scholarly journals Interpreting the Bible in the 'new' South Africa: Remarks on some problems and challenges

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Human
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
South African Society ◽  
The Bible ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Interpretation Process

Interpreting the Bible in the 'new' South Africa DJ Human Department of Biblical Studies (Sec B) University of Pretoria The Bible plays an important role in South African society. The interpretation of this book within or outside the Christian community has become an increaslingly major source of debate. It has been used and misused in several spheres of society. This article does not intend providing an extensive and composite picture of the problems and character of biblical hermeneutics. Nor will it attempt to elaborate on or explain the origins, development and influences of all the different her-meneutical approaches. Rather, it poses to be an introduction to a few of the problem(s) encountered in the attempt to understand the Bible, especially in terms of the 'new' South Africa. Within the framework of this scope, remarks will be made regarding the challenges involved in interpreting the Bible, the role of the interpreter in the interpretation process, the varied forms of literature to be found in Scripture, and in the last instance, to take cognisance of a few methodological approaches to the text analysis of the Bible.

Current Debates On Biblical Hermeneutics in South Africa and the Postcolonial Matrix1

2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-160
Author(s):  
Jeremy Punt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
African Society ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
South African Society

AbstractPostcolonial studies would seem to offer many advantages for academic and other discourses within and about post-apartheid South African society, including new, broad hermeneutical perspectives for biblical studies. Indeed, a number of current scholarly debates in South African biblical studies are related to the postcolonial paradigm: the tension between African versus Western readings, 'ordinary' versus 'trained' readings, and nationalist versus hybridical readings. juxtaposing some postcolonial biblical-critical voices and these debates is valuable in accounting for many of the important concerns that postcolonial readings raise, showing the significance and value of postcolonial studies, but is also important in the renewed attention to an appropriate ethics of interpretation in the biblical studies guild.

Postcolonial Liberation: Decolonizing Biblical Studies in the South African Postcolony

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O. West
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
The South ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Black ◽  
History Of ◽  
Land Economics ◽  
The 1960S

Liberation biblical interpretation and postcolonial biblical interpretation have a long history of mutual constitution. This essay analyzes a particular context in which these discourses and their praxis have forged a third conversation partner: decolonial biblical interpretation. African and specifically South African biblical hermeneutics are the focus of reflections in this essay. The South African postcolony is a “special type” of postcolony, as the South African Communist Party argued in the 1960s. The essay charts the characteristics of the South African postcolony and locates decolonial biblical interpretation within the intersections of these features. Race, culture, land, economics, and the Bible are forged in new ways by contemporary social movements, such as #FeesMustFall. South African biblical studies continues to draw deeply on the legacy of South African black theology, thus reimagining African biblical studies as decolonial African biblical studies—a hybrid of African liberation and African postcolonial biblical interpretation.

scholarly journals Flitse van sosiale verandering in enkele postmodernistiese Afrikaanse romans

Literator ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Steenberg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Change ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Social Transition ◽  
African Society ◽  
Historiographic Metafiction ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Multicultural Community

Glimpses of social change in some postmodernist Afrikaans novelsPostmodernist novels, and thus also Afrikaans postmodernist novels, are radically anti-traditional. In one respect, however, they maintain the tradition of Afrikaans fiction: they open perspectives on the development of the society from which they originate. Functioning in a multicultural community, the novelists' awareness often concerns the development of relations between different racial groupings in the South African society, which is seen as basically African. The breaking down of the (colonial) barriers between black and white by writers of historiographic metafiction - like John Miles and André Letoit - can perhaps be regarded the first step in the direction of social transition. Letoit hails Africa as the continent of promise, and authors like Berta Smit, Eben Venter and Etienne van Heerden present visions of a growing harmony between black and white in the new South Africa.

scholarly journals Die NG Kerk en die oorgang na ’n nuwe Suid-Afrika

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-38
Author(s):  
D. E. De Villiers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Power ◽  
New South ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church and the transition to a new South Africa The comprehensive transformation of the South African society that followed the transfer of political power to a new government in 1994 has had significant consequences for the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and its members. In the article an analysis is given of these consequences. Attention is also given to the reaction of members of the DRC to the transformation of the society. An attempt is made to formulate a responsible approach to the new South Africa by the DRC and his members. The need for the DRC to inspire his members to be true to their Christian calling, to equip them to serve effectively and to find new and effective ways to witness publicly in the new South Africa, is stressed.

scholarly journals Suid-Afrika in die jaar 2000: Watter morele leiding kan die NG Kerk gee?

