Browsing by Subject "Christianity and politics - South Africa"

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    The ambiguity of God : a post-colonial inquiry into the politics of theistic formulation in South Africa
    (1997) Savage, James Peter Tyrone; Villa-Vicencio, Charles
    This thesis sets out to locate a post-apartheid perspective within what might be described as postcolonial Religious Studies, drawing on the genealogical method of Michel Foucault. Roughly stated, I understand the methodology to represent a shift away from preoccupation with the actual truth or otherwise of an idea, towards concern with the agitation - the discord, the discrepancies - that characterizes the appearance of an idea. Within the parameters, paradigms and possibilities imposed by this method, I inquire into the politics of theistic formulation in South Africa prior to the Union of South Africa (1910). Part One of the thesis discusses the politics of the advent of the Christian God in Southern Africa. In the three chapters that comprise this section, I situate colonial beliefs about God within colonialism as a discursive genre; in particular, evidence is provided of the deployment of religious (and in particular theistic) sensibility as a strategic category in the Othering discourse by which European expansion into Southern Africa was promulgated. Chapter Two opens by observing that colonial constructions of Otherness served not only to "erase" (Spivak) autochthonic identity, but also to eulogize and assert the colonial Self. Contextualizing my argument in the debate about the ambiguous effects of colonial missionary activities, I examine the mythically imbued, Othering discourse of Robert Moffat as a particularly conspicuous instance of the missionary qua colonial Self. Chapter Three gathers the concerns of Part One around the problem of theistic formulation in a colonial context, by discussing John Colenso's discovery of a theistic sensibility indigenous to autochthonic Africans as an example of a transgression of the Christian discourse that colonialism made function as truth. Part Two makes use of the categories established in Part One, and applies them to Afrikanerdom: its Othering in British colonial discourse; its religiously imbued, mythic history; and its beliefs in God. Having brought to theistic formulation a Foucauldian suspicion of systems of truth, my argument turns in Part Three to bring a particular theology, theologia crucis, alongside Foucault: accepting that the "dogmatic finitization" (Wolfhart Pannenberg) of Christian belief is inherently susceptible to the play of power, I observe that theistic formulation cast in terms of the cross - the "Crucified God" (Jurgen Moltmann) - holds a subversive potential in which may lie possibilities for an alternative to "truth".
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    An analysis of the socio-political role of the Roman Catholic Church in contemporary South Africa
    (1991) Law, Lois; Goldberg, Melvin
    This study attempts an analysis of the form and content of the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa to the policy and practice of apartheid during the period 1948-1989. It is argued that the divisions, tensions and contradictions of the Catholic Church reflect the socially divided character of the broader society. It is suggested that some of the policies, teachings and social practice of the South African Catholic Church serve to reproduce and reinforce the existing societal relations of domination, thus contributing to the hegemony of the dominant social group, while others undermine the same and point toward a transformation of social relations in a democratic society. In some instances the Church has contributed to the nascent hegemony of the dominated group. Literature focusing on the Catholic Church during times of social upheaval is reviewed. Recent analyses of the role of the Christian Churches in apartheid South Africa are considered. Various approaches to the Sociology of Religion are discussed and the relevance of a contextual approach to the analysis of the Church is argued. Gramsci's concept of hegemony as a tool of political analysis is discussed. A brief .historical overview of the Catholic Church in South Africa is given. It is contended that the Catholic Church in South Africa must be understood in terms of its colonial, missionary and racist history. An ecclesiological overview of the Roman Catholic Church in terms of its - history, traditions, organization, authority structures, governing procedures and beliefs is sketched. The ·social Teaching' of the Catholic Church during the twentieth century is outlined. The importance of the Second Vatican Council, the emergence of the Theology of Liberation and the increasing centrality of social justice in Church teachings is discussed. The implications of these developments for the pastoral practice of the Church is emphasized. The response of the Catholic Church to the introduction and implementation of 'separate development' is considered. Content analysis is used as a research method. The study therefore falls within the realm of hermeneutic or interpretative sociology. The gradual transition from an attitude of paternalism to committed involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle is traced. The Catholic Church's response to the Bantu Education Act, which was the primary focus of its opposition to apartheid in the 1950's, is evaluated. The challenge of the Black Consciousness movement is acknowledged. It is argued that the realities of apartheid society have had a profound impact on the Church, severely compromising its unity. The related processes of reform, repression and resistance are examined. It emerges that while the Church's championship of human rights has been unequivocal, its support for some of the strategies employed in the struggle against apartheid has been more tentative. It is argued that the Catholic Church's participation in the anti-apartheid struggle has facilitated a growth in ecumenism and increased contact with secular organizations. The Catholic Church has become part of a broad anti- apartheid alliance. It is suggested that while there have been important changes in the Church's self-understanding and perception of its role in, and pastoral mission to, society, these changes have been uneven and ambiguous. They have not been reflected throughout the Church and have underlined the divisions within the Church. There has been considerable reluctance on the part of many white Catholics to endorse the anti-apartheid stance of the hierarchy. However, the S.A.C.B.C.'s commitment to social justice is in tune with modern Catholic social teaching. Finally, it is argued that the Catholic Church has challenged white domination and undermined the hegemony of apartheid in South African society.
