Religion In South Africa Research Articles

Expressions of whiteness? A Black ecclesiological reflection on Fresh Expressions of Church

The article presents a critical literary analysis of the Fresh Expressions of Church movement, which started in the United Kingdom (UK) and was subsequently adopted by some mainline churches in South Africa. The authors review the genesis of the movement and its models, development and approaches in order to understand its relevance for the post-apartheid South African context. The authors then critically compare, through a literary analysis, the theological praxis of the Fresh Expressions movement and bring it into critical dialogue with some Black Liberation Theologians and Steve Biko of the Black Consciousness Movement who, when apartheid was at its height in South Africa, argued for a ‘Black expression’ of church. In the article, the authors reach a dramatic point by asking whether a ‘fresh expression’ is indeed needed, in the light of an existing ‘Black expression’ of faith and lived religion in South Africa that has historically been ignored and stifled. The article concludes with a call to embrace Black Ecclesiology in the post-apartheid context.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article concludes with a call to embrace Black Ecclesiology in the post-apartheid context.

The role of ecumenical bodies in curbing abuses in New Prophetic Churches in South Africa

The proliferation of New Prophetic Churches within the broader Pentecostal movement in South Africa has come with the challenge of the abuse of religion and people’s beliefs. These abuses have attracted the attention of the government through the Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities (CRL) commission with calls for the regulation of religion to deal with the abuses. This article worked within the context of Christian ecumenism and explored the role of ecumenical bodies in curbing the abuses in New Prophetic Churches as opposed to the regulation by the government. In this article the ecclesiastical freedom theory is used to argue that ecumenical bodies are better positioned to deal with these challenges facing churches than the government and its commissions. It is suggested that, for New Prophetic Churches to be active in national ecumenical bodies such as the South African Council of Churches, they should be allowed to establish their own bodies to assure accountability. This will be achieved by defining the theory of ecclesiastical freedom, a discussion of the ecumenical bodies in South Africa and their relationship with New Prophetic Churches. In the last section the role of ecumenical bodies in dealing with abuses in New Prophetic Churches will be explored and recommendations made.Contribution: This article makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing discourses on the regulation of religion in South Africa through an ecclesiastical freedom theory. It is argued that churches can self-regulate and therefore suggests that instead of regulating churches, the government should rather rely on ecumenical bodies in dealing with abuses in New Prophetic Churches in South Africa. In addition, New Prophetic Churches should be allowed to establish their bodies that will ultimately become part of national ecumenical bodies to assure accountability.

Misuse of Religious titles by self-proclaimed spiritual leaders: Prophets, Apostles, and Popes in South Africa

In the world of religions, different religious officials are given different titles. Christianity as a religion in the world and in South Africa particularly, has been severely attacked by self proclaimed spiritual leaders who perform false miracles and abuse titles that have been respected by traditional mainstream churches for decades. These self-appointed spiritual leaders make utilization of these titles either through self-propagating or by accepting them when utilized upon them by their followers. This paper argues that self-appointed spiritual leaders' mere use of these revered religious titles cannot be justified within Christianity's framework. This paper offers a closer look at the literature regarding the use of religious titles such as Prophet, Apostle, and Pope. These religious titles remain very respectable within the Christian religion and are used to honour the role played by both biblical and contemporary Christian leaders. This paper makes three arguments; First, the age of the prophets was washed away by God's written Word in the Holy Bible, so those given this title should be pressed to prove the truthfulness of their prophecies beyond doubt. Second, apostles were those who were eye and ear witnesses to the teachings and resurrection of Jesus. Contemporary apostles must be compelled to defend their apostleship, as is the case in 2 Corinthians 11.Lastly, the title of Pope is traditionally bestowed upon the Catholic Bishop of Rome, the head bishop of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and other leaders of traditional ecclesial communities. In its entirety, this paper deals with the scientifically neglected aspect within the larger question of the regulation of religions in South Africa.

