Department of Religion and Theology

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Imam ' Abdullah Haron life , ideas and impact
(University of the Western Cape, 1986) Muhammed, Haron; Chidesta, David
This study focuses upon Imam ' Abdullah Haron, who is an impertant Muslim religious personality in South Africa who had died in detention in 1969 . He made sincere efforts in bringing about social reforms in his community . The Imam emphasised all aspects of reform, including the moral and spiritual reforms in society . This research demonstrates that he had laid down the foundation of I slamic social reform which present day Muslim organizations followed. It also shows the impact the Imam had on these Muslim organizations .
God se deernis met die weerloses van sy volk. 'n Kritiese ondersoek na 'n spesifieke dimensie van die Godsverkondiging in die Ou Testament
(University of Western Cape, 1991) Goliath, August Christian; Verhoef, P A
Benewens persoonlike belangstelling in die boodskap van die Ou Testament vir die kerk van vandag, is dit veral kontempor�re teologiese debatte en verwikkelinge op die kerklike terrein, plaaslik sowel as op die bre� ekumeniese front, wat tot hierdie studie aanJeiding gegee het. Eerstens: Een van die artikels van die Belharbelydenis' lui onder andere: "Ons glo ... dat God op 'n besondere wyse (Homself geopenbaar het as) die God van die noodlydende, die arme en die verontregte ...(my kursivering); dat Hy aan die verdruktes reg laat geskied en brood aan die hongeriges gee; dat Hy die gevangenes bevry en blindes laat sien; dat Hy di� wat bedruk is ondersteun, die vreemdelinge beskerm en weeskinders en weduwees help en die pad van die goddelose versper." Toe di� spesifieke artikel van die konsepbelydenis gedurende die sinodesitting' onder bespreking gekom het, het somrnige van die afgevaardigdes ernstige besware geopper teen die wyse van formulering dat God op 'n besondere wyse die God van die noodlydende, die arme en die verontregte is. So 'n stelling skep, volgens hulle, die indruk dat God inderdaad kant gekies het vir die noodlydendes en dat Hy dus by implikasie 'n God van die armes, verdruktes en verontregtes is. Die sinodale kommissie wat VIr die formulering van die konsepbelydenis verantwoordelik was, het hierop ontkennend geantwoord en tot gerusstelling van die sinodegangers aangevoer dat die betrokke artikel eenvoudig beskou moet word as die verwoording van die "basiese, oer-Bybelse en oer-Christelike oortuiging, naamlik dat God die hulp van die hulpelose is"(Smit 1984:65). Die konsepbelydenis is aan die Kerk deurgegee met die oog op kritiese besinning gedurende die sinodereses en vir die voorlegging van kommentaar by die daaropvolgende sinode.' Vanselfsprekend sou s� 'n totaal nuwe belydenisskrif sy eie invloed op die kerklike lewe uitoefen. Daar kan verwag word dat verskillende aksente op sekere artikels mettertyd gel� sal word. Oor sommige van die stellings sal gaandeweg nuwe interpretasies na vore kom en 'n verskeidenheid van betekenisnuanses sal met verloop van tyd verwag kan word Belangrikste van alles is dat bepaalde formuleringe deur die loop van die kerk se geskiedenis opnuut aan die hand van die Skrif getoets sal word. Die studie is indertyd ge�nisieer in die hoop om in so 'n Wirkungsgeschichte 'n bydrae te lewer.
The Significance of the Cultural Anthropology of Mary Douglas and Bruce Malina for New Testament Interpretation
(University of Western Cape, 1991) Arendse, Roger; Brownson, James
The Bible, a treasure of all Christian churches, contains the irreplaceable primary documents of the Christian faith. The Bible is also a collection of ancient documents, written in strange and even exotic languages of other ages and cultures. Much in the Bible is foreign to urbanized Western civilization and requires exploration. The Bible is also the major source of information about the history of Israel in pre-Christian times and the origins of the Christian faith and the Christian Church. Under all these aspects the Bible has been the source of information and doctrine, of faith and hope. lts interpretation has also been a battleground, for men's (sic.) hopes and most deeply held convictions are buttressed from the Bible, differences as to what the Bible says or how to read it provoke violent debate (Krentz 1975: 1).
Not liberation but justice: An Analysis of Reinhold Niebuhr's understanding of human destiny in the light of the Doctrine of the Atonement.
(University of Western Cape, 1992) de Gruchy, Stephen Mark; Smit, Dirk J
This thesis takes a new approach to the interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought by arguing that the category of "redemption" is a key hermeneutical concept for understanding his theology. It is argued that his ethics can best be interpreted as flowing out his understanding of human destiny in the light of the Christian doctrine of the Atonement.
