Acta Theologica

Interview with Prof. Piet Meiring

M. Laubscher — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Professor Piet Meiring was born in Johannesburg in 1941. He studied at the University of Pretoria, and at the Free University, Amsterdam. He was ordained to the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in 1968 and served in three congregations in Pretoria. His academic career includes the chair in Missiology and Church History, University of the North (Turfloop); a parttime lectureship at the University of South Africa.

Reviewers of articles received for publication in 2023

L. Hoffman — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Reviewers of articles received for publication in 2023

Moving methodologies. Doing practical and missional theology in an African context

W.J. Schoeman — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Moving methodologies is an edited volume with the focus on doing practical and missional theology within an African context. The volume is written by scholars from the Department of Practical and Missional Theology at Stellenbosch University. The authors of the different chapters are from different races, genders, and denominations, as well as from different sub-disciplines within the department. The diversity of different voices from various angles in this volume should be appreciated.

A post-colonial political theology of care and praxis in Ethiopia’s era of identity politics

N.A. Terefe — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This book is a revised version of the author’s PhD thesis that was submitted to Denver University and the Iliff School of Theology. In the introductory section, the author discusses how her social location motivated her to research the topic of identity politics in Ethiopia. She argues that identity politics has been a major factor in Ethiopia’s political instability and violence. Ethiopia experiences frequent identity-based violence. Molla indicates that identity politics has divided Ethiopian society and eliminated in-between spaces where people can coexist in equality, solidarity, and justice. She proposes a post-colonial political theology of care and practice to reframe hegemonic and fragmented identities and create new in-between spaces for dialogue and cooperation. She contends that post-colonial discourse and the praxis of in between pastoral care can disrupt and challenge hegemonic definitions of culture, identity, home, and subjectivity.

Daar is méér. ’n Outobiografiese reisverhaal deur Amper-Stamperland en Metaversum

L. Hoffman — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Die eeue-oue menslike vraag – Wat is die sin van die lewe? Wat is die sin in lyding? Daniël Louw gaan op ’n reis om hierdie vrae vanuit Amper-Stamperland en die “nuwe wêreld”, die Metaversum, te belig. Die boek wil nie kitsantwoorde gee nie – daarvoor is dit te lywig. Op hierdie vrae is daar immers nie vinnige antwoorde nie. ’n Pragtige voorblad wat herinner aan iets uit die (’n) ruimte met die uitdagende woorde in groot rooi letters: “Daar is méér”. Die taalgebruik is kreatief – keurig deur ’n kunstenaar aangewend vanaf ’n palet van Afrikaanse teologiese en filosofiese taal. Konsepte soos “Wat en waar is die middel C van die Christelike geloof?”; “Die misterie van verwondering: ’n Libretto met die titel ‘Daar is méér!’”; “Klopdisselboom met ’n pedonkiekar in Amper-Stamperland”; “Pikkewouters: Amperkaraktertjies in die Wilde Weste van stamper”; “bewolkte rekenarisering” (“computer clouding”); “blokkettings” (“block chains”). Die boek is deurspek met illustrasies en verduidelikings van dit wat in die teks bespreek word. Dit skep die indruk van ’n reis oppad iewers heen, maar langs die pad is allerlei ter saaklike “afdraaipaadjies” wat die reis letterlik en figuurlik inkleur.

In daardie tyd was daar reuse

M. Laubscher — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Professor Piet Meiring kyk terug op agt dekades en onthou van die reuse (vergelyk Genesis 6:4) wat hy op sy lewenspad sou teëkom. Buiten hoe indrukwekkend hy alles kan onthou, is dit absoluut merkwaardig hoeveel daar is om te onthou. In meer as een opsig het ons hier te make met ’n voorwaar ryk verweefde lewe en ’n blywende leeservaring.

