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‘Connected or committed critic?’ Theologically pondered on the issue of ‘Insider’- or ‘Outsider’ critic in South Africa: During the beginning of 2023, a conference was organised by a study group to be held in Stellenbosch later that year with the focus on the ideology of apartheid in South Africa, with special reference to prof. B.B. Keet, one of the first theologians to oppose this ideology. The author of this article was invited to attend the conference and present a paper. Unfortunately the conference did not take place, for various reasons, and subsequently the author decided to finalise his paper and present it as an article for publication. The author decided to look into the matter from two opposing views which were called ‘connected critic’ (criticism of the insider) on the one hand, and ‘committed critic’ (criticism of the outsider) on the other hand. Which road should be followed by prophetic theologians in their church, when they become convinced that their church is contradicting the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ? Should they stay inside the church (connected critic) and contribute their criticism from there, or should they leave the church while raising their voice from outside the church (committed critic)? Contribution: The article starts with an introduction that investigates the views of Keet. Then three other voices are analysed, namely those of prof. W.D. Jonker of Stellenbosch (connected critic), Beyers Naudé of Johannesburg (committed critic) and at last the voice of the author himself (connected critic). In the end, the author explains why he had chosen for the option to be a connected critic. In a final conclusion, a few remarks are made as far as the future of South Africa is concerned.

An intersectional feminist stance was reflected in South African literary texts as early as the 1970s. Miriam Tlali’s pioneering work Muriel at Metropolitan (1975), for example, explores how black women are most palpably confronted with intersecting oppressions and inequalities because of mutually reinforcing axes of race, ethnicity, gender, and class. These social categories provided the basis to differentiate groups from each other and were utilised to produce unequal power relations. Such inequalities were not only created by the apartheid regime, but also by African Customary Law, although the latter was subject to the twin influences of colonialism and apartheid. In this article I analyse five key passages of the novel through an intersectional lens by looking into the correlation between these systems, intersectional axes, citizenship, and social status. The close reading of the extracts shows that the characters’ civil rights are curtailed, and their social status reduced through inter alia dehumanising stereotypes, racial and gendered naming strategies, and polarising pronouns. Furthermore, the discursive counterreactions of the black female protagonist Muriel are charted. These consist of rational argumentation, norm-breaking, objectification, and distancing techniques. Her retorts represent her resistance against multiple subjugations and take the shape of what is now called intersectional feminism(s).

Mark Behr’s artistic exploration of the horrific legacy of Afrikaner racist and masculinist ideology in The Smell of Apples has attracted substantial critical attention. This is perhaps what has elevated his novel to a post-apartheid South African literary canon. While it has been read as an exculpatory narrative—an exploration of how white South Africans disclosed their complicity in apartheid’s atrocities and/or a disclosure of how the apartheid system violated their rights—there is critical blindness to other important themes that the novel grapples with. This is why I offer a limited reading of Behr’s critique of Afrikaner gender oppression. My exploration, which focuses on Behr’s exposition of gender discrimination of upper-middle class women in an Afrikaner society, is anchored on two questions: how does Behr deploy an innovative register—eavesdropping child witness-narrator and a written letter—to unveil the oppression of upper-middle class white South African women in the Afrikaner polity? Second, how does he script the feminist agency of the ‘mother of the nation’ figure who is muzzled by Afrikaner patriarchy? I foreground Maria Pia Lara’s thinking about the liberational potential of literary texts in my discussion of Behr’s exposition of the gendered oppression of certain categories of women by Afrikaner patriarchy.

Dr Perold de Beer was a missionary pioneer who contributed as both a church leader and a theologian to the Reformed Church in Africa (RCA). This research recorded his contribution to the RCA as this church navigated political issues during apartheid, multireligious positions and the challenges accompanying church unity; all of these ended up in the Laudium Declaration (LD) which De Beer drafted and was then accepted as the church’s official position. In addition to De Beer’s views, other, differing positions from his colleagues and contemporaries were used to reflect on the eventual decisions and theologies developed in the RCA. The article’s social and scientific value lies in both recording and reflecting on the work of a missionary pioneer not yet investigated; it addressed and informed issues that are still relevant today (racism, pluralism and unity) and which are still heading the church’s agenda. Both literature study and interviews were employed. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: While this article investigated missiology (mission theology, social justice and church unity), it also contributed to religion studies (interfaith dialogue), church history, and polity (the history and documents of the RCA) and systematic theology. It offered insight into the history of a specific segment of South African society during apartheid.

