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Critical prophecy and political leadership in biblical, African and Islamic worldviews
Get PDFThis article examines the socio-political influence of prophecy in traditional African and the biblical perspectives, in order to challenge contemporary African religious men and women to serve as the conscience of society. There is hardly any doubt that political leaders are usually prone to abuse of their positions and they need to be reprimanded and lampooned. A discussion on Islam is included, because, together with Christianity, it dominates, to a large extent, socio-political and economic leadership in Africa. It is the view of many scholars that neither Christianity nor Islam have been applied sufficiently to political leadership in Africa to have an impact on mass socio-political and economic welfare, although some heroic individual exceptions are noted. The materials were gathered through a literature study. The study is comparative in the sense that it compares prophecy in traditional Africa with what is obtained from the Bible and the church as we know it today. The study recommends critical prophecy in the two dominant Old Testament religions, namely Christianity and Islam, and in African Traditional Religion, for improved political leadership and development in Africa
The Spirit and secularisation
Get PDFThe existence of creation, especially of life, depends on the work of the third Person. In keeping with his nature as holy, the Spirit undergirds creation by providing separation and relatedness. This activity is, however, not of such a kind as to remove the measure of freedom that God gave through his selflimitation, and that is necessary for creation to occur. It is possible for individuals and society as a whole to ignore the Spirit, and for secularisation to occur. The action of the Spirit also underlies the new creation, which results in a distinctive society, the church, which is characterised by separation and relatedness. Through the church, the Spirit seeks to influence society as a whole by example without removing its freedom. To maintain the validity of this example, the Spirit also seeks to develop the church as a holy society, specifically counteracting the factors that produce secularisation in society
Connected leadership: Jeremiah 8:18-9:3 – a case study
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to address the matter of connected leadership. The point of departure is a biblical passage from Jeremiah 8:18-9:3. The focus of this article is confined to the aspect of connectedness and related issues. The argument put forward is that the rhetorical nature of texts has the ability to engage many readers over time and generations. Not only did the poetic nature of Jeremiah 8:18-9:3 convey the words once spoken by a prophet, but the rhetoric also conveyed the passion of the prophet and of Yahweh for the wounded and broken people of Judah. Added to that is the fact that within the Christian tradition the belief is that the text will find meaning in new contexts as well. Jeremiah 8:18-9:3 brings to the table an element that leaders – especially religious and Christian leaders – need to take note of. Leaders should answer to a “higher power” and to ethical norms because of connectedness to this ‘‘higher power”. As a leader, Jeremiah identified with his people and their woeful condition. But because of his connectedness to Yahweh, he was willing to confront them and point out their wrongdoings. He was not prepared to sacrifice his beliefs and convictions for the sake of popularity
The changing face of American compassion: ethnicity, religion, and worldview conflicts
Get PDFWhen Barack Obama announced his support for “Faith Based Initiatives” in August 2008 many people were shocked. Others saw it as a political ploy because they regarded the policy as one of the Bush Administration’s more unpopular programmes. In fact, the idea of “Faith Based Initiatives” was first proposed during the Clinton Presidency with support from such liberals as Senator Joe Liebermann. In this article popular misunderstandings of the role of religion in the USA will be discussed to show that the issue is far more complex than the media and a host of critical authors want us to believe and that the attack on “Faith Based Initiatives” has far-reaching implications for the relationship between Christianity and politics in both America and the rest of the world. It also raises issues about ethnicity, religion and the conflict of worldviews
Hermeneia: ’n teologiese gesprek oor hermeneutiese vrae met drie Suid- Afrikaanse teoloë
Get PDFHermeneia: a theological discourse on hermeneutical issues with three South African theologians There is an interdenominational Council among the Afrikaans churches that meets from time to time to discuss topical matters. This article contains a revision of a presentation on hermeneutics given during such a meeting in 2009. In the article some introductory remarks are made on hermeneutics and subsequently the author critically investigates – for the sake of discussion – the hermeneutical models set up by three theologians from three churches. Right through it is apparent what a great role hermeneutics plays in the interpretation of Scripture – and should play. Since it is particularly topical and significant one theme from theology, namely Christology, is subjected to a more thorough investigation. Finally the author proposes some guidelines which in his opinion could contribute to a better understanding of Scripture. The polemic nature of the article has to be understood against the background of the history of its origin
