and complementary as we grapple with the past and the temporality of our own lives. In light of this affirmation of the dialectical relationship between memory and history, the article further emphasises some aspects that are important to consider in the search for a responsible historical hermeneutic.
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    Prophetic witness in weakness
    (AOSIS, 2019-02-13) Vosloo, Robert
    This article addresses the possible link between prophetic witness and weakness (one can also speak of vulnerability), and expands on reasons why this connection holds much promise for a theological engagement with the question regarding the prophetic role of Christians and churches in the public sphere in South Africa today. With this in mind, the various sections underscore the need for a form of prophetic witness that emphasises respectively prophetic solidarity, prophetic imagination and prophetic performativity. In the process, the article puts forward three statements or theses as invitation for further reflection and conversation, drawing on, among others, the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Giorgio Agamben, Emmanuel Katongole and Judith Butler.
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    Public morality and the need for an ethos of hospitality
    (Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology, 2003) Vosloo, Robert
    This article sketches the prevailing sense of moral crisis with reference to the film Code Unknown. Following this cultural diagnosis, it analyses three responses to such a sense of moral crisis and suggests that an ethos of hospitality is necessary for the sake of public morality. It concludes by offering an analysis of five dimensions that may be identified with reference to such an ethos of hospitality.
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    Quo Vadis church history? : some theses on the future of church history as an academic theological discipline
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology, 2009) Vosloo, Robert
    In response to the invitation to reflect on the future of Church History as an academic theological discipline, this essay discusses five theses: (i) The vitality of Church History as an academic discipline is linked to its ability to contribute towards a responsible engagement with the Christian past in a culture of historical amnesia and harmful memory; (ii) a constructive dialogue with the social sciences can be helpful en route to a more responsible historical hermeneutic for Church History; (iii) as a theological discipline Church History ought to be attentive to “history from below”; (iv) it is necessary for Church History to continue reflecting on its mapping habits; (v) the focus on shared history, which attends to the way in which divisive histories are interwoven, holds much promise for South African church historiography.
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    Reforming memory : essays on South African Church and theological history
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2017) Vosloo, Robert
    Although we should acknowledge the fragility of memory, we should nevertheless affirm the remarkable ability of memory to reform and transform our identity. Our memories and ways of remembering are, however, often marked by trauma and violence. Memory, therefore, not merely reforms; it too is in need of reformation, redemption and transformation. With this emphasis in mind, Reforming Memory grapples with the question what a responsible engagement with the past entails, also for Christians and churches associated with the Reformed tradition. The history of Reformed churches in South Africa is, one can argue, a deeply divided and ambivalent one. The same figures are heroes to some and villains to others; historic events are deeply ambiguous and conflicting views surround different discourses. Yet the histories, and perhaps futures, of these churches and traditions are inextricably interwoven. Reforming Memory fundamentally combines an interest in the notion of “memory” with an interest in (South African) Reformed theology and history. Central is the question: how should we remember and represent the past responsibly? The essays collected in this book engage in different ways with this question, attending in the process to some episodes in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, some influential Reformed theologians, and some important Reformed practices and confessional documents.
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    Remembering the Heidelberg Catechism in South Africa today? : some remarks on the commemoration of a 16th century Reformed confession
    (University of the Free State, 2014) Vosloo, Robert
    With the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism of 2013 in mind, this article offers some remarks on the question what it means to remember and commemorate this 16th century Reformed confession in South Africa today. The first part of the article argues that commemorations invite us to be conscious of the close link between memory and identity, as well as to the fact that our memories of the past are often highly contested memories. The second part of the paper comments on the status of the Heidelberg Catechism as a historical document, while the third part of the paper extends the discussion with a focus on the reception of the Heidelberg Catechism in South Africa. By highlighting a few episodes from its reception history, the article affirms the view of the Heidelberg Catechism as an important identity marker amidst contestation.
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    Die resepsie van die Nederlandse Geloofsbelydenis in Suid- Afrika, met spesifieke verwysing na die konfessionele neo- Calvinisme van die 1930’s
    (Stellenbosch University, Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, 2013-02) Vosloo, Robert
    This article was first read at a symposium marking the 450 year celebration of the Confessio Belgica held at the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch University in November 2011. It reflects on a specific aspect of the reception of the Confessio Belgica (or Nederlandse Geloofsbelydenis) in South Africa, namely the way in which the Confessio Belgica was read and interpreted by Professor E.E. van Rooyen in the 1930s. Van Rooyen, who was professor of Old Testament and Apologetics at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch, can be viewed as a proponent of the so-called confessional neo-Calvinism that became stronger in certain circles in the 1930s. By attending to Van Rooyen’s commentary on the Confessio Belgica (as published in the journal Die Gereformeerde Vaandel between 1933 and 1937), the article identifies and underlines the way in which “Modernism” functions as a type of “enemy construction” (vyandsbeeld) in Van Rooyen’s writings, over against which Reformed or Calvinist identity is posited. In light of this exploration, the final part of the article briefly reflects on the question whether the discourse in South Africa today on Reformed Confessions in general, and on the Confessio Belgica in particular, can find a way between, on the one hand, the neglect of confessional particularity and, on the other hand, insular exclusivism.