In all former colonial powers, there is a growing awareness that the colonial past was especially violent and criminal, including in the Netherlands. When the Dutch media talk about the colonial past, it mostly concerns Indonesia and Suriname. Thereby, the role of the Netherlands in South Africa is forgotten, while the VOC colonised and governed a not insignificant part of the country for over a century and a half from the landing of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652. After England took over the Dutch colony in South Africa (1806), Dutch interest in South Africa faded, only to revive during the Boer War (1899-1902), when the Dutch population rose en masse to support 'our kinsmen' in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in their struggle against the British Empire. This 'positive' sentiment would turn significantly when, from the 1970s onwards, protests against apartheid and the oppression of the non-white population were also organised in the Netherlands. After the abolition of apartheid, South Africa was discovered as a tourist attraction and many a Dutchman's interest seemed to be limited to safari holidays, Cape beaches and wine. A township tour and a visit to Mandela's cell on Robben Island were then sometimes included in the itinerary, but in the post-apartheid euphoria, there seemed to be very little focus in the Netherlands on the country's major social problems. With the protests against apartheid, it seemed as if the Netherlands, as a former coloniser, had paid a historical debt and therefore no longer needed to care about South Africa. In this article, I argue that even after the abolition of apartheid, the Netherlands as a former coloniser has a special responsibility for current social inequality and poverty in South Africa, and outline how this can be fulfilled.

The Dutch Reformed Church about ‘Church and Society’ before and after 1994 – An evaluation of three documents. In its aim, to guide the members of its congregations in the last days of official apartheid in South Africa in a pastoral and ethical way, the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church formulated the documents Church and Society of 1986 and 1990. The General Synod applied its interpretation of biblical norms like love thy neighbour, justice and human dignity, to say that apartheid as the forced separation and unequal, unjust treatment of people of different communities, could not be justified. The church opted for a new societal dispensation in one South Africa, although it left the practical side of it to the chosen politicians. When confronted by the new dispensation in 1994, the study commission that was appointed to help their church members to understand the new South Africa as based on the human rights of individuals, was uncritical about the humanistic-individualistic foundation of the new society. The fruits of their study were sent to be studied in congregations. This movement led to the end of an effort in this regard on the level of the General Synod. Between their approach to apartheid and the new society, the reports before the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church did not maintain the same principles, nor did it maintain an ecclesiastical independence. The report of 1998 did not show the same critical approach as the reports on apartheid in 1986 and 1990. Contribution: This article concentrates on the view of the Dutch Reformed Church on practical apartheid before it officially ended in 1994. The critical approach of practical apartheid as undertaken by this church is investigated through a church historical study of literature. Three documents on church and society eventually came out of the General Synod: Church and Society 1986, Church and Society 1990 and the Church and a new dispensation in 1998. The Dutch Reformed Church, however, did not use the same point of departure before than after 1994.

In 1985 when storm clouds were gathering over South Africa, and a state of emergency was declared, a group of members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Family, clergy as well as laity, founded an organisation, Reforum. The two-fold aim of Reforum was to provide a prophetic witness against apartheid, calling the DRC to take leave of its theology of apartheid, and, secondly, to work towards the reunification of the DRC Family. The article researches the original Reforum documents, minutes, reports, conference material and letters, that hitherto laid untouched in the DRC Archive, in Pretoria. The programme of Reforum, especially the national and regional conferences held by the organisation over the 7 years of its existence, is discussed. The initial negative reaction of the DRC officials and synods, as well as the critique from some in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and the DRC in Africa that Reforum was not radical enough in its approach, are recorded. The summation, at the end, is that Reforum did play a significant role, albeit humble and short lived, in the annals of the DRC’s apartheid saga. Relevance: The DRC’s apartheid saga, the story of a church that had over many years lived with apartheid and even provided a theological argument for separate development, eventually came to the point where the DRC not only repented of its past, but declared apartheid and the theology of apartheid a sin and a heresy, continues to fascinate historians, including church historians. For South African Christians, clergy as well as laity, it helps explain their often troubled past, as well as present. The often neglected story of Reforum and the role and contribution of the organisation in this process needs to be recorded. Original research: the author provides original qualitative research, using material that had lain untouched in the DRC Archive for three decades. This may be considered to be a preliminary study. The archival material merits more and deeper attention. It may well provide material for post graduate research. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research is of value for the study of South African general history, South African church history, ecumenical studies, and practical theology.

