1,796 research outputs found
Recording of interview with Wayne Muller
No full textMuller is an author, psychotherapist and minister living in Fairfax, CA. Muller met Nouwen as a student at Harvard Divinity School (Cambridge, MA) from 1982-1985; Muller took Nouwen's Introduction to the Spiritual Life course in the Spring semester of 1983.1 audio cassette (1 hr., 30 mins.)Title based on contents of the item. ; Reference copies of the audio cassettes are available (located with originals). ; Located in audio cassettes box 13. ; No reproduction of this material without permission of the Archivist. ; The interview has been transcribed and is available electronically and in hard copy. ; Digitized February 3, 2011.For more information please contact Special Collections, the University of St. Michael's College.Item consists of one audio cassette (SR2007 66 66 53) of an interview with Wayne Muller conducted by Sue Mosteller, csj on October 31, 2004 at the San Damiano Retreat Centre in Danville, CA. Themes present in Muller's interview include death, grief, Buddhism, fundamentalism and Nouwen's legacy
Sacralisation and the colonial-indigenous encounter in Southern African Christian history : the memory and legacy of Johannes du Plessis as case study
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2016. Sacralisation and the colonial-indigenous encounter in Southern African Christian history : the memory and legacy of Johannes du Plessis as case study. Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, 41(2):82–99, doi:10.17159/2412-4265/2015/375.The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.org.zaThe role of the Dutch Reformed Church's mission policies in the development of apartheid ideology has in recent times come under increased scrutiny. In terms of the formulation of missionary theory within the DRC, the controversial figure of Johannes du Plessis played a significant role in the early twentieth century. In addition to his work as a mission theorist, Du Plessis was a biblical scholar at Stellenbosch University who was found guilty of heresy by his church body, despite having much support from the rank and file membership. This article asks questions regarding the ways in which his memory and legacy are often evaluated from the twin, yet opposing perspectives of sacralisation and vilification. It also considers the wider intellectual influences on Du Plessis such as the missiology of the German theologian, Gustav Warneck. Du Plessis's missionary theory helped to lay the groundwork for the later development of apartheid ideology, but perhaps in spite of himself, he also introduced a subverting discourse into Dutch Reformed theology. Some of the incidental consequences of this discourse, particularly in relation to the emerging theme of indigenous knowledge, are furthermore assessed here.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1017-04992015000200006Publisher's versio
The Dutch Reformed Church, mission enthusiasts and push and pull of empire
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2019. The Dutch Reformed Church, mission enthusiasts and push and pull of empire. Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, 45(1):1-14, doi:10.25159/2412-4265/4763.The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.org.zaThe various ways in which the British Empire acted as both a beacon and a repellent for Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) mission enthusiasts in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, are considered here. Focusing especially on Andrew Murray Jr, D.F. Malan and J.G. Strydom, but also with references to Johannes du Plessis and G.B.A. Gerdener, among others, the article illustrates the evolution of Afrikaner attitudes to Empire in this period. The Empire in question is primarily the British Empire, but this paper will make the case that the developing Afrikaner nationalism, in which some of these mission enthusiasts played leading roles, in some ways appropriated imperial aspirations, while simultaneously disavowing Empire in public discourse. The wider and more general relevance of this paper is that it sheds light on the allure of power, and how a minority in opposition to power might become contaminated, even captured, by that very power it seeks to oppose.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1017-04992019000100004Publisher's versio
Incarnation theology versus the sacralisation of authority
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2015. Incarnation theology versus the sacralisation of authority. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 71(3): 1-9, doi: 10.4102/hts.v71i3.2707.The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.zaPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.This article juxtaposed the theological theme of incarnation with quasi-religious invasions
of public power structures and institutions in southern Africa, which has been described by
the term sacralisation of authority. Incarnational theology as constructed on the model of the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ concerns a Divine-human border crossing from above to below
or from power into powerlessness. Sacralisation of authority concerns an opposite process
whereby mundane structures and people of power seek to bolster their authority even further
by the acquisition of godlike attributes. This article referred to political realities in southern
Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and South Africa as illustrative of the latter, whereas the
Tshwane Leadership Foundation – a non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in
Tshwane’s inner city – served as a case study in incarnational theology of the grassroots.http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/2707Publisher's versio
British imperial wars and the strengthening of the Dutch Reformed Church's mission : Mashonaland in the late 19th to early 20th centuries
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2017. British imperial wars and the strengthening of the Dutch Reformed Church's mission : Mashonaland in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, 43(3):#3161, doi:10.17159/2412-4265/3161.The original publication is available at https://www.upjournals.co.za/index.php/SHEThis focus is on conflicts in which the British South African Company (BSAC) had a direct hand, and in which British forces were victorious. Three specific conflicts will be highlighted: the First Matabele War (1893-1894), the First Chimurenga (18961897), and the Second Anglo Boer War/South African War (1899-1902). It is argued that the Cape Dutch Reformed Church's (DRC) missionary enterprise directly and indirectly benefited from these wars. The personal letters and other writings of A. A. Louw, pioneer DRC missionary to Mashonaland, reveal a relatively good relationship with Cecil John Rhodes and the BSAC. The weakening of powerful local polities through the colonial suppression of African uprisings might have helped mission stations such as the DRC's Morgenstêr to attain surrogate status as centres of power in the affected areas. After the South African War, a number of Boer prisoners of war were recruited for the DRC missionary campaigns, including Mashonaland. A contextualising feature to this narrative of Afrikaner mission in British Colonial Africa is the fact that two of the foremost recruiting agents were direct family members of A. A. Louw.https://www.upjournals.co.za/index.php/SHE/article/view/3161Publisher's versio
