Chapters in Books (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)

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Browsing Chapters in Books (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology) by Author "Forster, Dion"

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    Nelson Mandela and his faith
    (Stellenbosch University, 2015) Forster, Dion
    The death of Nelson Mandela on 5 December 2013 put the spotlight on his religious convictions and faith affiliation. Academics, journalists, and interested members of faith communities asked what his faith perspective was. Was Madiba a Christian? Was he a member of a particular church?
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    Towards an (im)possible politics of forgiveness? Considering the complexities of religion, race and politics in South Africa
    (African Sun Media, 2020) Forster, Dion
    This chapter engages the complexity of a politics of forgiveness in South Africa some 24 years after the end of political apartheid. We shall do so by considering contested understandings of forgiveness among Black and White South Africans in relation to the trauma and history of apartheid. Why do White South Africans want forgiveness? Is it to find freedom from the wwguilt of apartheid, or possibly also to be set free from the responsibility to make reparations for the past? Could forgiveness be a weapon that further wounds Black South Africans by expecting them not only to live with the social, political and economic consequences of apartheid, but also to stop calling for justice? In his poem, ‘Fiction en estrangement,’ Nathan Trantraal speaks of how the Christian religion calls Black South Africans to forgive their White perpetrators. Yet this call doesn’t always count the cost of the call for forgiveness. He speaks of “die gif in vergifnis”, the poison (gif) in forgiveness (vergifnis) (Trantraal, 2017). This chapter draws upon a four-year qualitative empirical study on how Black and White South African Christians understand the processes and notions of forgiveness in the light of South Africa’s complex economic, social and political context. The project is entitled ‘The (im)possibility of forgiveness?’ We begin by considering the notion of the (im)possibility of forgiveness in present day South Africa. Why does the research focus on forgiveness (and not mercy, reconciliation, or indeed retribution or redistribution)? Next, we shall spend some time looking at the relationship between social identity complexities and notions of forgiveness among Black and White South African Christians. We shall end with some considerations of what may contribute towards making (im)possible forgiveness possible, and meaningful, among South Africans.