39 research outputs found
Land, group identities and competing justice values in South Africa: Reformed perspectives on embracive justice and permeable identity formation
This contribution argues that competing justice values are hindering progress in the land debate in South Africa. Two factors contribute to this state of affairs: Firstly, social justice is a multifaceted concept undergirded by a range of values. These values often stand in tension with each other, especially when it comes to intergenerational conflicts and transitional social contexts. Secondly, South African approaches to justice seem to be closely related to group identities, particular historical experiences and political interests. To address the impasse on land, we need to recalibrate our disposition to the hierarchy of justice values and the priority we assign to each value. Moreover, we need to address the relationship between justice dispositions and identities. The question posed is the following: Can reformed-theological resources add an extra ingredient to our understanding of social justice? What would be the implications of such a recalibration for our understanding of human identity? This article proposes the concept of embracing justice as orienting principle in resolving the land issue. Furthermore, it draws on reformed notions of self-denial and cross-bearing to advocate a permeable notion of identity that internalises and enacts the demands of embracive justice
āAnd behold a ladderā: Descent and ascent in Calvinās soteriology
This article investigates Calvinās use of the schema of descent and ascent to construct his soteriology. The main argument offered is that Calvin utilises the notion of descent-ascent as a tool to weave together juridical and mystical categories in his soteriology. The descentascent scheme enables him to construct a theocentric soteriology that is personal and dynamic in nature, whilst concrete in ethical application. It also endows his soteriology with a strong pneumatological and eschatological orientation.
āAanskou die leerā: Neerdaling en opvaring in Calvyn se soteriologie. Hierdie artikel ondersoek Calvyn se gebruik van die neerdaling-opvaringskema in sy soteriologie. Die argument is dat Calvyn hierdie skema as ān instrument gebruik om die juridiese en mistieke kategorieĆ« in sy soteriologie te integreer. Die neerdaling-opvaringskema stel hom in staat om ān teosentriese soteriologie te ontwikkel wat persoonlik en dinamies van aard is, maar terselfdertyd konkreet in etiese toepassing. Dit verskaf ook ān deurslaggewende pneumatologiese en eskatologiese oriĆ«ntasie aan sy soteriologie
Land and identity in South Africa: An immanent moral critique of dominant discourses in the debate on expropriation without compensation
Ownership is an important identity marker. It provides people with a sense of autonomy, rootedness and opportunity. This essay examines the oral submissions of civil organisations to the Joint Constitutional Review Committee (04ā07 September 2018) about the issue of land expropriation without compensation. The discussion pays specific attention to the philosophical understandings of land and identity that emerged during the hearings. Three dominant trajectories came into play, namely land as commodity, land as social space and land as spiritual inheritance. Some submissions espoused more than one view, which indicates that the boundaries between the identified paradigms are permeable. However, even those presentations tended to prioritise one approach above the others. Besides identifying the main approaches to land and identity, this essay also provides an immanent critique of their moral assumptions. In contrast to a transcendental approach, an immanent critique asks questions from āwithinā and evaluates paradigms in terms of their plausibility, universal applicability, ethical consistency and moral integrity
Christian hermeneutics in South Africa
Hermeneutics remains a divisive and polarizing topic within scholarly and ecclesiastical communities in South Africa. These tensions are not limited to theoretical differences but often crystallize on a grassroots level when local churches and church assemblies have to make important decisions on controversial ethical topics such as ordaining women in church offices, assessing the ethics of gay marriages, and taking a stance on the land debate in South Africa. This book makes a unique contribution in two ways: firstly, it focuses on the uniquely South African hermeneutical landscape; secondly, it relates theories to practical ethical application. The unique scholarly contribution of this consists in it relating hermeneutics to ethics within the South African landscape. A diverse group of scholars have been invited to partake in the project and the views expressed are often quite diverse. This allows readers to develop an understanding and sensitivity of the various angles employed and the interests at stake in addressing difficult societal problems
Christian hermeneutics in South Africa
Hermeneutics remains a divisive and polarizing topic within scholarly and ecclesiastical communities in South Africa. These tensions are not limited to theoretical differences but often crystallize on a grassroots level when local churches and church assemblies have to make important decisions on controversial ethical topics such as ordaining women in church offices, assessing the ethics of gay marriages, and taking a stance on the land debate in South Africa. This book makes a unique contribution in two ways: firstly, it focuses on the uniquely South African hermeneutical landscape; secondly, it relates theories to practical ethical application. The unique scholarly contribution of this consists in it relating hermeneutics to ethics within the South African landscape. A diverse group of scholars have been invited to partake in the project and the views expressed are often quite diverse. This allows readers to develop an understanding and sensitivity of the various angles employed and the interests at stake in addressing difficult societal problems
Appropriate indications for positron emission tomography/computed tomography, 2015