Can religion (un)zombify? The trajectories of psychic capture theology in postcolonial South Africa

‘Police arrested suspected criminals in a satanic place masquerading as a church … There is no church there, but there is Satanism … Those people are not praying for anything, but they have hypnotised abantu [ people ]’. Informed by a decoloniality lens in relation to motifs such as coloniality of power and knowledge and being, I argue that mafiarised religions in South Africa thrive through psychic capture theology. Some emerging religious movements subject their followers to unthinkable practices, which makes outsiders question the way in which both religious leaders and adherents operate outside the conventionally accepted practice of religion, and, instead, indulge in practices characterised by manipulation, corruption and mental destabilisation. I respond to two questions: What are the trajectories of a religion that zombifies, and how can the social pathologies of psychic capture theology be addressed? I respond to these questions with special reference to the Seven Angels Ministry and Penuel Mnguni. I argue that some emerging ministries strive to destroy the psychic ability of adherents, to achieve strategic distance that dehumanises, removes people from the zone of being, and causes them to question their ontological density. I end the article by arguing that there is a need for religion to be regulated, and reintroduced, to challenge religious mafias that thrive through mental destabilisation. In doing so, religion can be reconfigured and have relevance in a postcolonial state, such as South Africa, especially in contexts where the rationale of religious discourses is questionable. Contribution: The article contributes to knowledge in the sense that it calls for religion to be problematised and reconstructed within education and sociological space when it dehumanise and removes people from the zone of being. Through this approach, the article fits with the scope for the journal that calls for interdisciplinary approach to the study within the international contexts.

Dissonance and Polyphasia as Strategies for Resolving the Potential Conflict Between Science and Religion Among South Africans

A majority of South Africans agrees that when science and religion conflict, religion is always right. Is this an indication the public is anti-science or does the question wording hide a more complex relationship? We examined the relationship between science and religion in South Africa using quantitative data from the World Values Survey and qualitative data from face-to-face interviews. As research on the potential conflict between science and religion is predominantly focused on Western countries, the present study focuses on Africa and compares results with those of two Western countries. Findings show that almost 76% South Africans agree that religion is always right and religious belief, social trust and education were significant predictors of this perception. Comparing findings with data from Zimbabwe, the United States and Germany, we found that while the influence of religiosity is significant across countries, comparatively, trust seems to be more of an African issue. The qualitative interviews, however, provided an elaboration of the relationship between science and religion in South Africa, indicating that choosing either science or religion is not always an outright rejection of the other. The relationships were classified as those informed by cognitive dissonance, often expressed in hierarchical associations, and those influenced by cognitive polyphasia, a complementary and transformative coexistence.

Race and Religion in South Africa and Turkey’s Sub-Imperialist Expansion

ABSTRACTDrawing on the theory of sub-imperialism, this article focuses on the roles of race and religion in the construction of South Africa and Turkey’s regional expansions. It argues that while ‘black control of politics and white control of economy’ was a constitutive element of South African sub-imperialism after the fall of the apartheid regime in 1994, religion has been instrumental to Turkey’s sub-imperialist expansion since the 1980 military intervention. Thus, the South African state uses claims of representing and protecting African interests as its instrument of a sub-imperialist agenda, while the Turkish state’s guarding of Islam in the Middle East facilitates its sub-imperialist expansion. While ‘white’ bourgeoisie and late-comer ‘black’ bourgeoisie decisively marked the post-apartheid period in the South African context, the political interests of ‘devout bourgeoisie’ and the economic interests of big finance capitalists marked Turkey’s sub-imperialist direction. The article concludes that race and religion are the unifying ideologies of South African and Turkish sub-imperialism respectively, as both manufacture consent among popular masses.

The Relationship Between Christian Metanarratives and Authoritative Scriptures in South African Society

Abstract In studying the interaction between the three monotheistic religions in South Africa it is important to note that each of them functions as a metanarrative in that they all attempt to provide a more-or-less coherent perspective on reality. The different, but also overlapping, metanarratives of Islam, Judaism and Christianity furthermore each has a complex relationship with their respective authoritative Scriptures, communities of faith, contemporary societies and each other. It is therefore necessary to investigate the manner in which each religion’s metanarrative functions within the spheres of the academy, faith community and broader society. This contribution describes one of the projects of the envisioned Centre for the Interpretation of Authoritative Scriptures (CIAS) that is in the process of being established at Stellenbosch University. The focus of this project will be on the relationship between the metanarrative contained in the Christian canon, a specific faith community (the Dutch Reformed Church) within South African society in the period 2009–2019.

