The Language of Faith in Southern Africa

The aim of this book is to provide a way to do justice to an African language of faith. In systematic theology, anthropology and philosophy of religion, similar debates about how to interpret an African language of faith are ongoing. Trying to avoid the ‘othering’ discourses of past generations, sch...

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Hlavní autor: Kroesbergen, Hermen
Médium: Online
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: AOSIS 2021
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On-line přístup:ONIX_20200512_9781928396949_6
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author Kroesbergen, Hermen
author_browse Kroesbergen, Hermen
author_facet Kroesbergen, Hermen
author_sort Kroesbergen, Hermen
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description The aim of this book is to provide a way to do justice to an African language of faith. In systematic theology, anthropology and philosophy of religion, similar debates about how to interpret an African language of faith are ongoing. Trying to avoid the ‘othering’ discourses of past generations, scholars are careful to take seriously what people in Africa say without portraying people’s beliefs as weird or backward. Yet, in their desperate attempts to avoid othering, these theologians, anthropologists and philosophers often painfully misconstrue the language of faith in Africa. Understanding the language of faith in Southern Africa is not an easy task. How should we take seriously the form of language that often seems so strange and different? I argue that, after African inculturation theology and black liberation theology, a better way to make sense of being a Christian in Southern Africa is to pay close attention to people’s language of faith. The way in which people speak of the spirit world or powers in Africa appears strange to outsiders, and the sense of community and the holistic worldview differentiates the African way of life from its Euro-American counterparts. When proper attention is paid to the use of concepts like spirit world, power, community and holism, language of faith in Southern Africa is neither as strange as it may seem, nor as romantic. By investigating these distinguishing concepts that colour language of faith in Southern Africa, this book contributes to future projects of both fellow theologians who try to construct a contemporary African theology and those who are interested in theology in Africa given the well-known southward shift of the centre of gravity of Christianity.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-324182026-05-19T07:01:57Z The Language of Faith in Southern Africa Kroesbergen, Hermen Christian theology in Africa Spiritual world Power Community Holism Language of Faith holistic worldview thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs The aim of this book is to provide a way to do justice to an African language of faith. In systematic theology, anthropology and philosophy of religion, similar debates about how to interpret an African language of faith are ongoing. Trying to avoid the ‘othering’ discourses of past generations, scholars are careful to take seriously what people in Africa say without portraying people’s beliefs as weird or backward. Yet, in their desperate attempts to avoid othering, these theologians, anthropologists and philosophers often painfully misconstrue the language of faith in Africa. Understanding the language of faith in Southern Africa is not an easy task. How should we take seriously the form of language that often seems so strange and different? I argue that, after African inculturation theology and black liberation theology, a better way to make sense of being a Christian in Southern Africa is to pay close attention to people’s language of faith. The way in which people speak of the spirit world or powers in Africa appears strange to outsiders, and the sense of community and the holistic worldview differentiates the African way of life from its Euro-American counterparts. When proper attention is paid to the use of concepts like spirit world, power, community and holism, language of faith in Southern Africa is neither as strange as it may seem, nor as romantic. By investigating these distinguishing concepts that colour language of faith in Southern Africa, this book contributes to future projects of both fellow theologians who try to construct a contemporary African theology and those who are interested in theology in Africa given the well-known southward shift of the centre of gravity of Christianity. 2021-02-10T13:58:52Z 2021-02-10T13:58:52Z 2020-05-12T08:00:38Z 2019 book ONIX_20200512_9781928396949_6 OCN: 1153744092 2617-5819 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/37685 9781928396925 9781928396932 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/32418 eng HTS Religion & Society Series open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/37685/1/978-1-928396-94-9.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/37685/1/978-1-928396-94-9.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/37685/1/978-1-928396-94-9.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/37685/1/978-1-928396-94-9.pdf AOSIS 10.4102/aosis.2019.BK117 10.4102/aosis.2019.BK117 c47a1220-d848-4e78-88cd-74f293e3d4f4 9781928396925 9781928396932 376 Durbanville open access
spellingShingle Christian theology in Africa
Spiritual world
Power
Community
Holism
Language of Faith
holistic worldview
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
Kroesbergen, Hermen
The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title_full The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title_fullStr The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title_full_unstemmed The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title_short The Language of Faith in Southern Africa
title_sort language of faith in southern africa
topic Christian theology in Africa
Spiritual world
Power
Community
Holism
Language of Faith
holistic worldview
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
topic_facet Christian theology in Africa
Spiritual world
Power
Community
Holism
Language of Faith
holistic worldview
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
url ONIX_20200512_9781928396949_6
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