Research Articles (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)

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350 Jaar Gereformeerd 1652-2002. Kerkreg en kerkregering in die NG Kerk gedurende die afgelope dekades
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology, 2002) Coertzen, Pieter
The article describes and evaluates certain aspects of the order in the Dutch Reformed Church during the past few decades. The aspects which are described and evaluated are: the nature of the church polity and government in the Dutch Reformed Church; developments regarding the Church Order; development with regard to the offices in the Church; labour relations, and church orderly development with regard to church unity.
Acting liturgically: Wolterstorff's philosophical reflections on religious practice
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020) Havenga, Marthinus Johannes
This review article offers an engagement with Nicholas Wolterstorff's recent publication, Acting liturgically: Philosophical reflections on religious practice. It begins by contextualising the project, tracing Wolterstorff's lifelong interest in liturgy, as documented in his memoir, In this world of wonders. This is followed by a careful exposition of each of the book's four sections (with the headings "Liturgy, Enactments and Scripts," "Liturgy and Scripture," "God in the Liturgy" and "Liturgy, Love and Justice"). The article concludes with a few critical observations about the book in which it is shown why this is indeed a significant text which makes an important contribution to the (philosophical) study of liturgy.
Activating moral imagination : EXPOSED 2013 as a fourth generation faith-based campaign?
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2015) Bowers-Du Toit, Nadine; Forster, Dion
David Korten proposes a Fourth Generation approach (1990) to development that is value driven and sees social movements take centre stage in promoting a more just global society. Theologian Ignatius Swart (2006) has argued that Korten’s approach holds significant value for civil society role players such as the church, whose valuedriven agenda may serve to resist common values expressed by the powerful in society. Recently, the EXPOSED 2013 campaign has emerged as such a Christian social movement, seeking to mobilise up to 100 million Christians globally to take action against corruption. Using social media and church networks at all levels it aims to petition the G20 for more open tax regimes and greater transparency in international money flows to combat bribery and tax avoidance. This article documents and critically analyses the EXPOSED 2013 campaign through the lens of Korten’s Fourth Generation in dialogue with Swart’s faith-based analysis of Korten’s work.
Adorn the cross with roses? Justice and human dignity, beauty and human flourishing
(University of the Free State, Faculty of Theology, 2020) Marais, Nadia
What does beauty have to do with justice, justification, and salvation? Can the world be saved by beauty? In this contribution, some theological and rhetorical convergences and differences between the discourse on human dignity and the discourse on human flourishing are explored. The role of beauty, in these discourses, is a pivotal concern - especially as often justice and human rights shape the theological discourse on human dignity. A key proposed argument in this analysis is that justice is to human dignity what beauty is to human flourishing, and that these shape or mould the theological language with which salvation -the good news of the gospel - is articulated. The argument concludes by proposing that both forensic language and aesthetic language are born from the fold of Christian soteriology, and that not only the more static, forensic language of human dignity is required to speak about salvation, but also the more pliable, artistic language of human dignity.
African relational ontology, individual identity, and Christian theology : an African theological contribution towards an integrated relational ontological identity
(Sage, 2010-08) Forster, Dion
African theology has a great deal to contribute to the theological discourse on human identity. Relationships are central to the formation, expression and understanding of who an individual person is. The African philosophy of ubuntu, more accurately expressed as umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person through other persons), affirms the critical under - standing that identity arises out of intersubjective interactions between persons. This paper discusses how concepts of identity in African philosophy and religion can enhance our theological understanding of individual identity. Hence this research presents an African theological approach to identity that is systematized in relation to the doctrine of God, the doctrine of Christian anthropology and the doctrine of salvation.
African urbanims : reinterpreting the marks of the church
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2015) Naude, Piet
This essay presents a broad analysis of African “cityness” and brings this analysis in relation to an ecumenical interpretation of the marks of the church. The aim is to construct an “urban ecclesiology” where the realities of African cities influence our understanding of the church, and where – in turn – the marks of the church provides some pointers to a life of community, justice and fulfilment in the city.
Afrikaner Reformed missionary enthusiasts and the Voortrekkers : with special reference to Dingaansdag/Geloftedag and also the 1938 Eeufees
(Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press, 2015) Muller, Retief
The missionary discourse in Afrikaner Reformed Christianity has been controversial, because it is implicated in the development of early apartheid policies, which were subsequently implemented by National Party governments. This article does not directly concern itself with apartheid, however, but rather with the ideological backdrop against which this policy developed, i.e. Afrikaner nationalism. Afrikaner nationalism was deeply informed by a mythological reconstruction of the Voortrekkers as ideal Afrikaners. For this reason, the 1938 ox-wagon centenary Trek was a formative occasion in Afrikaner, and consequently South African history. What role did the Afrikaner missionary/ evangelical discourse play within these celebrations and within commemorations of the Voortrekkers and Geloftedag more generally? With a particular focus on the early to middle twentieth century, this article demonstrates that missionary and evangelical co-optation of this discourse was indeed pronounced, at the centre of the political situation, but also containing an element of surprise and the potential for unexpected outcomes in at least a couple of cases.