God en die lyding. 'n Kritiese ontleding van A. van de Beek se paradigma-teoriee oor die lydingsvraag.
(University of the Western Cape, 1993) Koopman, Nico Norman
Sedert my kinderjare het die nood en lyding van mens en dier en selfs die omgewing my aangegryp en ontstel. As gelowige kind en jongmens het ek altyd gewonder hoe ek die lyding, en veral die skynbaar onverklaarbare en onskuldige lyding moet hanteer. Soos ek opgegroei het, het ek as jongmens soms gehoor hoe mense in lydingsituasies met dringendheid en met verwysing na God gevra het waarom hulle soveel leed moes verduur. Op universiteit het ek gesien hoe die vraag op formele wyse hanteer word. In my eerste Kerkgeskiedenis-klas aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland in 1983 is 'n inleidende les deur prof. Chris Botha (tans verbonde aan UNISA) aangebied oor die redes waarom 'n mens in die Teologie studeer. Wat my die meeste getref het, was die stelling dat 'n predikant wat iemand moet troos wie se kind gesterf het, dit nie moet waag om woorde soos die volgende te gebruik nie: wees tog maar getroos, die Here het 'n lieflike blommetjie kom pluk vir sy hemelse blomtuin. 'n Jaar later is ek in een van my eerste en sekerlik aangrypendste Dogmatiek-klasse by prof. Dirkie Smit (verbonde aan die UWK) blootgestel aan die worsteling van dogmatici met die vraag oor die verhouding tussen God en die lyding. Talle bekende teoloe meen dat hierdie vraag vir vele gelowiges 'n groter bedreiging is vir die geloof in God as die groei van die natuurwetenskap in die laaste paar eeue. Hoe kan geloof volgehou word in 'n almagtige en ewige God wat alles bestuur en beheer, terwyl daar soveel skrikwekkende boosheid en lyding bestaan? In die teologie staan hierdie vraag oor die verhouding tussen God en die bose bekend as die teodisee. Teodisee beteken letterlik die regverdiging van_ God. Hierdie vraag word egter nie net deur professionele teoloe en filosowe gestel nie. Dit is ook 'n oorheersende tema in die digkuns, dramas, novelle en ander vorme van menslike kreatiwiteit en naden.k:e. - Whitney verwys na die invloedryke twintigste eeuse Katolieke teoloog, Karl Rahner wat die probleem van die lyding beskou as "universal, universally oppressive, and (a problem which) touches our existence at its very roots" (Whitney 1989: 1-2).
The function of Douglas John Hall's theological anthropology in his theological methodology
(University of the Western Cape, 1994) Van Breda, Vincent; Smith, D J
No theologian can credibly claim to be able to speak on behalf of the whole human race in all places at all times and under all circumstances. In recent years theologians stressed the importance of the particular group. In our day authentic theology is characterised by the need to know the self (chapter 1). Douglas John Hall accepts this and therefore consciously theologises on behalf of those in the dominant culture of the North .American continent. He describes the primary characteristic of the human condition of this group of people as the experience of the failure of their symbolic world. This disintegration is especially felt with regard to the perception of the human being (anthropology) . So, in chapter 2 I focus on Hall's theological anthropological perception of those in the dominant culture of the North .American continent. Hall views the primary task of all disciplines in this context - including Christian theology - in the present time as providing resources of meaning in this world of disintegrating symbols. Consequently, he proposes his theological methodology as such a resource. In chapter 3 I focus on Hall's theological methodology as a means out of this present condition of meaninglessness - due to the disintegration of especially the anthropological symbol - for those in the dominant culture of the North American continent
"Die etiese persepsie oor die doodstraf in die Wes-Kaap streek in terme van die bybel"
(University of Western Cape, 1997) Barends, Ronald. P; Lawrie, D.G.
Suid-Afrika se verdedigings- en polisiehoofde het onlangs samesprekings in . Kaapstad gehou om milit�re samewerking te bevorder en misdaad, wat baie algemeen in die Weskaap-streek voorkom, te beveg. Dit is beklemtoon dat samesprekings met en samewerking van alle sektore van die gemeenskap nodig is om die golf van misdaad te stuit. Pessimiste en doemprofete plaas die oorsake van die vlae misdade voor die deur van die regering en voer aan dat dit voortspruit uit die afskaffing van die doodstraf. Dit self is baie moeilik om te bewys. In Meer analitiese vraag behoort te wees: "Hoe het die vorige wet op doodstraf daaruit gesien en waarom was dit noodsaaklik om dit af te skaf?" Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord behoort ons slegs 'n oorsig van die doodstraf in Suid-Afrika te skets, aangesien die jurisdiese beoordeling daarvan ook as 'n selfstandige studie kan dien.
