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Item Open Access Resensies/Reviews(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Venter, RianItem Open Access Resensies/Reviews(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Wessels, WesselItem Open Access Resensies/Reviews(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Tucker, A. R.Item Open Access The trajectories of Christianity and African ritual practices: the public silence and the dilemma of mainline or mission churches(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Ntombana, L.In South Africa, there are mainly two Christian traditions on Christianity and African ritual practices. One being from missionaries and now mainly trailed by most white Mainline Churches and Pentecostal Churches. The other is by African Independent Churches (AIC). The first group oppose and condemn Christian involvement on any rituals related to ancestors. However, the second group perceive no conflict between Christianity and African rituals. This paper presents a brief discussion on the beliefs and views of various Christian groups on African rituals, focusing mainly on black members of the Mainline Churches. In this paper I examine literature from the 18th century and also revisit my ethnographic work which focuses on this theme in the democratic South Africa. Findings of this study suggests that black members of mainline Churches are still caught in between two identities; one being the Western package of Christianity and the African ritual practices.Item Open Access Together towards new life for missiology? Mission and missiology in the light of the World Council of Churches 2013 policy statement(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Niemandt, C. J. P.Any meaningful discussion of the various understandings of mission and Missiology needs to take cognizance of the important policy document accepted by the World Council of Churches at its 10th Assembly in Busan, South-Korea, in October 2013: “Together towards life – mission and evangelism in changing landscapes”. This is the first new mission affirmation by the WCC in 30 years, and presents a compelling new vision of Christian mission, namely its rootedness in God and its present role in the strengthening/consolidation/reinforcement of the reign of God. This research explores the relevance of the aforementioned policy document for mission and Missiology in terms of three themes: “Where do we come from?”; “What is happening now?”, and “What could the future look like?”Item Open Access Beyond "two source theory" and "sola scriptura": ecumenical perspectives on scripture and tradition(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Moss, R.A major source of doctrinal dispute between Catholicism and Protestantism over the centuries has revolved around the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. Does Scripture as the source of Revelation stand alone as in sola scriptura or does Scripture need to be interpreted and understood within the tradition from which it emerged and by which it should be understood. The Constitution, Dei Verbum, promulgated by the Second Vatican Council and the two Protestant Conferences held almost contemporaneously at Oberlin and Montreal suggest a possible convergence beyond the impasse. Protestantism needs to acknowledge the importance of tradition in biblical interpretation while Catholicism having effectively abandoned the two source theory of revelation needs criteria to distinguish between authentic tradition closely linked to scripture and an inauthentic tradition.Item Open Access Mysticism and the reformation: a brief survey(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) McGinn, B.A number of influential theologians over the past two centuries have denied that Protestant Christianity has a place for mysticism understood as the mingling of the divine and human natures. Today a more adequate understanding of the mystical element of Christianity as a deeper awareness of God’s presence in the life of believers suggests a new evaluation of the relation of Protestantism and mysticism, beginning Martin Luther, and continuing with figures like Johann Arndt, and a number of the “Spiritual Reformers,” such as Andreas Karlstadt, Sebastian Franck, Valentin Weigel, as well as the theosophical Lutheran Jacob Boehme. This essay is designed to reopen the question of the relation between Protestantism and mysticism.Item Open Access Hierarchy of truths revisited(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Echeverria, E. J.This article explores the ecumenical significance of the notion of hierarchy of truths introduced at the Second Vatican Council. With some assistance from the great Reformed master of dogmatic and ecumenical theology, G.C. Berkouwer, I show how there exists an order of priority or hierarchy among truths resulting from their different relation to the foundation of the Christian faith; how this hierarchy helps us to understand better what unites and divides Christians in matters of doctrine; why this notion is wrongly interpreted as a justification of doctrinal indifference, and the substantive role it may play in ecumenical dialogue when the distinction between truth and its formulations is properly drawn.Item Open Access Onderhoud met Edwin Arrison(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Van Tonder, HelenéEnglish: The thirtieth anniversary of the Kairos document in 2015 served as a stimulus for various events reflecting on this historical document and subsequent movement. Among these were the Kairos 30 conference (Johannesburg on 17-20 August) and a colloquium which reflected on the theme “The challenge of prophetic theology for theology today” (Volmoed, Hermanus, 27-29 