Afrikaner socio-theological discourse in the early twentieth century : war and mission in J.F. Naude and J. Du Plessis
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2014-11) Muller, Retief
Wars and their subsequent interpretations have shaped twentieth century Afrikaner public discourse profoundly. The remembered trauma, particularly of the Anglo-Boer War might have been a contributing factor to the late survival of white supremacy in South Africa, and Afrikaner doctrines of separateness and apartheid.1 With this view in mind, here I shall present a close reading of a couple of interesting early twentieth-century Afrikaner Christian leaders concerning their experiences and thought relating to war, volk, and religiosity.
Allan Boesak, black theology and apartheid : a theological-historical approach
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2018) Fortein, Eugene
In this article I will give specific attention to the reciprocal relationship between Black Theology and Allan Boesak based on his lived experience of apartheid from a theological-historical perspective. It is my presupposition that Boesak’s experience of apartheid made him prone to the influence of Black Theology and that he in turn adapted American Black Theology so that it could be made applicable to the South African context. Black Theology unlocked an entire new theological paradigm for Boesak which enabled him to speak prophetically to the challenges and injustices that occurred under apartheid in South Africa. Attention will be given to the emergence of Black Theology in South Africa, how Boesak was challenged by it and how Black Theology, through Boesak, impacted the theological landscape.
Alone in the world? Imago Dei from theological anthropology to Christology
(AOSIS, 2021-11-16) Marais, Nadia
In Princeton theologian Van Huyssteen’s (2006) major interdisciplinary work, Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology, human uniqueness is rhetorically coupled with human aloneness. A comparison with a contemporary theological anthropology, namely Yale theologian Kelsey’s (2009) Eccentric Existence: A Theological Anthropology, shows an alternative approach to the notion or concept of the imago Dei, namely a theological shift from viewing human beings as image(s) of God, to viewing human beings as images of Christ, or images of the image of God. This contribution responds to the invitation implied in Van Huyssteen’s book title – are we alone in the world? – by exploring some of the rhetorical implications of a Christological interpretation of the imago Dei. One such implication may imply a different answer to Van Huyssteen’s question – are we alone in the world?; not yes, but no. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s idea of Christ’s promeity illustrates how the rhetorical dynamics behind such a move in response – from yes to no – may potentially look, and that a rearticulation of human uniqueness could have direct consequences for how we imagine our human aloneness in the world. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article contributes to a specifically intradisciplinary conversation in Systematic Theology, on reading and interpreting the notion or theological idea of human beings being created in the image of God. This article does this through a close reading and comparison of two interdisciplinary projects on what it means to be human, namely Van Huyssteen’s Alone in the World? and Kelsey’s Eccentric Existence.
Always reforming? : nurturing a church for human rights in South Africa
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2018) Palm, Selina
This article explores the post-apartheid call to South African churches to play an ongoing theological role in the shared task of building a human rights culture for all. It seeks a counter-hegemonic human rights praxis that emphasises the lack of a human rights culture and turns to the early insights of German Reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann on human rights realisation. This points to an important task for local congregations today. It places this in conversation with current South African empirical realities to argue for a theological disruption of the power-laden imagery underpinning much human rights abuse. It concludes that a liberating Trinitarian praxis for human rights can shape a transformational ecclesiology that speaks to concerns raised by South African church youth within a local church today with a history of struggle involvement. Their voices offer a challenge to churches to be “always reforming” on human rights concerns.
And Zaccheus remained in the tree : reconciliation and justice and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(Aosis OpenJournals, 2008-03) Boesak, A.
South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been praised the world over for its work and its example is being followed by many countries, in Africa especially. In South Africa the TRC has raised hopes and expectations that went beyond the TRC’s functionality within the framework of South Africa’s political settlement and its legal mandate given by Parliament. This contribution argues that there is growing disillusionment with the work of the TRC especially among black communities and that one of the major flaws of the TRC rests in its failure to link reconciliation with justice. Justice here must not be understood within the strict legal terms that some have applied to the work of the TRC but rather from within the expectations created by the TRC itself through its own insistence that its work should be seen as a Christian endeavour. This failure has a direct bearing on the situation South Africa finds itself in today, and the author argues that a return to an understanding of reconciliation that presupposes justice will help address one of the most critical issues in our social, political and theological discourse today.
The anhypostasis and enhypostasis: Barth's Christological method in view of Chalcedon - its nuance and complexity
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020) Haley, James P.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Karl Barth departs from historical Protestant orthodoxy in his unique adoption of the dual formula anhypostasis and enhypostasis to explain the union of divine and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ. For Barth, these concepts help explain why the person of Jesus Christ must not be viewed statically in his being as the God-man, but dynamically in the event of God's movement of grace towards humanity. As such, Barth applies these concepts in his analysis of the Chalcedon definition of the Jesus Christ who exists as one person with two natures. In so doing, Barth further develops Chalcedon's definition of the two natures of Christ based upon the hypostatica unio. Not only must Chalcedon be interpreted through the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as event, but also event in the union of this human essence as the Son of Man as it participates in the divine essence.1 For Barth, the emphasis is not the combining of divine and human essence into one being, but that the eternal Christ has taken to himself human essence as the one Reconciler.
