Abstract
The thirtieth anniversary of the publication of the Kairos Document was celebrated in August 2015. This was the most radical of several theological declarations issued by Christians during the struggle against apartheid. Arguing that theology itself had become a site of that struggle, it rejected ‘state theology’, which gave legitimacy to apartheid, and ‘church theology’ which promoted reconciliation without justice as its pre-requisite. Against these, it presented a ‘prophetic theology’ as a challenge to the churches in response to what was perceived as a kairos moment. Since then the Kairos Document has inspired a global movement in which its social analysis and understanding of prophetic theology has been adopted in a variety of contexts, most notably in the Kairos-Palestine Document (2009). In reflecting on the significance of this global kairos movement, I firstly examine the meaning of ‘prophecy’ and ‘prophetic theology’, arguing that ‘prophetic theology’ is in continuity with the message of the Hebrew prophets and the ministry and mission of Jesus. Secondly, I examine the use of the term kairos to describe historical turning points which demand such a prophetic theological response. Thirdly, I address the need for an ecumenical prophetic ecclesiology that foregrounds the responsibility of the church to discern and understand those God-given kairos moments in history that demand a prophetic response.
Highlights
The notion that Christian theology is a site of struggle has its roots in the Hebrew Bible where different theological trajectories weave their way through the narrative, sometimes complementing each other, but often in conflict despite the attempts of redactors to smooth over the fault lines
The prophets Brueggemann has in mind are the eighth century BCE pre-exilic prophets, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah and Hosea, who called Israel to repentance and the pursuit of social justice, or face disaster (Heschel 1962:299–306; von Rad 1972:145–156)
These are the prophets to whom I will refer when using the term with reference to the Old Testament
Summary
Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. The thirtieth anniversary of the publication of the Kairos Document was celebrated in August 2015. This was the most radical of several theological declarations issued by Christians during the struggle against apartheid. Arguing that theology itself had become a site of that struggle, it rejected ‘state theology’, which gave legitimacy to apartheid, and ‘church theology’ which promoted reconciliation without justice as its pre-requisite. Against these, it presented a ‘prophetic theology’ as a challenge to the churches in response to what was perceived as a kairos moment.
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