Download or read book Reformed Churches in South Africa and the Struggle for Justice written by Marry-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The various contributions in this informative and exciting volume explore the ambivalent and complex history of Reformed faith during the years 1960 to 1990 in apartheid South Africa. In the process light is shed on the role of Reformed churches in the struggle for justice, freedom and dignity. Parameters are simultaneously provided for defining the public role of Reformed faith in contemporary South Africa in the context of Africanisation and globalisation ...ÿ Prof. Nico Koopman, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University
Download or read book Reforming Memory written by Robert Vosloo and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Protestants written by Alec Ryrie and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the 500th anniversary of Luther’s theses, a landmark history of the revolutionary faith that shaped the modern world. "Ryrie writes that his aim 'is to persuade you that we cannot understand the modern age without understanding the dynamic history of Protestant Christianity.' To which I reply: Mission accomplished." –Jon Meacham, author of American Lion and Thomas Jefferson Five hundred years ago a stubborn German monk challenged the Pope with a radical vision of what Christianity could be. The revolution he set in motion toppled governments, upended social norms and transformed millions of people's understanding of their relationship with God. In this dazzling history, Alec Ryrie makes the case that we owe many of the rights and freedoms we have cause to take for granted--from free speech to limited government--to our Protestant roots. Fired up by their faith, Protestants have embarked on courageous journeys into the unknown like many rebels and refugees who made their way to our shores. Protestants created America and defined its special brand of entrepreneurial diligence. Some turned to their bibles to justify bold acts of political opposition, others to spurn orthodoxies and insight on their God-given rights. Above all Protestants have fought for their beliefs, establishing a tradition of principled opposition and civil disobedience that is as alive today as it was 500 years ago. In this engrossing and magisterial work, Alec Ryrie makes the case that whether or not you are yourself a Protestant, you live in a world shaped by Protestants.
Download or read book Transforming Encounters and Critical Reflection African Thought Critical Theory and Liberation Theology in Dialogue written by Justin Sands and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2018-12-04 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Transforming Encounters and Critical Reflection: African Thought, Critical Theory, and Liberation Theology in Dialogue" that was published in Religions
Download or read book Black and Reformed written by Allan Aubrey Boesak and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays represent a forceful, relentless engagement with the political, social, economic, and theological pillars upon which South African apartheid rested. In the renewed struggles against global apartheid, Boesak's writings, in their theological grounding and with their social and political challenge, come across as alive, relevant, and powerful as they were in the struggle against South African apartheid, offering valuable insights and lessons for ongoing justice struggles today.
Download or read book Reconciliation as a Controversial Symbol written by Demaine J. Solomons and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-31 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reconciliation is never simple and straightforward; it is often tied to ideological conflict, resulting in very different understandings of what this noble Christian ideal is all about. In this important study, Dr. Demaine Solomons provides a thorough conceptual analysis of the term “reconciliation” within the context of Christian discourse in South Africa. Analysing literature from the 1960s onwards, particularly in theological reflections on social conflict within the country, the author explores the diverse interpretations of reconciliation. Drawing on the Christus Victor typology of atonement by Gustaf Aulén, this study facilitates ongoing theological reflection by offering a constructive reinterpretation of reconciliation in contemporary South Africa. By exploring creative uses of the reconciliation concept, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of its application in Christian contexts, offering a more complete version of how South Africa’s reconciliation “narrative” is understood and providing insight into how this theological concept might be understood in other social contexts.
Download or read book Belhar Confession written by Mary-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2017-12-12 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "e;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."e; - Prof. Rothney Tshaka (University of South Africa)
Download or read book Faith Race and Inequality amongst Young Adults in South Africa written by Nadine Bowers Du Toit and published by African Sun Media. This book was released on 2022-07-04 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Racial Integration in the Church of Apartheid written by Marthe Hesselmans and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Racial Integration in the Church of Apartheid relates the struggle of South Africa’s Reformed churches to overcome their apartheid past and merge into one multiracial church. It uncovers the potential of faith communities and their limits in untangling religious-nationalist affiliations.
