{"title":"Intercultural Theology and the Challenge of the Indigenous Peoples in Latin America","authors":"Roberto E. Zwetsch","doi":"10.7832/43-3-134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-134","url":null,"abstract":"This text is part of a research project that I have been developing for several years in the Faculdades EST Graduate Program. In mid-2011 it was approved under the title of \"Interculturality in Latin America\". The title is very broad to cover different research studies that are being performed within the sphere of the Graduate Program and by researchers from other institutions with which we are in partnership. It deals with the fields of theology, philosophy, history, anthropology and related areas.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"526-544"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71256193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Together towards life : sailing with pirates","authors":"Nelus Niemandt","doi":"10.7832/43-3-88","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-88","url":null,"abstract":"In this research, the 2013 mission affirmation of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC), Together towards life – Mission and evangelism in changing landscapes (TTL), is evaluated through a rather unique hermeneutical lens by interpreting and assessing the ecumenical discourse in the light of the book by Kester Brewin, Mutiny, Why we love pirates and how they can save us (2012), and by integrating these insights. The research acknowledges the emphasis on life-affirming mission in TTL, and the approach that a theological bridge is established between the Christian faith, secular worldviews, indigenous religions, and wisdom traditions, because the gospel is good news for all of creation. The following questions are investigated in the light of this: How can the idea of life be reconciled with the mission of God? What is the content and scope of “life” and what is “life” all about? The focus is on the economic political-social consequences of adapting “life” as a theological point of departure. The research integrates a re-evaluation of piracy, as unpacked by Brewin, with the missional endeavour of discernment and the discovery of what “fullness of life” can mean in our day and times. It discusses piracy and mission as: resistance against the idolatry in the free-market economy; the restoration of the commons and koinonia in places where relationships flourish; living in the margins; and economic and ecological liberation in the Kingdom as a place of freedom.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"336-348"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71256284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Citizenship in the Brazilian Context – theoretically, practically and theologically","authors":"R. Sinner","doi":"10.7832/43-3-127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-127","url":null,"abstract":"Citizenship has become the key concept for democracy in Brazil after transition. Often referred to, it denotes rather a conceptual field than a clear-cut definition. Following the central insights of Liberation Theology, seeking to adapt to the current democratic situation and the need for a focus on citizenship, this article argues for such focus within the framework of a public theology. First, it offers a theoretical, conceptual reflection, followed by a presentation of the contributions to citizenship by three major and representative Brazilian churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil and the Assemblies of God. Finally, it presents, briefly, five elements of a theology of citizenship based on central assets of Lutheran theology that are able to respond to current challenges of Brazilian democracy and society.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"438-459"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Youth unemployment in South Africa. A theological reflection through the lens of human dignity","authors":"Anita Cloete","doi":"10.7832/43-3-133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-133","url":null,"abstract":"This article pays attention to youth unemployment as one of the most serious socioeconomic challenges in South Africa. The nature of unemployment in South Africa is followed by a discussion on the interconnectedness between unemployment and poverty. The psychological and theological meaning of work is discussed in short, followed by the psychological effect of unemployment. In order to indicate how unemployment undermines human dignity, certain theological themes on human dignity are outlined. The final section explores ways in which the church could assist in affirming human dignity in the context of unemployment.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"513-525"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71256074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"For coming out of the closets - HIV and AIDS and theology in Brazil","authors":"A. Musskopf","doi":"10.7832/43-3-125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-125","url":null,"abstract":"The HIV and AIDS epidemic arrived in Brazil as a gay cancer, a narrative created mostly through the media before actual cases were diagnosed. This narrative has remained strong and powerful maintaining the stigma and discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS. Any truthful and honest theological or church response to the epidemic will have to deal with this ghost even when the focus is moved from the LGBT community to speak of other vulnerable subjects and groups. The first part of this article shows how the gay cancer narrative was constructed in the context of an emerging homosexual movement and major political changes in the country. The second part of the article presents some of the responses in the field of religion in the Brazilian context, how they reinforced the gay cancer narrative, but also how more positive answers were given, especially in the early years of the epidemic. It also makes explicit the virtual absence of a systematic theological reflection, even in the context of Latin American Liberation Theology, mostly because of the difficulty in dealing with structural issues that deepen and make more complex class and economic poverty. The third part of the article reports the creation and reactions to the HIV and AIDS prevention campaign Not even the Saint protects you Use condom in the context of the 15 th S Paulo GLBT Pride Parade in 2011. The fourth and final part makes some theological remarks emerging from the narrative of the advertising campaign in the search for an out of the closet theology in the context of the HIV and AIDS epidemic.