Bible and Mission

  Theological Liberalism in the West was substantially an Enlightenment project.   It sought to broaden or generalise theological understanding by making it universal through the reason and religious experience in common with all human beings.   It was, therefore, construed as relevant across social groupings and at the intensely personal level.   Just how, then, could theological liberalism at all be a feature of African theology, with its concerns for relevance to African experiences and contexts?   Even more, what does it have to do with African Evangelicalism? Western theological liberalism found Christian theology too confining.   Theologians did not want their theological reflection to be confined by Scripture.   They found theology to be too confining in an environment that championed reason.   They reduced the Son of God to a good moral teacher.   They understood the essence of Christianity to be the threefold creed not of Trinitari...

 I love the country of my birth, South Africa.  My grandparents are buried in Polokwane (Pietersburg).  My parents planted churches in the Orange Free State and Transvaal and started a Bible college in the Western Cape in the mid- to late 20th century.  Our family's legacy in the country is that of Christian ministry among mostly black rural and urban contexts. South Africa is currently in the news for several reasons, and I thought I would share links to some of my writing touching on South Africa over the years as well as two other articles and two videos addressing current news on the country.  In my view, South Africa is a fragile country that could easily go one way or another in its politics, economy, violence, racism, academic institutions, and ecclesiastical health.  It has been in constant decline under ANC leadership for thirty years.  The country also needs wise engagement through mission agencies, churches, and Evangelical denominations wor...

  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...