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    Schleiermacher on justification : a resource for a Reformed theology of recognition?
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2019) Vosloo, Robert
    Against the backdrop of the resistance against Schleiermacher’s theology in Reformed theological circles in South Africa, this article poses the question as to whether Schleiermacher’s theology can be brought into a constructive conversation with the views often associated with a Reformed understanding of God’s grace. With this in mind, this article takes a closer look at Schleiermacher’s exposition of the theme of justification in his Christian faith. This discussion of Schleiermacher’s doctrine of justification is introduced by calling attention to some more recent attempts to re-read Schleiermacher in a way that at least complicates the view of him as standing antithetic towards the classical Reformed understanding of grace. Drawing on Schleiermacher’s main thesis on justification, this article proposes that Schleiermacher’s thought in this regard is historically and theologically significant for an attempt to bring the doctrine of justification in conversation with the notion of divine recognition.
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    Time out of joint and future-oriented memory : engaging Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the search for a way to deal responsibly with the ghosts of the past
    (MDPI, 2017) Vosloo, Robert
    This article explores in conversation with some of the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer the question of how the experience of the dislocation of time and the visitation of “the ghosts of the past” (also in contexts marked by historical injustices) is related to responsible ethical action. The question is also posed as to how the reconfiguration of the relationship of past, present and future functions on an implicit and explicit level in this regard. In the process, the article affirms the eschatological horizon of Bonhoeffer’s ethics and points to the importance of what is referred to as “future-oriented memory” in the search for responsible and hopeful action. The article acknowledges the dilemmas in relating thought and action (with reference to the so-called “Hamlet doctrine”) and points to the way in which “the future” marks and determines Bonhoeffer’s understanding of ethical action amidst the haunting presence of the past and the experience of the present time as a “time out of joint.”
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    Traumatic memory, representation and forgiveness : some remarks in conversation with Antjie Krog’s Country of my skull
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2012-09) Vosloo, Robert
    In light of Koos Vorster’s recent work dealing with themes such as memory, forgiveness and reconciliation, this article underlined the argument that a critical engagement with literary texts can be valuable to clarify and enrich a theological response to questions related to these notions. More specifically, the article focused on Antjie Krog’s profound and deeply moving engagement with the work and legacy of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in her book Country of My Skull (1998), that used the notion of forgiveness as lens for such an undertaking. Taking the cue from the poem with which the book ends, the article addressed questions such as ‘To whom is the plea for forgiveness addressed?’ and ‘Who is asking for forgiveness, and what must be forgiven?’ In the process attention was given to questions about the limits of representation and the need for an ethic of interconnectedness. The article suggested that these questions beg for further theological engagement.
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    Tyd in ons tyd : oor teologie en toekomsgeorienteerde herinnering
    (LitNet, 2015-12) Vosloo, Robert
    In hierdie artikel word daar na die moontlike kontoere en belofte van ’n teologie van toekomsgeoriënteerde herinnering gevra, as deel van die soeke na ’n verantwoordelike en konstruktiewe omgang met die verlede. Meer spesifiek word in hierdie artikel geargumenteer dat die motivering, ontginning en verdieping van die begrip onthou moontlikhede inhou vir die gesprek oor die soeke na ’n verantwoordelike historiese hermeneutiek. Dié argument word in twee dele bespreek. In die eerste deel word daar breedweg na die veranderende houding ten opsigte van tyd en temporaliteit die afgelope eeue gekyk. Hier word veral aangesluit by wat denkers soos Aleida Assmann “the modern time regime” noem, asook na die groeiende onbehae die afgelope dekades met hierdie kulturele tydsbewind. In die tweede deel word ’n aantal opmerkings gemaak wat – te midde van ’n verskuiwende verstaan van tyd in ons tyd – belangrik is om in ag te neem in die soeke na ’n verantwoordelike teologie van herinnering vandag. Dit sluit ’n beklemtoning van die kwesbaarheid van herinnering in, asook die gedagte dat herinnering met ’n sekere verbintenis aan die realiteit van die historiese verlede saamhang. Verder word daar op die verweefdheid van ons herinneringe met dié van ander gewys, aangesien dieselfde figure of gebeurtenisse verskillend in ons kollektiewe geheue funksioneer. Die potensieel ondermynende aard van herinnering word ook uitgelig. Ten slotte word die toekomsgeoriënteerdheid van ’n toereikende teologie van herinnering belig. Daar word aangetoon dat dit juis hierdie aksent is wat dit moontlik maak om van helende versoening, moeilike (maar nie onmoontlike nie) vergifnis en herstellende of omvormende geregtigheid te praat. Teologies uitgedruk beteken dit dat die eskatologiese horison van herinnering verreken moet word.