Christian in Public: Aims, Methodologies, and Issues in Public Theology
L. D. Hansen
Feb 2008 · Beyers Naud‚ Centre Series on Public Theology Book 3 · AFRICAN SUN MeDIA
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About this ebook
Higher education has not escaped the imperative of transformation which has marked the post-apartheid South African landscape. The nature of the changes at universities, however, is open to critique. Fundamental questions concerning the ideological moorings of knowledge and the politics of the curriculum have not yet been satisfactorily addressed. During the apartheid era, theology faculties played influential roles at traditional universities, and were often characterised by unsettling exclusion of non- Christian religions, non-Calvinist denominations and marginalised voices. This volume of essays evidences a process at the University of the Free State?s Faculty of Theology to reflect seriously about the need for transformation at the fundamental level, that is, of knowledge. The challenge for theology at a public university is framed in terms of epistemological transformation. A number of outstanding public intellectuals such as Jonathan Jansen, Crain Soudien and Lis Lange have been invited to present papers to clarify the conceptual challenge and what this might entail for theology. Well-known theologians such as Conrad Wethmar, Allan Boesak and Martin Prozesky reflect on the nature of theology and religion at universities amidst social exigencies. Two international theologians ? Harold Attridge from the prestigious Yale Divinity School and Bram van de Beek from the Free University of Amsterdam ? share their experiences of institutions that exemplify excellence and ecumenical openness. Theologians from the Departments of Practical Theology and Systematic Theology at the University of the Free State, writing from the ?inside?, articulate the challenges they envision for theology in a post-apartheid dispensation. The essays represent a variety of perspectives, but all attest to a commitment to re-think the nature and task of theology at a public university, accepting the challenge of knowledge and power, of plurality and otherness, and of restorative intellectual justice. These timely essays make a unique contribution to the discourses on transformation and on theology at a public university.
About the author
Len Hansen studied law and theology at Stellenbosch University, specializing in systematic theology. He is currently responsible for research development and support in the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University. Since 2005 he has been involved with the Beyers Naud‚ Centre for Public Theology as editor of the Centre?s series on public theology, all 7 volumes of which were published by Sun Press. One of these,Christian in Public. Aims, Methodologies and Issues in Public Theologyÿwas awarded the Andrew Murray-Desmond Tutu Prize in 2009.
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