Nkunimdie Christology: An Akan contextual expression of the Christus Victor motif of atonement

Isaac Boaheng — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Akan community of Ghana has a large Christian following. Nonetheless, many Akan believers still consult traditional priests for protection, wealth, and power. This happens not because these Christians doubt the theological fact that Christ offered an atonement, but because they do not consider the atonement as providing them with adequate protection against evil forces. This situation makes the quest to closely investigate their concept of Christ fairly urgent and useful. To address the issue, there is the need to project Christ’s power over evil forces. One of the models of atonement that is helpful in this regard is the Christus Victor which emphasises the victory that Christ won over Satan and his host through his death on the cross. This research, therefore, aims to give contextually express the Christus Victor motif of Christ’s atonement from an Akan Christian perspective. This research is based on literature involving theological and ethical analyses of, and reflections on the Christus Victor model of atonement and how it can address the Akan Christian need for spiritual protection and economic liberation. The resulting theology is a contextual theology that incorporates the biblical world view, the Akan world view, and the Christus Victor model of atonement. Thus, the article seeks to bring about positive reforms in Akan religio-ethical beliefs and practices, and hence empower Akan Christians not only to discontinue their reliance on traditional powers, but also to have complete trust in Christ’s atonement alone as means of providing them with all their physical and spiritual needs.

The dialogical theology of Hans Küng: Clash between the Catholic Mission and Islamic Da’wah in Indonesia

W.F. Riyanto, P.T. Galle’ — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article explains the clash between the Catholic mission and Islamic Da’wah in Indonesia, as viewed from the theological perspective of Hans Küng (1928-2021). Küng was neither an orientalist nor an Islamologist; he was a Catholic theologian who contributed to interreligious dialogue for world peace. The primary source of data in this study is Küng’s work. The study findings assert that Küng proposed a dialogical-theological concept that is established on three pillars, namely autocritique of religion, global ethic, and dialogue among civilisations. Küng’s “dialogue among civilisations” is an antithesis to “clash of civilisations” proposed by S.P. Huntington (1927-2008). The findings indicate relevance in the Indonesian context. The three pillars are in line with the concept of Rational Islam, universal values in Pancasila, and the presence of the Center of Religious Harmony of
the Republic of Indonesia.

Resilient religion: What good is religion for?

C.A.M. Hermans — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Good refers to the intrinsic value or telos (purpose) of religion. The author starts with the claim that religion keeps alive, in thinking, the awareness of ultimate meaning (“truth”); in actions, the focus on human dignity and the common good, and, in the heart of man, the longing for fulfilling happiness, peace of heart, and love. As spiritual beings, human beings transcend the given towards the telos or purpose of life. At the same time, human beings experience being thrown in the limits of time and space. When the synthesis between the self as open to the ultimate and the self as limited is not realised, human beings experience a heartbreaking adversity. The intrinsic value of religion is the promotion of this synthesis. The author analyses three mediating processes of resilience that promote the possibility of a synthesis: the recognition of contingency, the experience of fulfilling happiness, and the wonder of possibilisation (new beginnings). Finally, the author links resilience to the concept of God as creator.

Jeremiah 29:5-7 reread through the lens of posttraumatic growth

X. Li — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Jeremiah 29:5-7 is well known for exhorting the exiles to settle down and pray for the welfare of Babylon. The idea of settling down conflicts with the prophecy of returning home in the book of Jeremiah, and it sounds odd to encourage prayer for the enemy. Typical solutions focus on the strategy of survival. However, these solutions are not convincing enough because the language used in Jeremiah 29:5-7 indicates that the exhortation involves not survival but restoration. Given the background of national trauma behind the book of Jeremiah, this article proposes rereading Jeremiah 29:5-7 from the perspective of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Accordingly, the exhortation to settle down reflects the domain of appreciation of life in PTG, and the exhortation to pray for Babylon indicates the belief in a just world for self (BJW-self), which is closely related to PTG and entails forgiving others.

