scholarly journals Racism and xenophobia: The role of the Church in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Immigrants And Refugees ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Racial Harmony ◽  
The Church

Racism and xenophobia have become a worldwide issue and challenge. The recent flood of immigrants and refugees into Europe and America has put this matter on the world map. In South Africa racism and xenophobia have, in recent times, reached explosive proportions and have greatly intensified the need for the Church to get more deeply involved in the creation of racial harmony and peace as it works towards the fullness of life for all people. This chapter explored the challenges of racism and xenophobia in South Africa and concluded by discussing the role of the Church in combating these realities.

The Role of the Christian Church in Combating 21st Century Racism

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-231
Author(s):  
Clara M. Austin Iwuoha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
God's Word ◽  
The World ◽  
Racial Harmony ◽  
Race And Religion ◽  
The Church

The demons of racism, bigotry, and prejudice found in society at large are also found in the Christian Church. Despite the very nature of Christianity that calls on Christians to be a counter voice in the world against evil, many have capitulated to various strains of racism. Some Christian denominations have begun to explore racism in the Church and have developed responses to addressing the issues in both the Church and the world. This article examines the historical context of race and religion in the Christian Church, and addresses the current efforts of some Christian denominations to become proactive in the struggle against racism. Jesus, in His Word, calls believers to pursue peace and oneness. The paper holds that racial harmony and racial unity are possible, but there are many false, old and d beliefs that will have to be crushed under the hammer of God's Word in order to get to a place of real peace.

scholarly journals Violence in post-apartheid South Africa and the role of church and theology

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F.C. Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Revolutionary Violence ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Church

South Africa is known as one of the most violent countries in the world. Since the seventeenth century, violence has been part of our history. Violence also played a significant role during the years of apartheid and the revolutionary struggle against apartheid. It was widely expected that violence would decrease in a post-apartheid democratic South Africa, but on the contrary, violence has increased in most cases. Even the TRC did not succeed in its goal to achieve reconciliation. In this paper it is argued that theology and the church have a great and significant role to play. Churches and church leaders who supported revolutionary violence against the apartheid system on Biblical “grounds”, should confess their unbiblical hermeneutical approach and reject the option of violence. The church also has a calling in the education of young people, the pastoral care of criminals and victims, in proclaiming the true Gospel to the government and in creating an ethos of human rights.

scholarly journals Where is the church on Monday? Awakening the church to the theology and practice of ministry and mission in the marketplace

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dion A. Forster ◽  
Johann W. Oosterbrink
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
The South ◽  
Theology Of Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Missional Theology ◽  
The Church

Recent research by the Call42 group has shown that South African Christians experience that they are not adequately prepared or equipped for Christian living and discipleship in the world of work – here called the marketplace. This article has argued for the importance of a rediscovery of a theology of work that can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for ministry in the marketplace. The article traces why such a theological deficiency exists in the South African church by considering areas such as an inadequate theology of work and mission, a dualism between faith and work, and an unbalanced emphasis on the role of clergy and a lesser focus on the role of the laity in themissio Dei. Having considered these challenges to the mission and theological identity of the church, the article discusses the three general theological views of the church in South Africa as presented by Smit and adapted by Forster. It considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the marketplace in each of these three forms. The article comes to the conclusion that the church will need to revisit its missional theology, refocuses its efforts on broader society, and empowers and equips its members for ministry in the marketplace in order to be faithful in partnering with God in the missio Dei.Waar is die kerk op Maandag? Ontwaking van die kerk tot die teologie en praktyk vanbediening en sending in die markplein. Onlangse navorsing deur die Call42 groep het bevind dat Suid-Afrikaanse Christene ervaar dat hulle nie voldoende voorbereid en toegerus is vir die Christelike lewe en dissipelskap in die arbeidsmark - hier genoem die markplein – nie. Hierdie artikel poog om aan te toon dat ’n herontdekking van ’n teologie van werk belangrik is ten einde die kerk in die algemeen asook individuele Christene te bemagtig en toe te rus vir die bediening in die markplein. Hierdie artikel poog dus om die kwessie van die sodanige teologiese leemte in die Suid-Afrikaanse kerk na te vors. Terreine soos onvoldoende teologie van werk en sending word ondersoek, ’n dualisme tussen geloof en werk word uitgewys, en daar word aangetoon dat ’n oorspeling van die predikant se rol en ’n onderspeling van gewone kerklidmate se rol die kerk se betrokkenheid by die missio Dei benadeel. Met inagneming van hierdie uitdagings aan sending en die kerk se teologiese identiteit, bespreek die artikel drie algemene teologiese standpunte van die kerk in Suid Afrika, soos deur Smit aangebied en deur Forster aangepas. Die artikel besin hoe die kerk in elk van hierdie drie bestaansvorme ’n agent van sending en transformasie in die markplein kan wees. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die kerk die missionale of sendingteologie moet heroorweeg, opnuut moet fokus op die uitreik na die breër gemeenskap en lidmate vir bediening in die markplein moet bemagtig en toerus. Sodoende sal die kerk getrou wees aan die medewerking met God in die missio Dei.

scholarly journals The rediscovery of the role of the laity in the mission of the Church � with reference to the Baptist Union of Southern Africa (BUSA)

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Christofides ◽  
Piet G.J. Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Missions ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Missional Churches ◽  
The Church

The role of the laity is at the cutting edge of Christian missions today. The author conducted a number of interviews and questionnaires to determine the status of the laity across denominations of the Christian faith in South Africa. His findings are in a number of instances startling: The picture of the laity, and what lay Christians in South Africa believe, run against general expectations. Some suggestions and proposals on how to empower the laity in general, and the churches of the Baptist Union in Southern Africa (BUSA) in particular, are made. The underlining motive for the research is to encourage the BUSA churches to become truly missional churches that make a difference in the world in which we live.

