Theological Paradigm Research Articles

Transformasieteologie of Skrifteologie? Kerklike verskuiwings ten opsigte van volkereverhoudings

Transformation theology or Biblical theology? Ecclesiastical shifts with regard to race relations Changes that recently took place in the race relations policy of South Africa’s largest Reformed church raise the question whether it was the result of a shift in theological paradigm, or rather caused by external factors or current political notions. By investigating historical developments in this regard, the author argues that a thorough application of sound Reformed hermeneutical principles was indeed a determinant in recent theological reflection, rather than ideological motives. For the church this change in a sense indeed provided a new model for theological thought. Together with these changes which led to the rejection of apartheid, not only in its application, but also in its fundamental nature, came a better understanding of the truth that theological statements will always be provisional. Thus church and theology will profit by a better understanding of God’s truth, not only as far as race relations are concerned, but indeed for human society at large.

Pastoral Counseling in an Age of Narcissism

Researchers in many different fields and disciplines have been suggesting that we, in the West, are living in an age of narcissism. If this is entirely or even partially true, then the finding has important implications for the work of pastoral care and counseling. By applying the work of Heinz Kohut to the care and treatment of narcissistic individuals, we see that certain therapeutic and theological paradigms stand in need of revision. For pastoral counselors, the implication is that a therapeutic orientation grounded in empathic immersion must take precedence over an orientation grounded in insightful interpretation. In terms of theology, grace must take precedence over truth.

Listening to dementia: A new paradigm for theology?

The paper describes ways in which a theological reflection on the relationship between two women, one diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer's disease and the other her carer, allowed a ‘paradigm shift’ to emerge: a change of understanding which was not possible from the previous standpoint. Feminist critical theory provided the analytical tools with which to engage critically with the experience of dementia suffering independently of conventional medical opinion. By seeing dementia from the viewpoint of an individual person's story, a new perspective is gained on the nature of the relationship between carer and cared for. In particular, dementia suffering reveals the deep human need, initiated by God, to forge relationships which are interdependent and mutually life-giving. Such ways of relating are at the heart of God's divine love for humanity and embody a hope, in the face of injustice, for human healing and wholeness.

‘Honest to Jok’ Okot p’Bitek en de de-hellenisering van God

In the study of African religion Western discourse has been dominant both to Western and African scholars. Through this Western discourse, ‘African Traditional Religion’ was conceptualised and interpreted in terms of a Western vocabulary and conceptual scheme as a pyramid ranging from an all-pervading power at the base to the supreme being at the top with the spirits as intermediaries. The Ugandan scholar and poet Okot p’Bitek (1931-1982) launched a vehement and bitter attack in 1971 in his African Religion in Western Scholarship on this Western discourse stemming from missionaries and scholars of religion (Edwin W. Smith, Geoffrey Parrinder, Edward Evans-Pritchard). In the articulation of his critique on this Western discourse of ‘African Traditional Religion’ as a ‘Hellenisation’ of African religious deities and concepts, Okot appears to be influenced by yet another Western theological paradigm, i.e. the ‘God-is-dead-theology’, stimulated by the publication of Honest to God by John A.T. Robinson in 1963.

Le pluralisme religieux et l'indifférentisme, ou le vrai défi de la théologie chrétienne

Today 's challenge for the Church is both one of globalization and one of growing religious pluralism be it among the major religions or in new religiosity. But the Church also has to confront religious indifference which can be the other face of a passionate combat in favour of mankind. Faced with these challenges, it is necessary to take into account a new theological paradigm : that of inherent religious pluralism which asks the question of the meaning of the plurality of religions within the plan of God. This new paradigm suggests a new relationship to truth in theology. It is by thor-oughly applying the Christological paradox that Christianity can be considered to be fundamentally a religion of dialogue. Just like ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue has to be a dimension of the whole of theology. The theology of religions is thus set on the path to becoming inter-religious theology which manifests the mutual fertilization of religions in our discourse concerning God and the salvation of mankind.

