What is the real crisis of the church? Very often, clergy, churches and congregations experience a ‘crisis’ only when membership is in decline, resulting in financial hardship. Crisis is limited to stress which the church as institution experiences when structures, finance and traditions are under pressure. In this contribution, the point is argued that the real crisis of the church is not to be found in institutional challenges, but in the inability of the church to be what it already is. (...) With reference to Karl Barth’s ecclesiology, this contribution departs from the assumption that the real crisis of the church is not only to be found in external circumstances and influences, but is primarily a question of the church not being able to ‘be church’. Continued reformation of the church is of utmost importance. (shrink)

A.S. Geyser was professor of New Testament at the University of Pretoria from 1946 to 1961, when he accepted an appointment at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was one of the most active and outspoken critics of apartheid and played a leading role in the establishment of the Christian Institute and the appointment of Beyers Naude as the first director of the Institute. However, Geyser received very little attention either in church history or in the history of South Africa. (...) This contribution, presented as the Third A.S. Geyser Commemorative Lecture at the University of Pretoria, reflects on Geyser’s ecclesiology. It is quite remarkable that Geyser chose ecclesiology as point of entry into the discourse on apartheid. He engaged in fundamental theological criticism of segregation in church and state based on his understanding of the unity of the church in Christ and a humanity unified under the kingship of Christ. (shrink)

This contribution describes John Calvin's understanding of what it means to be a Christian. When Calvin 'converted' to the Reformation in the early 1530s, the term 'Protestant' did not exist. There was no systematic body of doctrine or a confession you could put your signature under. So Calvin became a 'lover of Christ'. The unity with Christ was a central part of his theology but also his personal spirituality. Calvin also understood his own conversion as a 'conversio subita ad docelitam', (...) a conversion to a 'teachable frame of mind'. Calvin's love for Christ, his love for the Word of God and a teachable frame of mind not only defined his theology, but also his piety and spirituality. (shrink)

In the last couple of decades, the Korean church experienced a loss of credibility as well as a decrease in membership. The premise of this contribution is that the mega-church phenomenon in Korea contributed to this state of affairs. Many Korean churches, influenced by dramatic sociopolitical and economic changes, developed a distorted understanding of its nature and mission. Korean churches began to compete against each other to grow bigger. An institutional ecclesiology and ecclesiocentric understanding of mission formed the basis of (...) this endeavour. To counter this tendency, some churches turned to missional ecclesiology to facilitate the reformation of the Korean church. According to empirical data, Korean society rates mega-churches negatively while they evaluate missional churches positively. This provided further impetus for the current emerging missional movement in Korea. (shrink)

The Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria went through a process of restructuring, resulting in the amalgamation of Dogmatics, Christian Ethics, Church History and Church Polity into one department under the name ‘Systematic and Historical Theology’. This contribution reflects only on the one aspect, namely Historical Theology. The point is made that a name change could not mean ‘business as usual’, but should be regarded as an opportunity to re-imagine the content and structure of Historical Theology. This is (...) not an easy task. This contribution reflects on Historical Theology as theological discipline, the teaching content and how it could be relevant in Africa in the 21st century. It also has implications for restructuring the curriculum. (shrink)

During 2017, churches with their roots in the 16th-century Reformation, will be celebrating the legacy of the Reformation. It affords theologians and churches the opportunity to reflect on the principles of the Reformation and its relevance at the start of the 21st century. This contribution reflects on the question of the necessity of church reformation, based on three texts from different periods in the history of the church. Firstly and primarily, Calvin's 'De necessitate reformandae ecclesiae' of 1543 sheds light on (...) the issues the 16th century reformers were faced with and why they believed the church needed reformation. Calvin had a very clear view on the necessity of church reformation, but that it should also come to some conclusion once the liturgy and doctrine are in order. The question of church reformation is then further discussed in the light of two other texts, one from Jodocus van Lodenstein and Karl Barth. All agree on the necessity of church reformation, but differ in terms of theological and practical implications. The contribution concludes with a few remarks on the modern maxim 'ecclesia semper reformanda'. (shrink)