Cultural pathways and pitfalls in South Africa: a reflection on moral agency and leadership from a Christian perspective
Get PDFThe nature and importance of moral agency for the transformation of persons and society, particularly from a Christian perspective, are discussed in this article. The focus is on cultural pathways and pitfalls with respect to the formation and exercise of moral agency on the part of individuals, leaders and communities. The six dimensions of cultural values as developed by Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) are used as a framework to describe and evaluate mainly western and African cultural values in order to identify ways of developing moral responsibility and genuine social transformation
Life- and worldview: development and transformation – the case of the Lamba of the Masaiti region in Zambia
Get PDFThis article reports on a case study regarding the development and educational transformation of a subgroup of the Lamba living in the Masaiti region of the Copper Belt Province of Zambia, where the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education in Zambia (FCE) has been serving for the past thirteen years. It was concluded that the current life- and worldview of a community such as the one living in the Masaiti region can be transformed to a truly Christ-centred life- and worldview by firstly taking cognisance of how the community currently expresses itself in terms of each of the universals or components of a lifeand worldview, and secondly by subjecting each of those universals or components to a process of life- and worldview transformation. It was furthermore found that life- and worldview transformation should be seen as a prerequisite for the developmental transformation of such communities
Een concentratieprobleem bij B.J. van der Walt
Get PDFB.J. van der Walt’s concentration problem This contribution probes the concept of secularism, a key notion of B.J. van der Walt’s “Transforming power” (2007). It is found that Van der Walt’s interpretation of secularism rests on a double assumption. The first assumption is that human nature is intrinsically religious. Humans cannot live without putting their trust in something. The second is that this religious nature manifests itself in “concentrated” ways, rather than dispersing itself over a plurality of objects. These assumptions in tandem explain why Van der Walt holds the view that atheism, agnosticism and even overt indifference in matters of faith are at heart propelled by convictions that share the main features of positive religions. It also explains why he assumes that all these convictions tend towards one and the same goal: to gain dominance in the public realm. This article is sympathetic towards the first assumption, and skeptical towards the second. It is argued that the “concentration- thesis” fails to do justice to world and life-views that obviously do not claim total allegiance. To illustrate this point it turns to the phenomenon of “multiple religious participation”, as well as to different strands within contemporary humanism. It concludes that the main problem may well be that secular culture has little to offer to satisfy the innate religious drive in humankind
Reflections on a Christian view of human communication
Get PDFThis article defines human communication as community building and describes the various functions of communication in life. It argues that a number of other human activities are presupposed in communication without which communication would not be possible. These activities are its inherent functions. Community building is described as the authentic function of communication. Without it communication would not be what it is. Lastly, there are several social activities that depend on communication for their existence. These are what communication is for. Such functions form the adherent functions of communication. Next the article describes a set of norms or criteria for distinguishing good communication from bad. Then follows a description of some models of communication found in the literature. These are seen as less than full descriptions of actual human communication. A few of these models reduce communication to one or more of its inherent functions. One honours the authentic function but none of them do justice to the adherent functions of communication. In addition, the article briefly describes and evaluates mass media communication. Because of its monological nature this communication can only produce one-way messages from sender to receiver. It thus gives the sender an unfair advantage of influence over the receiver. Dialogical communication remedies that problem and is to be preferred because in it the influence is mutual between the sender and the receiver of a message. However, it fails to account for the influence of such communication on third parties not involved in the dialogical relationship. The article, therefore, favours what it calls a triological form of communicating. In closing the article briefly describes social networking as the latest form of human communication
Reflecting on our past: reconciling a divided nation through listening
Get PDFThe miracle of a relatively peaceful transition from apartheid to a non-racial democratic rule in South Africa stunned political pundits and observers. After decades of dehumanising laws which led to unbelievable racial conflict and the killing of many people, the country witnessed the birth of a new dispensation. This article briefly recounts the tragic history of South Africa, the current challenges the country faces for sustainable peaceful coexistence between the various racial groups, and the role that listening played and should continue to play in the process of national reconciliation