The Rustenburg Church Conference took place in 1990, 30 years after the historic Cottesloe Church Consultation of 1960. Both these conferences had a huge influence on the history of the churches in South Africa. Thirty years after the Rustenburg Conference, this article suggests that the current context of South Africa calls for another church conference. To motivate this, the events and the declarations of the Rustenburg Church Conference of 1990 are revisited. Firstly, the article starts with a short overview on the organising of the conference. Secondly, it revisits the important confession of Prof. W.D. Jonker on apartheid and what he said on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church and the Afrikaner people. It then recalls the lesser known but not less important declaration by the women at the conference before moving on to the main declaration, which was made after the conference. The question that is then asked is what this important historical event means for the current situation in South Africa. It is suggested that the churches in South Africa are called to take the initiative to organise a Lekgotla where churches and other civil organisations can come together to discuss and address the challenges in South Africa. Racism, poverty, education, violence against women and children and corruption are specifically named as issues that should be addressed. The article concludes that given the current situation in South Africa, the churches have arrived at another Kairos moment. Interdisciplinary implications: The research in this article challenges other disciplines in theology, sociology, education and law to join the quest for workable solutions. This should be done with specific reference to research on the current problematic events in South Africa, namely poverty, corruption, racism, violence against women and the needs of children and land issues.

This contribution in the field of public theology explores two questions: (1) Could South Africa be regarded as a traumatised society, presenting with acute symptoms of post-traumatic disorder and (2) what would be an appropriate theological response to a traumatised society? These questions became even more acute with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020. Historical events and current statistical data relevant to the first question are presented, which could indicate that South Africa might indeed be regarded as a highly traumatised society. The second question is discussed from the perspective of reformed theology. This limits the research focus, based on the assumption that all theology and all churches respond in a particular way to traumatic events and the effects of individual and collective trauma.

In this essay I seek to demonstrate how an iterative reading of Archie L. Dick’s The Hidden History of South Africa’s Book and Reading Culture (2012), read through a life history lens, makes meaning of the lived experiences of South Africans—particularly during the time of the struggle against Apartheid, which is the focus of this essay. Relying on the life history approach to the recounting and exploration of South African history through the library, book, and reading culture of South Africans, I trace the complex and multi-layered experience of South Africa and its peoples as reported in The Hidden History. Interwoven with my own experiences with libraries, books, reading, and writing, I unveil the significant making of meaning in Dick’s enterprise. As demanded by Dick, I confirm in this essay that South African liberation history must indeed include the roles played by librarians, books, and the experiences of ordinary South Africans in order to provide a fuller appreciation of the various influences and understanding of South Africa’s past.

Christian-nationalism as the core of Afrikaner identity and ideology was introduced by Dopper intellectuals. It was used by them as early as the late 19th century. The two components of this concept were, in fact, an oxymoron. Christianity represents universal values, whereas nationalism focuses on the particular identity and interests of a particular group, the nation. Consequently, there was a built-in tension in this identity and ideological construct. For Dopper intellectuals, the Christian was clearly paramount. Nationalism had to be submitted to God’s universal moral values.

