Tracing the Theological Development of the South African Baptismal Rites: The Journey to An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 and Beyond

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Andrew-John Bethke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
The South ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This essay analyzes the theological changes which are reflected in successive revisions of Southern Africa's Anglican liturgy from 1900 to 1989. The following liturgies are examined: A Book of Common Prayer—South Africa (1954); Proposals for the Revision of the Rites of Baptism and Confirmation (1967); the Church Unity Commission's ecumenical liturgies in the 1970s; Birth and Growth in Christ (1984); and An Anglican Prayer Book 1989. The article also includes valuable source material which influenced the revised liturgies, including two official reports on the theology of baptism and confirmation. The author finds that theological uncertainty surrounding the underpinning of current rites brings into question whether full church membership is actually granted during baptism.

The Theory and Practice of Prayer Book Revision in South Africa

1960 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hinchliff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The South ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
The Core ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church ◽  
Draft Constitution

The Provincial Synod of the Church of the Province of South Africa met for the first time in 1870. A long controversy, of which the Colenso law-suits were the core, had made it plain that the Anglican Church was not, and could not be, an established Church in South Africa. The chief task of the synod was to provide some alternative machinery of government and a constitution which could legally serve as a contractual basis for the exercise of the Church's discipline. There were before the synod two documents of primary importance—the draft constitution which the South African bishops had been preparing since 1861, and the report of the first Lambeth Conference.

scholarly journals Die oorgeblewe sendingtaak in Suid-Afrika

1987 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-205
Author(s):  
J. J. Kritzinger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Research Project ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Task ◽  
Contemporary Situation ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The remaining missionary task in South Africa This article is based on the results of a research project of the Institute for Missiological Research at the University of Pretoria which was recently concluded. The author and a team of co-workers researched practically the whole of South Africa in an endeavour to describe the contemporary situation of its population and the unfinished task of the church. The understanding of the missionary task which formed the basis of this project, and a sample of the kind of results obtained are illustrated in this article by means of 12 representative or typical scenarios which together indicate the dimensions of the future task for the South African church.

scholarly journals Whatever happened to God’s holiness? The holiness of God and the theological authenticity of the South African neo-Pentecostal prophetic activities

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collium Banda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The South ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
Doctrine Of The Church ◽  
The Church

The controversial activities of the neo-Pentecostal prophets (NPPs) in South Africa raise many theological questions. From a systematic theological perspective that affirms the importance of Christian doctrines in regulating church worship and practice, this article uses God’s holiness to evaluate the theological authenticity of the NPPs’ controversial activities. The research question answered in the article is: how can an understanding of the holiness of God empower Christian believers to respond meaningfully to the controversial practices? The article begins by describing the theoretical framework of God’s holiness. This is followed by describing the NPPs’ shift from prophecy focusing on holiness to one focused on human needs. Furthermore, this shift among the NPPs from holiness to human needs is attributed to celebrity cultism through which the prophets thrust themselves as powerful figures who are able to solve people’s problems. Afterward an analysis is made of how the holiness of God is violated by the NPPs’ controversial practices. Finally, some steps are suggested for NPPs and their followers to take to align their activities with God’s holiness. The contribution of the article lies in highlighting the importance of God’s holiness as a standard of measuring the Christian authenticity of the controversial activities of the NPPs in South Africa.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article uses insights from the doctrine of God’s holiness, the role of biblical prophecy and the doctrine of the church, to critique the controversial activities of the NPPs in South Africa.

scholarly journals Where is the church on Monday? Awakening the church to the theology and practice of ministry and mission in the marketplace

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dion A. Forster ◽  
Johann W. Oosterbrink
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
The South ◽  
Theology Of Work ◽  
The World ◽  
Missional Theology ◽  
The Church