During the 16th century, Europe underwent fundamental sociopolitical changes, which challenged theologians and the church to respond theologically. In light of the celebration of the Reformation and the theme of this conference, this contribution presents Calvin as a ‘public theologian’. To this purpose it is necessary to define ‘public theology’, describe the sociopolitical changes which challenged theologians during the 16th century, and lastly to focus on Calvin’s contribution to the discourse. Because of the vast amount of material that is available, (...) this contribution is limited to Calvin’s first publication, his ‘Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia’. Calvin’s fundamental understanding of law and justice, as well as his theological engagement with sociopolitical issues, made him a public theologian par excellence. Calvin’s legal training surfaced whenever he addressed the authorities, for instance, when pleading the case of persecuted Protestants. He had a fundamental understanding of issues such as justice and freedom. The rights, responsibilities and obligations of government and people should always remain in balance. Sociopolitical transformation, as experienced in South Africa during the last three decades, requires of theologians to engage theologically with relevant issues. In this, Calvin set a remarkable example. (shrink)

'Marginalia' are notes made in the margins of a book. It could be general comments, glosses or scholia. For centuries marginalia was considered an important scholarly activity, almost as important as the original text. The famous marginalia on the text of Homer's Iliad dates back to the 5th century before Christ. Some of the most important theologians in history kept themselves busy by adding marginalia to texts. Luther's marginalia on the text of Paul's Letter to the Romans is a good (...) example of this type of scholarly endeavour. Writing about the life and work of a fellow theologian could at best be a few marginal notes - sometimes it is a mere scribble, sometimes an interpretation of a text and sometimes commentary is necessary. This contribution reflects on the life and work of I.W.C. van Wyk, a theologian who dedicated his life to the church, mission and reformed theology. (shrink)

This contribution revisits the priesthood of believers. It is placed within the current discourse on relevant ecclesiologies and ecclesial praxis for 21st-century reformed churches. Luther placed much emphasis on the priesthood of believers in his rejection of the Roman Catholic differentiation between ordained clergy and laity. This was taken up by Calvin, but not to the same extent as Luther. The limited attention given to the priesthood of believers in reformed ecclesiologies, confessions and church orders is challenged in the current (...) discourse on ecclesiology, especially by theologians working in the field of missional ecclesiology. Much emphasis is placed on the role of the ‘ordinary’ church member in terms of ministry. It is proposed that a continued reformation of the church would inter alia imply a renewed appreciation of the priesthood of believers. The shift in ecclesiology must be visible in reformed church polity and church orders. The interrelatedness of ecclesiology, church polity, church order and ecclesial praxis makes this unavoidable. A church order should not be regarded as an immutable historical document with everlasting authority, but rather as an instrument that could facilitate change and ecclesial praxis in the spirit of ecclesia semper reformanda. As such, church polity could even be regarded as a ‘practical ecclesiology’. Recent changes to the Church Order of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika are used as a case study and to illustrate the point.Contribution: The primary contribution of this manuscript contributes to the historical and systematic analysis of the concept ‘priesthood of all believers’, as well as its relevance to the current discourse on missional ecclesiology. It falls within the scope of HTS Theological Studies in terms of original theological research. (shrink)

Gedurende 2017 herdenk Lutherse en Calvinistiese kerke die Kerkhervorming wat 500 jaar gelede plaasgevind het. Hierdie hoofstuk fokus op Johannes Calvyn se eerste publikasies, dit wil sê publikasies wat verskyn het voordat hy met sy bediening in Genève begin het. Die fokus val op die drie belangrikste publikasies in hierdie periode, te wete sy 'Kommentaar op Seneca se De Clementia', die 'De Psychopannychia' en die eerste uitgawe van sy 'Christianae Religionis Institutio'. In hierdie eerste drie publikasies is 'n jeugdige Calvyn (...) aan die woord. Ten spyte daarvan is die publikasies omvangryk en is dit duidelik dat Calvyn vroeg in sy lewe oor omvangryke kennis en insig beskik het. Die vroegste publikasies word somtyds as van minder belang geag. In hierdie bydrae word die stelling gemaak dat die publikasies van groot belang is omdat Calvyn talle van die gedagtes wat later in sy werke na vore kom, reeds in sy vroeë werke aan die orde gestel het. (shrink)

