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Fear is a global phenomenon that impacts individuals, institutions, and nations. Fear is associated with the experience of some form of threat, for example, the fear of a specific enemy. The increase in socio-political uprisings in many contexts around the world is contributing towards an environment of violence, insecurity, and fear. Such situations, challenge preachers to preach in ways that the Christian tradition characterises as “prophetic preaching”. This article argues that, in instances of institutionally induced fear, letter writing could serve as a powerful and effective means of public theological engagement. The authors employ an advocacy research paradigm to critically engage Allan Aubrey Boesak’s open letter to Alwyn Louis Schlebusch entitled, “A Letter to the South African Minister of Justice.” This letter was written in 1979 as South Africa was entering one of the darkest periods of the apartheid state’s brutality against its citizens. This article discusses the socio-ecclesiastical motivation(s) that underpin Boesak’s courageous and public proclamation of Christian theological truth, in a “prophetic mode”, in spite of the fear that characterised South Africa during that period of its history. Furthermore, we argue that this letter can be characterised as a form of public theological engagement. This paper offers a novel perspective on letter writing, amid threat and fear, as a form or prophetic preaching public theological engagement.

Despite the demise of apartheid, economic inequality remains racially skewed in South Africa. For young people born either shortly before or after 1994, the official demise of apartheid—termed “born frees”—we must ask whether they are indeed “free” of the social and economic constraints of the past. How does ongoing inequality color notions of reconciliation and restitution twenty-five years later? This article focuses on the context of Christian young adults living in Stellenbosch, one of the most unequal towns in South Africa. We explore their lived experiences and theologizing on these issues arising from empirical research in Stellenbosch.

Forgiveness tends to be more relatable to theology, while politics seems to have very little to do with belief. Within Christian theology there are many wonderful resources to inform such a concept of “joining.” Jurgen Moltmann’s theological concept of “homemaking” is apt in this context. First, Moltmann brings together social identity and politics in his understanding of the social trinity. Second, Moltmann employs spatial metaphors as a foundation for expressing divine hospitality among the persons of the trinity. This chapter shows that the politics of forgiveness, as an aspect of homemaking in South Africa, touches upon the linguistic and the ontological aspects of translation. The reality of unhomeliness is a political reality — it requires both structural and emotional engagement, what John de Gruchy has named a “political forgiveness.” Bhabha contends that in situations of “unhomeliness” there is a strong desire for authentic identity, that sense of being at home and feeling at home that he describes as a “homecoming”.

This article engages the work of one of South Africa’s foremost scholars in religion and law—the late Prof. Mary-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel. Towards the end of her life, Plaatjies-Van Huffel published a number of important articles on themes related to religion and law. In this article we shall trace the biographical and academic antecedents to these later works. The article shows how her dedication to justice, peace and integrity (to borrow a phrase from the World Council of Churches) developed through particular methodological and theological commitments. The article concludes by offering some tentative insights into where her work may have gone, had she lived to follow the same trajectory of a post-structuralist historiographic engagement with power to deconstruct gender abuse, safeguard minority rights, and cultivate inter-religious cooperation.

This article studies the complexity of understandings of forgiveness among a sample of Black and White South Africans within the context of an empirical intercultural Bible reading process. We will first focus on the foundation upon which the study is predicated—namely that the social imagination of forgiveness is deeply contested among South Africans. Next, we will discuss the approach that the study took to gather the necessary data, and analyse the theological views of forgiveness among the participants in the study. Finally, we shall discuss some of the primary findings of the study. These show that social identity plays a significant role in shaping theological hermeneutics. Black and White participants hold diverse, and even conflicting, expressions and expectations for forgiveness. These are characterised as predominantly social and political for the Black participants, and predominantly individual and spiritual for the White participants.

This article presents an analysis of some contemporary trends and developments in evangelical theologies and movements. This is of importance to members of Christian groups, Christian leaders and academics, since we have seen how forms of evangelicalism have shifted political realities, split historical denominations and altered global perspectives on Christianities. The article argues that contemporary trends and developments in evangelical theologies are mediated in relation to shifts in, and challenges to, social identity construction and the social location of evangelicals. This claim is illustrated by explicating some more notable examples of how evangelical theologies, and evangelical identities, operate in contemporary public life. It is shown that evangelical theologies have developed in relation to changes in views on gender identities, political identities, multiculturalism and religious diversity. These are relatable, in some ways, to the effects of globalization and the proliferation of social media. The article concludes with a discussion of two possible outcomes for evangelical theologies and evangelicalism.

This article will begin with a discussion of the distinctive ways in which the notion of Christian perfection is understood in Southern African Methodism by reflecting on how Methodists in ...