These recommendations are intended to serve an important and relevant role in advising referring physicians on the appropriate use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and non-18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), which can be a powerful tool in patient management in oncology, cardiology, neurology and infection/inflammation. PET is a non-invasive molecular imaging tool that provides tomographic images and quantitative parameters of perfusion, cell viability, proliferation and/or metabolic activity of tissues. These images result from the use of different substances of biological interest (sugars, amino acids, metabolic precursors, hormones) labelled with positron-emitting radionuclides (PET radiopharmaceuticals). Fusion of the aforementioned important functional information with the morphological detail provided by CT as PET/CT provides clinicians with a sensitive and accurate one-step whole-body diagnostic and prognostic tool, which directs and changes patient management. Hence PET/CT is currently the most widely used molecular imaging technology for a patient-tailored treatment approach. In these recommendations we outline which oncological and non-oncological indications are appropriate for PET/CT. Once each combination of pathology and clinical indication is defined, a recommendation is given as: 1. Recommended; 2. Recommended in select cases; 3. May be considered; or 4. Not recommended
Appropriate indications for positron emission tomography/computed tomography, 2015
These recommendations are intended to serve an important and relevant role in advising referring physicians on the appropriate use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and non-18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), which can be a powerful tool in patient management in oncology, cardiology, neurology and infection/inflammation. PET is a non-invasive molecular imaging tool that provides tomographic images and quantitative parameters of perfusion, cell viability, proliferation and/or metabolic activity of tissues. These images result from the use of different substances of biological interest (sugars, amino acids, metabolic precursors, hormones) labelled with positron-emitting radionuclides (PET radiopharmaceuticals). Fusion of the aforementioned important functional information with the morphological detail provided by CT as PET/CT provides clinicians with a sensitive and accurate one-step whole-body diagnostic and prognostic tool, which directs and changes patient management. Hence PET/CT is currently the most widely used molecular imaging technology for a patient-tailored treatment approach. In these recommendations we outline which oncological and non-oncological indications are appropriate for PET/CT. Once each combination of pathology and clinical indication is defined, a recommendation is given as: 1. Recommended; 2. Recommended in select cases; 3. May be considered; or 4. Not recommended.
Christian theology and racist ideology: a case study of Nazi theology and apartheid theology
http://www.jsri.ro/new/?Archive:JSRI_Volume_7%2C_no._19%2C_Spring_2008_-_Interdisciplinary_Approaches_in_Religious_Studies_and_Ideologie
Symbiotic Anthropology and Politics in a Postmodern Age: Rethinking the Political Philosophy of Johannes Althusius (1557ā1638)
Postmodern societies are increasingly characterized by a hyperpluralism that coincides with an interdependence between social spheres and structures. Actions in one sphere of life often impinge on other spheres of life. This leads to a consistent and endemic conflict between the social dynamics of plurality and the need for social unity. The symbiotic political theory of Johannes Althusius (1557ā1638), which attempts to preserve unity through organized plurality, might be helpful in addressing the plurality/unity conundrum so characteristic of postmodern societies. Central to this approach are the anthropological and political notions of symbiosis, association, communication, and sharing. After providing some background to Althusiusās thought, this article discusses his symbiotic anthropology and explicates his symbiotic political theory. The article concludes by identifying five features of Althusiusās political theory that might be helpful to contemporary postmodern society.
Les socieĢteĢs postmodernes se caracteĢrisent de plus en plus par un hyper-pluralisme ethnoculturel qui coiĢncide avec une deĢpendance mutuelle croissante entre diverses spheĢres et structures sociales. Ce qui se fait dans lāune de ces spheĢres a souvent un impact sur dāautres. Il en deĢcoule un conflit systeĢmatique et permanent opposant la dynamique sociale du pluralisme et le besoin dāuniteĢ sociale. La theĢorie politique symbiotique de Johannes Althusius (1557ā1638), qui cherche aĢ maintenir lāuniteĢ par lāorganisation du pluralisme, permettrait dāaffronter la contradiction uniteĢ/pluralisme qui marque tant les socieĢteĢs postmodernes. Cette approche est fondeĢe sur les notions politiques et anthropologiques de symbiose, dāassociation, de communication et de partage. Dans cet article, apreĢs avoir preĢsenteĢ quelques preĢmisses de la penseĢe dāAlthusius, on examine son anthropologie de la symbiose et on analyse sa theĢorie politique de la symbiose. On termine lāarticle avec lāidentification de cinq traits de la theĢorie politique dāAlthusius qui pourraient eĢtre utiles aux socieĢteĢs postmodernes dāaujourdāhui
Christianity and secularisation in South Africa: probing the possible link between modernisation and secularisation
The secularisation theory of Max Weber states that modernisation inevitably leads to the decline of religion. This theory has in recent years been challenged by the desecularisation theories of various sociologists and philosophers. This article probes the possible link between modernisation and secularisation through a case study of the Republic of South Africa. South Africa is an important case study because it went through a rapid process of modernisation from the 1990s onwards. The first section examines the secularisation thesis of Weber and his supporters, as well as theories of desecularisation. The second section discusses the periods of anti-modernisation (1910ā90) and modernisation (1990ā2012) in South Africa. The third section analyses statistical data on the state of religion in South Africa, while the last section offers some concluding remarks on the relationship between modernisation and secularisation in South Africa thus far. The finding of the article is that the South African experience indicates that modernisation has an impact on religion, but the effect is not necessarily one of a decline in religion. In South Africa, modernisation has led to the decline of religion in some communities and the rejuvenation of religion in others. The effect of modernisation on religion seems to depend on its interaction with a range of other social factorshttp://www.euppublishing.com/journal/swchttp://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/swc.2013.0049DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/swc.2013.004