Research Articles (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)

Children of God : exploring URCSA's catechetical sexual ethic

Thyssen, Ashwin (The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020)

Human sexuality has been on the agenda of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA's) General Synod since at least 2005. Since then, at each respective General Synod, the discussion has been set forth to ...

Woza Albert! Performing Christ in apartheid South Africa

Havenga, Marthinus Johannes (The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020)

This article investigates the important South African anti-apartheid protest play, Woza Albert!, written and performed in 1981 by Percy Mtwa and Mbogeni Ngema, which retells the story of Jesus Christ so that it takes place ...

The Pniel land dispute of the early 20th century

Pienaar, Pascal (The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020)

In 1834 the slaves of the Groot Drakenstein area were emancipated. They continued to work for farmers in the surrounding area and this resulted in the formation of a community where these farm workers, now able to leave ...

The awkward positioning of a Dutch Reformed "missionary" in apartheid South Africa : Rev. D. P. Botha and the Cape "coloured" question

Muller, Retief (The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020)

The Rev. D. P. (David) Botha was a lifelong apartheid critic and minister in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and later the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Early in his career, he served as a ...

Whose land is it anyway? : a historical reflection on the challenges URCSA encountered with land and property rights

Plaatjies-Van Huffel, Mary-Anne (The Church History Society of Southern Africa, 2020)

The proposal to amend the Constitution of South Africa 1996 regarding the expropriation of land without compensation has invigorated a robust discourse with regard to the land issue in South Africa. Cognisance should be ...

The modern state as mortal God. On rogues and rogue states

De Wit, Theo (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

Prisoners are confined in the name of the state as the holder of the monopoly of coercion and violence. To delegitimize religion as a political factor, the modern European state has often been upgraded to a divine authority, ...

The tension between "risk" and "guilt" in the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's exploration of responsible life

Radler, Karola S. (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

This article discusses the two definitions for a responsible life and action that the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer provides in his book Ethics, which suggest that accepting Schuld - taking on guilt, debt, or an obligation ...

Rewriting the narrative of the infertile female body

Minnaar, Tayla Amy (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This article will explore the possible reimagining of the infertile female body through the lens of theology. The rise of feminist movements and socio-political influence has impacted both men and women's ...

Towards a Platonic critique of ideology: On method and metaphysics

Delport, Khegan (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Plato is accused by some of being a totalitarian, "top-down" thinker, a claim that is linked not just to his politics but to his philosophical proclivities more generally. This essay will argue that Plato's ...

The anhypostasis and enhypostasis: Barth's Christological method in view of Chalcedon - its nuance and complexity

Haley, James P. (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Karl Barth departs from historical Protestant orthodoxy in his unique adoption of the dual formula anhypostasis and enhypostasis to explain the union of divine and human natures in the person of Jesus ...

Acting liturgically: Wolterstorff's philosophical reflections on religious practice

Havenga, Marthinus Johannes (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

This review article offers an engagement with Nicholas Wolterstorff's recent publication, Acting liturgically: Philosophical reflections on religious practice. It begins by contextualising the project, tracing Wolterstorff's ...

Christ as performance: On Hans Urs von Balthasar’s dramatic Christology from below

Havenga, Marthinus Johannes (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

This essay will explore Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Christology as performance from below. It will begin by introducing Balthasar’s theodramatic project as presented in his five-volume work Theo-drama. Here, it will be shown ...

Recognition of LGBTIQ bodies in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa: An indecent proposal?

Davids, Hanzline R. (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

The human dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people are threatend on the African continent. The sexual orientation, gender identity, expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) of LGBTIQ ...

The importance of early Christian thought for theology today. The church in the world

Van de Beek, Abraham (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

Early Christianity is not only a source of historical interest, it also challenges the systematic theology and Christian ethics of today. Early Christians saw themselves as a community of life with the Eucharist at its ...

John de Gruchy: A reformed mystic?

Joubert, Lisel (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020-06-01)

In this essay the life and some of the writings of John de Gruchy are revisited in light of a retrieval of an understanding of mysticism rooted in the Early Church. In revisiting the concept of mysticism through the work ...

The Palestinian struggle, South Africans and Jewish Israelis: Crosslines between solidarity, faith, spirituality and agnosticism

Momberg, Marthie (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2020)

What role does religion play (or not play) in transnational activism in the context of prolonged violence? The narrow strip of land known as Palestine and Israel has special significance to three of the world's largest ...