The parousia-expectation: does it have any effect on mission? A historical-missiological perspective of the pentecostal movement
(University of Western Cape, 1997) Isaacs, Edwin; Robinson, P.J.
Although there were various small Pentecostal experiences (like baptismsin the Holy Spirit accompanied by glossolalia utterances) just before and after the beginning of the twentieth century, the origin of the Pentecostals is generally traced back to two incidents very early in this century (Frodsham 1946:15-17; Kendrick 1961 :34-36). Some writers prefer to linkthe origin of the Pentecostal Movement to Charles Parham's Bible Collegeat Topeka (Kansas) (Nichol 1966: 26). Others prefer to link thisMovement's origin to the Azusa Street revival of William J.Seymour (Nichol 1966: 32).
"The "Silence" of the Church in South Africa on rape"
(University of the Western Cape, 1997) Esau, Wendy; Conradie, Ernst
My interest in the subject of rape stems mainly from three sources. First of all, I was the hospital chaplain of the Congregational Church at both Groote Schuur and Tygerberg Hospitals, where I had the opportunity to counsel rape survivors in 1991 and 1992. Secondly, rape is quite frequent in my community. I have witnessed personally four rapes, three of them gang related. Thirdly, research on rape indicates that South Africa has the highest rape statistics in the world. South Africa's rape statistics show that reported cases are more than twice that of ) any other country and the rate is still rising (Rape Crisis 1994). Of all the rapes, 18,90% occur in the Witwatersrand, 17,48o/o in the Western Cape, 14,54o/o in Natal, 10,72% in the Eastern Cape and 8,30% in Soweto (Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police 1992:61). Rape statistics from 1991-1995 I indicate that rape is constantly on the increase. - ln 1991 ,22761 rapes were reported to the South African police (Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police 1992:52). - ln 1992,24 360 cases were reported to the police. That is an increase of approximately 7,03o/o (Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police 1992:52). - ln 1993, 27 056 cases were reported to the police with an increase of 11,07o/o (Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police 1993:96). - ln 1994, 32107 cases were reported to the police (Rape Crisis Statistics 1994). ln the Western Cape a total ol5 524 cases were reported and 37,47o/o was solved (Reported crimes: Selected categories Western Cape Region 1994). - From 1987 to 1992, the frequency of rape increased by 34,25% (Annual Report of the Commissioner of the South African Police 1992:61). - ln 1995, 34 783 cases were reported to the police nationally. In the Western Cape reported rape cases were 5 465. The reported rape cases for 1996 is not available yet (Rape Crisis 1997).
The ''silence'' of the church in South Africa on rape
(University of the Western Cape, 1997) Esau, Wendy; Conradie, Ernst
Rape is a complex issue with many faces. Different researchers from the field of psychology to sociology have attempted to understand rape. ln some psychological studies, rape is considered as a psychological disorder. Psychologists like Krafft-Ebing, a researcher on sexual disorders, in his research "Psychopathia Sexualis," categorized rapists as "degenerate, imbecile men" (Brownmiller 1975:1). Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) (Meyer et al 1989:39), did not deal with the subject of rape specifically. Freud viewed the sexuality of men, which was sometimes marked by aggression and a strong tendency to subdue women, as biological. It is necessary for men to overcome the resistance of the sexual object (women) by actions other than mere courting (Geis 1977:18-19). According to Freud, this aggression is a natural characteristic of being male. Thus, in rape there is no abuse or violence, no offence, no victims and no offenders (Fortune 1983:114-115\. This view that aggression was natural to being male made rape, which is an act of aggression, a natural act. Women had no need to complain, speak up, or lay a charge against their offenders in rape. They need to be silent. Rape was most of the times considered as natural and acceptable in both church and society.
Yahweh and the gods: an exploration of the relationship between Yahweh and other gods as reflected in Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah: a theological analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 1998) Hunter, Andrew John; Els, Pjj; Lawrie, D
This study begins by recognising the religiously plural context in which the Christian churches currently exist. It discusses the various forces that impel the churches towards recognition of and dialogue with those of other faiths, as well as factors that hinder this process. It mentions a variety of ways in which theology - in particular, the theological understanding of the relationship between the Christian churches and other faith communities - is influenced by its context. In an attempt to identify a model within the Judaeo-Christian tradition that will provide a basis for inter-faith dialogue, the study proposes an exploration of the relationship between Yahweh and the gods of the nations as reflected in the the prophetic writings known as Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah, writings that almost certainly emerged from two particular periods in the history of the people of lsrael: the Babylonian exile and the early post-exilic period in Palestine. The study outlines historical developments within these two periods. It explores the various religious beliefs - Babylonian, Palestinian and Persian - that together formed the multi-faith context for Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah.
