Research Articles (Religion & Theology)
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Browsing by Author "Conradie, Ernst M."
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Item Black health, ethics, and global ecology(Taylor and Francis Group, 2022) Conradie, Ernst M.The reflections offered here come from someone the South African government classified as white or as European under apartheid, who continues to be classified in that manner under affirmative action, and who has worked at a historically black university, the University of the Western Cape, since 1993. I teach systematic theology and ethics in a religion and theology department, and I focus on Christian ecotheology. I welcome theologian J�rgen Moltmann�s reversal of interlocutors in calling for Latin American liberation theology for the First World, black theology for white people, and feminist theology for men.Item The four tasks of Christian ecotheology: Revisiting the current debate(Stellenbosch University, 2020) Conradie, Ernst M.This contribution offers a description of the tasks of Christian ecotheology both from a de facto and from a de iure perspective. It suggests that this entails both a twofold critique and a twofold constructive task, i.e. an ecological critique of Christianity and a Christian critique of ecological destruction, a constructive contribution to Christian authenticity and on that basis to multi-disciplinary discourse on ecological concerns in the public sphere. This is unpacked in subsequent sections, holding these dual tasks together through the notion of an ecological reformation and the tension between vision and discernment. It is suggested that a constructive contribution to Christian authenticity is indeed theologically crucial, namely, to discern the movements of the Spirit, now amidst the advent of the Anthropocene. This contribution raises but does not address the theological question as to what God is up to in a time like this.Item A green reformation of Christianity? Anthropological, ethical and pedagogical reflections on ecology as ecumenical theme(Stellenbosch University, 2021) Conradie, Ernst M.This contribution builds upon and contributes to many recent ecumenical calls for an ecological reformation of Christianity. It seeks to guide such calls on the use of the term �ecology� by offering five brief statements in this regard, namely 1) on ecology as a transversal theme; 2) on ecology as an ecumenical theme; 3) on the root metaphor of the �whole household of God�; 4) on Christian doctrinal assumptions on such a household; and 5) on the (ecological) limitations of the metaphor of the whole household of God.Item Human uniqueness: An unfinished agenda(Verbum et Ecclesia, 2021) Conradie, Ernst M.This contribution is structured in the form of a letter to Van Huyssteen focussing on his magnum opus, Alone in the World? (2006). It recognises, with Van Huyssteen, the danger of docetic detachment and scientific reductionism. It suggests that what is at stake in debates on human uniqueness is a defence of human dignity, human rights and human responsibility. It points to a dilemma in this regard, namely that affirming the evolutionary continuity of humans with other species as well as human dignity on the basis of human uniqueness is only possible on the basis of a hierarchy of intrinsic worth and not equal intrinsic worth. However, amongst humans, such a hierarchy cannot be sustained given the need to affirm equal human dignity. The underlying problem here is to address the dangers of anthropocentrism, especially in the so-called Anthropocene where humans have become a �geological force of nature�. Van Huyssteen is challenged to consider the reverse side of the emergence of human uniqueness, namely the emergence of human sin. Are humans unique in this regard too? Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The theme of human uniqueness is by definition of multi-disciplinary interest as demonstrated in the work of Wentzel van Huyssteen. This contribution highlights an unresolved anthropocentrism, especially in the context of what is termed the �Anthropocene�, that is also of significance within multiple disciplines, including Christian theology and discourse on theology and science.Item A journal for biblical, theological and / or contextual hermeneutics?(Stellenbosch University, 2020) Conradie, Ernst M.This contribution reflects on the current sub-title of the journal Scriptura, namely �Journal for Biblical, Theological and Hermeneutics�. It showsthat this has been a core interest of the journal over a period of forty years. It also discusses the methodological tensions between these three forms / aspects of hermeneutics � to the point where one may wonder whether the �and� in the subtitle could be understood as �or�. It does not propose a way forward but commends Scriptura for offering the space to explore such tensions further in the South African context.Item Knowledge, values, and beliefs in the South African context since 1948: An overview(Wiley, 2015) Conradie, Ernst M.; du Toit, Cornel W.In this contribution, an overview of the distinct waysin which the interplay between knowledge, values, and beliefs tookshape in the South African context since 1948 is offered. This is framedagainst the background of the paleontological signi?cance of SouthAfrica and an appreciation of indigenous knowledge systems, but alsoof the ideological distortion of knowledge and education during theapartheid era through the legacy of neo-Calvinism. The overviewincludes references to discourse on human rationality (as an implicitcritique against ideology), on the use of social sciences in theologicalre?ection, on the teaching of evolution in public schools, on scienceand religion, and on religion and ecology. The essay concludes witha survey of some of the major voices regarding the interface betweenreligion and science in South Africa.Item Some reflections on human identity in the Anthropocene(AOSIS, 2021) Conradie, Ernst M.This article observes that both the similar and the dissimilar are of ethical importance in discourse on human identity. There is a need for a common humanity and to guard against domination in the name of difference � precisely by recognising the otherness of the other. This also applies to reflections on what it means to be human in the age of the human, namely the Anthropocene. A survey is offered of how this tension between the similar and the dissimilar plays itself out in the work of five theorists, namely Dipesh Chakrabarty, Clive Hamilton, Dona Harraway, Michel Serres and Kathryn Yusoff. On this basis, six tentative conclusions are offered: (1) Despite the appropriate ethical emphasis on difference and otherness, the quest for the universal in the particular cannot be readily abandoned. (2) Such a sensitivity for the universal in the particular needs to be extended to a recognition of the way in which an integrated earth system functions. (3) The ethical emphasis on difference and otherness should be extended to non-human animals. (4) Human dignity and the �integrity of creation� are not necessarily inversely proportioned. (5) Relations may well have an ontological priority over individuals. (6) Identity need not be constituted by the distant past or the immediate presence as if continuity over time forms a guarantee for a sense of identity.Item South African discourse on the Triune God: Some reflections(AOSIS, 2019) Conradie, Ernst M.This contribution offers a critical rejoinder with regard to 12 articles submitted for publication in HTS Theological Studies �to stimulate a discussion on the Holy Trinity for the 21st century within the South African environment�. It raises the provocative question: what if these 12 articles may be regarded as a barometer for contemporary South African discourse on the Trinity � even if this is evidently (and hopefully!) not the case? It addressed five questions in this regard: (1) who are the authors that contributed articles and where are they situated? (2) Who are their conversation partners or interlocutors? (3) What issues, themes and problems have they focused on? (4) How is the public significance of the doctrine of the Trinity portrayed within the (South) African context? (5) What issues, themes and problems were not discussed? It concludes that there are crucial problems related to the economic Trinity that are, by and large, not addressed in this set of contributions.