Some church historians are of the opinion that the Cottesloe Consultation of 1960 rejected apartheid and, by doing so, paved the way for the General Synods of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) of 1986 and 1990 with their documents, ‘Church and Society’, to do the same. This article investigates this statement. In its final declaration, Cottesloe made room for representatives of the DRC who believed that a policy of differentiation in South Africa can achieve justice. However, Cottesloe and these representatives also critised some aspects of the implementation of apartheid in South Africa in 1960. According to delegates of the DRC, they wanted to warn the supporters of apartheid: there is a danger that apartheid will not reach its goals. ‘Church and Society’ (1986 and 1990) rejected the concrete policy of the apartheid of its time as a whole. It defined the practical apartheid it rejects. In 1982, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches suspended the DRC as a member because of its theological and moral justification of apartheid. It also declared a status confessionis as the level on which it rejects this theological justification. The documents, ‘Church and Society’, were not acceptable to the Alliance as a token that the DRC rejects apartheid unconditionally and completely. The General Assembly of the Alliance of 1997 defined the apartheid, which it rejects. After the General Synod of the DRC of 1998 accepted this definition, the DRC was accepted again as a full member of the Alliance.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer never visited South Africa, and he probably did not know a great deal about the country. But the relevance of the German theologian for South Africa was never in doubt. In the struggle against apartheid his message and his theology served to guide theologians, church leaders as well as lay Christians alike. His life and his death served to inspire many during their darkest hours. Theologians, with John de Gruchy in the lead, studied his works extensively. Heroes from the struggle against apartheid, Beyers Naud�, Desmond Tutu and Steve Biko, among others, were hailed as latter-day Bonhoeffers. Nelson Mandela�s famous �Speech from the dock� before his conviction and imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial was compared to Bonhoeffer�s essay on The structure of responsible life (1995). At ecumenical gatherings, his name and his teachings were often invoked, whenever protest was lodged against the injustices of apartheid. But it was especially in the aftermath of apartheid, when the very serious challenges of reconciliation and nation building, of healing and forgiveness, as well as of amnesty for perpetrators weighed against the demands of justice to the victims were at stake, that many turned to Bonhoeffer for guidance. The author who served with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the TRC, discusses the prerequisites for reconciliation in South Africa against the backdrop of the TRC experience, emphasising the real need for South Africans, following in the footsteps of Bonhoeffer, to look for �costly reconciliation�.

The article gives a brief origin of the three classical Pentecostal denominations in South Africa, namely the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Full Gospel Church of God, and the Assemblies of God. The aim is to demonstrate the Pentecostals’ docility in the socio-political space in South Africa due to their church governance, structures and polity designed along racial lines. The main question is: Has the wheel in these churches turned around since 1994 after the dawn of democracy in South Africa? The conclusion suggests that these churches should demonstrate intrinsic reformation by continuing with proclamation and participation activities to demonstrate their alignment with the new democratic dispensation. A brief summary is given of these churches’ current activities in answer to the main question.

This article traces both the centrality and fragility of the figure of the heterosexual white male to the moral and ideological core of the apartheid regime. Through a comparative reading of Zakes Mda's The Madonna of Excelsior (2002) and Gerald Kraak's Ice in the Lungs (2006), the article examines how apartheid's Immorality Act functioned as the legislative mechanism to produce and police heteronormative whiteness. The randomness and unpredictability of sexual desire in both historical novels expose the tenuousness of this idealised heteronormative whiteness that lay at the centre of the apartheid project. Situated within the moral panic and political turmoil of the 1970s, the novels identify sex as a powerful lens through which to read the history of apartheid. While Mda's satirical novel focuses on transgressive interracial sexual desire, Kraak's realist text explores same-sex desire and intimacy. My reading of the two novels engages with the political history of apartheid's sexual policing and insists on the inextricable entanglement of its heteronormative and racial supremacist provisions. The traditional ideological centrality of the vulnerable white woman is displaced in the novels by white men whose transgressive sexual desires for black women (in Mda's novel) and other white men (in Kraak's) refuse the certainty and naturalness of heteronormative whiteness.

The lacuna around race in (white) Christian theological anthropology has often been pointed out. The canon of academic systematic theology seldom reflects on the implication of modern race and racism for our theological anthropologies and, therefore, fails to provide adequate resources for dealing with one of the most fundamental problems of modern theological anthropology � that the modern human was conceived through a white racial lens. Black theology, in its various streams, has responded with a theological anthropology that consciously disrupted a modern anthropology which thought of �man� as white (and male). This article analyses the sustained work around theological anthropology of South African Black Theologian Simon Maimela. Maimela over a number of years attempted to articulate the theological problem of white anthropology, or the anthropological problem of white theology, in South Africa. Two dominant pillars are identified in Maimela�s theological anthropology and these are connected to the influence of Black theology and African theology on his work, and his attempt at drawing these traditions together. Maimela�s theological critique on whiteness will be discussed and key contemporary implications noted.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: While the article is most explicitly situated in the discipline of systematic theology, it challenges dominant narratives on what the theological problem with apartheid was, which also has implications for the broader fields of whiteness studies and critical race studies in South Africa.

