Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticaehttps://hdl.handle.net/10500/42062024-03-28T18:32:19Z2024-03-28T18:32:19ZDefining Gnosticism after the publication of the Gospel of JudasJonker, Erastushttps://hdl.handle.net/10500/154092022-06-30T12:49:01Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZDefining Gnosticism after the publication of the Gospel of Judas
Jonker, Erastus
With the recent publication of the Gospel of Judas in 2006, Gnostic Christianity was put back onto the agenda of Church History. Since the publication of the Gospel of Judas, the limi-ting of Gnostic studies by some kind of definition or frame-work seems to have become of less importance. In this article, the term “Christian Knowledge” is used to describe movements within Christianity according to the typological definition proposed by Christoph Markschies’ recent monograph. The background and origins of Christian Knowledge are described by reflecting on some ideas from Plato. The Apocryphon of John and the Gospel of Judas are analysed to see whether they fit into this typological definition. The first case corresponding to this typological definition is then looked at.
Peer reviewed
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe Minister of the Word in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) and party politics: A theoretical and practical perspectiveModise, Leepo Johanneshttps://hdl.handle.net/10500/154082022-07-04T09:32:01Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe Minister of the Word in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) and party politics: A theoretical and practical perspective
Modise, Leepo Johannes
This article will consist of five parts: First, definitions of faith and politics will be provided. Second, Regulation 4(3.2) regarding the status of a Minister of URCSA will be discussed in brief. Third, decisions of different synods on the forfeiture of the status of Ministers of the Word in URCSA due to participation in the governing body of the party politics will be discussed. Fourth, the author will look into different well-known reformed ministers and theologians who have influenced the thinking of the URCSA in terms of its confession, the likes of John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper and Karl Barth, in order to make an argument for the relevancy of such regulation’s point. Fifth, the motive behind Regulation 4(3.2) regarding the status of a Minister of the Word and party politics and its relevancy will be discussed.
Peer reviewed
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZDoing theology at the margins: PACSA's accompaniment of communities in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, 1979-2012Manda, Charleshttps://hdl.handle.net/10500/154072022-06-15T08:04:39Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZDoing theology at the margins: PACSA's accompaniment of communities in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, 1979-2012
Manda, Charles
The Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) is a faith-based organisation (FBO) situated in Pieter-maritzburg, in the uMgungundlovu region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It works in 27 of the most marginalised communities in the region. Established in 1979, PACSA began as a Christian agency to raise awareness among the white Chris¬tian churches about the unjust and oppresive realities of the apartheid government. Over the years, it has continued to accompany partner communities as they seek their own libe-ration from forces that undermine their freedom and dignity. Using textual analysis of PACSA’s documents and archives, this article explores the history of PACSA from 1979 to 2012. This period is significant because PACSA worked as a Christian social awareness FBO until 2012, when it changed its name to the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action. The article further explores its role during and after the political violence of the 1980s and 1990s; and its praxis of the theology of accompaniment and the preferential option for the poor and the marginalised.
Peer reviewed
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe challenge of theological education in the Assemblies of God, Nogeria: A critical analysisMbamalu, Williams O.https://hdl.handle.net/10500/154062022-06-21T11:14:59Z2015-01-01T00:00:00ZThe challenge of theological education in the Assemblies of God, Nogeria: A critical analysis
Mbamalu, Williams O.
The establishment of Bible institutions by the Assemblies of God, Nigeria (AGN) is based on the immediately felt needs of its clerics. This Pentecostal denomination still struggles with the perception of theological education as the seedbed for the renewal of churches and the intellectual development of its clerics. Evidently, the three tiers of the theological programmes of the AGN, that is, the diploma and the bachelors and master’s degrees in theology, lack cohesive curriculum articulation. This article argues that the AGN’s style of theological education is ontologically based on old knowledge organisation, largely in¬fluenced by centuries of ingrown and inbred Pentecostal acade¬mic tradition that discourages the heuristic intercourse of charisma with academic institutions. The article argues that the problem of curriculum articulation in the AGN’s theological education is responsible for the educational crisis currently besieging the church. The article suggests that the AGN needs a critical rethinking of its theological education programme to compel a redefinition of its twenty-year-old vision and mission in theological education.
Peer reviewed
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z