Explore the vast range of titles available.

This article will engage with the nature and experience of pain as it pertains to the Divine Nature. Acknowledging holiness as a grounding attribute of God, Forsyth’s emphasis of holy love will provide a new lens through which the conception of God’s suffering and the means of humanity’s redemption can be assessed. The Cross as the symbol of divine pain and suffering holds together God’s holiness and love. Holy love logically entails the Cross event as an antidote to the prevalent lightheartedness of American evangelical circles which is oftentimes lopsided on grace and prosperity. As a result, the late and post-Christendom Christianity in the West tends to overlook the other side of the Gospel, that is, the holiness and rigorousness of the divine law as revealed in the Old Testament. Law represents the divine holy nature, without which grace can be cheap, and love can be licentiousness. God never forsakes the divine law, nor His holiness. It is the divine holiness that reveals the depth and height of the divine love. The divine holy love has always been transformative, with holiness as the content and goal of the divine love. The holiness of God bespeaks the fact that God is not pleased with fallen humanity. For a holy God to love fallen humanity, there must be a lot of pain and agony involved. Divine agony found an epitomized expression in the historical event of crucifixion.

Auschwitz had a profound impact on the theological landscape. It led to God’s lordship, goodness and power being put on trial. If God exists and if he is a good and powerful God, why did he not intervene to stop the atrocities committed during the Holocaust? The theologies of the Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas and the Christian theologian Jürgen Moltmann were decisively structured by these questions.ContributionThis article compares the theodicies of these two influential thinkers within the Jewish and Christian traditions by analysing their concepts of God, the nature of the cosmos and human history as well as their respective views on God’s response to suffering. Despite showing appreciation for profound insights, this article points out impasses in their arguments. Drawing on a reformed approach to the question, the article concludes that the anthropodicy question is the real elephant in the room, not the theodicy question. Instead of asking questions about God’s goodness, Reformed theology posits the incomprehensibility of human beings turning against God. We must ask: How does it happen that a self-conscious being possessing innate moral capacities, such as moral emotions and vicarious intersubjective capabilities, rebels against God and engage in atrocious acts? Seen from this perspective, the theodicy question seems to be undergirded by the human propensity to moral disengagement and blame-shifting. Perhaps, instead of putting God on trial, humans must resort to introspection.

This article is divided into two parts. The first part is on feminist theology, explaining its definition, history, scope, patterns, and programmes. In other words, it describes how it theologises. The description of revolutionists and reformists within feminist theology, together with their methods of theologising is given. The four approaches of the metaphorical nature of male image within the reformist feminine theology are discussed. These are metaphorical, God-language, Sophialogical, and Radical Trinitarianism. The second part of the article intends to point out how Moltmann's trinitarian theology impacts the feminist theology, and how it differs from it. An attempt is made to highlight the tenets of theology where Moltmann may engage feminist theology. The argument will be built on five tenets of Moltmann's theology, and describes how each tenet speaks to feminist theology. These tenets are panentheism, trinitarianism, Christology, pneumatology, and ecology. The description of each tenet, along with the responses of feminist theologians to them is given. Regardless of the tensions that may arise, there are some values that each theological stream can benefit. Conclusion is drawn based on the fact that although the two theological thoughts may differ, there are some synergies on how to theologise without compromising the biblical metanarratives and traditional approaches. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications Through the extensive analysis and evaluation of Moltmann's theology, sociology, and psychology, the metaphorical nature of male image within the reformist feminine theology is discussed in this article. Moltmann's trinitarian theology impacts the feminist theology, noting some differences. An attempt is made to highlight the tenets of theology where Moltmann may engage feminist theology.

This article proposes that the theology of Moltmann – particularly his reflections on time, eschatology and the Trinity – offers profound resources for reimagining Kairos theology in the present. Moltmann’s theology enables us to think of time not only as a moment of rupture and crises, but as promise and hope, relationality and participation, rhythm and direction, fulfilment and discernment. Time is deeply theological. Read alongside the Kairos Document, Moltmann’s work helps us move from kairos as moment to kairos as grammar.ContributionThrough a close reading of Moltmann’s major works, this article seeks to demonstrate how his timely theology may extend the legacy of kairos for a new generation of theological reflection and public witness in South Africa.

In the face of unremitting faith in economic progress and the attendant environmental degradation that is, increasingly, one of its ugly fruits, Jürgen Moltmann’s rich conception of God’s Sabbath peace offers a compelling reorientation. When drawn upon for its contribution toward the fostering of one’s moral imagination and for the cultivation of ethical criteria, it offers an accessible yet rigorous lens through which to view a particular situation: the attempt by Nestlé Waters to build the largest bottled water plant in North America. The author finds within Moltmann’s vision a way to critically assess the project, critique the underlying foundations of its character, and offer alternatives for seeking the flourishing of the whole of God’s creation.