An ethics of reading the Bible and a hermeneutics of vulnerability On the basis of Van der Walt’s (2008) proposal regarding an approach towards Scripture, the author proposes a hermeneutics of vulnerability that aims to facilitate a Bible reading process “with” people and no longer “for” people. Such a hermeneutic will enable the Bible reader to take into account the effect a particular explanation of Scripture will have on people for which he or she need to take responsibility. In the ensuing discussion, firstly, the author looks at the way people are being made destitute by a particular reading of the Bible, and secondly, discusses how a hermeneutic of vulnerability reveals such a vulnerableness.

The Confession of Belhar and ecumenism against the backdrop of the Three Forms of Unity This article focuses on the Confession of Belhar and in- vestigates from an ecclesiastical and theological perspective the question whether this confession should be accepted and added as a fourth confession to the existing Three Forms of Unity. The following aspects are addressed: the origin and content of the Confession of Belhar, the ecclesiastical and theological reaction within the family of Dutch Reformed Churches as well as in the reformed ecumenical world. A critical analysis of the content is made and evaluated, and in con- clusion attention is given to a few options with regard to the place of the Confession of Belhar in the reformed ecumenical world in the future. A comparison between the Three Forms of Unity and the Confession of Belhar shows a definite difference in quality. The Confession of Belhar is not of a similar standard with regard to the theological and doctrinal content and structure of the Three Forms of Unity, and does not add quality or neglected faith-related value to these existing creeds.

The institution of traditional leadership represents the early form of societal organisation. It embodies the preservation of culture, traditions, customs and values. This paper gives a brief exposition of the impact that the pre-colonial and colonial regimes had on the institution of traditional leadership. During the pre-colonial era, the institution of traditional leadership was a political and administrative centre of governance for traditional communities. The institution of traditional leadership was the form of government with the highest authority. The leadership monopoly of traditional leaders changed when the colonial authorities and rulers introduced their authority to the landscape of traditional governance.The introduction of apartheid legalised and institutionalised racial discrimination. As a result, the apartheid government created Bantustans based on the language and culture of a particular ethnic group. This paper asserts that the traditional authorities in the Bantustans of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei seemed to be used by the apartheid regime and were no longer accountable to their communities but to the apartheid regime. The Bantustans’ governments passed various pieces of legislation to control the institution of traditional leadership, exercised control over traditional leaders and allowed them minimal independence in their traditional role. The pattern of the disintegration of traditional leadership seemed to differ in Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei. The governments of these Bantustans used different political, constitutional and legal practices and methods to achieve this disintegration. The gradual disintegration and dislocation of the institution of traditional leadership in these four Bantustans led to the loss of valuable knowledge of the essence and relevance of the institution of traditional leadership. One of the reasons for this anomaly emanated from the fact that undemocratic structures of government were established, commonly known as traditional authorities. More often than not these traditional institutions were mere puppet institutions operating on behalf of the Bantustan regime, granted token or limited authority within the Bantustan in order to extend the control of the Bantustan government and to curb possible anti-apartheid and anti-Bantustan-system revolutionary activity within traditional areas. The advent of the post-apartheid government marked the demise of apartheid and the Bantustan system for traditional leaders and the beginning of a new struggle for the freedom of the traditional authorities. This paper highlights changes brought about by the new constitutional dispensation in the institution of traditional leadership. The author demonstrates that the primary objective of the democratic government of South Africa in this regard is to transform the institution of traditional leadership and re-create the institution completely in line with the values and principles of the 1996 Constitution and democracy. The post-apartheid order rejects the old order as far as it is sexist, racist, authoritarian and unequal in its treatment of persons. All of the rules, principles and doctrines of the institution of traditional leadership apply in the new dispensation only in so far as they are rules, principles and doctrines that would survive the scrutiny of the present society when measured against their compliance with the requirements of human dignity, equality and freedom. The government has enacted democratic legislation intended to change the institution of traditional leadership and make it consistent with the 1996 Constitution. The institution of traditional leadership is obliged to ensure full compliance with the constitutional values and other relevant national and provincial legislation. The right to equality, including the prohibition of discrimination based on gender and sex, has an important impact on the institution of traditional leadership. For example, under the new constitutional dispensation women may become traditional leaders in their traditional communities, which is contrary to the old and long observed African customary rule of male intestate succession, which excluded women from succession to the position of traditional leadership. One of the remarkable features of the transformation of traditional leadership in South Africa is that gender equality has been progressively advanced. The inclusion of women in traditional government structures adds democratic value and credibility to the institution of traditional leadership, which for many years remained essentially male-dominated. The doctrine of transformative constitutionalism is well established in South Africa.