Redefining religion? A critical Christian reflection on CRL Rights Commission’s proposal to regulate religion in South Africa

What do the recommendations of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) to regulate religion in South Africa reflect about the commission’s understanding of religion in the country? From a Christian theological perspective, the article critically engages the understanding of religion that emerges from the findings and recommendations of the CRL Rights Commission on the state of religion in South Africa as contained in its 2017 report. The article first examines the different responses to the CRL Rights Commission’s recommendations by writers concerned with freedom of religion and human rights in South Africa. Further, the commission’s investigations, findings and recommendations are critically examined. This is followed by deciphering attitudes towards religion that emerge from the commission’s recommendation for the regulation of religion in South Africa. The article closes by highlighting some possible dangers of regulating religion in a context riddled by economic inequality such as in South Africa. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article brings into dialogue Christian theology, religious freedom, human rights and the constitution, philosophy and sociology of religion to reflect on the essence of religion and freedom of religion in the context of undesirable and dangerous religious practices.

Is Gabola a Decolonial Church or Another Trajectory of Freedom of Religion in Post-Colonial South Africa? Rethinking Ethical Issues in Religious Praxis

In this paper, I interrogated the Gabola church in terms of its origins, purpose and its distinctiveness as a postcolonial manifestation of freedom of religion in South Africa. I answered two questions, is Gabola church a representation of a decolonial church and could it be a manifestation of trajectories of the postcolonial ill-defined freedom of religion? In responding to these questions, I used decoloniality, a theory whose agenda among many others is geared to usher a future free from oppression, where all can participate in modernity and in postmodernity. Data was generated through participatory action research. The approach enabled us to unearth the theology of Gabola, philosophy and the gap they seek to fill in the religious space. Ten Gabola church members and five church members from a mainline Christian movement participated in this research. The findings indicated that Gabola church presents a new religious movement that is socially inclusive, that seeks to promote social justice and social transformation. On the other hand, the research revealed that the lack of a regulating body for religious movement is the reason for the rise of questionable movements such as Gabola, a serious threat in the praxis of the Christian faith. To this end, I concluded that while freedom of religion is a good idea in line with the decolonial move, there is a need for participative and collaborative regulation of religious movement to eliminate criminal elements that overshadowed the beauty of religion manifested through ‘unthinkable’ ethical irregularities.

Religious freedom and the law: a reality or pipe dream for prisoners in South Africa?

Freedom of religion, like other human rights, must be respected, protected, and promoted by relevant and entrusted authorities to comply with legitimate laws, applicable to a particular environment. In South Africa, the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 as amended, the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa of 2005, and internal policies are intended to make provision for prisoners’ freedom of religion in the correctional services environment. These essentially give effect to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, emanating from pertinent international and African continental instru-ments. Through an analytic design of change over time, this essay seeks to conduct an analysis of prisoners’ freedom of religion in South Africa. This analysis is based on the Department of Correctional Services’ annual reports published between 1997 and 2016 and the general conditions of prisons in South Africa. The finding of this study reveals a violation of the right of prisoners to freedom of religion by the South African correctional authority.Keywords: prisoners’ freedom of religion, human dignity, religious beliefs, spiritual services, prisoners’ spiritual needs

Championing equality: Evaluating the relationship between the state and religion in South Africa

Championing equality: Evaluating the relationship between the state and religion in South Africa

CHARTERS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: THE MAGNA CARTA (1215), ORDINANCE NO. 7 OF 1843 (SOUTH AFRICA), AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN CHARTER OF RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (2010)

In June 2015 a conference was held in Oxford to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta (the Great Charter). In 1865 Ordinance no. 7 of 1843 was hailed as the Magna Carta of the Dutch Reformed Church. At the conference in Oxford a paper was given on the “Magna Carta and South Africa”. This article grew out of that paper. In the article, the historical development of religious freedom in different time periods are touched upon to end with the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms (SA Charter), which was signed by many religions in South Africa on 20 October 2010 – its Constitutional setting and background while the differences between the Magna Carta, Ordinance no. 7 of 1843 and the SA Charter are accentuated. The biggest difference between the three documents are that the Magna Carta and Ordinance no. 7 of 1842 were documents that originated from the authorities and were granted to the churches, while the SA Charter is a document that grew from the religious communities itself.