Adaptive translation of medieval morality plays for contemporary African audiences: A case study of the morality play Everyman in Sesotho

T.J. Makutoane — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Morality plays such as Everyman were first produced in England during the latter half of the 15th century. Their fictional nature, however, clothed moral truths in line with Catholic doctrines. The main aim of these plays was to teach audiences lessons in Christian living and salvation. Although these plays initially have a Catholic background, this does not exclude them from providing valuable lessons in Christian teaching to Protestant believers of the 21st century. The major problem with these plays is their interpretation of theological concepts such as “saints”, “Adonia”, and “priests”, making it difficult for Protestant believers, the Sesotho audience, in this case, to understand Everyman translated in Sesotho and written from a Catholic perception of such concepts. This article seeks to address the most important question: How can a better translation of the morality play Everyman be offered to Sesotho-speaking Protestant believers? The answer to this question is that an adaptative translation of the morality play Everyman into Sesotho better addresses the needs of these Protestant believers. In addition, this kind of translation should also be performative. The study uses the research methodologies of translation adaptation, performance criticism, and the functionalist skopos theory within the broader theoretical framework of a complexity approach to translation.

Shall we dance? Choreographing hospitality as key to interpersonal transformation

G.W. Marchinkowski — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev (1425) is a celebration of hospitality. This article contemplates the icon through Henri Nouwen’s eyes, using his methodology, and shows how the spiritual practice of hospitality is key to interpersonal transformation. The article considers Nouwen’s proposition that hospitality involved creating a space of true freedom in which the stranger can become a friend. It discusses Beatrice Bruteau’s view that such a free space required a communion paradigm in interpersonal relations, before investigating Nouwen’s unique metaphor for interpersonal transformation, a movement from hostility to hospitality. Finally, the article formulates principles for the spiritual practice of hospitality for ordinary people in everyday life, by considering the contributions of contemporary spiritual writers, Barbara Brown Taylor and Christine Pohl. Brown Taylor believes that the practice of hospitality began with paying attention, and Pohl warns against the challenges associated with its practice.

Semiotics of alterity and the cultural dimensions of Bible translation

J.A. Naudé , C.L. Miller-Naudé , J.O. Obono — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Translated sacred writings from various religious traditions often retain a few selected cultural terms borrowed from the incipient sign system, while other cultural dimensions are translated in ways that can broadly be construed as domestication. By contrast, many Bible translation agencies eschew translation strategies in which cultural terms are borrowed, advocating in stead for wholesale domestication. In this article, we develop a theoretical framework for representing the alterity, but not the foreignness, of the Bible in translation. Alterity involves the incipient sign system, namely the biblical languages and their cultural contexts ranging from Iron Age Israel within the context of the Ancient Near East for the Old Testament to Roman Palestine in the first century for the New Testament. Examples from African contexts, including Afrikaans (South Africa), Lokaa (Nigeria) and Tira (Sudan), illustrate multiple approaches to representing alterity and provide an important corrective to current practice in many Bible translation projects.

Inequalities within Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa on gender, with special reference to lGBTQIA+: Imago Dei

L. Modise — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article consists of five parts on equality within faith communities. First, the focus is on the creation of human beings as the image of God on an equal basis. The premise is that LGBTQIA+ people are created as human beings in the image of God, deserving to be welcomed in faith communities. Second, the article focuses on the way in which missionaries have taught African converts to interpret the Bible on many serious human rights issues. Third, the position of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) is discussed, utilising the contents of the General Synods, spanning from Pietermaritzburg (2005) to Stellenbosch (2022). Fourth, this study reflects on the challenges faced by denominations who accept LGBTQIA+ people regarding marriage and their ordination. The challenge seems to be about the fundamental reading of the Bible, confession, and Church Order articles, which are discussed here. Fifth, recommendations are proposed to address this inequality. This article is approached from an anthropological-missional viewpoint when addressing this inequality within communities of faith.

