In the Pursuit of Degrowth. Reformed Churches’ Theological Critique of Capitalism

The article discusses the theological criticism of capitalism on the part of the Reformed Churches. The four main themes of criticism are: 1) immoderate accumulation of goods and capital and the commodification of man; 2) leading Third World countries to unpayable debt; 3) plundering of natural goods and environmental damage; 4) the trap of unrestrained growth. The idea of "degrowth" is proposed as an effective way out of these threats. This idea consists of moderation in the production of goods adapted in volume to real needs, respect for the environment by implementing the principles of sustainable development, and finally adopting the attitude of self-restraint as a necessary form of asceticism. "Degrowth" is therefore an idea that also brings together the ways to overcome the "economy of greed" and introduce the "economy of life".

Mocking the just God? A theological critique of President Mnangagwa’s use of the name of God to justify his rule in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa justified his unconstitutional ascendency to power after a military coup that dethroned former President Robert Mugabe in 2017 by claiming that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’. He repeated the claim in 2018 when Nelson Chamisa refused to recognise him as the legitimately elected president of the country after accusing him of rigging the 2018 elections. Mnangagwa’s use of God’s name to authenticate his rule raises the question: as one of the foundational attributes of God is justice, what does it mean for political leaders openly claiming to be ordained into office by him? This leads to a further question: Has Mnangagwa’s rule satisfied the demands that come with claiming to be ordained by God to rule, and what should be the church’s response towards Mnangagwa’s rule in view of God’s justice? This article uses God’s attribute of justice to critically evaluate Mnangagwa’s claim that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’. The claim is described and placed within Mnangagwa’s claims and insinuations to be a Christian. His current rule, which is characterised by violent repression and corruption is examined and evaluated. God’s attribute of justice is presented and highlighted in how it challenges Mnangagwa to reform his rule to align it with God’s nature of justice.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article combines insights from religion and politics, the mission of the church in a context of political oppression and systematic theology to highlight the need for the Zimbabwean churches to judge all political systems according to the adherence to God’s justice. It also provides some theological tools by which churches can protect themselves from being co-opted by unjust and oppressive regimes that violate God’s justice.

How successful is Davison and Milbank’s critique of the Fresh Expressions movement in their book For the Parish (2010)?

Is For the Parish (2010), by Davison and Milbank, a “devastating assault” on the Fresh Expressions movement or a fallacious argument against misunderstood caricatures? The arena is riddled with strong passions and spirited rhetoric, and this article endeavors to cut through the hyperbole and critically evaluate the critique of the Fresh Expressions movement presented in For the Parish. Through discussions of ecclesiology, soteriology, sociology, and missiology, this article evaluates Davison’s and Milbank’s understanding of the Fresh Expression movement and its underpinning theology. This is assessed against their aims to (1) deconstruct Fresh Expressions theology and (2) present the reimagined parish church as the ideal alternative. Through a discussion of six major contentions, this article demonstrates a view that For the Parish offers a necessary and imperative theological critique of careless Fresh Expressions theology, while still significantly misunderstanding its opponent.

The Light of the Leaf: A Theological Critique of Timothy Morton’s ‘Dark Ecology’

The plant has recently emerged as a battleground of conflicting ecocriticisms. ‘Dark Ecology’ is, in the works of Timothy Morton, an ecocritical hermeneutic, in which the world can be subtracted into the parts of objects, of the plant, and of any leaf that exceeds the totality of abstract ‘Nature’. In dividing the whole into the parts, and combining the parts into an imminently subtracted whole, he has recommended a negative dialectic of virtual objects that can be collected into a ‘hyperobject’. This dialectic can, however, be argued to dissolve any whole into parts, and render the hyperobject internally fissured. We can, from the ‘darkness’ of this fissure, begin to read Nature according to the ‘via plantare’, that is, a mystical way of desiring an other as plant so as to know and love the visible light of the invisible God. ‘Vegetal difference’, the difference of the plant from the animal, should, I argue, be read for theology as a finite reflection of the divine difference of the Holy Trinity in a Trinitarian Ontology, in which the originary difference of the Son from the Father is related through the Holy Spirit, and given again in accelerating gratuity—like the light of the leaf that shines forth from any flower.

Doctrine as security? A systematic theological critique of the operational theological framework of the controversial South African neo-Pentecostal prophets

This research article uses the theoretical framework of doctrine as believer’s security to critique the theological framework behind the controversial activities reported amongst some South African neo-Pentecostal prophets (NPPs), which include feeding congregants with grass, spraying them with insecticides and sexual violation of women congregants. The framework of the article falls within the discipline of systematic theology by raising the importance for South African Christians to develop a critical doctrinal framework for protecting themselves from controversial NPPs. The following main question is answered by the article: from a systematic theological perspective, how can we evaluate the theological framework, which leads to the recent controversial activities reported amongst some NPPs in South Africa? Consequently, the article, firstly, describes the critical theological framework of the protective role of Christian doctrine. Secondly, it describes the South African NPPs and their controversial practices. Thirdly, this article analyses some of the theological problems in the current operative framework of NPPs. Fourthly, it argues for the need for doctrinally informed critical thinking as a safety measure against controversial NPPs. Finally, some steps that must be taken by NPPs to develop critical theological thinking in order to overcome doctrinally vacuous experientialism that promotes controversial religious activities are provided.Contribution: From a systematic theological approach, this article attempts to demonstrate the importance of critical doctrinal thinking as a defence mechanism for protecting Christians from falling prey to harmful religious practices, such as those recently reported amongst some NPPs in South Africa.

Theology and the arts: The Corona crisis

Seeking to offer more than just words of comfort in the face of suffering, this paper proposes three additional ways forward for theological reflection during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) a rediscovery of the language of lament, drawing on the vocabularies of protest movements and the Psalms; (2) a theological critique of the pandemic built on reckoning with the reality of our finitude and the relationship between humanity and the earth; and (3) a re-imagination of the future employing the power of the arts and the imagination for this prophetic task.

The Invention of Clutter and the New Spiritual Discipline of Decluttering

This essay argues that the popular global decluttering movement epitomized in Marie Kondo is a new spiritual discipline tailored to a particular cultural moment in which members of affluent societies, especially women, are caught between the shame of displaying too much “stuff” at home and the guilt of discarding it. After suggesting reasons for the movement’s neglect by theologians, the essay offers a brief history of the “invention of clutter.” Through this history, the essay frames decluttering as an expression of “makeover culture” that posits a timeless aesthetic self. Decluttering functions as a spiritual practice of late consumer capitalism that converts its followers to a disposition of detachment through procedures that mirror Christian conversion. While appreciating the attention the movement shows to women’s domestic lives and to material things, the essay offers a theological critique of the movement’s construction of an aesthetic self who is absolved of guilt by escaping time and the ecological web into private, timeless space. The essay commends instead a narrative, ecological self whose engagement with material things reflects a sacramental vision that issues in virtues like frugality.