This chapter argues that a contextual theology can help to address some of the most significant critiques of South African public theologies. It takes the critiques mentioned seriously, and seeks to find a credible way to bridge the divide between the universal claims of Christianity and the particular. The universal and the particular must be held in tension for either to find fuller and truer meaning. A careful reading of Maluleke’s argument shows that he is aware that his privileging of liberation theology in South Africa is meant to be held in tension with other universal theological claims. The “universal” claims of Christianity ultimately function within public life. In short, it can be characterised as a “contextual public theology in South Africa” that maintains the integrity of the universal claims of Christianity, in relation to the contextual uniqueness of history and identity.

CITATION: Forster, D. A. 2020. Towards an (im)possible politics of forgiveness? Considering the complexities of religion, race and politics in South Africa, in Nel, M. J., Forster, D. A. & Thesnaar, C. H. (eds.) 2020. Reconciliation, forgiveness and violence in Africa : biblical, pastoral and ethical perspectives. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480532/04.

CITATION: Nel, M. J., Forster, D. A. & Thesnaar, C. H. (eds.) 2020. Reconciliation, forgiveness and violence in Africa : biblical, pastoral and ethical perspectives. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480532.

Forgiveness is a deeply contested theological notion in contemporary South African theology and society. The same could be said for South African theologies of reconciliation, of which forgiveness is considered to be a part. Some claim that these concepts have been weakened, abused, and corrupted. In particular, there are doubts whether forgiveness holds any theological or social value at present. John de Gruchy has devoted a great deal of time and effort to developing a theologically subtle, and politically robust, understanding of forgiveness that links justice and reconciliation. This article will consider how John de Gruchy’s dialogical theology, which takes account of both the ontological and the structural aspects of forgiveness, facilitates an understanding of political forgiveness that can address some of the critiques of this notion in contemporary South African theologies.

Why would white South Africans want to be forgiven? Is it in order to secure their future, or to escape from their past? Why is it that some black South Africans find forgiveness to be impossible in the current social and political reality? Forgiveness, as a theological and social discourse in South Africa, is deeply contested. This research shows that black and white South Africans understand notions, and processes of forgiveness in very different ways. This is a significant problem that is compounded by the legacy of ongoing structural injustice as a result of Apartheid. Un-reconciled persons in South Africa seldom have contact with each other since the apartheid system separated persons racially, according to economic class and geographically. In at least one sense this makes a shared understanding of, and approach to, forgiveness impossible. To some extent, South Africans do not truly encounter one another in meaningful engagement, or in spaces of shared meaning. In other words, there is both a hermeneutic and a social barrier to forgiveness in South Africa. Paul Ricoeur’s notion of translation can help to engage the complexities that exist in language and the very nature of the difference between the self and the other in what is termed a “politics of forgiveness”.

In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in discourses of secular and Christian humanism. This interest engages the question of what it means to be truly human, and what the implications of true humanity are for individuals and society. The genesis of theological and secular humanisms stems from the Eastern Orthodox doctrine of theosis—God in Christ becomes human so that human persons may become more truly like the God whose image and likeness they bear. John Wesley was deeply influenced by Eastern Orthodox theologians. Without grasping this hermeneutic position, one cannot understand either the content or intent of John Wesley’s theology adequately. This paper expounds this aspect of Wesley’s theology by means of a historical theological exploration of the influences of Eastern Orthodoxy in Wesleyan soteriology. It is argued that when Wesley’s theology is understood as a hybrid of Eastern and Western theological influences and approaches, Christian perfection in the ordo salutis (order of salvation) supersedes the traditional Protestant emphasis on justification. In particular, this approach holds promise for making a unique and valuable contribution to contemporary discourses around Christian humanism.

This article presents a novel Biblical ethical hermeneutic approach that emerges from an understanding of the presence of the kingdom of God in the Biblical text. The approach is predicated upon the use of speech act theory (abbreviated as SAT) in relation to ‘kingdom language’ in the Biblical text. The approach shows how the notion of kingdom language, as God’s divine activity, is elicited in the contemporary Christian’s life by allowing it to operate beyond the world of the Biblical text. In other words, this approach establishes a Biblical-ethical hermeneutic bridge be-tween the text (and its context) and the context of contemporary readers of the text. The alternative linguistic epistemology in SAT considers the principle of the kingdom of God in the past (locution level), the present (illocutionary level) and the future (perlocutionary level). The dynamic equivalences of the past, present and future of the kingdom of God based on an SAT approach to the Biblical text can inform Christian ethical theory and moral action in the present world. It can also provide a new moral sensibility in relation to God’s sovereignty and the respon-sibility of Christians in contemporary society.

