Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology

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Browsing Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology by Subject "Adoption"

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    Is that your (real) child? Adoption : the sacrament of belonging
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-04) Kelly, Angus; Forster, Dion Angus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematical Theology and Ecclesiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Is it possible to call the relationship between adoptive parents and adopted children real in the sense that a sacrament is real? This study is a reflection on Kelley Nikondeha’s book Adopted: The Sacrament of Belonging in a Fractured World (2017). Through qualitative analysis and reflection on available media and literature this study will explore: a) Some of the circumstances that lead to relinquishment through abortion, and abandonment, or to belonging through foster care and adoption in South Africa. b) Perceptions and ethical controversies related to the history and practice of transcultural and international adoptions. Through theological analysis and reflection on literature suited to the South African context it will explore the narrative aspects of Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s Ubuntu theology and practice and Methodist Theological Ethics as described by Stanley Hauerwas and D Stephen Long (2011). Exploration of these theological frameworks will yield three connecting themes namely blessing, belonging and progressing outlining a theology characterised by a positive ontology, an inclusive ethic and imminent eschatology. This framework of blessing, belonging and progressing will be used as a lens through which to reflect on Kelley Nikondeha’s narrative in order to understand the possibility of calling ‘the relationship between adopted parents and adopted children real in the sense that a sacrament is real’.