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"583-603"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Whiteness and Public Theology: an Exploration of Listening","authors":"Cobus van Wyngaard","doi":"10.7832/43-3-132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-132","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how whiteness continues to remain a problem when working towards a public discourse which seeks the common good. Recognising that a public sphere where all can participate as equals is a space available only to a certain class of people, it asks what the implication of this recognition would be for those who do indeed live in a position where they can participate in forming public opinion and policy. Exploring the discussions resulting from Samantha Vice's article titled \"How do I live in this strange place?\", a listening which leads to a deeper recognition of my own complicity in injustice is described as an important part of public theology for white South Africans. The particular responsibility of working against the injustice from which I benefit is furthermore pointed out as a specific task which white public theologians need to take upon themselves.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"478-492"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The defining moments for the Dutch Reformed Church mission policy of 1935 and 1947","authors":"T. Kgatla, Anderson Magwira","doi":"10.7832/43-3-109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-109","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the Dutch Reformed Mission Policy formulated by the Federal of Churches in 1933. The political climate of the time and the social, economic, cultural and political interest of the white Afrikaner church played a pivotal part in shaping the policy. The paper further probes the missionary motives that ensued from such a political agenda. The Dutch Reformed Church failed to see the dangers of self-interest and the tenants of Gods mission. The paper attempts to lay a sound foundation for mission in a racially divided South Africa.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"365-383"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ecumenical Movement and development: The role of personhood","authors":"J. Klaasen","doi":"10.7832/43-3-87","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-87","url":null,"abstract":"This article is part of several contributions that was presented at the 2015 Southern African Missiological Society (SAMS). The conference theme was undergirded by the theme of the World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in Busan, South Korea and the recent Encyclical of Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church; \"Together towards life\". The specific contribution of this article lies with the role of personhood in development. The question that I seek to address is to what extent the influential models of development proposed by Korten and more importantly, the ecumenical movement, can do justice to the category of personhood. A secondary question is the complex process through which people come to accept responsibility for addressing their situations.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"323-335"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71256268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Citizenship in South Africa today : some insights from Christian ecclesiology","authors":"N. Koopman","doi":"10.7832/43-3-128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-128","url":null,"abstract":"This essay reflects upon the notion of citizenship in the context of post-apartheid South Africa. Citizenship discourse in South Africa takes place in the context of the movement away from apartheid, and in the context of the processes of Africanisation and globalisation. An attempt is made to make a contribution to citizenship discourse in South Africa by drawing from theological insights, specifically from the classic formulation of the four marks of the church, namely catholicity, unity, holiness and apostolicity. Based on these ecclesiological marks the following four sets of features of citizenship are identified: apostolic and inclusive citizenship; united and justice-seeking citizenship; holy and virtuous citizenship, and apostolic and responsible citizenship.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"425-437"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Missio Dei and Youth Ministry: mobilizing young people’s assets and developing realationships","authors":"Jeremy Gregory Wyngaard","doi":"10.7832/43-3-120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7832/43-3-120","url":null,"abstract":"It is said that young people are the future of a country. It is also widely believed that young people flourish as human beings when they are entrusted with responsibility and leadership roles. This article advocates a distinctive approach in the effort of local churches to rethink how it could maximize the potential of young people and build healthy relationships across different generations in the church’s participation in the Missio Dei. An examination of an asset-based and relational approach to the Missio Dei provides the local church with a potential dual movement that can have positive, far-reaching and more sustainable implications in the broader community.","PeriodicalId":31107,"journal":{"name":"Missionalia Southern African Journal of Missiology","volume":"43 1","pages":"410-424"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71255599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}