Browsing by Author "Field, David Nugent"

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    The new Westminster theology and South African evangelicalism : a critical evaluation of John Frame's methodology and epistemology with a view towards the development of a contextual evangelical theology
    (1992) Field, David Nugent; De Gruchy, John W
    This dissertation attempts to answer the question "Do the methodological and epistemological proposals of John M. Frame have anything to contribute to the construction of a contextual evangelical theology in South Africa - a theology which is both faithful to its evangelical roots and yet radically engaged with the contemporary context?" This question is dealt with in four stages. Firstly, Frame's theology is expounded against the background of its context in America. Secondly, four aspects of Frame's theology are critically evaluated. They are perspectivalism, theology as application, hermeneutics, and the relationship between theology and praxis. This evaluation has three dimensions. It investigates the relationship between Frame's theology and the historic Reformed tradition. It examines the use that is made of Frame's theology by other theologians related to the Westminster Seminaries, in particular, the work of Harvie M. Conn and Vern S. Poythress. Finally, the evaluation seeks to examine the usefulness of Frame's theology in the South African context. This analysis results in the identification of certain weaknesses in Frame's methodological proposals. The conclusion of this dissertation is that Frame's theology provides certain methodological tools which can be employed in the construction of a contextual South African theology which is both radically engaged with its context, and faithful to the core of the evangelical tradition. For this to be possible it is proposed that certain modifications need to be made to overcome the weaknesses of Frame's theology. These modifications are the following: the integration of a strongly christological approach to Frame's concept of lordship with particular reference to a theology of the cross; the affirmation that God is, in a particular way, the God of the poor and oppressed; an understanding of the accommodated and context-relatedness of biblical revelation, and the incorporation of perspectives from the sociology of knowledge.
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    Reformed theology, modernity and the environment crisis
    (1996) Field, David Nugent; De Gruchy, John W
    The prospect of global ecological disaster fundamental challenge to modernity as the poses a dominant contemporary socio-cultural matrix. This challenge can only be responded to through a radical socio-cultural transformation which favours those, human and otherkind, who have been marginalised and oppressed by modernity. This will include a change of human consciousness, and. the development of an alternative vision of society in which all humans live in community with each other and with otherkind. It thus has a profoundly religious character. The thesis argues that the central truth claims of the Christian gospel, particularly as they have been understood in the Reformed tradition, require the church to commit itself to working for such a socio-cultural transformation. However, the Reformed tradition can only contribute to this transformation once it is recognised that it has been deeply intertwined with modernity since its emergence, and has contributed to the legitimation of a culture which has degraded the environment. The thesis provides a self-critical exposition of the tradition in the light of the environmental crisis; in dialogue with other Christian traditions, and making use of insights from contemporary biblical scholarship. First, the socio-historical relationship between the Reformed tradition and the rise of modernity is examined. It is argued that, under particular social and economic conditions, the influence of the Reformed tradition accelerated the emergence of modernity. In this interaction with early modernity important components of the tradition were suppressed. Second, the tradition is re-examined to develop a Reformed ecotheology centred on the motifs of the Trinity, the covenant and the glory of God. This ecotheology makes a critical use of the theologies of important figures in the Reformed tradition, including John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Abraham Kuyper and Karl Barth. Third, a proposal is developed as to how this ecotheology can contribute to socio-cultural transformation. It does so by using insights gained from the role played by the South African church in the struggle against Apartheid. It argues that the environmental crisis ought to be understood as a kairos for the earth which must lead to a new way of being the church in the contemporary world.