hovering above lived realities, passive, waiting for God to accomplish things, or repressive, denying the realities of present suffering, but calls Christians to practice ‘pathic’ hope-in-action imbued with the Source of all Life. It is in this third movement forwards that the ‘church’ practices public, participatory witness-in-action. 5.3.1 Created for freedom reforming our understanding. Moltmann demonstrates a consistent concern with freedom. He points specifically to the need for “freedom from: systems of oppression but he is also concerned about “freedoms for” as 463 He suggests that oppressors are also trapped in these deformed relations as inhumane oppressors, exploiters, alienators, apathetic and godless alongside the oppressed, exploited, alienated, godforsaken and dehumanised.(1974/2001:343-344, 1979b:24). 464 Moltmann has engaged with Pentecostal movements, seeing their openness to the Spirit as a place for church renewal as well as being critical of the ways in which many strands promote individualised understandings of the person and distorted utopias of affluence. 465 Moltmann contrasts the ‘utopias of the status quo’ of success, power and happiness that can lead to forms of apathy in relation to change, with ‘utopias of justice’ with its ‘Sitz im Leben’ in the suffering of the present and which hopes instead for change. (1976c:24).

Reimagining the human : the role of the churches in building a liberatory human rights culture in South Africa today.

This thesis studies the identity, context and features of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan, India as well as the internal and external issues facing Pentecostals. It argues for an indigenous origin of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan, as it is a product of local Spirit revivals in the existing churches and the missionary activities of Indian Pentecostals. It also reveals that both the intra-church as well as extra-church issues place Pentecostals in a ‘missio-ethical dilemma.’ The thesis aims to suggest ‘a contextual missiology of the Spirit,’ as a new model of contextual missiology from a Pentecostal perspective, which has emerged from this study. The inherent theological characteristics of Pentecostalism underline the pneumatological foundation of a contextual Pentecostal missiology. As a contextual missiology of the Spirit it has certain contextual features. By dealing with the global-local tension, it can be considered a glocal missiology. It is capable of promoting ecumenicity at various levels, and so it is an ecumenical missiology. By empowering people to engage in spiritual as well as socio-political issues, it aims to be a transformational missiology. As it is concerned with the well-being of the community, it has the potential to become a public missiology.

A contextual missiology of the spirit: a study of Pentecostalism in Rajasthan, India

Contemporary social and cultural trends in Western society suggest that, far from becoming marginal to society, religion is returning to public prominence as a significant factor in global politics and civil society. Whilst the predictions of classic secularization theory are cast into question, however, this should not be mistaken for a religious revival. Instead, we are witnessing an unprecedented co-existence of resurgence, decline, and mutation, which some are terming the ”post-secular” condition.This article considers the implications of the post-secular, and in particular for the way in which the churches might negotiate their role in public life. I answer this by calling for a renewal of the practice of apologetics: of offering a reasoned defence or rationale for one's faith. Christians need to cultivate a public vocation that is more interested in the well-being of society than the survival of the Church, which is prepared to “speak truth to power”, and enables them to be advocates for the...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Public Theology in a Post-Secular Age

may vary slightly. First, instead of being a systematic exploration of theological truth, when systematic theology is defined in such a way as described above, it is synonymous with biblical theology. Instead, some contemporary systematic theologians seek to use all available resources to ascertain the nature of God and God's relationship to the world, including philosophy, history, culture, etc. In sum, these theologians argue that systematic and biblical theology are two separate, though related, disciplines. ‘Critical discourse analysis’ (henceforth CDA) subsumes a variety of approaches towards the social analysis of discourse (Fairclough & Wodak 1997, Pêcheux M 1982, Wodak & Meyer 2001) which differ in theory, methodology, and the type of research issues to which they tend to give prominence. 1. Theoretical issues The term ‘discourse’ is used in various ways within the broad field of discourse analysis. Two are of particular relevance here. Consider for instance new management discourses which imagine management systems based upon ‘teamwork’, relatively non-hierarchical, networked, ways of managing organisations. They may become enacted semiotically as new genres (within new networks of genres), for instance genres for team meetings. Theological Anthropology: The study of people from the point of view of theology. Two questions: What are humans? What is their purpose? Unhelpful alternatives (What): Denial of the body: Gnostic temptation: Spirit is good, flesh is bad. Denial of fleshly existence Denial of the world Dualism of body/spirit Escape from the body Hierarchical dualism. Humanism: The autonomous temptation. Humanity as the measure of human capacity's. Humanity as the measure of the divine life. Measurement of people in terms of material production or potentials. View Item

Imagining human flourishing? : a systematic theological exploration of contemporary soteriological discourses

The complex and problematic role of religion in the public sphere in modern, democratic societies raises many questions for a public theology. The aim of this article is to contribute to the ongoing debate about the task and methods of public theology by asking what we can learn from the ideas of Jurgen Habermas. Habermas was a leading participant in the thinking process on the secularisation thesis in Western societies. His view was that religion will eventually disappear from the public scene due to the rationalisation of society. In recent years he seems to have changed this view in the light of new developments in the world. He now maintains that religion has something important to offer in the public sphere. Religion could thus participate in this public discussion, provided that it satisfies strict conditions. We argue that public theology can learn from Habermas’s recent ideas regarding religion in the public sphere: attention should be paid to the cognitive potential of religion, especially regarding the importance of the lifeworld and the role of religion in social solidarity with the needy and vulnerable; hermeneutical self-reflection is important; a distinction should be made between the role of religion in faith communities and in public life; we have to accept that we live in a secular state; and we have to learn the possibilities and impossibilities of translating from religious vocabulary into a secular vocabulary in order to be able to participate in the discussions in the public sphere.

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Religion in the public sphere: What can public theology learn from Habermas’s latest work?

This article explores the genre of public theology from the specific context of South Africa, while looking for the points of commonality set out by Duncan Forrester. Since the phrase 'public theology' refers to an engagement between theology and politics in specific locations, its content will be diverse and, yet, there is much that diverse public theologies share. Moreover, good practice in public theology requires that secularity and religious diversity are taken seriously. Consequently, Christian witness in secular democratic society means promoting the common good by witnessing to core values rather than seeking privilege for the Christian religion. In particular, this article offers the anti-apartheid and other activities of Joseph Wing and Douglas Bax, as well as the academic work of Denise Ackermann and the political service of Alex Boraine as examples of good practice in public theology in South Africa. The article concludes with the affirmation that public theology implies engagement in matters of public importance either through debate or action and always with self-critical theological reflection.

John W. de Gruchy

Papers

Public Theology as Christian Witness: Exploring the Genre