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Finding the academic self: Identity development of academics as doctoral students
Get PDFInternationally and in South Africa there is great pressure on academics to obtain doctoral qualifications. A doctorate helps to facilitate full membership of academic communities and develop academic identities. Thus, this article investigates the identity development of academics who have been enrolled for their doctoral degrees for a few years. The article is written from a postmodern perspective. The situated learning theory and symbolic interactionism were used as conceptual frameworks. By means of a narrative enquiry research approach eight interviews were conducted. Thereafter, three narratives were selected for follow-up research with the participants. From the findings, three major themes emerged with implications for universities and for postgraduate supervision. These themes are: (1) socialisation into the language and values of a stable disciplinary and/or institutional community of practice; (2) internal–external dialectic of identification (self-definition and definition of oneself offered by others) to find meaning and build self-esteem, and (3) role-taking and role-conflict
Calvin’s view on the book of the Acts of the Apostles
Get PDFHow does John Calvin view the book of the Acts of the Apostles? What does he see as the benefit of this book for the church of his time? Is he, like so many today, of the opinion that the book of Acts is primarily about the work of the Holy Spirit? Calvin preached and commented on the book of Acts from 1549 to 1554. His commentary is preceded by an Argumentum as well as a number of dedicatory letters (accompanying the respective editions). In these introductory documents Calvin gives the reader insight into his view on the benefit and the theme of Acts. He describes the benefit of the book of Acts primarily from a Christological perspective: the book of Acts paints a picture of the effect that Christ’s death and resurrection had after he ascended into heaven. This benefit takes its most visible form in the theme of Acts, which Calvin subsequently identifies: the beginning of the church. The theme of the book of Acts is therefore defined from an ecclesiological perspective. This article demonstrates the value of studying not only Calvin’s commentaries themselves, but also the introductory documents that accompanied them. In this way, a clear picture of Calvin’s view on the book of Acts is painted
Die voorsienigheidsleer van Calvyn: Uit sy debatte
Get PDFCalvyn se leer van God se voorsienigheid is ongetwyfeld een van die mees kontroversiële onderwerpe van sy teologie. Dit word duidelik in al die debatte waarin Calvyn sy leer oor die voorsienigheid moes verdedig, byvoorbeeld teen Pighius, Bolsec, Bullinger en Castellio. Vyfhonderd jaar later word Calvyn weer in die openbaar oor sy voorsienigheidsleer aangeval deur ’n Suid-Afrikaanse teoloog, Adrio König. Calvyn se antwoord op Castellio in Die verborge voorsienigheid van God is duidelik nie deur König in ag geneem nie. In Calvyn se verdediging van sy voorsienigheidsleer verwerp hy nooit die soewereiniteit van God nie, maar gee ook nie vir God die skuld vir die kwaad nie – ’n beskuldiging wat Castellio en König teen Calvyn inbring. Die troos van God se voorsienigheid lê vir Calvyn juis daarin dat God alle dinge, ook teenspoed en verdrukking, deur sy verborge voorsienigheid beskik met die doel om sy kinders nader na Hom te lei.Calvin’s teaching on providence: From his debates. Calvin’s teaching on God’s providence is without doubt one of the most controversial subjects in his theology. This is clear in all the debates in which Calvin had to defend his teaching on providence, against, for example, Pighius, Bolsec, Bullinger and Castellio. Five hundred years later Calvin has again been publicly attacked on his teaching on providence by a South African theologian, Adrio König. König, however, did not consider Calvin’s response to Castellio in The secret providence of God. In Calvin’s defence of his teaching on providence he in no circumstances denies the sovereignty of God, but also does not give God the blame for any ills that might result – an accusation that Castellio and König levied against him. For Calvin, the consolation of God’s providence rests in the fact that God ordains all things, including adversity and affliction, through his secret providence for the purpose of leading his children closer to him
Die implikasies van ’n konsekwent probleem-historiese metode van wysgerige historiografie vir geslagtelike verskille en verhoudings
Get PDFThe implications of a consistent problem-historical method of philosophical historiography for gender distinctions and relations. Reconnoitring the possible implications of the consistent problem-historical method of Dirk H.Th. Vollenhoven (1892–1978) to attain more clarity on the issue of gender and gender relations is the main aim of this investigation. In passing, it also indicates how the results obtained by this Christian philosopher’s careful analysis of Western ontologies and anthropologies may alleviate the deficiencies in the otherwise ground-breaking study of sister Prudence Allen. Allen’s study was discussed in a previous article in this journal. The introductory section explains how Vollenhoven himself viewed the difference and relation between God, his laws and his creation. The next section discusses the main contours of his historiography of philosophy, viz. his division of the history of philosophy intothree main periods (pre-synthetic, synthetic and anti-synthetic), a diversity of normative time-currents and three basic cosmological problems (consistency versus change, unity versus diversity and universal versus individual). From the great number of anthropologies, the third section selects a few examples to illustrate their possible implications for the problems related to sexuality and gender. The conclusion tries to pinpoint Vollenhoven’s own anthropology in order to ascertain why he, in spite of his thorough and profound exposure of the ontological and anthropological foundations of Western thinking, did not more explicitly express himself about their implications for gender issues