This article is an exercise in Practical Ecclesiology. The author reflects on church, mission and ethics from historical, hermeneutical and strategic perspectives. Using the ecclesiology of Karl Barth as a point of departure, the author argues that the church needs to be church if it wants to be a credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Integrity is essential if a church wants to be missional. Integrity means the church has to become what it already is, the body of (...) Christ. This contribution is dedicated to Prof Graham Duncan, professor emeritus of church history, a man of integrity and dedicated to the missional calling of the church. (shrink)

A holy, universal church. The Nicene Creed and the Apostolicum went through different processes of growth and development. In the early development of both creeds, it is noticeable that articles about ‘the church’ are absent. In this contribution the creeds are examined in terms of their development, the inclusion of the articles on the church, their reception during the 16th century Reformation as well as difficulties in the official Afrikaans translations. It concludes with a short exposition of the Apostolicum’s article (...) on the church. (shrink)

Livestock production today faces thedifficult task of effectively meeting emergingconsumer concerns while remaining competitive on majortarget markets. Meeting consumer concerns aboutproduct safety and animal welfare are identified askey attention points for future livestock production.The relevance of these issues pertains to productionefficiency and economic benefits and tore-establishing meat sector image and consumer trust.The current paper analyses consumer concerns about theethical issues of meat safety and animal welfare fromcurrent livestock production. The research methodologyis based on literature review, secondary data sources,and primary research (...) through focus group discussionsand a survey of 320 meat consumers in Belgium.Objectives were to assess importance attached byconsumers to product safety and animal welfare asethical issues in commercial livestock production, andto evaluate consumer perception of these issues forbeef, pork, and poultry. Significant differences inissue importance and perception are identified amongconsumer groups based on socio-demographic andbehavioral characteristics. From the analysis, meatsafety emerges as an absolute but minimum requirementfor future success of livestock and meat production.Additionally, animal welfare can be expected to becomea critical theme especially for pork and poultryacceptance. (shrink)

The main thesis of this book is that "we find in Russell more system than he is given credit for, and indeed more than he even knew he had". With this the author opposes the current interpretations, which chop Russell's philosophy into pieces without any connection. The basic notion is that of "order", defined in Russell's terms as asymmetrical and transitive connexity. This serial relation would be omnipresent for Russell: in thought and in reality, both cosmological and political. Yet the (...) author is not blind to the fact that "not only did Russell constantly alter his theories of truth; at any period of development we can find him taking both sides to illuminate the problem in a dialectical way". Thus Russell's journey may have gone in different directions, but what incited him was always "his concern with objective truth and with the explicit virtues of the liberal humanitarian". So the unity of his work may have to do also with Russell's staying faithful to himself. (shrink)

Background: The increasing number of elderly people in nursing homes with failing competence to give consent represents a great challenge to healthcare staff’s protection of patient autonomy in the issues of life-prolonging treatment, hydration, nutrition and hospitalisation. The lack of national guidelines and internal routines can threaten the protection of patient autonomy. Objectives: To place focus on protecting patient autonomy in the decision-making process by studying how relatives experience their role as substitute decision-makers. Design: A qualitative descriptive design with analysis (...) of the contents of transcribed in-depth interviews with relatives. Participants: Fifteen relatives of 20 patients in 10 nursing homes in Norway. Results and Interpretations: The main findings reveal deficient procedures for including relatives in decision-making processes. Relatives have poor knowledge about the end of life, and there is little discussion about their role as substitute decision-makers for patients who are not competent to give consent. Few relatives understand the concept of patient autonomy. In Norway the treating physician is responsible for patient treatment. When relatives are included in discussions on treatment, they perceive themselves as responsible for the decision, which is a burden for them afterwards. This qualitative study describes relatives’ experiences, thus providing important information on the improvement potential with the main objective of safeguarding patient autonomy and caring for relatives. Conclusion: The study reveals failing procedures and thus a great potential for improvement. Both ethical and legal aspects must be addressed when considering patient autonomy. (shrink)