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    Anglican identity and contemporary relevance : a critical study of the Partners in Mission process within the Church of the Province of Southern Africa
    (1992) Gregorowski, Christopher; De Gruchy, John W
    This is a church historical study and critical theological analysis of the Partners in Mission (PIM) process in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (CPSA), which uses methods appropriate to such a study. Chapter 1 examines the background against which the PIM process and CPSA's PIM 'Vision' must be seen: Anglicanism, its origins, intentions and mission - and the tension between Anglican identity and contemporary relevance. Chapter 2 traces the process of renewal which has been described as the Anglican Communion's 'coming of age', and identifies some of the themes which were later to become 'The Vision'. The Anglican PIM process emerged out of the church's efforts to adjust to the rapidly changing post-colonial world of the nineteen-fifties and sixties, when Anglican provinces within newly-independent nations could no longer be regarded as inferior to and dependent on the Church of England. A watershed in this quest was the Anglican Congress in Toronto in 1963, when for the first time the equal partnership was articulated in the statement Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence in the Body of Christ (MRI). MRI became a Communion-wide programme which evolved into the PIM process, and together they constitute the Anglican Church's programme of contemporary reform and renewal. The CPSA is a full participant in this PIM process and has held three PIM Consultations, the third of which took place in November 1987 when the church was given the vision to engage in the struggle for the eradication of apartheid and the building of new societies of justice and peace in southern Africa. .In Chapter 3 we examine the Provincial 1987 Consultation, the process which led up to it and the making of The Vision. In Chapter 4 we examine publications and records of the CPSA and correspondence with the Bishops of the Province which describe the implementation of The Vision in the life of the CPSA and its contribution to the church's mission. Chapter 5 is a critical evaluation of the CPSA's PIM process, based on the evidence of the previous chapter. Our conclusion is that The Vision has been only partially implemented because of the church's persistent failure to transform words into actions, poor communication, the failure to focus on priorities, a lack of resources, traditionalism and clericalism in the CPSA, the fear of loss of identity, and a spiritual crisis - much of which points to a lack of appropriate leadership. The consequences of ineffective implementation include the failure of the CPSA as a whole to engage relevantly with the crisis in southern Africa, to express appropriate penitence and make restitution for its part in the sin of apartheid, and to engage in effective evangelism. Chapter 6 is an attempt to see how the CPSA could be renewed by means of a revitalised PIM process, in order to be relevant in southern Africa today. We explore a possible pastoral plan and ways in which the CPSA would benefit from engaging more fully in the 'Kairos' process. The CPSA will contribute to the life and future direction of the Anglican Communion insofar as it is true to its ecumenical calling to witness to the kingdom of God as a part of the church in southern Africa, and the Communion will best serve its members and enable them to discover their true identity by setting them free to be faithful to their mission in their various contexts. Throughout this study we have used primary source documents from the Anglican Communion and the CPSA which tell of the birth, progress an implementation of MRI, PIM and The Vision.