Faith formation in the tension interplay of tools, processes and the course for social transformation

M. Moyo, K.J. Pali — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Theological commentators indicate that the church in Africa faces the challenge of converting the Christian faith into practice. This calls for reconsidering the practice of forming faith among African churches. According to Astley (2018:16), in Christianity, faith formation is more than learning about Christ; it is about “learning” Christ. Learning Christ as Christian formation constitutes the shaping of the dimensions of faith, namely orthopraxis, orthopatheia, and intelligentia (Maddix et al. 2020:6). This article discusses Gadamer’s conversation theory as the means to inform and form these dimensions of faith. This entails that, for faith to be informed and formed in its dimensions, there is a need for an effective conversation among tools, processes, and contexts. The discussion revolves around the following question: How can the tools and processes of faith formation effectively converse with context in order to facilitate the learning of Christ in terms of informing and forming these dimensions of faith? Using conversation theory and literature review, this article discusses the tension interplay of tools, processes, and discerning contexts for a holistic approach to informing and forming the dimensions of faith.

Toward a reinterpretation of sacramental theology in the context of pandemics: The case of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe

M. Mujinga — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent closing of religious institutions through lockdowns created a pandemonium that saw churches not being able to meet physically for worship. Covid-19 lockdowns diluted the traditional meaning of sacramental theology for mainline churches. The effects of the pandemic were bad that, churches in Zimbabwe were closed towards lent season in 2020. Mainline churches that used to shun the technologisation of religion were forced to embrace technology in order to be relevant. Unfortunately, sacraments that demanded face to face administration remained a theological dilemma. Using the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe as a case study, the aim of this paper was to challenge the church’s traditional sacramental theology and propose a theological treatise that has relevance in the context of pandemics like Covid-19. The paper proposed a reinterpretation of sacramental theology that makes the rite sacredness to the lives of the parishioners even during pandemics.

The challenge of poverty in Malawi and Bonhoeffer's soteriology

M. Phiri — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The article explores the state, causes and effects of poverty in Malawi. It proceeds to investigate soteriology as a prominent theme in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theological thought. Then an exploration is made regarding how Bonhoeffer’s notion of salvation could be employed as paradigm to address the challenge of poverty in Malawi. The soteriological perspective is preferred, among many other approaches, on two-fold grounds: the hamartiological origins of poverty require a soteriological exploration and salvation is a prominent theme in Malawi. Approaching the social evils from the perspective of the doctrine of salvation could produce enduring effects. The observation is that such an approach could be more promising and could bear enduring fruits regarding addressing the challenge of poverty in Malawi.

Astrotheology: The natural interface between hyperspace and the Trinity

A.C. Pieterse — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Over the past few decades, physicists are seeking a unifying theory that could encapsulate the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics, our understanding of the very big and the infinitesimal small, into one all-inclusive theory. This quest led to a renewed interest in the proposal of hyperspace, which states that the structure of space and time are folded into one another, creating multiple dimensions. The author believes that the biblical confession about the resurrected Christ could be beneficial to science and theology in this respect. Biblical testimony provides insight into the apparent natural and effortless movement of Christ between the different dimensions in nature. Astrotheology, as a nexus between the different disciplines, is well equipped to describe themeaning and implications of the resurrection with regard to the fabric of space-time. The author opines that it could facilitate as a natural interface between hyperspace
and the Trinity. This proposal aims to accentuate, from a scriptural point of view, that reality indeed comprises more than four dimensions and that astrotheology could make a significant epistemological contribution in the dialogue about hyperspace and God’s agency in creation.

Have we lost touch with the Prophet Amos's warning? Church leaders and blood money rituals among youths in Nigeria

F.C. Uroko — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article reviews the literature on how religious leaders in Nigeria have become complacent and conspire in the
corrupt activities of members of their congregations. Church leaders, who are meant to be guardians of ethics and morality, have lost it and are now dining with and covering people of dubious character. Some of these young people who engage in money rituals give money to these pastors, who accept it without inquiry. These young people are revered in the church and receive special prayers and honours. Others, who aspire to the same honours, seek ways to generate quick cash. This study investigates the role of church leaders in the growing ritual activities among Nigerian youths. It concludes by admonishing church leaders to emulate the life of Jesus, who was not afraid to speak the truth to the people whom
he was shepherding.