{"title":"Shema as Paradigm (Dt. 6:4–9). The Bible, Education, and the Quest for Development in Contemporary Ghana","authors":"Michael Kodzo Mensah","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2117","url":null,"abstract":"It has been sixty-five years since Ghana, the first black African country south of the Sahara, gained independence from colonial rule. Since then, Ghana can boast of an educational system, which has churned out hundreds of thousands of graduates over the years. Despite these achievements, the country remains poor, raising questions about whether its educational system is fit for purpose. Meanwhile, the moral fibre of society seems to be crumbling with corruption, threatening to thwart any gains made since independence. Given the fact that over 70% of Ghanaians profess Christianity, and the Church’s active involvement in education, a resolution of the problem cannot exclude a religious and hence a biblical dimension. This paper, using the distinct interest approach of African Biblical Hermeneutics, argues that Deuteronomy 6:4–9 contains a paradigm for transformative education applicable to the challenges Ghana faces. It demonstrates that the instructions to love YHWH with the whole heart, the whole soul, and the whole might, relate to an education that creatively engages the intellectual faculty, one that is holistic and oriented towards the common good. These are necessary ingredients for the transformation and development of society and equally underscore the role of biblical discourse in building a future for Africa. Keywords: Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4–9, African Biblical Hermeneutics, Education, Development, Ghana","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136256747","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":"Your Body is not your own: A Political Theological Engagement with Gretha Wiid’s Patriarchal Interpretation of Ephesians 5:22-23","authors":"Dion Angus Forster","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2125","url":null,"abstract":"Why does Gretha Wiid call upon her predominately white Afrikaner female followers to submit themselves unquestioningly to the sexual will and social authority of their husbands? Why would some of these women willingly give over their bodies and their agency to be considered “Worthy Women of God”? This paper engages the founder of the “Worthy Women of God” movement, Gretha Wiid’s, interpretation of Ephesians 5:22–23. It aims to explicate the political theology that underpins and informs Wiid’s patriarchal hermeneutics by placing it within the cultural, political, racial, and gendered context of a changing South Africa. In order to do so we shall consider the ways in which Wiid has interpreted Ephesians 5:22–23 in her publications, public addresses, and DVD / Video materials. By understanding her tacit political convictions, one can gain a clearer understanding of her hermeneutic strategy, and the reception of her patriarchal theology among her predominantly white, middle class, Afrikaner, women followers. It will be argued that her political strategy is diametrically opposed to the ethical intent contained in Ephesians 5:21–33. Keywords: Feminism, Gender, Sexuality, Patriarchy, Oppression, South Africa, Political Theology, Ephesians, Apartheid, Whiteness, Worthy Women of God","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"2011 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136258207","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":"God dwells in Flesh: Decolonial Ecojustice and Planetary Ethics in the “Anthropocene”","authors":"Claudia Jahnel","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2135","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides a preliminary cartography of the intersections of theories, approaches and challenges associated with the “decolonisation” of ecojustice in the Anthropocene. It correlates post- and decolonial theories which for long time have remained environmentally blind with posthuman theories, and confronts the theory of the Anthropocene with its blindness towards non-Western knowledge. Decolonial theory is called upon to put its human-centred presuppositions to the test, to adopt post-anthropocentric perspectives, and to include non-human nature in its critique of epistemic violence and “Western reason.” Ecojustice is a task that links the central post-/decolonial commitment to justice and liberation with ecological challenges. The article is embedded in the field of intercultural theology and liberation theology, which provides some “material” that highlights the challenges at hand. The post-/decolonial and intercultural-theological reflection of ecojustice stimulates an incarnational theology that starts with the enfleshment and queering of God. Overall, the article suggests a decolonial reading of the Anthropocene and an unmasking of the persistent anthropocentric as well as Euro- and North American-centric perspective it holds, which continues to marginalise other forms of knowledge. Keywords: Decolonial Epistemology, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Post-human Ethics, Relational Ecojustice, Postcolonial Ecocriticism, Creative Uncertainty","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136258882","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":"Some Aspects of Seminal Historical Factors that led to the Redress Process in Old Testament Scholarship in South Africa","authors":"A. Evans","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2052","url":null,"abstract":"This article considers certain seminal historical markers of how South Africa arrived at the current state of Old Testament scholarship in South Africa. Taking a lead from Ramantswana’s recent denouement of the development of this discipline in South Africa, this article considers the tasks that lie ahead with due regard to Mosala’s (1986:119) recognition that for liberation theology to be effective, the lingering ideologies that confuse the issue need to be dismantled. Mosala saw the necessity for a methodological framework to undertake a “de-ideologising” hermeneutical project. For instance, the current political clamour for de-colonisation portrays the contribution of the missionaries as negative because, having arrived with colonialism, there is a perception that they colluded in the imperialist exploitation of the indigenous peoples of South Africa. One aspect of “de-ideologising” the lingering social damage is the re-assessment of the positive aspects of the missionary endeavour in the face of the Colonialist drive. Not only did the missionaries bring “knowledge of our high birth-right … We belong to the human family, and are heirs of eternal salvation”, but William Wilcox for instance, facilitated the resistance to the notion of racial and intellectual superiority. It was this resistance which eventually culminated in a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa. Keywords: Old Testament Scholarship, Colonialism, American Board Missionaries, Congregational Church, John L. Dube, William Wilcox, Natal, ANC","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74165047","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}
