Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae Volume 35 Number 1, May 2009
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/4215
2024-03-28T08:44:49ZThe "Age of Enlightenment" is not the "Enlightened Age": revisiting Kant's (1724-1804) argument on the Enlightenment
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/4596
The "Age of Enlightenment" is not the "Enlightened Age": revisiting Kant's (1724-1804) argument on the Enlightenment
Mogashoa, Humphrey
The Enlightenment era, critical as a period in its own right, is
also a pivotal phase in the history of Christianity. Also critical
in this period was Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), a formidable
scholar who formulated and differentiated between Age of
Enlightenment and the Enlightened Age. Kant's background,
early learning and life in academia provide the necessary background
to understand the intellectual journey of philosophising
that was to culminate with, among others, this formulation and
differentiation. Kant argued that society was still in the Age of
Enlightenment because both the individual and the public are
still under tutelage that was self-imposed. Tutelage is a complex
process and has methods of sustaining and advancing
itself. It is possible for human beings to be released from this
tutelage but since the majority of the society is still under this
tutelage, society has not reached the Enlightened Age. The Age
of Enlightenment and the Enlightened Age are two distinct
phenomena, worthy of note and differentiation in the broader
history of Christianity.
Peer reviewed
2009-01-01T00:00:00ZVanguard of African culture : an analysis of the oral history of selected AICs in Tshwane (Pretoria)
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/4594
Vanguard of African culture : an analysis of the oral history of selected AICs in Tshwane (Pretoria)
Molobi, Victor
AICs do not make the outright claim that they are defending African culture, but their
behaviour does reflect their original African cultures in its adaptation to Christianity.
These churches have been accused of syncretistic practices in the past and were seldom
given the chance to prove their Christian abilities, especially alongside the mainline or
mission churches. Across Southern Africa these churches are known for their colourful
images and their presence everywhere in the rural and urban open spaces, under trees, on
the hills and in school classrooms which they temporarily rent. What are the stories
behind their faith praxis? We will investigate whether the AICs in townships are in the
forefront of African culture or not. Some selected oral stories from AICs in the Tshwane
(Pretoria) townships of Atteridgeville and Mamelodi will be used as samples to
determine the validity of this claim. Inculturation and dual religious systems are concepts
which will help clarify the issue.
Peer reviewed
2009-01-01T00:00:00ZDetention without trial : the experience of the Reverend Douglas Thompson in the South African state of emergency, 1960
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/4578
Detention without trial : the experience of the Reverend Douglas Thompson in the South African state of emergency, 1960
Egan, Anthony
This article is a Lyotardian “little narrative” of the experience of Methodist minister
Douglas Thompson’s period in detention during the 1960 state of emergency in South
Africa. It highlights the way in which Thompson boosted the morale of fellow detainees
through his conduct of religious services – acts which reflect Scott’s “arts of resistance”
of the powerless. It presents a picture of the white left/liberal opposition during this
period and illustrates the importance of the churches to act decisively against the
apartheid state during the period.
Peer reviewed
2009-01-01T00:00:00ZA Cape Town minister contra orthodoxy : Ramsden Balmforth's evaluation as a religious liberal
https://hdl.handle.net/10500/4577
A Cape Town minister contra orthodoxy : Ramsden Balmforth's evaluation as a religious liberal
Hale, Frederick, 1948-
South African Unitarianism remains a minimally explored topic in church history.
Beginning as the Free Protestant Church in Cape Town, it traced its primary roots to
liberal theology, especially historical criticism of the Bible, in the Netherlands, which
was brought to the Cape of Good Hope by David P Faure and other young Afrikaners in
the 1860s. However, by the end of the nineteenth century the movement in South Africa
had become linked to the tradition of British Unitarianism. The present article traces the
theological development of Ramsden Balmforth (1861-1941), who served as the minister
of the Free Protestant, or Unitarian, Church in Cape Town for forty years beginning in
1897. It is demonstrated that until in his twenties Balmforth was an irreligious sceptic,
but his exposure to the study of social Christianity and comparative religion while still in
Yorkshire made him amenable to certain strands of liberal Protestantism. He
consequently studied theology in Oxford and brought his convictions, many of which
were anchored in historical criticism of the Bible, social Darwinism, and optimistic
assumptions about human perfectibility, to South Africa, where he propagated them and
linked the fledgling Unitarian movement there to that of the United Kingdom.
Peer reviewed
2009-01-01T00:00:00Z