Die wet van God - ’n teologiese en wysgerige studie

The theological term law of God is discussed in relation with Us significance for other scholarly disciplines, in particular for philosophy. First, the idea of creational ordinances is viewed with respect to the underlying notion of law. Secondly, the idea of the law as being ‘border’ is discussed. According to this view certain entities of reality arc classified as being ‘under' (i.e. within the law) and others as 'above' the law. Other points discussed are the creational meaning of the law-order, the relationship of law and cosmic time, and the description of law in modal terms used not as concepts but as ideas. The positivizing of law is viewed from what is considered to be the correct view-point, as well as from the biblicistic view-point. Finally, the cosmological meaning of law is discussed in coherence with the fall and with the redemption in Christ. In this context, the view is defended that the law, being, in its supratemporal fulness, Christ Himself, docs not 'belong’ to creation, as is often asserted

Korrespondensie of koherensie?

Apart from the pragmatic , the performative , and the existentialist theorie s of truth, the correspondence theory and the coherence theory of truth are of special importance in any discussion about scientific truth. The Christian scholars Ceisler and Feinberg are q u o ted as proponents of the correspondence theory, and Botha as a proponent of the coherence theory. None of them seem to take sifficiently into account the essential distinction between the practical and the theoretical attitude of thought, nor do they discuss the difference between the two theories of them within the framework of a Christian cosmology and episiemology. Therefore, the distinction between Biblical and theological knowledge is briefly discussed, as well as the scientism inherent in the fundamentalistic preference of the correspondence theory. It is argued, however, that the same danger of scientism threatens Botha's preference of the weak criterion of truth of the coherence theory. Finally, Botha ’s preference of the relational concept of truth is criticized because of its false distinction between the relational an d the objective and subjective. Here, too, a consistent Christian cosmology and epistemology could be helpful

Is 'n Christelike universiteit moontlik?

The question regarding, the nature o f a truly Christian University is addressed in this article. It is argued that such a university should develop a clear-cut concept of Christian scholarship (in the widest sense o f the term). Christian scholarship is not ‘derivect from the Bible or from any theology, hut founded in a radical Christian-philosophical view of reality and knowledge. A truly Christian university has the duly to work within and further develop such a Christian-cosmological and Christian-epistemological paradigm, and to point out and elaborate its relevance fo r the various sciences. If this is not done, scholars will, under the guise o f the Christian faith, unconsciously assume presuppositions of either a secular-humanistic, or a scholastic, or a biblicislic-fundamentalist nature. It is pointed out that the foundational questions concerning the various special sciences are necessarily of a philosophical nature, and that, if one wants to practise science on a Christian basis, one's philosophical paradigm has to be fully attuned to on e ’s Christian life and world view. For the time being, the author prefers the Reformational philosophy developed along the lines of Dooyeweerd, Vollenhoven, and Stoker, not because it is the best but because it is the only radical Christian, encompassing cosmology and epistemology available. The author makes this choice fully aware of the fact that this philosophy is, like all scientific theories, nothing but a fallible and preliminary construct, and that Christian scholarship vim not begun, or did not become possible, only with Dooyeweerd c.s.. The necessity of a radical Christian philosophy is based upon the presupposition that all human activity is founded in a ground-motif, and that the latter is necessarily of a religious nature

Happy protest voters: The case of Rotterdam 1997-2009

Protest parties are on the rise in several European countries. This development is commonly attributed to a growing dissatisfaction with life and associated with declining quality of life in modern society of the lowest social strata. This explanation is tested in a cross-sectional analysis of voting and life-satisfactrion in 63 districts of the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where the share of protest voters increased from 10% in 1994 to 31% in 2009. Contrary to this explanation protest voting appeared not to be the most frequent in the least happy districts of Rotterdam, but in the medium happy segment. Also divergent from this explanation was that average happiness in city districts is largely independent of local living conditions, but is rather a matter of personal vulnerability in terms of education, income and health. These results fit alternative explanations in terms of middle class status anxiet