Doctoral Degrees (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology) by Subject "Bangui Armed forces"

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    Military activities and the environment? : theological-ethical responses from an Anglican perspective
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-11) Mokobake, Lazarus Majahe; Koopman, Nico; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematical Theology and Ecclesiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on Anglican ecotheological responses to the possible negative impact of military activities on the environment. Chapter One gives clarity regarding the central concepts in as well as the main theme of the study. It also provides an introduction to and the motivation for the study, explains the research approach and methodology that has been employed, states the research question that will be answered, the aims of the study and, finally, gives an outline of chapters the dissertation comprises of. Chapter Two explores the nature of the negative impact of military activities may have on the environment. This specifically identifies the so-called levels of war, namely at the level of national strategy, at operational levels and at tactical levels and how activities at each level may contribute to environmental degradation. Using war as an example, Chapter Three gives a historical overview and examples of the extent of the negative impact (physical as well as morally) military activities in the past have had on the environment. Chapters Four to Six focus on the nature, content and possible role ecotheological responses may have to the negative impact of military activities on the environment. Since Anglican ecotheological responses are at the centre of this study, it is argued in Chapter Four that the Lambeth Conferences already offer some valuable guidance to the Anglican Community in the form of ecotheological themes, inferences, notions and frameworks from which a nuanced Anglican ecotheology may be formulated. Chapter Five offers additional Anglican ecotheological sources in addition to the Lambeth Conferences in the form of other Anglican forums, such as Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN), as well as the views of a selection of Anglican theologians that to date have contributed to (Anglican) ecotheological thought. Chapters Four and Five thus provide guidelines toward an Anglican ecotheological construct according to which the world is viewed “as God views it”, that is, a perspective predicated by principles promoting interrelationships, interdependence and intercommunion. The final chapter of this study, Chapter Six, revisits the research question posed in Chapter One and summarises the main arguments offered in answering it. Here, the study also proposes how an Anglican ecotheological construct may be employed by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) in collaboration with the (South African) Department of Defence (DOD) in addressing current or possible future negative impact of the military on the environment. Chapter Six concludes that, within the SANDF, Anglican chaplains are in a unique position to use Anglican ecotheology to promote the idea of the coexistence between the military and the natural world, to (theologically) encourage the SANDF to recognise creation as a companion, a fellow sojourner and trusted “significant other” without which humanity cannot exist or prosper. Such an ecotheological vision may inform short, medium 4 and long-term endeavours aimed at ecological sustainability and responsible development, even in contexts of military intervention.