An Introduction to the Study of Law and the Sacred

Law and the Sacred might appear as another one of the couplings that have characterised contemporary legal scholarship. Although it is too soon to say if this coupling represents a new departure, it can at least be distinguished by its passion; by its working through of the sense in which secular, western, law has failed to shake its constitution in the pre-modern. Scholarship in this field locates itself in a movement away from the domination of legal theory by a scientising social theory, or a positivisation of knowledge that rejects the mystery and the beyond in its own self-definition and auto-production. This collection attempts to follow a direction suggested by John Milbank: the relaxation of the pressure of the sacred has not filled the only available space with the steam of the "purely human" (1995: 2). A second characteristic of this scholarship is its critical edge: it could be said that it is provoked by a sense of dis-ease; an awareness that law's claims to order and empire ring hollow. In their various ways, the contributors to this volume are impatient with the claim that the triumph of scientific reason is the only means of describing the social world and the role of law. The essays collected here do not seek to give a definition of the sacred, they merely offer some orientation. Addressing the construction of particular paradigms of philosophy, legal history, theology or sociology, they share a concern with alternative ways of reading, with provocative recoveries of rival traditions. If this suggests an orientation to Critical Legal Studies, it is perhaps more to this movement's 'second wave', with its borrowings from continental philosophy and 'postmodern' theory. A reading of the sacred roots of law suggests a perspective on constructions of the contemporary secular legal order that never properly emerged in the first wave of critical legal thought; a perspective that might prove central to future developments in the field of legal theory.

The Challenge of Postmodernism and the Health of Theology

This article addresses the situation of contemporary theological thinking in relation to postmodernism, or contemporary Continental philosophy. Using a criterion of health from Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, it argues that theology should avoid either simpleminded assimilation of postmodernism or closeminded rejection. After critically surveying some current theological movements and figures, such as Radical Orthodoxy, I turn away from a paradigm of theology based on Barth to one based on Paul Tillich. Finally, an alternative notion of health is elaborated which leads to a deep and transformative encounter between postmodernism and theology.

THEOLOGY, IDENTITY AND THE PRE‐CHRISTIAN PAST

HINNE WAGENAAR [*] A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DR. K. BEDIAKO'S THEOLOGY FROM A FRISIAN PERSPECTIVE Introduction One of the central themes in the theological work of Dr. K. Bediako, director of the Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission and Applied Theology in Akropong, Ghana, is the relationship between African Christianity and the pre-Christian heritage, i.e. the African Traditional Religions. In all his books and articles, Bediako basically struggles with this same subject. In several places he expresses this by quoting E. Fashole-Luke from Sierra Leone: main thrust of African Christian scholarship has been the argument that 'conversion' to Christianity must be coupled with cultural continuity. [1] For Bediako, this interaction between Christianity and the cultures of Africa marks a new creative stage in Christian theology. Reflecting on his own theological development he writes: My own studies in the formative stages of modern African theology brought me to the conclusion that the issue of identity lies at the heart of the process by which the Christian theological enterprise is actually carried forward. As it emerged in the post-missionary context of African Christianity in the 1950s and 1960s, the question of identity entailed (...) confronting constantly the problem of how 'old' and 'new' in African religious consciousness could become integrated in a unified vision of what it meant to be Christian and African (...) African theology, therefore, by becoming something of a dialogue between the African Christian scholar and the perennial religions and spiritualities of Africa was thereby a struggle for an appropriate Christian discourse which would account for and hold together the total religious experience of Africans in a coherent and meaningful pattern. Identity itself thus became a theological concern and the formulation of theological questions were linked as the inevitable by- product of a process of Christian self-definition. [2] In this article I want to analyse how Bediako develops such a 'unified vision.' I will try to understand Bediako's theological paradigm in which African Christians 'can be authentic Africans and true Christians'. Important then is, of course, Bediako's appraisal of the pre-Christian past. In the second part of this article, I will apply Bediako's African theological attitude to the European history of mission. And even more specifically, I want to raise some basic questions related to my own Frisian identity and culture. Reading about the encounter of Western Christianity with African cultures, many questions rise to the surface concerning the first centuries of Christianity in Western Europe, particularly about the attitude to the indigenous cultures and traditional religions of the Germanic tribes and so to the traditions of my own Frisian people! In this way, I will try to meet Bediako's challenge, for he suggests that it may be worth exploring whether African Christian thinking may have some relevance to the present task of theology in the West. Several times Bediako compares his own findings with the European history of mission and suggests, for example, how important it may be to study Bede's History of the English Church and People from a missiological point of view. I will engage in the discussion by raising some basic questions as to the theological attitude in Western Europe to the European pre-Christian past. I. African and Christian 1. European Ethnocentrism African theology emerged in the post-missionary context of the 1950s and 1960s when African theologians started to reflect on their own context of being Christian and being African. The basic emotion behind this movement was the outrage about the negative attitude of the missionaries towards African cultures and religions. It became necessary for African theologians to study African religions, African traditions and African cultures. …