Ma'at in Egipte en veranderinge in die Amarna periode
(University of Western Cape, 1998) Van Wyk, Rodney Peters; Laurie, D.
Gedurende die Amama Periode vind daar belangrike gebeure plaas wat ingrypende veranderinge in die lewe van die Egiptiese mens teweeg gebring het. Na die dood van Akhenaten, is hierdie koning, wat bekendheid daarvoor verwerf het dat hy verantwoordelik was vir die veranderings wat in die Amama Periode plaasgevind het, tot ketter verklaar en is daar 'n terugkeer na die ou orde (Ortodoksie). Daar bestaan ook 'n "Restorasie Stele", wat opgestel is deur Tutankhamun ('n koning wat na Akhenaten aan bewind gekom het) waarin die opmerking gemaak word dat Ma'at nou weer herstel is. Dit is teen hierdie agtergrond dat ons met hierdie studie probeer om vas te stelof die veranderinge gedurende die Amama Periode sodanig was dat dit die verstaan van Ma 'at kon be�nvloed het. Daarmee saam salons moet vra of Ma'at die potensiaal gehad het om te verdwyn. Het die konsep Ma'at werklik verdwyn, of was daar dalk 'n verarming of selfs 'n verryking van die konsep Ma'at gedurende die Amama Periode? Die vraag is belangrik, omdat 'n verandering in die verstaan van Ma'at ingrypende verandering in die Egiptiese samelewing kon impliseer. Op byna elke terrein van die Egiptiese kultuur wat bestudeer word, kom Ma'at na vore. Dit wil dan lyk asofMa'at onlosmaaklik met die totale lewensstyl van die antieke Egiptenaar verbind was. Daar sou dus nie van 'n verandering in betekenis of van 'n verdwyning van Ma'at gepraat kan word sonder dat die samelewing ook daardeur geraak sou word nie. Geleerdes het dikwels die betekenis van Ma'at verklaar vanuit die spesifieke terrein en periode wat hy of sy bestudeer het. Dit mag dien as 'n verduideliking waarom verskillende betekenisse aan die begrip geheg is. Dit gebeur egter ook dat geleerdes wat dieselfde terrein bestudeer het, ook van mekaar verskiloor die betekenis van Ma'at. Daar is ook geleerdes wat die begrip Ma'at eenders verklaar het. Dit beteken egter nie dat menings oor die betekenis van Ma'at wat algemeen uitgespreek word voldoende is nie. Dit is duidelik dat geleerdes met ooreenstemmende menings oor Ma'at dikwels hierdie menings van mekaar oorgeneem het. Hoewel dit nie die fokus van ons studie sal wees nie, is dit tog belangrik dat ons ook die verskille sal uitwys. Dit sal ons in staat stelom vas te stelof daar 'n verandering in betekenis plaasgevind het en of Ma'at gedurende hierdie periode "verdwyn" het. Dit is ook belangrik dat ons sal aandag skenk aan die moontlikheid dat en die omstandigheid waaronder gode sou kon verdwyn. Ons sal moet vasstelof die omstandighede in die Amama Periode sodanig was dat Ma'at, wat ook 'n godin was, kon verdwyn het. Aangesien die konsep Ma'at onlosmaaklik verbind was met die samelewing, moet die rol van die koning, wat in beheer was van daardie samelewing, in ag geneem word. Dit is immers ook die koning wat hierdie veranderinge in die Arnarna Periode veroor-saak het en dit is dus belangrik dat ons sal weet wat die koning se rol ten opsigte van Ma'at was.
lnterreligious dialogue and the colonial legacy: A critical assessment of current models for interreligious dialogue as tools toward reconciliation in the South African context
(University of Western Cape, 1998) Johnson, Arthur Anthony; Petersen, Robin M.
This chapter will start the debate by concentrating on the phenomenon or occurrence of religious pluralism. Thereafter, the reasons for its existence and its importance in providing a system of coexistence in mutuality will be examined. The contours of interreligious interaction will be outlined as briefly as possible, by assessing the processes of interreligious dialogue and the role this dialogue must play, from a Christian perspective. An attempt will be made to show how Christianity's view of the other shifted from viewing the other as posing a threat, to regarding the other as affording an opportunity to understand personal and individual reality within a context of diversity. A further attempt is made to show how by mutual effort evil and injustice can be eradicated through dialogue, within the interreligious context.