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
D. E. De Villiers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Made In ◽  
Moral Guidance ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

South Africa in the year 2000: What moral guidance can the Dutch Reformed Church provide? An attempt is made in the article to answer the question: What moral guidance can the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) provide in the present South African society? Attention is given, first of all, to the room left for the DRC to provide such guidance in the new South Africa. The suitable nature and range of this moral guidance are discussed. Recommendations are also made about the style of the moral guidance and a suitable strategy for motivating the members of the DRC to fulfil their moral responsibility in society.

A New Christianity for a New South Africa: Charismatic Christians and the Post-Apartheid Order

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Czeglédy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
International Growth ◽  
Liberal Capitalism ◽  
Youth Music

AbstractThe international growth of Pentecostalism has seen a rush of congregations in Africa, many of which have tapped into a range of both local and global trends ranging from neo-liberal capitalism to tele-evangelism to youth music. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this discussion focuses on the main Johannesburg congregation of a grouping of churches that have successfully engaged with aspects of socio-economic transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. Such engagement has involved conspicuous alignment with aspects of contemporary South African society, including an acceptance of broader policy projects of the nation state. I argue that the use of a variety of symbolic and thematic elements of a secular nature in the Sunday services of this church reminds and inspires congregants to consider wider social perspectives without challenging the sacred realm of faith.

Post-Apartheid Racism in South Africa The Bible, Social Identity and Stereotyping

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 246-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Punt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
New South ◽  
First Century ◽  
Identity Negotiations ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Racist Discourse

AbstractThis contribution investigates the interplay between the recent (early 2008) spate of racist-marked events in South Africa and the Bible, starting with the way biblical references featured in subsequent discussions of the events. The use of the Bible and hermeneutics employed seems to be meshed into a broader array of ways in which "new South African" identities are negotiated, together with the tensions and resistance such identity-negotiations encounter (evoke and counter). Such presence of the Bible is further considered in light of the biblical documents' own tendency towards stereotyping in a manner true to first century-convention, with social identity theory providing the contours for discussing social categorisation and stereotyping. The paper is concluded with some deliberations on the intersections of South African racist discourse and biblical stereotyping.

Reflections and Resources

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinyiko Sam Maluleke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
African Society ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The University

Originally written as a response to the first of two papers presented by William Storrar at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, this article presents a critical response to public theology from a post-colonial perspective. It contends that public theology is trapped in an attempt to universalize concepts, similar to earlier forms of theology, and does not take developing world theologies seriously. It is post-coloniality, rather than postmodernity, that this article claims is of importance to South African society. The idea that public theology can address the anger in South African society, without a theory of resistance as found in liberation theologies, is challenged.

Some Reflections on Reparation in Post-Apartheid South Africa, using a Couple Therapy Intervention as a Microcosm of South African Society

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Hill ◽  
Sylvia Poss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Couple Therapy ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Depressive Position ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
Transference And Countertransference ◽  
Constructive Engagement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Therapy Intervention

The paper addresses the question of reparation in post-apartheid South Africa. The central hypothesis of the paper is that in South Africa current traumas or losses, such as the 2008 xenophobic attacks, may activate a ‘shared unconscious phantasy’ of irreparable damage inflicted by apartheid on the collective psyche of the South African nation which could block constructive engagement and healing. A brief couple therapy intervention by a white therapist with a black couple is used as a ‘microcosm’ to explore this question. The impact of an extreme current loss, when earlier losses have been sustained, is explored. Additionally, the impact of racial difference on the transference and countertransference between the therapist and the couple is explored to illustrate factors complicating the productive grieving and working through of the depressive position towards reparation.

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