Original Research - Special Collection: Structural subjects - Church History and Systematic Theology

On being African and Reformed? Towards an African Reformed theology enthused by an interlocution of those on the margins of society

Rothney S. Tshaka
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 70, No 1 | a2070 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i1.2070 | © 2014 Rothney S. Tshaka | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 12 September 2013 | Published: 17 June 2014

About the author(s)

Rothney S. Tshaka, Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, South Africa

Abstract

This article was first given as an inaugural lecture. As such, it sets out a particular agenda for the researcher’s interest. Here, the notions of being African and Reformed are interrogated. The research notes that these notions are rarely used in the same vein. It is admitted that notions tend to pick up different meanings as they evolve, so these notions are especially seen in that light. The theological hegemony, which in the South African academic circles had become enveloped in the Reformed identity, is here forced to critically consider Africanness. This is considered significant, especially in a context where the Christian faith is seen to be flourishing in the global South. The article challenges attempts at explaining what Africanness mean as a front to perpetuate a status quo that from its inception never thought much of Africa and or Africanness. The author argues that the African Reformed Christian must acknowledge is status as a partial outsider in Reformed theological discourses.

Keywords

No related keywords in the metadata.

Metrics

Total abstract views: 7338
Total article views: 8406

 

Crossref Citations

1. James Cone vis-à-vis African Religiosity: A decolonial perspective
Jakub Urbaniak
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 75  issue: 3  year: 2019  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v75i3.5587

2. Unshackling the chains of coloniality: Reimagining decoloniality, Africanisation and Reformation for a non-racial South Africa
Thinandavha D. Mashau
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 74  issue: 3  year: 2018  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v74i3.4920

3. The poor in the Psalms and in Tsepo Tshola’s song Indlala: African liberationist remarks
V. Ndikhokele N. Mtshiselwa
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 72  issue: 1  year: 2016  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v72i1.3173

4. Àwa L’ókàn: When the blood of Jesus is not thick enough to bond his body
Benson O. Igboin
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi  vol: 56  issue: 1  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/ids.v56i1.2899

5. Reconsidering the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African proverb about the locust’s head in the context of poverty in South Africa
Ndikho Mtshiselwa
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 72  issue: 1  year: 2016  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v72i1.2915

6. Unpacking the meanings of ‘virtual spirituality’ in Vuyani Vellem’s critique of Empire
Jakub Urbaniak
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 76  issue: 3  year: 2020  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v76i3.6204

7. Àwa L’ókàn: When the blood of Jesus is not thick enough to bond his body
Benson O. Igboin
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi  vol: 57  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/ids.v57i1.2899

8. The emergence of the Black Methodist Consultation and its possible prophetic voice in post-apartheid South Africa
Ndikho Mtshiselwa
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 71  issue: 3  year: 2015  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v71i3.2897

9. Decolonising the commercialisation and commodification of the university and theological education in South Africa
Dumisane W. Methula
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 73  issue: 3  year: 2017  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v73i3.4585

10. The Reformed conceptualisation of morality
Robert Vosloo
Verbum et Ecclesia  vol: 44  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/ve.v44i1.2980

11. TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF METHODISM! A BLACK THEOLOGICAL INQUIRY INTO THE HERITAGE OF METHODISM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 1816-2016
Ndikho Mtshiselwa
Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae  vol: 42  issue: 3  first page: 102  year: 2016  
doi: 10.25159/2412-4265/1248

12. Black women’s bodies as sacrificial lambs at the altar
Sandisele L. Xhinti, Hundzukani P. Khosa-Nkatini
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 79  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v79i1.7940

13. Ubufundisi bonyana womgquba: In memoriam of Vuyani Shadrack Vellem
Wonke Buqa
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies  vol: 78  issue: 1  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/hts.v78i1.7969