Die rol van die congregational kerk in die sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling van Pniel: 1915-1993
(University of the Western Cape, 1998) Nober, Patrick; Adonis, JC
Pniel is 'n landelike nedersetting gele� te Groot Drakenstein en het In besonder interessante geskiedenis. In 1843 het ene Pieter Isaac de Villiers en Paul Retief grond beskikbaar gestel in Groot Drakenstein vir die oprigting van 'n skool en 'n plek van aanbidding vir kleurlinge. Die gebied het gegrens aan die plaas Papiere Molen wat in Desember 1843 op die mark gekom het. Di� plaas is aangekoop deur 'n groep persone wat in die transportakte beskryfword as die "Directors of the Pniel Institution". Aanvanklik is Pniel geplaas onder beskerming van die "Apostolic Union" wat besonder aktiefwas onder vrygestelde slawe. Die Apostoliese Unie was 'n religieuse organisasie met bre� godsdienstige beginsels wat dit in In posisie geplaas het om lidmate van protestantse kerke soos die N. G. Kerk, Metodistekerk en veral die Skotse Presbiteriaanse Kerk te akkommodeer. Die Apostoliese Unie het egter nie 'n bepaalde leer gehad nie. Pniel is bestuur deur 'n direktoraat bestaande uit drie plaaslike boere, twee lekepredikers woonagtig te Kaapstad, een predikant van die Apostoliese Unie en een predikant van die Presbiteriaanse Kerk. Pniel was dus in effek 'n sendingstasie wat ten doel gehad het om kleurlinge te voorsien van element�re onderwys en hulle "landboukundig" op te lei ten einde hulle "bruikbare en maklik beskikbare arbeiders" vir die omliggende plase te maak. Grondbesit in Pniel tydens di� periode is gekenmerk deur die okkupasieregstelsel wat onderskeid getref het tussen grond VIr residensi�le- en tuinboudoeleindes. Verder is Pniel tot 1909 bestuur (sekul�r en godsdienstig) deur 'n superintendent, mnr J Stegmann. Inwoners moes bydra tot die salaris van die superintendent en maandelikse huur betaal (drie pond totdat die bedrag van agtien pond klaar betaal was). Die ooreenkoms was dat, sou die bedrag van agtien pond finaal betaal wees, geen verdere maandelikse verpligtinge op die erfhouer sou rus nie. Dit was die oorspronklike verstandhouding, maar na 1856 het die betaling van een sjieling en tien pennies per maand 'n permanente voorwaarde geword. Erfhouers het egter in 1905 'n protesvergadering gehou waar besluit is dat hul voorvaders die bedrag van agtien pond klaar betaal het en dat geen verdere betaling sou geskied nie. Verder het die trustees van Pnielook regulasies ten opsigte van ordeen regering, kompensasie en die nie-nakoming van gestelde regulasies ontwerp. Die idee van die ontwikkeling van In Bestuursraad ("Management Board") is ook tydens die periode gepropageer en het later beslag gekry. Interessant van hierdie periode is die sterk beheer en sensuur deur die kerk van Pniel. Selfs uitsetting uit Pniel deur die Bestuursraad was moontlik indien sekere neergelegde voorwaardes nie nagekom is nie. Grondbesit het egter van vroeg af ontwikkel tot 'n konflikpunt tussen kerk en gemeenskap. Sommige inwoners het daarop gewys dat hulle aanspraak op die grond het omdat hulle dit klaar betaal het, terwyl die direkteure daarop gewys het dat die okkupeerders slegs huurreg gehad het. 'n Ander konflikpunt was die bestuur van die gebied. Op 'n stadium het die inwoners 'n vergadering bel� waar direkteure uit die gemeenskap verkies is. Daar is 'n beroep op die Hooggeregshof gedoen om ingevolge Wet Nr. 3 van 1873 die genomineerdes tot wettige direkteure (soos die lede van die "Management Board" genoem is) en trustees van Pniel te verklaar. In 1911 het 'n saak voor die geregshof gedien waarin oor grondbesit beslis moes word aangesien die kleurlinge daarop aangedring het dat die 18 pond vir die grond reeds betaal is. Die uitspraak van regter Hopley het bepaal dat die okkupeerders slegs huurreg het en dat die inwoners onder die Bestuursraad geressorteer het. Die hofaansoeke is ge�nisieer deur Stephanus de Wet en Garnaat Cyster, wat die meerderheid erthouers verteenwoordig het.
