Books (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)

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    Enacting a public theology
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2019) Pearson, Clive
    "The practice of a public theology is to identify issues that require attention for the sake of a civil society and the flourishing of all. In diverse ways the writers of Enacting a Public Theology recognise that the present is a volatile moment in time. The publication explores the loss of confidence in the contemporary expressions of democracy; the climate emergency accompanies the dawn of the Anthropocene; the migration of people raises concerns to do with identity, belonging and where is home; the invasion of land wrongly described as terra nullius and then invaded demands a deepened praxis of reconciliation between first and second peoples; and lastly there is an urgent need to speak into the situation of those pushed to the margins be usage of HIV/Aids. Enacting a Public Theology represents the thinking of writers from Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand. It is both local and global in its concern. Each one of the contributors participated in the triennial gathering of the Global Network of Public Theology held in Stellenbosch in 2016."
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    Belhar confession : the embracing confession of faith for church and society
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2017) Plaatjies-Van Huffel, Mary-Anne; Modise, Leepo Johannes
    “The subject of the Belhar Confession is an academic one which has enjoyed international attention, with congregations in the West having adopted it as one of their confessions for use. The content of this book is aimed chiefly at a scholarly community with ample knowledge of confessional documents and is a contribution on the subject of the Belhar Confession. The current challenges to the church and theology are discussed. Racism is one issue that poses an increasingly huge challenge to South Africa today. The book demonstrates what needs to be done extra to deal with the scourge of racism that seems to have percolated through virtually all aspects of our existence and particularly the church today in South Africa.” - Prof. Rothney Tshaka (University of South Africa).
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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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    The (im)possibility of forgiveness? : an empirical intercultural Bible reading of Matthew 18:15-35
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2017) Forster, Dion ; Hansen, Len
    "This book deals with contested and topical matters. Biblical hermeneutics has always been contested – how to read and understand Biblical passages. Things become even more contested when such passages are read inter-culturally; they become even more contested when the words are about contested personal and social issues, like Jesus’ words on forgiveness in Matthew 18. Empirical studies like this show how deeply contested such readings truly are in the context of South African churches, with their painful histories of division and conflict. Future academic work will, therefore, benefit from the creative and careful methodological approach developed in this study. However, this book offers much more than academic promise – precisely because of the theme, so topical today and without doubt topical for a long time to come and in many other places in our contemporary world as well. Forster offers resources for reading and conversation for everyone concerned with public life today. This is public theology in action, showing how faith matters – without prescribing answers, but rather by invitation to join an informed discussion." - Dirk J Smit, The Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life, Princeton Theological Seminary.
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    Many faces of God: highways and byways on the route toward an orthodox image of God in the history of Christianity from the first to the seventeenth century
    (SUN PReSS, 2007) Durand, Jaap
    BOOK BLURB: Since the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, theologians and philosophers have brought about profound changes in the discourse about God. The orthodox image of God, developed in the previous seventeen centuries in Roman Catholicism, as well as within Protestantism, has come under great pressure, but it would be wrong to think that this image is no longer relevant and that only a few conservative Christians hold on to it.