Koos Vorster had a productive career as theologian and published on a wide variety of subjects. However, he will especially be remembered for his contribution to political and social ethics. This article discussed his theological politico-ethical thinking. Firstly, this article examined his epistemology, with special reference to his revelational-historical approach, his hermeneutics, preference of deontological ethics and his renouncement of ethical absolutism, which characterises fundamentalist approaches to ethics. Secondly, it examined his views on Apartheid and the ‘struggle’ in the 1970s and 1980s. Vorster renounced Apartheid and pleaded for non-violent change brought about by an evangelical change of hearts and attitude that had to be accompanied with real efforts to address poverty and unjust structures. Finally, the article discussed his views on human dignity, human rights and relations between the state and religion, as well as his views on society and economics. ‘n Inleiding tot die teologiese, politieke en etiese denke van Koos Vorster. Koos Vorster het ‘n besonderse produktiewe en vrugbare akademiese loopbaan gehad en oor ‘n verskeidenheid van onderwerpe gepubliseer. Hy sal egter veral onthou word vir sy bydrae tot politieke en sosiale etiek. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die teologies-polities etiese denke van Koos Vorster. Die eerste deel bespreek sy epistemologiese uitgangspunte, waaronder sy omvattende openbarings-historiese benadering, sy hermeneutiek, voorliefde vir ‘n deontologiese etiek, en sy afwysing van etiese absolutisme soos veral vergestalt in fundamentalistiese benaderings tot die etiek. Die tweede deel bespreek sy houding teenoor Apartheid en die ‘struggle’ in die 1970s en 1980s. Vorster het die vergrype van Apartheid geïdentifiseer en aangespreek, maar terselfdertyd geweldadige verset verwerp, en ‘n evangeliese verandering van gesindhede bepleit wat gepaard gaan met die opheffing van onderdrukte gemeenskappe en ontbinding van onregverdige strukture. Die laaste deel van die artikel bespreek Vorster se sienings oor menswaardigheid, menseregte, die verhouding tussen kerk en godsdiens, asook sy siening oor die samelewing en die ekonomie.

Dr Beyers Naud�s ministry to the victims of apartheid between 1960�1994 was of missionary significance. His mission challenged the conservative or stereotype mission approaches of the church which were in line with the thinking of Edinburgh 1910. Dr Beyers Naud� in contrast, applied the spirit of Tambaram 1938 supporting what Saayman termed a �comprehensive ministry�. His ministry challenged the mission of the church in post-apartheid South Africa during which the prophetic voice of the church has diminished and Ministers of Religion who were vocal against government injustices during Beyers Naud�s ministry are supporting the current post-apartheid South African government.

Black South African theologians created South African Black theology during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a conscious and theological dimension of the liberation struggle against apartheid. They drew inspiration from African-American theology, biblical hermeneutics and the raw material of their own experiences and suffering, whilst simultaneously creating a new theological paradigm and political orientation to liberate Black South Africans from apartheid and European domination. Inevitably, South African Black theology was a liberation theology aimed at helping to eradicate the existing socio-political order. This article gave a missiological overview of Black theology and examined and assessed the relevance of this theology to contemporary post-apartheid South Africa. The critical-theological research method was used.