Partnership in mission: mismeeting in Jesus' name
(University of the Western Cape, 1998) Knutson, Philip James; Robinson, P.J.; Dept. of Christian Studies (Religion and Theology); Faculty of Religion and Theology - see Faculty of Arts
The focus of this study on partnership came out of experiences of living, working and growing up, in a missionary family, in and "between" South Africa and the United States. In the 1980sI was placeda s a pastor in the newly createdr esettlemenat reao f Onverwacht (Botshabelo),i n the then OrangeF ree StateP rovince.T here I encounteredth ousandso f people who, though indigenous to the region, had been moved or removed through apartheid legislation and dumped onto the open veld with tents and sheets of corrugated iron for shelter. Into this fragile and painfully unequal situation Can1ea steady strean1o f visitors: fan1ily, tourists, university researchersN, GO fieldworkers,f oreign televisionc rews,e cumenicalc hurchp artners from Germany and the USA, white South African Lutherans and Dutch Reformed groups, to name a few. 'residenta lien," (to usea term from Hauerwasa nd Willimon As an "insider" and "outsider" or a 1989:12),I was able to listen to and observem anyo f thesee xchangesw ithin and between local and visiting groups before, during and after the meetings. I experienced that I did not belong to either "side" and yet I was a part of both. The more I heard and saw the fewer photographs I took and the more difficulty I had to describe what was happening and not happening in these myriad encounters day after day over ten eventful years. I had the disturbing sense that my "modem Western" education and vocabulary were not able to carry the freight of the deep paradoxes, let alone solve them. Each year we were both closer and further apart. At first I tried to ameliorate the situation by assisting the congregation, visitors and partners through providing more background infofll1ation and translations. Later I realized that no matter what information was provided it was always interpreted through each individual's "lenses" or perceptuagl rids. What began to intrigue and trouble me as much as what was happening was what was not being said and not being done by the various interlocutors. Gaps and spaces are very much part and parcel of the encounter; something not even the newest camera can record. I became very frustrated and critical of the many "new ,utheran partnership programmes funneling into Southern Africa from Europe and the United States. Coming after more than 150 years of mission relationships the question arose, "Have we really met and will we ever meet as equal partners, as all the partnership contracts and agreements proposed?" Increasingly I have been looking for words, models and language to describe and understand what I feel to be extremely important experiences but which I struggle to describe without doing an injustice to the people or that experience. While studying at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 1990 I wrote an essay entitled, Partnership: Through the Eye of the Needle, in which I tried to express the impossibility of partnership between rich and poor. The moral of the parable (Mark 10: 25) is that the camel can only pass through the eye of the needle ifit is broken into minute particles. It is only through the complete dismantling of the system of pride and domination (Jesus' death on the cross) and its reconstruction (Jesus' resurrection) that salvation (shalom) is made possible. (I am indebted to my late father-in-law Willie Cilliers (d.1993) for this interpretation). When I returned to South Africa in 1991 I was placed in an urban congregation in Port Elizabeth in a community which had also been displaced and which apartheid legislation had fonnally classified as "coloured." These are people who have been cut off from their European and African roots; who are literally "betwixt and between." I becamei ntrigued, through contactw ith colleaguesin heology,p hilosophy and sociology, in the "postmodem" writings of Levinas, Derrida, Lyotard, Kristeva, Moore, Appiah, Bauman and others who were writing about the spaces within and between \vords, people and worlds. Derrida speaks of "differance" and Lyotard of the "differend." Bauman writes of the need to rediscover the "arcane art of mismeeting." These new words (neologisms) suggestedw ays of speaking about the paradoxes of partnership and the ambiguity of identity. The title of this study is "Partnership in Mission: Mismeeting in Jesus I Name? II In making use of the term "mismeeting" (which I first encountered in Bauman 1993: 159) I will argue that all meetings are mismeetings. At first I spoke of "meeting" versus "mis-meeting" but now, in this study will argue that there are not "real encounters" as opposed to "inismeetings." The definition of mismeeting in this study does not mean the absence or failure of a meeting but stresses the asymmetry, open-endedness and complex nature of every meeting. Chapter One examines various missiological as well as historical materials which have taken up the question of partnership and the problematics of the encounter with the "other." This chapter looks at some of the powerful perceptual "grids" or paradigms inherited from the past and specifically through what is called the "invention" or "covering" of America and Africa. Others have written about the development of the concept of partnership in the IMC and WCC over the years but the All African Lutheran Conferences