scholarly journals God's household and the poor in contextual ecclesiology

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J.A. Vos
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
African Context

As a consequence of the bipolar tension between theory and practice, experience (considered in the South African context) influences the church's reflection on Practical Theology. Insight into the economic system of the Mediterranean world helps us to understand the complexities involved in positioning poverty, as well as the role of the New Testament faith community in its interaction with the poor. The social system in the ancient world, within which poverty was encountered, cautions us against taking a simplistic view of the poor. We cannot duplicate social systems and impose them on current situations. The New Testament, which is set against a particular system, speaks of the Kingdom of God as a place where the poor must be cared for. The New Testament (especially the Gospel of John) lets us understand that a church, which has a family orientation as its basis, should provide a home for the poor.

scholarly journals The ancient Mediterranean values of honour and shame as a hermeneutical procedure: A social-scientific criticism in an African perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Mahlangu
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
First Century ◽  
Value System ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
African Context ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
People Today

The life of modern people evolves around economics and all that goes with it, such as labour, production, consumption and possessions. These things do not only motivate many peoples' behaviour, but claim most of their energy and time. Therefore, the organising principle of life of people today is instrumental mastery - the individual's ability to control his or her environment, personal and impersonal, to attain a qualityorientated success: wealth, ownership, "good looks" proper grades, and all countable indications of success. But, in the first century Mediterranean world, economics was not the be-all and end-all. People worked primarily to conserve their status and not to gather possessions. Thus, the pivotal values of the first century Mediterranean world was honour and shame. This article looks at how social-scientific critics have attempted to show how the understanding of these values would lead to an understanding and interpretation of the New Testament. In this article the author approaches this paradigm from an African perspective. It is shown that the African interacts and transacts with the New Testament with his/her own value system in which these values are also encountered. This, therefore, makes the reading of the Bible in an African context possible.

scholarly journals Transformation in South Africa and the Kingdom of God

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Black Christians

The concept of transformation is currently ill defined and often abused for political and ideological ends. This article attempts to provide a sound value base for the concept of transformation from the perspective of the Kingdom of God and to evaluate the current process from this perspective. The task of Christians is to obey the cosmic reign of Christ by disarming the oppressive powers of this world, and by serving the interests of the poor. In the South African context, this means that Christians must engage in the transformation process in order to establish a more just society. However, Christians can only fulfil their calling if they are spiritually transformed themselves. White Christians must realize that the Apartheid system was unjust and that transformation is necessary because the social and economic inequalities in South Africa are systemic in nature. Black Christians must refrain from abusing the transformation process for personal gain. Christians should participate in the transformation process in a critical manner, knowing that old ideologies can easily be replaced by new ideologies, and knowing that the only true Kingdom of Justice will be established by Godself in the coming dispensation.

A South African Perspective on the New Testament

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
J. K. Elliott ◽  
J. H. Petzer ◽  
P. J. Hartin
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New Testament ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
African Perspective

scholarly journals Grieks vir Nuwe Testament: In Nuwe paradigma aan Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite vir die onderrig van Grieks met die oog op teologie

1998 ◽  
Vol 54 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fika J. Van Rensburg ◽  
Hendrik F. Stander
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Methods Of Evaluation ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Methods Of Learning

Greek for the New Testament: A new paradigm at South African Universities for the teaching of Greek for Theology. The faculty members of the departments of Greek and New Testament of a number of South African Universities have since 1995 been involved in discussions on the teaching of Greek to students who want to study Theology. This article is an updated version of the memorandum the two authors tabled for the discussion. The memorandum was discussed in 1996, and during the 1997 meeting it was finished. The article gives an overview of the consensus achieved. First an analysis of the present situation is given (2), on the grounds of which the need for a change in approach is motivated (3).  Then the outcomes for the teaching of Greek are discussed (4). Appropriote methods of learning and teaching are proposed (5) as well as methods of evaluation (6). It is also argued that the Universities have the obligation to provide Greek scholars for the future (7). The article closes with a plea for closer co-operation between Greek and New Testament departnents Ilt South African Universities (8).

scholarly journals Armoedekultuur: Die leefwereld van die Nuwe Testament en die situasie in Suid-Afrika vandag

1996 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Culture Of Poverty ◽  
Economic Statistics ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

