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For many young South African adults (often called ‘born frees’), who were born just before or just after the demise of political apartheid, the ongoing realities of poverty and inequality bring to light the question of whether they truly are ‘free’ in contemporary South Africa? Their lived experiences of poverty and inequality seem to be in conflict with theologically laden concepts that remain prominent in social and political life, such as reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and restitution. This leads to a bi‑directional process of contesting, and being contested, by such notions and discourses. Furthermore, in light of the double legacy of both the church and youth as resisting injustice, this publication seeks to explore the many perspectives from which the Christian faith, race and inequality amongst youth can be brought to light.
This book investigates the substantial and growing contribution which African Independent and Pentecostal Churches are making to sustainable development in all its manifold forms. Moreover, this volume seeks to elucidate how these churches reshape the very notion of sustainable development and contribute to the decolonisation of development. Fostering both overarching and comparative perspectives, the book includes chapters on West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, and Burkina Faso) and Southern Africa (Zimbabwe and South Africa). It aims to open up a subfield focused on African Initiated Christianity within the religion and development discourse, substantially broadening the scope of the existing lit...
While reproduction is fairly often touched upon in theological and Christian ethical discussions, reproductive health is not. However, reproductive health is a matter of theological and ethical concern. Discussion pertaining to reproductive health includes a number of debates about, for instance, abortion and the termination of pregnancy, reproductive loss, childlessness, infertility, stillbirth, miscarriage and adoption. Additionally, new reproductive possibilities made available by the development of reproductive technology have necessitated theological and ethical reflection on, for example, surrogacy, post-menopausal pregnancies, litter births, single mothers or fathers by choice, in vit...
Johannes Knoetze, Associate Professor in Practical Theology and Missional Studies at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria, served as the editor of this extremely important and relevant publication Mission the “labour room” of theology. The book comprises of 21 chapters by various esteemed scholars in Missiology or Missional Studies. The contributors engage critically with mission history and mission understandings from different contexts in Southern Africa. The book is divided in three sections. The first gives a historical, denominational, and current overview of mission in Africa. A second section focuses on current theological understandings of the origin of mission, ...
In light of the numerous challenges posed by globalization, living together as humanity on one planet needs to be reinvented in the twenty-first century. To create a new, peaceful, just, and sustainable world order is vital to the survival of us all. In this regard, humankind will have to expand the limited scope of its moral imagination beyond the borders of family, tribe, class, religion, nation, and culture. Will the cultivation of compassion, as scholars like Martha Nussbaum and Karen Armstrong, and religious leaders like the Dalai Lama maintain, contribute to a more just world? A global movement to cultivate and extend compassion beyond the immediate circle of concern may indeed find in...
This book presents a vision for Glocal Theological Education, an invitation to rethink and reshape theological training in times of crisis. The aim is to train theological judicium, the ability to exercise sound judgment and practice discernment in the face of the different crises in the world of today—like the climate crisis, the changed role of the church, and the challenge of youth citizenship. It explores what has been learned from developing shared, global learning within the framework of local learning communities in Norway, South Africa, and beyond. The book also discusses key practices, such as the combination of coteaching online and learning in local contexts, and best-practice research on other educational activities. Contributors also reflect more theoretically on where, how, and what we can learn from crisis, and how these theoretical insights can help us shape theological leaders for the future who can read the times.
Practical theology emerged as a discipline steeped in white supremacy, traces of which can be found in some of its most central practices and habits of mind. Identifying the remnants of this legacy allows practical theologians to begin to imagine how to proceed without reinscribing narratives of white saviors, unlimited progress, dominating control of bodies, and individual heroic leadership. You are invited to question this worldview while learning from scholars imagining a decolonized future.
Reconciliation studies are concerned with the processes of rebuilding and improving damaged relationships after major wrongdoings. They focus on factors such as law, economics, and international relations, as well as on elements such as emotions and ethics, culture and religion, media and education. Reconciliation research therefore requires a transdisciplinary approach, to analyse both the procedures leading to the recognition of truth as well as those in which justice is administered; both the impact of public apologies and cooperation agreements; both the implementation of memory policies and civil society initiatives; both the outcomes of trauma therapy and intergenerational encounter gr...
Die Pluralisierung des Religiösen, die ein besonders prägnantes Kennzeichen gegenwärtig stattfindender gesellschaftlicher Wandlungsprozesse ist, stellt eine enorme Herausforderung für viele Akteure in Kirche, Zivilgesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Politik dar. Das Ziel dieses Buches ist es, den Begriff der religiösen Pluralisierung zu schärfen, indem er am Beispiel konkreter religiöser Phänomene und Praktiken entfaltet wird. Der Band umfasst Beiträge zu zwölf Themenfeldern, die für die praktisch-theologischen Diskurse in Südafrika und in Deutschland prägend und gegenwärtig von hoher Relevanz sind (Armut und Reichtum, Bildung, Schwellenriten und Passagen, Gesundheit, Religiöse Verge...
In many societies all over the world, an increasing polarization between contrasting groups can be observed. Polarization arises when a fear born of difference turns into ‘us-versus-them’ thinking and rules out any form of compromise. This volume addresses polarizations within societies as well as within churches, and asks the question: given these dynamics, what may be the calling of the church? The authors offer new approaches to polarizing debates on topics such as racism, social justice, sexuality and gender, euthanasia, and ecology and agriculture in various contexts. They engage in profound theological and ecclesiological reflection, in particular from the Reformed tradition. Contributors to this volume are: Najib George Awad, Henk van den Belt, Nadine Bowers Du Toit, Jaeseung Cha, David Daniels, David Fergusson, Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Jozef Hehanussa, Allan Janssen, Klaas-Willem de Jong, Viktória Kóczián, Philipp Pattberg, Louise Prideaux, Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Peter-Ben Smit, Thandi Soko-de Jong, Wim van Vlastuin, Jan Dirk Wassenaar, Elizabeth Welch, Annemarieke van der Woude, and Heleen Zorgdrager.