Effectual Call or Causal Effect? Summons, Sovereignty and Supervenient Grace

Classical theism is in danger of being overthrown by the current revolution in theological paradigms. The doctrine of the effectual call affords a good case study of the broader God/world relation: if God’s call and divine action in general are interventions, then grace appears ultimately to be a matter of efficient causality—an impersonal relation. Panentheists argue that God need not intervene in the world because the world is in God and, therefore, is open to his general call. On the panentheistic analogy, God is to the world as the mind is to the brain, and divine grace, like the mind, does not intervene but ‘supervenes’ on the world, God’s body. It is not clear, however, whether God’s personal agency can be preserved in this model. Rethinking the doctrine of the effectual call in terms of ‘speech acts’ suggests a new picture for the God/world relation, where the Spirit ‘advenes’ on the Word to bring about not an impersonal but a uniquely personal effect: understanding.

Solidarity of Others in the Body of Christ: A New Theological Paradigm

For various historical reasons, recent theologies have been deliberately regional, not comprehensive. Each of them has tried to find its theological locus in the experience of a particular group, concentrating its concern on the liberation of one kind of "Others," often with indifference to other kinds of Others, sometimes at their expense and, at best, in solidarity with them, where the agenda of one's own group remains the centre and norm. The Latin American theology of liberation has been aimed at the challenge of the economic Other; feminism-Black, Hispanic and White-at the challenge of the sexual Other; ethnic theologies at the challenge of the ethnic and racial Other; and pluralist theologies at challenge of the religious Other. Although there has been a growing concern over what appears to be theological fragmentation, the prevailing emphasis has been on irreducible difference and otherness not only from the oppressors but also from fellow victims: I am a woman, not a man; a Black not a White; a Korean-American, not an Anglo-American.

Montaigne's Consubstantial Book

Jen'ay pas plus faict mon livre que mon livre m'a faict, livre consubstantiel à son autheur … ” (I have not made my book any more than my book has made me, a book consubstantial with its author). That was no ordinary assertion in plain language. Montaigne explained hisEssaisas “concerned with my own self, an integral part of my life; not concerned with some third-hand extraneous purpose, like all other books.” Its subject was uniquely himself. His usage of the term “consubstantial” projected his design beyond the literary theory of imitation into a theological paradigm of divinity.Acknowledging that “well-known phrase” and “famous declaration,” literary criticism has much interpreted Montaigne's “consubstantial” book. Yet the slight mention of the word itself has been both undocumented and inaccurate.

Hans Küng's historical paradigm for postmodern theology

Hans Küng's historical paradigm for postmodern theology

Perspektiewe op ’n kontemporêre gereformeerde bedíeníng

It seems as though certain protagonists in the renewal movement, necessitated by new challenges and circumstances facing the Church, take their point of departure in the assumption that a Reformed ministry, structured according to a diaconiological paradigm, can no longer meet the challenges of today. This way of thinking is based on the shift to the Practical Theological paradigm, emphasizing the empirical methodology of the Reformed doctrine and spirituality. This article thus argues that a dynamic approach to Reformed ministry can indeed meet the challenges of today. Parameters for such a Reformed ministry are identified, taking into account that any form of renewal should be true to Reformed theology.

A new theological paradigm

Theology, like philosophy, and any science that deals with humanity in general, embodies the self‐perceptions of the society where it is pursued. We can see these perceptions illustrated by comparing two major theological traditions: conventional European theologies and Latin American liberation theologies.

Teologie en kenteorie - ’n Reaksie op die artikels van Gerrie Snyman'

This study is a reaction to Snyman's critique on the theological activity of the Gereformeerde Kerke of South Africa (GKSA). His critique is firstly examined against the background of a construction of its own paradigm. The identified paradigm is then evaluated as a possible alternative for the theological paradigm of the GKSA. It is concluded that although the right application of Snyman's critique can help to develop reformed theology, his paradigm is not a tenable alternative for the theological paradigm of the GKSA.