Recent research by the Call42 group has shown that South African Christians experience that they are not adequately prepared or equipped for Christian living and discipleship in the world of work – here called the marketplace. This article has argued for the importance of a rediscovery of a theology of work that can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for ministry in the marketplace. The article traces why such a theological deficiency exists in the South African church by considering areas such as an inadequate theology of work and mission, a dualism between faith and work, and an unbalanced emphasis on the role of clergy and a lesser focus on the role of the laity in themissio Dei. Having considered these challenges to the mission and theological identity of the church, the article discusses the three general theological views of the church in South Africa as presented by Smit and adapted by Forster. It considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the marketplace in each of these three forms. The article comes to the conclusion that the church will need to revisit its missional theology, refocuses its efforts on broader society, and empowers and equips its members for ministry in the marketplace in order to be faithful in partnering with God in the missio Dei.Waar is die kerk op Maandag? Ontwaking van die kerk tot die teologie en praktyk vanbediening en sending in die markplein. Onlangse navorsing deur die Call42 groep het bevind dat Suid-Afrikaanse Christene ervaar dat hulle nie voldoende voorbereid en toegerus is vir die Christelike lewe en dissipelskap in die arbeidsmark - hier genoem die markplein – nie. Hierdie artikel poog om aan te toon dat ’n herontdekking van ’n teologie van werk belangrik is ten einde die kerk in die algemeen asook individuele Christene te bemagtig en toe te rus vir die bediening in die markplein. Hierdie artikel poog dus om die kwessie van die sodanige teologiese leemte in die Suid-Afrikaanse kerk na te vors. Terreine soos onvoldoende teologie van werk en sending word ondersoek, ’n dualisme tussen geloof en werk word uitgewys, en daar word aangetoon dat ’n oorspeling van die predikant se rol en ’n onderspeling van gewone kerklidmate se rol die kerk se betrokkenheid by die missio Dei benadeel. Met inagneming van hierdie uitdagings aan sending en die kerk se teologiese identiteit, bespreek die artikel drie algemene teologiese standpunte van die kerk in Suid Afrika, soos deur Smit aangebied en deur Forster aangepas. Die artikel besin hoe die kerk in elk van hierdie drie bestaansvorme ’n agent van sending en transformasie in die markplein kan wees. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die kerk die missionale of sendingteologie moet heroorweeg, opnuut moet fokus op die uitreik na die breër gemeenskap en lidmate vir bediening in die markplein moet bemagtig en toerus. Sodoende sal die kerk getrou wees aan die medewerking met God in die missio Dei.

scholarly journals An ethical analysis of the implementation of poverty reduction policies in South Africa and Chile and their implications for the Church

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Kretzschmar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Ethical Analysis ◽  
The South ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Church ◽  
Practical Implications

The focus of this contribution is the issue of poverty reduction within the South African and Chilean contexts. It is rooted in the academic field of Christian Ethics and also draws on several texts from the human and economic sciences. Policies adopted and practical steps taken to overcome poverty by the respective governments between 1990 and 2012 are evaluated and the theological and practical implications of poverty for the church are briefly highlighted. Despite differences between these two countries, South Africans can learn much from the Chilean policy and its implementation.

scholarly journals MISSION COUNCILS – A SELF-PERPETUATING ANACHRONISM (1923-1971): A SOUTH AFRICAN CASE STUDY

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Graham Duncan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
Black Christians ◽  
The Church

If ever mission councils in South Africa had a purpose, they had outlived it by the time of the formation of the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA) in 1923. However, autonomy in this case was relative and the South African Mission Council endured until 1981. It was an anachronism which served little purpose other than the care of missionaries and the control of property and finance. It was obstructive insofar as it hindered communication between the BPCSA and the Church of Scotland and did little to advance God’s mission, especially through the agency of black Christians. During this period blacks were co-opted on to the Church of Scotland South African Joint Council (CoSSAJC) but they had to have proved their worth to the missionaries first by their compliance with missionary views. This article will examine the role of the CoSSAJC in pursuance of its prime aim, “the evangelisation of the Bantu People” (BPCSA 1937, 18), mainly from original sources.