The (non-)translatability of the Holy Trinity
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2019. The (non-)translatability of the Holy Trinity. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 75(1):a5405, doi:10.4102/hts.v75i1.5405.The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.zaPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access FundThis article considers the ambiguous translatability of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The theme of the Trinity, as a central Christian doctrine, is brought into conversation with the so-called ‘translatability thesis’ regarding Christian history, which has been particularly expounded upon by Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls. Does the translatability of the gospel also imply the translatability of the Trinity, or is the equation not that straightforward? In answering this question, specific reference is made to early church formulation and controversy surrounding the theme, as well as attention to specific attempts at translation or interpretation in the modern and contemporary forms of Christianity. The article acknowledges the problematic nature of Trinitarian translatability and concludes that such translatability is nonetheless possible as long as a static conception of Trinitarian doctrine could be avoided.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5405Publisher's versio
The other's humanity with or without the other's religiosity? Reflections on the affirmation and limitation of human dignity in early Afrikaner missionary discourse in Central Africa
No full textCITATION: Muller, R. 2021. The other's humanity with or without the other's religiosity? Reflections on the affirmation and limitation of human dignity in early Afrikaner missionary discourse in Central Africa. Verbum et Ecclesia, (42)2:a2324, doi:10.4102/ve.v42i2.2324.The original publication is available at https://verbumetecclesia.org.zaTaking Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on early human uniqueness in relation to symbolic or religious awareness as a starting point, this article raises a question whether an implicit connection between humanity and the capacity for religiosity had anything to say about how one could evaluate the so-called other’s religion and their humanity. Does the recognition of the other’s full humanity demand an equal recognition of their religiosity, or are these separable? Rather than attempting to answer this hypothetically, the question is approached historically. The article touches on how the capacity to evaluate religion from the outside emerged in modernity and discusses some of the ways this capacity played out in Christian theology. In reference to the colonial era Afrikaner missionaries in Central Africa, the article argues that even partial recognition of the other’s religiosity might have detrimental consequences particularly where this is tied to a partial recognition of their humanity as had happened during the apartheid and proto-apartheid periods.
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article challenges both critical and affirmative scholarly views of religiosity by positing an essential link between humanity and religiosity whilst simultaneously suggesting that a scientific approach to religiosity, which has uncovered important relationships between religiosity and humanity, might be the appropriate approach for full recognition of the other’s humanity.https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2324Publisher's versio
Herbert J. Muller Distinguished Visiting Professor
No full textHerbert J. Muller, American historian, professor, government official, and author, is speaking at The University of Alabama around 1968
Fear and Loathing on the Margins of Empire: Socio-religious perspectives connecting the Netherlands and South Africa before and into the South African War
No full textFocusing especially on writings by the theologian Abraham Kuyper and the impact of two Dutch born clergymen with substantial careers in South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church in the late 19th century, this article develops a perspective on the intertwined relationship between groups and cultural factors involving the Netherlands and South Africa during this period. This intertwined relationship went far beyond Reformed theology, but the literature produced by Reformed theologians and pastors is one area or lens through which one might perceive this relationship quite clearly. The article's thesis is that both the Netherlands and parts of South Africa during much of the colonial period experienced themselves as on the margins of a British Empire perceived with varying degrees of apprehension and hostility and that both the first and the second Anglo Boer Wars of the late 19th and early 20th century catapulted such shared sentiments into overdrive. Yet Dutch sympathisers often had to counterbalance their identification of shared culture and religion that they had with the Boers with their more general, perhaps growing, sensibilities regarding racial equalization and democracy, which created tensions in this complex relationship, as this essay will show
The Awkward Positioning of a Dutch Reformed Missionary in Apartheid South Africa
No full textThe Rev. D. P. (David) Botha was a lifelong apartheid critic and minister in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and later the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Early in his career, he served as a “missionary” in a DRMC congregation in Wynberg, and subsequently in other congregations in the Western Cape, South Africa. During his career, he wrote an important book and engaged in public discourse through contributions in newspapers and other mainstream publications. Focusing on these sources, most of which now form part of his private collection in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Archive, this article traces Botha’s growing agitation regarding the implementation of apartheid policies, in the aftermath of the institution of the 1950 Group Areas Act. Among other things it illuminates the early apartheid-era white view of the other, as experienced and critiqued by this insider-outsider minister with respect to his assessment of general white perceptions of so-called “coloureds” in the Cape Town area. Through specific attention to Botha’s correspondences with A. P. Treurnicht and Beyers Naudé, this article also shows the problematic perspective of a white missionary seeking to alleviate the impact of policy decisions on his church members, while simultaneously buying into the predominant ideology of racial categorisation
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