Abstract
This article shows how dialectic theology caused a loss of interest in the history of religion, which was seen as out of touch with the current world. The distinction between theology and the history of religion became increasingly vague. The article focuses on the contribution of Rainier Albertz in his two-volume Religionsgeschichte Israels in alttestamentlicher Zeit (History of Israelite religion in the Old Testament period), 1992. Albertz proposed that the history of religion should be restored to serve as the ‘more sensible discipline for abridging the Old Testament’. This article points out several advantages to this approach, namely a different kind of Old Testament theology, starting from current theological problems and searching through the thematic segments of Israel’s religious history and that of early Christianity for analogous insights relevant to the problems in question. This article develops the argument that Albertz’s suggestions open up possibilities for establishing a vibrant theological environment in South Africa, where theologians from a diverse society can start from different perspectives on current problems, consider the Bible as part of a uniquely defined set of relevant factors and present a kaleidoscope of cross-balancing ‘African’ theological perspectives. The aim of this approach is to enhance the possibilities of Albertz’s suggestions by relating them, in context, to insights from ethical theology in the hope of reviving the debate regarding repositioning the history of religion in a different kind of theological approach. This debate is long in coming: it may already have lost close to 20 years in deserved attention.
Highlights
Where two worlds meetThe practice of Old Testament theology in South Africa creates an interesting environment where scholars from the same historical background but diverse cultures can collaborate.Being born in Krugersdorp, a few kilometres away from Sharpeville1, gives the doctrine of original sin a personal meaning to me
Without intending to ridicule Masenya, the discussion is limited to the two referenced articles in order to establish, by example, a starting point in the argument representing the current state of the Black South African perspective on the study of the Old Testament
It is hardly surprising that no trace of sensitivity for her own approach as a mixture of influences can be detected. Despite her generalisations and contradictory statements, Masenya’s (1997:459) clear articulation of the problem still facing Old Testament theology in South Africa should not be underestimated or ignored: Our theology thrives on sophisticated arguments which have scarcely any bearing on the daily lives of the people . . . Studies about the Bible should end in the past of the biblical text; these studies must address the whole African person in his/her totality: politically, spiritually, economically, socially, et cetera, because . . . there are no such compartmentalisations in the African view of things. (Masenya 2004:459)
Summary
The practice of Old Testament theology in South Africa creates an interesting environment where scholars from the same historical background but diverse cultures can collaborate. Masenya (2004:455–469) offered an example of an ‘African’ (Black South African female or Bosadi10) perspective In her opinion, the study of Old Testament theology in South Africa today is experienced as being out of touch with reality (Masenya 1997:459). Without intending to ridicule Masenya, the discussion is limited to the two referenced articles in order to establish, by example, a starting point in the argument representing the current state of the Black South African perspective on the study of the Old Testament. It is hardly surprising that no trace of sensitivity for her own approach as a mixture of influences (from ‘African-South African’ perspectives and Western theology and methods) can be detected Despite her generalisations and contradictory statements, Masenya’s (1997:459) clear articulation of the problem still facing Old Testament theology in South Africa should not be underestimated or ignored: Our theology thrives on sophisticated arguments which have scarcely any bearing on the daily lives of the people . An unifying approach to bridge the gap among different cultures originating in the same historical setting but from different or partially different roots
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