scholarly journals Faith and reality: The role and contributions of the ecumenical church to the realities and development of South Africa since the advent of democracy in 1994

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
African Nation ◽  
South African Council ◽  
The Church

Many Christians feel quite disillusioned and disappointed with the church in South Africa today because they assume that the church, in particular the South African Council of Churches (SACC), is not playing an adequate prophetic role in building the democratic South Africa since 1994. This article traces the role and contributions of the SACC and other ecumenical organisations to the building of a democratic South Africa. It establishes that whilst the SACC had lost its focus and vision and has an ecumenical body, largely because of its partnership with government, it does, nevertheless, continue to contribute to the building of the South African nation.

John William Colenso: a Fresh Appraisal

1962 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hinchliff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
The Other ◽  
The One ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Church

It is probably no one's fault that general histories of the Church in the nineteenth century are so misleading about bishop Colenso. Unless one gets down to the primary source material, which is almost all in South Africa, there is no way of escaping from the distortions of controversy. Almost all the books about Colenso are unreliable. His own biography was written by an ardent admirer who hoped to succeed him as bishop of Natal. The lives of his principal opponents, Robert Gray and James Green, are just as unsatisfactory. Gray's life was written by his son. Green's was written by Dr. Wirgman, a frank and open controversialist. Histories of the Province of South Africa are either missionary propaganda, or else become so immersed in the constitutional and legal issues connected with Colenso, that the character of the man himself is lost. In consequence, the bishop of Natal appears in history as a kind of religious schizophrenic—on the one hand a great missionary who loved the Zulu people with an infinite tenderness and, on the other, a wilful and spiteful heretic for whom no action was too base and mean. Or, worse still, he is represented as a brilliant but misunderstood fore-runner of modern biblical scholars who was also by accident a South African missionary.

scholarly journals Die herlewing van sekulêre spiritualiteit in Europa en die implikasie daarvan vir die NG Kerk in Suid-Afrika

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Kok
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
The Church ◽  
Secular Spirituality ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

The revival of secular spirituality in Europe and its implication for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. This article critically reflected on the insights of David Tacey in which he notes that there is currently a revival in post-secular spirituality in the West, but that its deep religious roots are lacking. What would be the implication of these trends for the South African religious landscape where traditional mainstream churches such as the Dutch Reformed Church are shrinking significantly? People often say yes to God, but no to the church. Some in the church may totally renounce God. What lessons could be learned by the South African mainstream churches and theology if these trends in the West were taken into account? In this article a critical literature review (desk research) was done and the study was structured as follows: In the first place, the implication of superdiversity, supermobility and the reality of a post-COVID-19 consciousness was discussed. Next we engaged in research by scholars in which it was shown that our time, at least in the West, is characterised by existential anxiety and uncertainty. Thirdly, we engaged in the insights of David Tacey in which he also argued the fact that the uncertainty of the time in which we live, often causes people to return to spirituality. Finally, the implication of these trends for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa was reflected on.Contribution: This research makes a contribution to the nature and scope of the journal, in that it finds that the rise in secular spirituality, in the context of anxiety and uncertainty in a post-COVID-19 world, provides an opportunity for the Dutch Reformed Church to find meaning and significance.

scholarly journals Mission in the new South Africa. Need for a renewed enquiry

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-114
Author(s):  
J. J. Kritzinger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
The World ◽  
African Context ◽  
New Situation ◽  
The Church

Mission includes all that the church is called by its Lord to do in continuation of His mission in the world. The church in her mission is interested in the whole of people’s lives and needs. The church is also called to mission in the South African context. Do we know this context? Do we understand the challenges of this context? A project of two decades ago on the unfinished task of mission in South Africa brought many relevant insights to the force, but since then the context has changed dramatically. This article touches on some aspects of the new situation, and provides outlines for the launch of a new enquiry.

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