Book Review: David Chidester: Wild Religion: Tracking the Sacred in South Africa

David Chidester’s Wild Religion focuses on religious diversity and South Africa “from the advent of democracy in 1994 to the euphoria of the Football World Cup in 2010” (viii). It is not a conventionally defined description of particular faith communities or sacred rituals but rather an attempt to describe in a well-informed story-telling anecdotal way how ritual and the sacred are used (and misused) “for negotiating a human identity” in times of transition. Thus it is “wild” religion, a reaction to a new and “wild” world that throws both punches and surprises. The “sacred” is then used to either vent frustration and anger—thus disruptive of social order, or it can be used in a way to deal with it, to pacify and interpret it, to recreate social order. It is “a hybrid of order and chaos” (4). Wild Religion is a sociological study of religion in an extremely interesting time and place written in an original, scholarly and entertaining way focusing on a truly diverse and multicultural society in transition. However, it discusses the phenomena with examples from all over the world and from various times in history. It never gets dull but it often made me wonder if all of this is really an accurate and a just rendering of reality. One can prove your point that the religious scenario is actually constant chaos by simply telling and quoting enough (well documented!) stories. It truly is a bit wild, like the hair raising stories about hair (5–10)! But I guess that is the point that the author wants to make, it is a messy chaos even though one can find a basic logic that helps one to understand the constant fluctuations. What exactly this basic logic is becomes clear and is well articulated in the final chapter. After critiquing systematic descriptions of the religious system of the Amazulu and the highly respected and often quoted work of John Mbiti, the author concludes that such “utopian” religious systems simply never existed (192). He continues (192): Neither a stable and enduring system nor a perennial mentality that persisted unchanged from time immemorial, African religion is an open set of resources and strategies for sacralising. The word “transact” and “transactions” are often used. They refer to the coping mechanism that people and people groups use to deal with changing realities. The setting of the changing reality is usually illustrated from the context of colonialism as well as the modern era. Religion, in utterly original ways (called “wild”), used the sacred to cope with identity changes and used and misused the processes to the advantage of persons or peoples, often politically, economically and socially. On page 196, after some interesting illustrations, the author once again concludes: …these cases utterly defy any construction of African traditional religion as a stable system or a distinctive mentality. They demonstrate the relational character of indigenous religion. The transactions suggest the variety of ways in which indigenous religion is not preserved in splendid isolation from time immemorial but always entangled in a changing world. The different chapters of the book document the evidence that leads to these conclusions. Chapter two, for instance, maps the morphology of the sacred by looking at the symbolic in the history of Cape Town being the mother city of South Africa. In a truly fascinating way he outlines his case which is a particular understanding of religion (44): I would like to propose in conclusion that the term religion can be recast to designate a category of human activity that comprises not only beliefs and practices, whether in relation to transcendent forces, sacred objects or ultimate concerns, but also resources and strategies – the resources that are appropriated and the strategies that are deployed – within an urban political economy of the sacred. His interpretation of this definition of religion is then very well illustrated by interpreting the recent history of urban gangs in Cape Town with regard to the role that the sacred played. The rest of the chapters deal with violence, fundamentalism, heritage, spirituality, and the quest for purity and power as well as an enjoyable chapter of the influence of the soccer World Cup on the country and on religion in particular. Another very important conclusion one finds on page 198. He calls religion in South Africa “wild” because of its preoccupation with modernity, trying to cope with “what’s next.” “Christianity and indigenous religion have been interwoven in South Africa.” I think this is an important conclusion and applicable to most of sub-Saharan Africa. Whether the hope that the book promised for South Africa is indeed real hope is open to be questioned for the prophecy with which it ends is that religion will stay wild.

Christianity and Secularisation in South Africa: Probing the Possible Link between Modernisation and Secularisation

The secularisation theory of Max Weber states that modernisation inevitably leads to the decline of religion. This theory has in recent years been challenged by the desecularisation theories of various sociologists and philosophers. This article probes the possible link between modernisation and secularisation through a case study of the Republic of South Africa. South Africa is an important case study because it went through a rapid process of modernisation from the 1990s onwards. The first section examines the secularisation thesis of Weber and his supporters, as well as theories of desecularisation. The second section discusses the periods of anti-modernisation (1910–90) and modernisation (1990–2012) in South Africa. The third section analyses statistical data on the state of religion in South Africa, while the last section offers some concluding remarks on the relationship between modernisation and secularisation in South Africa thus far. The finding of the article is that the South African experience indicates that modernisation has an impact on religion, but the effect is not necessarily one of a decline in religion. In South Africa, modernisation has led to the decline of religion in some communities and the rejuvenation of religion in others. The effect of modernisation on religion seems to depend on its interaction with a range of other social factors.