September). This interview was conducted in the aftermath of these events with Edwin Arrison. He is the General Secretary of Kairos Southern Africa, a minister of the Anglican Church, and chairperson of the Centre for Christian Spirituality in Cape Town.Item Open Access The strange case of the patriarchs in Jeremiah 33:26(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Lombaard, C.Jeremiah 33:26 presents a number of interpretational questions, including the relationship of the Jeremiah 33:23-26 pericope with its textual surroundings; the compositional integrity of this pericope; the possible intentions of this passage, and the curious reference to the patriarchs – also with the name of Isaac spelt unusually. The unexpected reference to the patriarchs, in this instance, is of particular concern, since it has direct bearing on a new understanding of the patriarchs in history and text that the author has been developing. Why would the Old Testament patriarchs, so rarely referred to outside the Pentateuch, surface in this particular prophetic text? This article explores these issues, also as they relate to the author’s theory-indevelopment on the patriarchs of Israel.Item Open Access Transformation, theology and the public university in South Africa(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Venter, R.This article addresses a specific issue, namely the ramifications for theology practised at a public university under (post)-apartheid conditions. In South Africa, scholarly opinion has not paid sufficient attention to what “transformation” entails for theology under these circumstances. The article describes transformation in detail by clarifying the main referents for this notion and attending to discourses in higher education. Heuristic categories such as inclusivity, alterity, critique, freedom and flourishing are identified that should inform multi-level and comprehensive embodiment in terms of knowledge, people and practices. The article identifies several critical issues such as the plurality of intellectual traditions and identity formation that should be explored in more detail. It also emphasises the distinctive theological task of theology at a public university – the articulation of transcendence and the construal of a non-naturalistic symbolic interpretation of reality.Item Open Access Religions as a source of (dis)order(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Urbaniak, J.Would it be fair to say that religious people in general are more suspicious of the believers of other religions than of those who claim to have no faith at all? If the pivotal role of religiosity consists in bringing meaning and order to human life, why should different religions see their respective “orders” as threatening one another? Isn’t it possible to trust in the midst of the multi-ordered reality of world faiths while acknowledging the presence (in all religions) of the untruth despite all the truth? This paper seeks to explore those and similar questions by means of elaborating on religions as potential contributors to a global ecumenism. Building upon insights of Charles Taylor and Hans Küng, I show in what sense the world religions can be considered the source of order as well as disorder and how the plurality of religiouslybased “orders” can be accepted and embraced with trust rather than suspicion.Item Open Access The vision of divine light in Saint Gregory Palamas's theology(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Tomoioaga, F. T.The Hesychast debates of the 14th century between the representatives of the Western and Eastern tradition over the issue of the light seen in the experience of prayer are still relevant nowadays. Gregory Palamas – who was the central figure of these debates – was rediscovered in the 20th century by Orthodox Theology and is still in the process of reception in Western theology. The present study represents a synthesis of Saint Gregory Palamas’s teaching on the vision of Divine Light as it was articulated in the debate with his adversaries. Directly linked to this topic are other adjacent issues, namely the Transfiguration of Christ, the intellectual and the mystical knowledge, the nature of the divine energies, the purpose of the Christian life, and so on. The entire study in couched in the frame of a personal reflection over the type of spirituality fit for contemporary man – a contemplative one of a mystical type or a much more practical one, based on social virtues?Item Open Access 'n Narratiewe teologiese verkenning van negatiewe koronêre vatomleidingsoperasie-uitkomste: 'n chirurgiese hermeneutiek(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2015) Swart, M. J.; Van Zyl, G. J.; Van den Berg, J. A.Negative outcomes of coronary bypass operations not only have an important impact on the patient and family, but also have an influence on the cardiac surgeon on many levels. Within a specific surgical context and from a tradition of faith, interwoven narratives present the possibility of an interdisciplinary conversation between medical science and theology. By following an auto-ethnographic approach, an invitation is offered to participate in sharing the surgeon’s database as a new hermeneutic text. Fellow cardiac surgeons on a national level are involved by way of a Delphi research model, providing for a collective tracing of God’s involvement in surgical outcomes. In a process of a reinterpretation of negative surgical outcomes, Henri Nouwen’s three poles of a spiritual movement can lead to spiritual transformation. Bearing physiological barriers and lifestyles in mind, as well as God’s involvement, the patient and surgeon can in a new manner reflect on possible negative outcomes following operative procedures.