Development and democratization in the Third World: myths, hopes, and realities

Part 1 Current trends and new directions in Third World research: people- centred development - alternative for a Third World crisis. Part 2 Towards a reconceptualization of development and democracy democracy and development - luxury or necessity?. Part 3 Human rights and the ethical basis of development theology and economy - the theological paradigm of communicative action and the paradigm of the community of life as a theology of liberation the human rights cause - how we can help. Part 4 Population growth and the environmental imperative: population growth and government policy in the developing world - lessons from Asia. Part 5 Distributive justice and equity - lessons from Asia, Africa and Latin America land tenure and economic efficiency. Part 6 Corporate and professional responsibility in Third World development business social policy in the Third World - response of multinational corporate management. Part 7 Conclusion - future prospects and promises.

The Challenge of Héloise—Language, Truth and Logic Revisited

Latin-American, Asian, black and feminist Liberation theologies have in common that theology becomes re-defined from and by the perspective and experience of the oppressed group. The hope was that through doing theology from the margins—or from the ‘underside of history—the central models (paradigms) of traditional theology would be transformed: ethics becomes Liberation Ethics, concepts of God, Christ, and Spirit are grounded in the experience of the struggle for justice, the Bible is read as a text of Liberation, and a new readiness would appear to dialogue with the ‘submerged’ faiths of oppressed peoples.My argument here is that the paradigm shift did not go deep enough. Looking around at the worsening crises of the world—African famine, environmental disasters, structural violence and the ineluctable spirals of poverty—it seems to me that Liberation Theology has not succeeded because it has not as yet tackled the roots of oppression in language and logic itself. Tracking the roots of oppression to their theological and philosophical sources is a necessary activity of liberation. It means questioning the foundational myth on which our western civilisation is based. Even the feminist attempts to construct a new ethics have not gone far enough. For example, American psychologist and educationalist Carol Gilligan attempted to construct an ethics of care and responsibility, based on her research, as opposed to an ethics of justice and fairness, (the categories of her colleague, Lawrence Kohlberg).

J P Oberholzen Professor in en hoof van die Departement Ou-Testamentiese Wetenskap (Afd A), 1971-1992

J P Oberholzer: Professor and chair of the Department of Old Testament Studies (Sec A) 1971-1992 The work done by J P Oberholzer in the different fields of Old Testament science is investigated and discussed in this article. The trend found in his scholarly work, namely to operate within the ever-widening contexts of theology, church, and God’s relationship with man in Jesus Christ, is shown. The underlying theological paradigm of Barth’s dialectical theology is indicated as well.

:The Depersonalization of God: A Consideration of Soteriological Difficulties in High Calvinism

This book traces the process in Calvinist theology by which God's will came to be conceived as the dominant aspect of God's character. The author argues that the idea of God as personality began to suffer when the early Church fathers interpreted revelation using categories from the Greek philosophical tradition. This thesis is illustrated through an examination of Augustine's conception of God's relationship to the world and Augustine's view of the relationship of the universal to particulars as it affected Biblical testimony. The development of this theology is documented through Scotus, Ockham, Luther, and Calvin resulting in a soteriology in which the eternal decrees of a depersonalized God came to usurp the cross of Christ as the source of salvation. Contents: What Can We Know? The Problem of Epistemology in Theological Paradigms; Augustinianism; Theories of Atonement; Key Developments in the Medieval Period; The Concept of God in Luther and Calvin; The Poles of Ten the God-Concept; and Soteriological Parallels in Buddhism and Islam.

Theological paradigms and conservative Afrikaners

Papers published in the HSRC publication Paradigms and progress in theology (1988) reject foundationalistic theology and recommend a holistic theological ap proach. In this process contextual theology, which emphasises the distinctiveness of individual nations, is accused of being the ‘domination paradigm’ and is even called a heresy. This article aims to show that the holistic theological approach is also guilty of foundationalistic reasoning and intolerance. Furthermore, the need for a balanced theological paradigm for the conservative Afrikaner believer, who desires an own land for the Afrikaner nation is shown. Contextual theological reflection has not only a criticising function, but also a legitimising responsibility. The balanced contextual theological paradigm for conservative Afrikaner believers must be critical, legitimising and free of foundationalism.