Culture of poverty: The world of the New Testament then and the situation in South Africa today. In this article poverty in the world of the New Testament is explained in the  light of the social dynamics of the first century Eastern Mediterranean. The focus is on the sub-culture of the disreputable poor. Features of a culture of poverty are reflected upon from a social-scientific perspective in order to try to understand why poverty is intensifying in South Africa today. The article aims at identifying guidelines for Christians in using the New Testament in a profound way to challenge the threat of poverty. The following aspects are discussed: the underdevelopment of third-world societies over against the technical evolution in first-world societies during the past two hundred years, economic statistics with regard to productivity and unemployment in South Africa, the social identity of the disreputable poor, poverty within the pre-print culture of the biblical period, and the church as the household of God where Christians should have compassion for others.

scholarly journals Crossing boundaries: Social-scientific reading of the faith of a Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21–28)

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mookgo S Kgatle
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
South African ◽  
Social System ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
African Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
South African Women ◽  
Canaanite Woman

Social-scientific criticism refers to an interpretation of the biblical text that takes into cognizance the social system that produced that text. This article presents a social scientific reading of the faith of a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28. The article outlines models of social systems in Matthew 15:21–28 like landscape and spatiality, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, purity, and social status in order to achieve a social scientific reading. The purpose of this article is to firstly demonstrate that the models of social system in Matthew 15:21–28 served as boundaries to the faith of a Canaanite woman. Secondly, it is to demonstrate that the Canaanite woman crossed such boundaries in Matthew 15:21–28 for her daughter to receive healing. Lastly, the Canaanite woman serves as a model for South African women today who have to cross boundaries like landscape and spatiality, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, purity, and social status.

A quality system’s impact on the service experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1817-1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery Smith ◽  
Sidney Anderson ◽  
Gavin Fox
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Service Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Integrated Service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between technical and social systems within an organization that potentially affect the service experience, as perceived by end customers. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the potential impact of an integrated service quality system on the service experience. A conceptual model is presented, accompanied by a detailed development of the hypotheses. Two samples (Study 1: n=474, Study 2: n=225) of consumers are used to empirically test the proposed model. Findings The analysis reveals the impact a technical system has on employees’ inherent abilities (i.e. the social system), which, in turn, affect the overall assessment by customers. Additionally, the situation in which an employee works (i.e. operating environmental conditions) results in differences in the model. Research limitations/implications This paper’s main implication is this paper employs established theory to develop a model that is empirically tested to show that implementing and maintaining a quality-oriented service system can positively influence the overall customer experience. The limitations are based primarily on the methodology in which individual employees assessed all aspects of both the social and technical systems. Practical implications Managers should be diligent in their design and implementation of the quality components as these affect the work setting in which employees operate. Originality/value Prior research has neither explored an integrated service quality system’s impact on the service experience nor employed an established theoretical framework. This work accomplishes both with the results providing contributions to both theory and practice.

“Vagrant Negroes”

2018 ◽  
pp. 32-46
Author(s):  
Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
The South ◽  
Antebellum Era ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Nineteenth Century United States ◽  
Upper South

Laws regulating the movement, residence, employment, and labor of the poor, and especially of poor African Americans in states with burgeoning free populations, demonstrate how mobility, when enacted by the poor and by non-whites, was classified as a criminal action in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century United States. In the Upper South especially, these laws had the express goal of attaching to all people of color the potential consequences of enslavement. This essay will link these ideas by tracing mobility and its construction as a classed and raced activity, as threats to existing labor regimes and social systems. This was most commonly and notoriously done through the policing of vagrancy, which allowed authorities to punish the poor, most punitively, in the South, African Americans, for unemployment or a reluctance to enter into a particular labor contract. This essay argues that the power dynamics of the South can be read clearly in the classed and raced regulation of vagrancy and geographical mobility in the antebellum era.

Social Justice and Inclusion of Children With Diverse Needs in Mainstream Schools

2018 ◽  
pp. 171-185
Author(s):  
Velisiwe Gasa
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter opens with a broad statement that coins the social justice and inclusion as prominent concepts. The foundation is laid by giving a clear background using a South African context where there is a gap between the policy and implementation of social justice and inclusion of children in mainstream schools. This explanation goes further when the social justice, inclusion, and related concepts are conceptualised and the relationship brought forth. The main issues that temper social justice and inclusion in the mainstream schools are debated. Furthermore, there is an engagement regarding practices that hamper social justice and inclusivity of children with diverse needs. Finally, the solutions and recommendations that can be considered in dealing with the issues, controversies, or problems presented in this chapter are highlighted.

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