The Prophetic Voice of the Church in a Democratic South Africa – A Theological Reflection

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lufuluvhi Maria Mudimeli
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
The State ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black Liberation Theology ◽  
Prophetic Voice ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Church

This article is a reflection on the role and contribution of the church in a democratic South Africa. The involvement of the church in the struggle against apartheid is revisited briefly. The church has played a pivotal and prominent role in bringing about democracy by being a prophetic voice that could not be silenced even in the face of death. It is in this time of democracy when real transformation is needed to take its course in a realistic way, where the presence of the church has probably been latent and where it has assumed an observer status. A look is taken at the dilemmas facing the church. The church should not be bound and taken captive by any form of loyalty to any political organisation at the expense of the poor and the voiceless. A need for cooperation and partnership between the church and the state is crucial at this time. This paper strives to address the role of the church as a prophetic voice in a democratic South Africa. Radical economic transformation, inequality, corruption, and moral decadence—all these challenges hold the potential to thwart our young democracy and its ideals. Black liberation theology concepts are employed to explore how the church can become prophetically relevant in democracy. Suggestions are made about how the church and the state can best form partnerships. In avoiding taking only a critical stance, the church could fulfil its mandate “in season and out of season” and continue to be a prophetic voice on behalf of ordinary South Africans.

MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF AVIATION TERMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-210
Author(s):  
Ra`no Ergashova ◽  
◽  
Nilufar Yuldosheva
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Structure ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Terminology System

The creation, regulation, lexical and grammatical research and interpretation of the system of terms in the field of aviation in the world linguistics terminology system are one of the specific directions of terminology. Research on specific features is an important factor in ensuring the development of the industry. This article discusses morphological structure of aviation terms. The purpose of the article is to analyze the role of aviation terms in the morphology of the Uzbek language and its definition.

Presence, Environment, and Sound and the Role of Imagination

2019 ◽  
pp. 667-681
Author(s):  
Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Actual World ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
The World ◽  
Visual Dimension ◽  
The Creation ◽  
First Person Shooter ◽  
Selection Of

Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard addresses the role of sound in the creation of presence in virtual and actual worlds. He argues that imagination is a central part of the generation and selection of perceptual hypotheses—models of the world in which we can act—that emerge from what Grimshaw-Aagaard calls the “exo-environment” (the sensory input) and the “endo-environment” (the cognitive input). Grimshaw-Aagaard further divides the exo-environment into a primarily auditory and a primarily visual dimension and he deals with the actual world of his own apartment and the virtual world of first-person-shooter computer games in order to exemplify how we perceptually construct an environment that allows for the creation of presence.

scholarly journals Self-secularisation as challenge to the church

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Beyers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Civil Religion ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
Worldwide Phenomenon ◽  
The Church

The concept of self-secularisation has been identified by Wolfgang Huber, bishop of the German Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), when he reflected on the context of the church in Germany. Self-secularisation however, is a worldwide phenomenon with effects in South Africa as well. After discussing the origin of the concept and its interpretations, the author tries to identify instances of self-secularisation within especially the Afrikaansspeaking churches, although not limited to them, in South Africa. The theological jargon comes under scrutiny, civil religion, the pluralistic society within which the church exists, the effect of emotionalism, the commercialisation of the church, the role of mass media and the phenomenon of infotainment, rationalisation and a lack of ethics are some of the elements identified and discussed. Finally the author attempts a correction by indicating what the church ought to do in order to counter the effects of self-secularisation.

scholarly journals Speak with one voice! Towards an ecumenical ethics applicable to the church-state dialogue in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koos Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Ethical Concern ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The Government ◽  
Moral Discourses ◽  
The Church

This research deals with the question of whether an ecumenical ethics can be developed in South Africa that at least will be applicable in the field of political ethics and that can assist the various ecclesiastical traditions to ‘speak with one voice’ when they address the government on matters of Christian ethical concern. The research rests on the recognition of the variety of ethical persuasions and points of view that flow from the variety of hermeneutical approaches to Scripture. However, within this plethora of ethical discourses, an ‘overlapping’ ethics based on a proposed set of minimum theological ideas can be pursued in order to reach at least an outline of an applicable ecumenical political ethics conducive to the church–state dialogue in South Africa today. The article concludes that a ‘minimum consensus’ on the role of revelation in the moral discourses is possible and is enriched by traditional ideas such as creation and natural law, the reign of God and Christology, and it can provide a suitable common ground for an ecumenical ethics applicable to the moral difficulties in the political domain in South Africa today.

scholarly journals Identity, race and faith: The role of faith in post-Apartheid South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Klaasen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Overwhelming Majority ◽  
Correlational Approach ◽  
Complex Phenomena ◽  
The Church

South Africa has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants in the 21st century. Immigration and race have contributed to the raising of important questions of identity and social inclusion. Immigration and race are two crucial phenomena for the church in South Africa because the overwhelming majority of immigrants to South Africa are affiliated to Christianity and active participants in worshipping communities.This article is an attempt to critically engage with the complex phenomena of immigration and race for the role of Christianity in identity. I will attempt to show how mainstream Christianity as an open-ended narrative and can provide the space for creative tension between the ‘host’ and ‘stranger’ for identity formation. I will use the theoretical framework of Don Browning’s correlational approach to demonstrate how the experience of immigrants and minority race groups creates identity of self and the constructive other.

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