Download or read book Churches in the mirror written by Kobus Schoeman and published by UJ Press. This book was released on 2020-01-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecclesiology is the study of the church and has two focal points; the one is the historical and doctrinal perspective on the church, and the other is the church as situated in a local context in the sense of the local practices of actual congregations. The ecclesiology or, more correctly, the ecclesiologies of this volume mainly focuses on the second aspect, i.e., understanding the local congregation or parish as a community of believers. A congregation may firstly be described by posing a theological question: What is the local missional church or congregation all about? This question may be answered from different perspectives, but it remains essential to answer it from a theological perspective. The first five chapters in this book focus mainly on a theological understanding of the congregation. This is done from different disciplines within the study field of theology. Congregations are, secondly, social realities and should be described and analysed through an analytical or empirical lens, or, to answer the question attached to the first empirical-descriptive task of practical theology, “What is going on?”. The remaining chapters use a quantitative and qualitative lens and give an empirical analysis of the congregation. The intention is to critically reflect on the church and congregations’ ecclesiology from a theological and analytical perspective with an emphasis on the South African context. It wants to map markers for the development of contemporary ecclesiologies, and the different chapters are meant as mirrors to look in and reflect on the theological and contextual relevance of denominations and congregations in South Africa.
Download or read book Freedom of Religion at Stake written by Dion A. Forster and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-11-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can freedom of religion protect the dignity of every human being and safeguard the well-being of creation? This question arises when considering the competing claims among faith traditions, states, and persons. Freedom of religion or belief is a basic human right, and yet it is sometimes used to undermine other human rights. This volume seeks to unpack and wrestle with some of these challenges. In order to do so scholars were invited from different contexts in Africa and Europe to write about freedom of religion from various angles. How should faith traditions in a minority position be protected against majority claims and what is the responsibility of the religious communities in this task? When does the state risk overstepping its boundaries in the delicate balance between freedom of religion and other human rights? How can new voices, who claim their human rights in relation to gender roles, reproductive rights, and as sexual minorities, be heard within their faith traditions? These are some of the questions that are raised by the authors. This is a book for all who are engaged in faith communities, leaders as well as people trying to be recognized. It is also important reading for all interested in international legal frameworks for freedom of religion, state advisers, and human right defenders.
Download or read book Remembering Theologians Doing Theology written by Dirkie Smit and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ?Theology for me has always been about friendship ? whether with students, postgraduate students, colleagues, ministers, ecumenical believers from different traditions, theologians from abroad, or simply books and publications, articles and sources ... This volume is a witness to some of these friends and some of these conversation partners, dead and alive, near and far, like-minded or from totally different backgrounds and persuasions, I have met over several decades and with whom I have been privileged to engage, doing theology.? Dirk J. Smit
Download or read book A Long Struggle written by Pauline Webb and published by World Council of Churches. This book was released on 1994 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long Struggle - The Involvement of the World Council of Churches in South Africa
Download or read book The Church Struggle in South Africa written by John W. De Gruchy and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No more heartrending yet hopeful case study in Christian ethics exists than in the story of South African apartheid and its recent decisive transformation. John de Gruchy's authoritative and newly updated account of Christian complicity with and then resistance to one of the world's most notoriously repressive regimes holds indispensable lessons and "dangerous memories" for all concerned about evil, justice, and racial reconciliation.
Download or read book Revolution Or Reconciliation written by Rachel Tingle and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ecumenical Movement written by Michael Kinnamon and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1996-12-31 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Included in this collection of documents from the twentieth-century ecumenical movement are passages from texts produced by assemblies, conferences, and studies of the World Council of Churches and similar bodies, covering three areas of historical concern within modern ecumenism: faith and order, life and work, and mission and evangelism.
Download or read book Sowing in Tears written by John Lamola and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2021-07-16 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historicist interpretation of how the Christian religion, whose theology had notoriously been used to foster coloniality and explicitly nurture apartheid philosophy, had transformed itself into an intellectual force and an organisational bulwark of the struggle for freedom in South Africa. This is presented through documents and statements of the ecumenical movement which attest to the development of successive theological positions that were being arraigned against the apartheid regime. The reflection covers the period from the year 1960, which signaled the beginning of an identifiable Christian tradition of protest against political oppression and repression in South Africa, that is, from the Cottesloe Conference following the Sharpeville Massacre, to the 'Standing for the Truth Campaign' on the eve of FW De klerk's February 2 1990 Speech in Parliament. The gallant resistance of the people and the churches of South Africa is presented here as both a living record of the tumultuous past, and an inspiration for new local and global struggles.