Entering through the narrow gate and walking the hard road: The role of Christian leaders in exposing moral evil in the South African workplace
Get PDFThe South African workplace is a complex one; it is influenced by our conflict-ridden past and it needs to meet a host of contemporary challenges. This article discusses the nature and outworking of moral evil in the workplace with reference to the local government sector. It is argued that in counteracting incompetence, a lack of responsibility, injustice towards honest staff, narrow group solidarity and the abusive exercise of executive authority, Christian leaders can legitimately and constructively engage in the public space. In order to do so, they need to deepen their relationship with God,develop moral discernment, and grow in their ability to act responsibly in the cause of human solidarity
Called to work: A descriptive analysis of Call42’s research on faith and work in South Africa
Get PDFVery 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
Systematic considerations within the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea
Get PDFStafleu has distinguished himself with ground-breaking work on the theoretical foundations of physics. Subsequently he has broadened his scope and entered the field of general philosophy – including reflections on artefacts and technology. In his assessment of what I have done in my 2009 work on Philosophy: Discipline of the disciplines he raises a number of issues to which I respond in what follows below. In some instances it appears that we opt for different designations of the same states of affairs, but different understandings do surface in some other cases. Stafleu’s objection to the expression ‘sphere sovereignty’ because ‘no modal aspect is ruled by a sovereign’ reveals a misunderstanding of metaphorical language, which prompts a brief discussion of analogies and metaphors. The complicated challenge to find an appropriate designation of the core meaning of the physical aspect receives some attention as well as the distinction between modal laws and type laws. The nature of the transcendental–empirical method is briefly highlighted. In the past it has prompted me to pay attention to the meaning of both the social and the cultural–historical aspects of reality and to consider some implications for the nature of technology and tools. Stafleu does advance a new and insightful discussion of particular human skills characterised by different modal aspects
Modern slavery in the post-1994 South Africa? A critical ethical analysis of the National Development Plan promises for unemployment in South Africa
Get PDFIn African ethics, work is not work if it is not related to God or gods. Work, or umsebenzi, is for God or gods ultimately; work without God is the definition of slavery in my interpretation of the African ethical value system. If one succeeds from that understanding to define what slavery is, then God-lessness in work might imply the need for us to search for the gods of modernity post-1994 that have dethroned God, if they have not disentangled work from God. This article looks at the problem of unemployment by analysing the National Development Plan (NDP) and in particular the solutions proposed in relation to unemployment in South Africa. The article examines the language and grammar of the NDP to evaluate its response to the violent history of cheap, docile and migratory labour in South Africa
The death of a leader: Calvin commenting on Joshua in the last year of his life (1563)
Get PDFIn the early modern period the testament, death, burial and funeral orations of public figures were often registered carefully. Such accounts told the story of the esteem in which the leaders were held, as the example of Martin Luther shows. While the account of John Calvin’s demise seems simpler, in his case the story of his dying days is focused on his farewell addresses. The surviving manuscripts of Calvin’s contributions to the Bible study of Joshua in 1563–1564 testify to his awareness of his mortality. How did he, their moderator, address the Company of Pastors in the course of their treatment of the book of Joshua in the weekly congrégations during the last year of his life? Both the end of the Pentateuch Harmony and the Joshua commentary cover farewell speeches of Israel’s leaders. Did Calvin compare the Old Testament prophets and leaders with the preachers of Geneva? The academic discussion of Calvin’s perception of himself as a prophet is taken up in the discussion of his self-awareness in the last year of collegial exposition of the Bible
John Calvin and the ‘accursed idolatry’ of the papal mass
Get PDFThis article comprises a comparison of article 16 of the Genevan Confession (1536), certainextracts of ‘A small tract on Holy Communion (1541)’ and a letter to Madame the Duchess ofFerrara (1541), with question 801 of the Heidelberg Catechism (HC80)