In 2017 we celebrate for the 500th time the Reformation of the church. The authors want to ensure that there is also a contribution in Afrikaans in this important year. The central themes of Reformation theology are discussed. Reformation theology did not end with the contributions of Luther and Calvin, and one of the authors therefore, reflects with one of the greatest theologians alive, Jürgen Moltmann, on theology and life. In the recent past, scholars such as Ebeling and Van Selms, made valuable contributions that could be used in present-day discussions on church matters and political challenges. This book is proof that these older contributions are still important for in-depth reflections on complex theological questions. This book is also an exhibition of present-day theological research at the University of Pretoria. A diversity of opinions are tolerated, with the knowledge that there is a common love for our Reformation heritage. The book follows the internationally accepted research methodology in the field of historic theology. The classical texts of the reformers, such as Luther and Calvin, are researched in the original and made accessible to the Afrikaans readership. The book is witness to the fact that we have valuable contributions to Reformation theology coming from the recent past. The contributions are also analysed within their original historic setting and hermeneutically actualised for present-day church matters. This book is an important contribution to the Afrikaans reception of Reformation theology. For the first time, important enunciations of the reformers (especially Luther) are provided in Afrikaans with the original texts in footnotes. For the first time Adrianus Van Selms’ catechetical handbook, that was recently discovered in an archive, is brought into the academic discussion. As South Africans, we struggle with issues such as gender, marriage, the political role of the church and interreligious relationships. It is clear, from this research, that the older European debates are helpful in bringing depth to our contextual debates. The target audience of the book is primarily the academic fraternity in historic theology, systematic theology and science of religion. It is, however, also accessible for ministers of religion and the general public, hence almost all the Latin, German and French quotations are translated into Afrikaans. The main aim was to make an Afrikaans contribution to Reformation 500. I declare that no part of any chapter is taken from another published work without the necessary recognition. This is original research and not one of the chapters has been published somewhere else.

In the face of unremitting faith in economic progress and the attendant environmental degradation that is, increasingly, one of its ugly fruits, Jürgen Moltmann’s rich conception of God’s Sabbath peace offers a compelling reorientation. When drawn upon for its contribution toward the fostering of one’s moral imagination and for the cultivation of ethical criteria, it offers an accessible yet rigorous lens through which to view a particular situation: the attempt by Nestlé Waters to build the largest bottled water plant in North America. The author finds within Moltmann’s vision a way to critically assess the project, critique the underlying foundations of its character, and offer alternatives for seeking the flourishing of the whole of God’s creation.

A theology of hope for the Dutch Reformed Church. A forgotten yearning? During prof. Piet Meiring’s discussion of the Dutch Reformed Church’s ‘Year of Hope’ in 2001, he argued that the societal issues of reconciliation, poverty and moral regeneration on which the church focused that year, necessitated a theology of hope towards which theologians of different disciplines should contribute. In this article is explored whether to pursue such an endeavour more than two decades since the Year of Hope. Therefore, from a church historiographic viewpoint, aspects of Jürgen Moltmann’s ideas on a theology of hope within a context of injustices are revisited to assert their current relevance. In addition, more recent theological developments concerning the horizontal dimension of Christological hope within society are considered as well. In this regard reference is made to relevant ideas of the Emergent Church movement and its historical continuance. Reflecting on the current South African context and its socio-political, economic and environmental challenges, the need for a theology of hope is considered relevant to the church in order to establish credible relationships and engage strategically with society in need of hope itself.Interdisciplinary implicationsThis article contains reviewed material of historical relevance and is, therefore, conducted within the field of Church Historiography. In further consideration of a Theology of Hope the opportunity arises for interdisciplinary collaboration of theological disciplines such as Systematic Theology and Practical Theology.

A theology of hope for the Dutch Reformed Church. A forgotten yearning? During Prof. Piet Meiring’s discussion of the Dutch Reformed Church’s ‘Year of Hope’ in 2001, he argued that the societal issues of reconciliation, poverty and moral regeneration on which the church focused that year, necessitated a theology of hope towards which theologians of different disciplines should contribute. In this article is explored whether to pursue such an endeavour more than two decades since the Year of Hope. Therefore, from a church historiographic viewpoint, aspects of Jürgen Moltmann’s ideas on a theology of hope within a context of injustices are revisited to assert their current relevance. In addition, more recent theological developments concerning the horizontal dimension of Christological hope within society are considered as well. In this regard reference is made to relevant ideas of the Emergent Church movement and its historical continuance. Reflecting on the current South African context and its socio-political, economic and environmental challenges, the need for a theology of hope is considered relevant to the church in order to establish credible relationships and engage strategically with society in need of hope itself. Interdisciplinary implications: This article contains reviewed material of historical relevance and is, therefore, conducted within the field of Church Historiography. In further consideration of a Theology of Hope the opportunity arises for interdisciplinary collaboration of theological disciplines such as Systematic Theology and Practical Theology.

The theme for Liberation Theology has always been about concerns for the marginalised masses and socio-political liberation for the economically disadvantaged. Its mandate is to seek to guide towards the discovery of being human without references to historical divisions between the haves and have-nots created by socio-economic imbalances promoted by political regimes. Moltmann’s content of theology, its revision, its innovation rather than the theological method has marked his restless imagination. His method of exploration in doing theology has brought him into dialogue with philosophers and theologians of different persuasions. In this study, he is evaluated in his dialogue with the liberation theologians. The focus is on Moltmann’s theological approach to ecumenism, built around the Kingdom of God concept, and ecclesiastical analysis and political theology. These three areas are the transitional arguments on how Moltmann enters into dialogue with the liberation theologians. The argument moves on to point how Liberation Theology has exerted itself as Black Theology in South Africa during the apartheid time. Black Theology is a theology of liberation because of its resistance and endeavours of eradication of all forms of oppressive systems. The two injustices (socio-cultural misnomers) in the democratic South Africa are discussed as a calling for Black Theology’s voice. These are corruption and human rights abuses. Black Theology brings religion into the secular world as a way of aborting all forms of discrimination based on race, sex and economic class.ContributionBlack Theology is invited to revisit Moltmann’s ecumenical, ecclesiastical and political theological understanding, as a way of reviving itself back to the centre stage of prophetic role within the corrupt and human rights and dignity abuse society.