Anti-Judaïsme in ’n joodse teks? die geval van openbaring
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology, 2011) Van Henten, Jan Willem
This article offers a critical discussion of Peter Tomson's approach to Anti-Judaism in the New Testament (see his 'If this be from Heaven...' from 2001). Tomson rightly defines Anti-Judaism as hatred of Jews and characterizes key passages in John's Gospel as anti-Jewish, but he assesses similar passages in Revelation differently because, in his opinion, Revelation would be a Jewish text and a Jewish text cannot be anti-Jewish. All relevant passages in Revelation are surveyed and a re-reading of two key passages, Rev 2:9 and 3:9, is offered. Tomson's argument about Revelation is refuted - also with the help of modern analogies, which suggest that a Jewish text can be anti-Jewish. The article ends with a brief personal note that calls for a reading of Revelation in Christian communities that is not hurtful for Jews.
An appreciative contextual response to Jean-Pierre Wils, ‘Is there a future for “medical ethics”?’ Just health as a public theological concern
(AOSIS Publishing, 2016-12-02) Forster, Dion
This article takes the form of an appreciative contextual response to the notion of ‘just health’ that is formulated in Jean-Pierre Wils’ article, ‘Is there a future for medical ethics?’ It approaches the notion of just health in the South African context from a public theological vantage point. The article addresses the issues of justice, care and the future of ‘medical ethics’ by adopting a position that seeks to constructively engage empire, economics and apathy in relation to just health in South Africa.
Archbishop Daniel James Augustine Kanyiles, a Khoi religious, political and cultural leader
(Pieter de Waal Neethlingh Trust, 2003) Brink, G. W.
The very large imposing figure of Archbishop Daniel James Kanyiles has made a significant contribution to the South African religious, cultural and political landscape. From his base in Ritchie, along the Modder River outside Kimberley in the Northern Cape, Kanyiles presides as Patriarch of the Independent African Orthodox Church and life-long Chairperson of the Griekwa Volks Organisasie (sic). Furthermore, he is also Paramount Chief of Griqualand West and the fifteen Khoi groups south of the Gariep (Orange River). Moreover, he has also left his footprints in the political arena.
An architectonics of desire : the person on the path to Nada in John of the Cross
(University of the Free State, 2013) England, F.
The strenuous ascetic that is established in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night by John of the Cross, frequently, and not illegitimately, is viewed as the purging of desire, but often to the extent that desire exclusively is perceived as a detrimental and negative quality. With a modest shift in perspective, this article attempts to read John through the lens of desire, rather than against it. It employs the notion of 'desireless desire', in order to describe John's final position of waiting as one that neither dispenses with an authentically human and desiring subject, nor compromises the final aim of union with God.
The awkward positioning of a Dutch Reformed "missionary" in apartheid South Africa : Rev. D. P. Botha and the Cape "coloured" question
(The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020) Muller, Retief
The Rev. D. P. (David) Botha was a lifelong apartheid critic and minister in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and later the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Early in his career, he served as a "missionary" in a DRMC congregation in Wynberg, and subsequently in other congregations in the Western Cape, South Africa. During his career, he wrote an important book and engaged in public discourse through contributions in newspapers and other mainstream publications. Focusing on these sources, most of which now form part of his private collection in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Archive, this article traces Botha's growing agitation regarding the implementation of apartheid policies, in the aftermath of the institution of the 1950 Group Areas Act. Among other things it illuminates the early apartheidera white view of the other, as experienced and critiqued by this insider-outsider minister with respect to his assessment of general white perceptions of so-called "coloureds" in the Cape Town area. Through specific attention to Botha's correspondences with A. P. Treurnicht and Beyers Naudé, this article also shows the problematic perspective of a white missionary seeking to alleviate the impact of policy decisions on his church members, while simultaneously buying into the predominant ideology of racial categorisation.
Beauty appears in sadness, misery and folly an ethical perspective
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2019) Jones, Chris
This chapter focuses on the beauty that often appears in and from (extreme) sadness, misery and folly. It argues that the experience of beauty is an ancient impulse, and that one need not progress through the lower hierarchical levels set out by the psychologist Maslow before experiencing the higher, more sophisticated level of beauty. It looks at how beauty and ugliness are often interwoven with each other, but also how each one takes its own form and style in society. Beauty calls and attracts us; it is present in everybody and all around us; there is a transformative power in beauty that invites and encourages us to become the changing music in this world and transform it through a cosmic dance that radiates further beauty. With a view of John’s vision from Patmos of the New Jerusalem, we must try to transform our cities with beauty, goodness, and truth.
Being human in the shadow of racism
(Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2018) Kuvuna, Joel Mbongi; Sinner, Rudolf von, 1967-
This paper is inspired by the experience of a black student who underwent racist treatment in Brazil. Nowadays, racism may appear in any societal structure. Misuse of power is one of the causes of violence and racism. A person who finds him- or herself in a position of some power may, while acting in the name of “law”, turn into an incarnation of the law. This paper wishes to speak out on matters of violence, oppression and racism which are spreading in society. The faces of racism need to be shown, even where racism is institutionalized.

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