The evolving role of the Rhema Movement in the South African public square

The position of the Rhema Movement on law and religion in South Africa, and religious freedom in particular, can be understood by assessing their changing role in the public square. Underlying their role is the view that, public engagement and social justice are forms of religious expression, embarked upon within the robust religious freedom of contemporary South Africa.The impetus for involvement in the political landscape of South Africa, by the Rhema Bible Church, a Charismatic Pentecostal Christian Church, and its’ leader, Pastor Ray McCauley, has been widely speculated over in the media. It is the premise of this paper that by assessing the Rhema Movement’s changing role in the public square in recent decades, as well as the theological and philosophical basis for such engagement, the position of the Rhema Movement on law and religion, and religious freedom in particular, can be understood. Underlying their actions, Marius Oosthuizen argues herein, is their stance that public engagement and social justice are forms of religious expression, upon which they seek to embark within the robust religious freedom afforded them by the constitutional dispensation of contemporary South Africa.

Law and religion in South Africa: An African traditional perspective

The discussion on the relationship between the law and religion in the South African context by somebody whose background and point of reference are based on the indigenous customary law of the land needs a special and honest approach. For the right approach, it is important that one has to be first honest to the inner self, to the religious community s/ he serves and then to the nation as a whole. I find it very difficult to compromise my inner self because I am expected to be politically correct even if I find flaws in the law of the land or I find some aspects of deliberate negligence in the implementation of the policies that are supposed to liberate all. This paper will therefore be straight to the point and will not be subjected to any blind loyalty either to the Constitution as the supreme law of the country or to the government programs and their attitude towards indigenous religion. It must be noted that there is a wide gap between what is said in the Constitution and the implementation of the theories documented. The Constitution of the country as the supreme law of the land is, on some very important issues too superficial and accommodating at the expense of the previously and in-fact still disadvantaged religious communities.

Law and religion in South Africa – an Anglican perspective

The development of Canon Law in the Anglican Church in South Africa, the Common Principles of Canon law in the Anglican Communion and the involvement of Anglican Archbishops in the writing of the South African Constitution.

NGTT Supplement 4: Religion and Law

Law and religion is a subject matter that is increasingly receiving attention from both theologians and legal scholars all over the world. In a sense it is more than just a mere scholarly attempt. In many countries of the world it is of vital importance for the relationship between the state and its subjects and also for the relationship between religions and between religions and the state. This issue of the Dutch Reformed Theological Journal looks at Law and Religion in South Africa from the viewpoint of a diversity of religions in South Africa as well as from the viewpoint of theologians and legal scholars.

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM IN SOUTH AFRICA

Against the background of defining, theorizing, humanizing, nationalizing, and globalizing religion in South Africa, this essay recalls the diverse ways in which religious fundamentalism has registered in South Africa as an ‘inauthentic’ claim on religious authenticity. Tracking academic and media attention to religious fundamentalism at ten-year intervals, we find Christian fundamentalism appearing during the 1970s as contrary to the apartheid state, during the 1980s as legitimating the apartheid state, and during the 1990s as resisting the new democratic dispensation. By the 1990s, however, attention to religious fundamentalism, locally and globally, shifted to focus on varieties of politicized Islam. As this brief historical review suggests, the term, ‘fundamentalism,’ whether applied to Jesus People in Johannesburg during the 1970s or People Against Gangsterism and Drugs during the 1990s, has been a recurring but shifting sign of a crisis of authenticity. In conclusion, South African perspectives on religion, the state, and authenticity can be drawn into analyzing the current crisis of fundamentalism in our rapidly globalizing and increasingly polarized world.

JESUS THE ANCESTOR: READING THE STORY OF JESUS FROM AN AFRICAN CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

1. Introduction . For more than two-hundred years South Africa has been the meeting place for two fundamentally different types of religious traditions: African traditional religions and Western European Christian religions. Each of these two traditions possesses its own world view, its own beliefs, practices, and behaviour codes and is embedded in its own distinctive culture. One, European Christianity, is historically an interloping missionary religion with numerous quite distinct and often competing manifestations. As an interloping religion in South Africa it has sought to convert people to its beliefs, practices, and behaviour patterns, as well as to European culture which is its carrier. African traditional religions, by way of contrast, are not missionary religions at all. Instead they are the religions of small scale, non-literate societies and are based on lineal descent from a common ancestor or membership in a particular clan or tribal group.