are not as well known. Unfortunately even "new" models of partnership stress connection and do not go far enough in acknowledging difference. ChapterT wo examineso r excavatesin anda round( to use Sponheim'st erm 1993:25),the conversation(s)in books,r eportsa nd minutesw hich record the long processo f negotiating and renegotiating relationships between Lutheran partners in the United States, Europe and South Africa. The main focus of this study is on the American Lutheran partners and the Evangelical LutheranC hurch in SouthernA frica (ELCSA). Partnershipsa reg rowing in sucha way that no structure can really coordinate what is no longer a program but a movement! What kind of movement this is, whether it further entrenches old colonial patterns, re-colonizes or liberates, bringing a paradigm shift in the way mission is perceived in and carried out by Lutherans in South Africa, is a central question in this chapter. The first part of chapter two focuses on the period prior to 1975, (the year in which ELCSA was fonned), while the second part looks at relationships, policies and actions since that time. Chapter Three examines ecclesiological and theological models for partnership and includes a short biblical excursus exploring the concept ofmismeeting in the gospel of Mark. The concepts of communion and accompaniment are becoming central to partnership discourse in the Lutheran church around the world over-against the discourse of partnership. ( cf. Buthelezi, page 169 below. While communio/communion has much to commend it as a model for mutual partnership this study argues that lack of attention to difference weakens the concept. In reflecting on the first three chapters, the final chapter proposes that the ambiguity, asymmetry and en-endedness of Christian dialogue and communion with the other, can best be described as mismeeting in Jesus' name, which includes three perspectives: past, present and future. This study questions the frequently stated goal or purpose of partnership as that of overcoming differences. In 1953 Hennan Schlyter wrote in the final chapter of his book, The History of the Co-operating Lutheran Missions in Natal 1912-1951," The future means that the difference will no longer exist between what has once been Swedish, Norwegian, Gennan and American missions. Thus an African Lutheran Church of a universal character and solidity will be able to develop ..." (:88 -my emphasis) By contrast Paul Sponheim writes in his book Faith and the Other: A Relational Theology (1993), "... our very life is constituted by relationship: we live in, with, and before the other." Sponheim speaks of "someone or something meeting us truly from outside -outside our skin, our thinking, our believing, our world" (:v). As Sponheim puts it, "In relationship two come together, but they do not cease to be two (:97). ...We are beings in relationships ...we live on boundaries ...within these relationships connectedness and difference exist ...order and disorder ...in us and between us ...independence and interdependence ...(:97 -my emphasis), In addition to Sponheim's "Relational Theology," chapter four includes reflections on Theo Sundermeier's concept of "konvivenz," Miroslav Volfs concept of "embrace," and David Lochhead's "theology of dialogue" as extremely useful tools in this excavation process in the field of relationships. In order to gather material for this study visits were made to archives, libraries and mission/church offices at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, the ELCA Churchwide offices and archives in Chicago, as well as Berlin, Heffi1annsburg, Wuppertal, Leiden, Johannesburg, Kimberley and Umpumulo (KwazululNatal). Interviews were conducted and correspondence entered into with a number of former and present mission executives, seminary professors, pastors and expatriate missionaries. A major difficulty encountered and which shaped the final outcome of this study was that archival material was spread among so many centres and not always readily accessible or properly organized. While most of the material is written in English, a complete survey of ELCSA's history would require fluency in Zulu, Norwegian, Swedish and Gennan at least. An in-depth survey of all the ELCSA partners and how they affected each other would have to be a matter for further study Fr. Michael Lapsley has stated that "Every South African has three stories o tell: "What was done to me, what I did and what I didn't do." I believe the same is true for mission and partnership. There needs to be a multiple telling and a multiple listening; an ongoing conversation. We (I) did not personally start this long conversation but we meet and join in somewhere along the way. This study focuses on some of the conversations along the way. The Bockelmans began the introduction to their book An Exercise in Compassion: The Lutheran Church in South Africa (1972) with the following intriguing words, A word about this book: you may find the beginning in the middle. ...There's no law that every book must be read from front to back. The traditional way to tell a story is to begin at the beginning and then step by step go through the events in chronological order. But that's not the way you get acquainted with people. You don't first read about the history of someone you meet and then meet him (sic.). You meet him as he is, in the middle of life, and then through a series of encounters you learn about his background and interesting items about his life :7). Some