Kemuel Lourenço Figueira Andrade, Stanley J. Grenaz
{"title":"Postmodernity: By The Pastoral Perspective Contemporary","authors":"Kemuel Lourenço Figueira Andrade, Stanley J. Grenaz","doi":"10.22259/2637-5907.0501001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22259/2637-5907.0501001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89165421","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":"How can Religious Education deal with the Tension between Normativity and Moralization in Times of the Environmental Crisis? A Proposal","authors":"Bernhard Gruemme","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2134","url":null,"abstract":"Ethical learning is always a challenge in Religious Education, especially in the field of sustainability and eco-justice. Here, the tension between the normativ orientation towards autonomy and freedom in the tradition of the enlightment, on the one hand, and the danger of Moralisation as a way of overpowering the students in a destructive way is very demanding. Methodologically referring on theoretical concepts and situated in the German context where Religious education is an ordinary subject in school, this paper elaborates on this tension and develops a category which allows us to deal with it in in a critical and productive way. Keywords: Education, Religion, Ethical learning, Sustainability","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136258641","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":"A Literary and Ritual Analysis of Leviticus 16","authors":"Y. Adu-Gyamfi","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2075","url":null,"abstract":"Leviticus 16 is an important text in the book of Leviticus and the entire Pentateuch. The rituals in Leviticus 16 were central to the religious life of ancient Judah. It provided the means of atonement for the sins of the household of the high priest and the people annually. The text shows the seriousness of sin in the sight of YHWH. The various rituals in the text together reveal YHWH’s way of atoning for the sins of his people annually. The rituals of both the slayed and live goats meant the removal of categories of evil – impurities, sins and transgressions – from the community. Leviticus 16 shows that on the Day of Atonement, purification was meant not only for the people but also for cultic objects. Keywords: Literary, Ritual, Leviticus 16, Analysis, Atonement","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80222440","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":"Noah’s Ark and the Flood in Judaism and Islam: A Bi-optic Perspective of Salvation and Sacred Space","authors":"J. Spoelstra","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2067","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses Noah’s ark and the flood events from the sacred texts and traditions of Judaism and Islam in an integrative manner. After juxtaposing the Flood Narrative in the Tanakh and the Noahic sūrahs of the Qur’an, key cognate lexemes are examined and their ideological trajectories traced. It is argued, particularly, that, in addition to the evident message of salvation in the Flood texts and traditions, there is a discernible ideological motif of sacred space in both religions, specifically the ark of Noah equivalent to or associated with a temple structure. Further, the Noah’s ark tradition seeps into various ancillary religious practices, both in various eras of Judaism and in Sunnism and Shiism. Thus, the convergences and divergences between Judaism and Islam, the Hebrew Bible and Qur’an concerning the reception history of a common patriarch (Noah) and shared spaces (ark, temple/mosque) is richly variegated from a bi-optic hermeneutical perspective.","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80225753","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":"Images of God, the Song of Moses, and Metaphors","authors":"Annette Potgieter","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2087","url":null,"abstract":"This article will investigate the various ways in which God is portrayed in the Song of Moses. The Song of Moses is situated within the liturgical use of early church communities; accordingly, the Song of Moses serves as a particularly good test case for examining the language employed in early Christian communities. The article will use conceptual metaphor theory, tracing the metaphorical patterns that arise within the text to delineate possible conceptual systems. Moreover, the meanings of these cognitive models found in the Song of Moses, particularly as they relate to divine language and imagery (as well as their deployment in ecclesial practices more generally), will be deliberated upon in this essay. Keywords: Metaphors, Song of Moses, Worship, Images of God, Cognitive linguistics","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72389648","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":"From Process Philosophy to Process Theology: The Ecological Theological Perspective of John Cobb","authors":"Renzhong Cui","doi":"10.7833/122-1-2130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7833/122-1-2130","url":null,"abstract":"John B. Cobb Jr., a well-known theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist in the United States, has developed his own participatory ecological theology from process philosophy to process theology. Some scholars believe that it belongs to a distorted form of anthropocentrism, while others suggest that it belongs to biocentrism. However, through Cobb’s attention to and exploration of environmental crises and interactions with other environmentalists, his ecological theology is shown to be a new form of participatory ecological theology which recognises the intrinsic value of all existence and affirms the participatory ecological order of nature. He challenges the traditional Christian doctrine of “dominion” and points to a more responsible concept for humanity, that is, to serve all parts of the natural world as responsible creations, just as serving God. Keywords: Process Philosophy, Process Theology, Ecological Theology, Ecological Sustainability","PeriodicalId":44409,"journal":{"name":"Scriptura-International Journal of Bible Religion and Theology in Southern Africa","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78250754","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}