Some 20 years after the dawn of participative democracy, there is little noticeable or substantial change in the living conditions of the average South African. The country remains divided by race, class and economics. Poverty, inequality and racial enmity remain looming challenges to human flourishing and social transformation. Some have begun to ask whether forgiveness for the sins of colonialism and apartheid are possible. This article engages with the (im)possibility of forgiveness as it is presented in Matthew 18:15-35. In particular, it does so from the bilingual perspective of a public theological engagement with the text and its contemporary readers in South Africa. By reading the text from an integral All Quadrants All Levels (AQAL) approach this article extrapolates a textured understanding of forgiveness that 'possibilises' the (im)possiblity of forgiveness between racially and socially divided groups of readers.

This article considers whether South Africa’s largest mainline Christian denomination, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, is in danger of embodying or propagating a contemporary form of ‘state theology’. The notion of state theology in the South African context gained prominence through the publication of the ‘Kairos Document’ (1985) – which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2015. State theology is deemed inappropriate and harmful to the identity and work of both the Christian church and the nation state. This article presents its consideration of whether the Methodist Church of Southern Africa is in danger of propagating ‘state theology’ in dialogue with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s important document, Theological Position Paper on State and Church. The article offers some insights into the complex relationship between the state and the church in South Africa in the apartheid and democratic eras. It further problematizes the relationship between the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and the governing African National Congress by citing some concerning examples of complicit behaviour from recent history. The MCSA’s polity and doctrine on church and state relationships are also considered before some critique and warning is offered in the light of Bonhoeffer’s Theological Position Paper on State and Church.

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 understanding 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.

Recent research by the Call42 group has shown that South African Christians experience that they are not adequately prepared or equipped for Christian living and discipleship in the world of work – here called the marketplace. This article has argued for the importance of a rediscovery of a theology of work that can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for ministry in the marketplace. The article traces why such a theological deficiency exists in the South African church by considering areas such as an inadequate theology of work and mission, a dualism between faith and work, and an unbalanced emphasis on the role of clergy and a lesser focus on the role of the laity in themissio Dei. Having considered these challenges to the mission and theological identity of the church, the article discusses the three general theological views of the church in South Africa as presented by Smit and adapted by Forster. It considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the marketplace in each of these three forms. The article comes to the conclusion that the church will need to revisit its missional theology, refocuses its efforts on broader society, and empowers and equips its members for ministry in the marketplace in order to be faithful in partnering with God in the missio Dei.Waar is die kerk op Maandag? Ontwaking van die kerk tot die teologie en praktyk vanbediening en sending in die markplein. Onlangse navorsing deur die Call42 groep het bevind dat Suid-Afrikaanse Christene ervaar dat hulle nie voldoende voorbereid en toegerus is vir die Christelike lewe en dissipelskap in die arbeidsmark - hier genoem die markplein – nie. Hierdie artikel poog om aan te toon dat ’n herontdekking van ’n teologie van werk belangrik is ten einde die kerk in die algemeen asook individuele Christene te bemagtig en toe te rus vir die bediening in die markplein. Hierdie artikel poog dus om die kwessie van die sodanige teologiese leemte in die Suid-Afrikaanse kerk na te vors. Terreine soos onvoldoende teologie van werk en sending word ondersoek, ’n dualisme tussen geloof en werk word uitgewys, en daar word aangetoon dat ’n oorspeling van die predikant se rol en ’n onderspeling van gewone kerklidmate se rol die kerk se betrokkenheid by die missio Dei benadeel. Met inagneming van hierdie uitdagings aan sending en die kerk se teologiese identiteit, bespreek die artikel drie algemene teologiese standpunte van die kerk in Suid Afrika, soos deur Smit aangebied en deur Forster aangepas. Die artikel besin hoe die kerk in elk van hierdie drie bestaansvorme ’n agent van sending en transformasie in die markplein kan wees. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die kerk die missionale of sendingteologie moet heroorweeg, opnuut moet fokus op die uitreik na die breër gemeenskap en lidmate vir bediening in die markplein moet bemagtig en toerus. Sodoende sal die kerk getrou wees aan die medewerking met God in die missio Dei.

Very little empirical research has been conducted into faith and work, particularly as it relates to the experience and expectations of Christians in the world of work in South Africa. This article discusses the most recent research of this kind that was conducted by Call42. Call42 conducted an empirical research project on faith, calling, and the world of work between 2011 and 2012. The findings were released to the public after July 2012. Not only is this the most up to date data on this subject at present; the research findings and research process are also worthy of academic consideration. The Call42 research was initiated and commissioned by a group of young Christian professionals (mainly engineers) and as such it brings a perspective on faith and work from within the primary context of the world of work, rather than the theological academy or the church. The findings of the research have implications for the church and its officers (priests, pastors and leaders). It also arrives at some conclusions for Christians in the world of work, students who are contemplating a vocation or career path, and companies and organisations that have an explicit or implicit Christian orientation.

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 value-driven 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.