people refuse to read a review of a book or movie before reading or seeing it for the first time. The same can be said about receiving "orientation" before going to visit or live in another country or culture. Orientation at best makes one aware of the existence of different "grids" or perspectives but should not give recipes and short cuts to know and understand others. There is no "easy" entry or exit point, no clear or clean beginning or ending to life or any relationship. There is no neutral,o bjective or universalv antagep oint which can guaranteea correcto runambiguousp erspectiveo f a relationship,h istory or people. But that doesn ot stopu s from telling and listening to each others' stories and attending to differences and connections. This studyp resentsv arious excavationsi n partnershipr elations which illustrate that Christian Mission can be better understood in part as the story of mismeeting in Jesus' Name. As we meet for the first time, in the present; it becomes evident that we have already met and, yet still have to meet
Van Sendingkerk tot Verenigde Gereformeerde Kerk in Suider Afrika: 1960-1997
(University of the Western Cape, 1998) Daniels, William Julius; Adonis, J.C.; Dept. of Religion and Theology; Faculty of Arts
Van Sendingkerk tot Verenigde Gereformeerde Kerk in Suider Afrika :1960-1997
The unification process in the family of the Dutch Reformed Churches from 1975-1994: a critical evaluation
(University of the Western Cape, 1999) Nyatyowa, Themba Shadrack; Adonis, J.C.; Faculty of Religion and Theology - see Faculty of Arts
Dade of deugde? Implikasies vir Suid-Afrikaanse kerke van 'n modern-postmoderne debat oor die moraliteit
(University of the Western Cape, 2000) Koopman, Nico Norman; Smit, D.J; Reinders, J.S; Dept. of Religion and Theology; Faculty of Arts
Die geskiedenis van die ng sendinggemeente Kakamas (1936-1986)
(University of Western Cape, 2000) Isaks, Saul Jeremia; Adonis, J.C
Van kleins af wou ek graag weet wat die naam arbeidskolonie beteken. Met die jare wat gekom en gegaan het, het ek besef dat daar heelwat meer in die naam "arbeidskolonie" moet sit as bloot maar nog net 'n naam vir 'n plek. Die leesstof wat ek van tyd tot tyd gelees het, het my gemotiveer om meer van die naam te wete te kom. Daarom is die voltooiing van hierdie verhandeling vir my In persoonlike en besondere hoogtepunt en oorwinning in my lewe wat terselfdertyd aan my groot bevrediging verskaf. In die eerste plek wil ek graag my studieleier, prof. J.C. Adonis bedank vir sy professionele voorligting, persoonlike aandag, belangstelling en gereelde terugvoering wat vir my besonder baie beteken het. Vir mnr. Patrick van Wyk van die N.G. Kerkargief, Kaapstad, mev. M. de Wee, die scribakassiere van die NG endinggemeente Kakamas vir hulle vriendelike hulpvaardigheid te alle tye. Ten tweede wil ek my innige dank en waardering uitspreek teenoor die personeel van die Staatsargief Kaapstad, die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerkargief Kaapstad, die Biblioteke van die Universiteite van Stellenbosch, Wes-Kaapland, die NGKerk Kakamas, die NG Sendinggemeente Kakamas en die Openbare Biblioteek Kakamas vir die toegang wat ek gehad het tot die gemeentelike verslae, notules en boeke. Ook aan prof. C.J. Kriel, die eerste leraar van die NG Sendinggemeente Kakamas vir sy bydrae om die publikasie moontlik te maak. Ook 'n woord van dank aan my eggenote vir haar hulp en ondersteuning en aan mev Petite Hoffman vir haar nuttige wenke en pynlik netjiese tikwerk. Ten slotte my nederige dank en lof aan God vir sy genade en krag wat my in staat gestel het om die tesis tot Sy eer daar te stel. Ek hoop en vertrou van ganser harte dat hierdie verhandeling in een of ander bestaande behoefte, hetsy vir die gebruik in die Katkisasieklas, Sondagskool, die Christelike Jeugvereniging en selfs die dagskool bevredigend sal voorsien.
Untitled
(2000) Leonard, Basil Cedric; Ackermann, Denise M.; Hendriks, Jurgens H.
The researcher has drawn on his personal experiences, both in the church as well as in the business world, as a basis for conducting this study. Situating the study within the field of Practical Theology, Zerfass� model is used to address the theoretical, contextual and practical aspects of the research problem. In determining what each section and each chapter should contain, the following questions are used as a guide: What is it that the reader should know, recognise and acknowledge after reading the particular section or chapter? How does a section or a chapter contribute towards exploring the stated hypothesis and how are the research steps outlined in Zerfass� model used to guide the coherence of the project? The research process was initiated with the placing of the "problem" within the context of the UCCSA. Special attention was given to the definition of certain phrases used in UCCSA. Furthermore, the form of government operating in the church was also considered. A comparison was made with other church models. As the researcher�s interest is the election process, the weaknesses in the current election procedures was discussed. A brief biblical perspective on elections was also stated. The findings of this process was that the UCCSA is 'governed' by its understanding and acceptance of the covenant relationship that exists between God and the people as well as between the members of the church. This relationship, therefore, also informs the election processes in the church

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