Reforming memory : essays on South African Church and theological history / Robert Vosloo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vosloo, Robert, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reformed Church--South Africa.

Reformed Church.

South Africa--Church history.

South Africa.

Genre:

Church history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 287 pages)

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : African Sun Media, [2017]

Summary:

Although we should acknowledge the fragility of memory, we should nevertheless affirm the remarkable ability of memory to reform and transform our identity. Our memories and ways of remembering are, however, often marked by trauma and violence. Memory, therefore, not merely reforms; it too is in need of reformation, redemption and transformation. With this emphasis in mind, Reforming Memory grapples with the question what a responsible engagement with the past entails, also for Christians and churches associated with the Reformed tradition. The history of Reformed churches in South Africa is, one can argue, a deeply divided and ambivalent one. The same figures are heroes to some and villains to others; historic events are deeply ambiguous and conflicting views surround different discourses. Yet the histories, and perhaps futures, of these churches and traditions are inextricably interwoven. Reforming Memory fundamentally combines an interest in the notion of "memory" with an interest in (South African) Reformed theology and history. Central is the question: how should we remember and represent the past responsibly? The essays collected in this book engage in different ways with this question, attending in the process to some episodes in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, some influential Reformed theologians, and some important Reformed practices and confessional documents.

Contents:

Part 1. In search of a responsible historical hermeneutic. On forgetting : historical injustice and the art of forgetting

On history : the writing of history as remedy or poison?

On remembering : memory, history, and justice

On the archive : archiving otherwise

On tradition : reforming tradition?

On doing church history : five theses

On commemorating : remembering the Reformation after 500 years

Part 2. Revisiting some episodes in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church (1916-1960). On poverty : the Dutch Reformed Church and "the poor white problem"

On urbanisation : the Dutch Reformed Church and the city

On division : the Dutch Reformed Church and some responses to the Second World War

On reading Scripture : the Dutch Reformed Church and the biblical justification of apartheid

On ecumenism : the Dutch Reformed Church, Beyers Naudé and the ghost of Cottesloe

Part 3. Engaging reformed theologians. On Calvinʹs theological heritage in South Africa : engaging an ambivalent, contested and promising legacy

On the displaced Calvin : "refugee reality" as a lens to examine Calvinʹs life, theology and legacy

On Calvin and the mirror of the stranger : "refugee reality' and the gift of recognition

On Beyers Naudé : revisiting a legacy of hospitality and truth-telling

On Dirkie Smit : take, read ... interpret, confess

For John de Gruchy : democracy is coming to the RSA

Part 4. Revisiting reformed practices and confessional documents. On the Lordʹs supper : the "welcome table", exclusion and the reformed tradition

On theological education : Calvin, the Academy of Geneva and 150 years of theology at Stellenbosch

On the Heidelberg Catechism : remembering a 16th-century reformed confession in South Africa today

On the Belhar Confession : remarks on the reception of a 20th century confessional document in the Dutch Reformed Church.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-928314-37-6