Bible and Mission

  Introduction The culmination of Paul’s argument in Galatians, and particularly from 3.1-4.31, is: ‘ For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery’ (Galatians 5.1). This essay seeks to understand Paul’s opposition to a continuing custodial role for the Law and a use of human philosophies to deal with sinful passions and desires.   His arguments against these are found in Galatians and Colossians.   By focussing on the problem of the Law and of philosophy, we can better understand Paul’s theology.   He believed that the Gospel was the only way to deal with sin not simply in terms of our actions but more basically in terms of our sinful desires and passions of the flesh. The task ahead is to understand several large-scale matters in Paul’s theology, those having to do with a right understanding of the human plight and a right understanding of God’s solution.   So much Protestant theology has articulated...

  God’s love is not the toleration, acceptance, welcoming, or inclusion of my ‘otherness’.   It is not the celebration of my contribution to ‘diversity’.   It is not God’s preferential treatment of those who are or claim to be victims, a rescuing of the already righteous. Romans 5.1-11 explains God’s love as peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ, the granting of access to His grace, justification of the sinner by the blood of Christ, salvation from God’s wrath, and reconciliation to God by the death of His Son.   God’s love recognises in us no worthiness, for we are deserving of His wrath.   It is sacrificial, paying the penalty demanded by justice for the justification of the unjust.   It is a conferring on the sinner with nothing to offer in his defense the verdict of ‘no condemnation’ and the gift of reconciliation to God. Our Christian life begins in the waters of baptism with a recognition that our unrighteousness needs forgiveness and clean...

  The question asked by exegetes of Galatians 3.24-25 is whether paidag ō gos carries a negative and disciplinary meaning, whether it is more neutral, or whether it is even positive?    Is Paul saying that the Law was a disciplinarian, a guardian or custodian , or a tutor (or schoolmaster )?    Furthermore, what are the implications of the choice in translation? The ESV renders Galatians 3.23-26 as follows: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. The NIV and NET Bible (2 nd ed.) translators also chose ‘guardian’.   Similarly, the NJB follows the notion of ‘custodian’, rendering the verses with a phrase: ‘a slave to look after us’.   The NRSV, on...

  This essay is, for the most part, descriptive of what is called Azanian philosophy.  This philosophy offers, in my view, an excellent example of the tribalist thought that necessarily follows postmodern relativism and its social values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Azania is a name given to southeastern Africa from earlier times, and the new project of an Azanian social and political philosophy is a critical theory that intends to deconstruct ‘South African’ (the country’s name is problematic itself) identity from the time of its colonial inception.  It criticises the post-Apartheid developments in the country because the problem in Africa is far deeper than cultural conflict or economic disparity.  The paper follows the lengthy, detailed, and erudite article by Joel Modiri titled, ‘Azanian Political Thought and the Undoing of South African Knowledges’. [1] Modiri is an associate professor and the head of the Department of Jurisprudence at the Univers...