On remembering Nelson Mandela responsibly? An ethical engagement with history and agency

If anyone is interested, I shall be speaking at the Nelson Mandela Colloquium on 12 November at 14.00 (GMT +2h, South African time). It is open to anyone who wishes to attend. No need to register, just click on the MS Teams link in the event description which you will find here. I am speaking alongside Dr Tomaza-Qwebani-Ogunleye. I am very grateful!

However, I also remain mindful that we must be careful not to 'mythologise' our leaders, or engage in hagiography. Indeed, let's be inspired, let's learn from them and their lives, but let's also be honest about who they are (or were), and engage history ethically.

My most controversial article for 

The Conversation Africa 

(which was read and shared more than 15 000 times, and republished in 13 different newspapers, including the Mail & Guardian, the Times, and Moneyweb) was entitled 'Why the loss of faith in heroes like Nelson Mandela may not be such a bad thing.' You can read it here: https://theconversation.com/why-the-loss-of-faith-in...

The point of the article is that we must not give over our agency to 'super women' or 'super men'. The myth of the Messianic political figure (who will save us) is harmful to our societies. I think, in part, this is what has happened with American evangelicals who see Donald Trump as their 'political saviour'. No, we must learn from leaders, but take responsibility for the ordering of our individual and social lives to work for the common good, and the betterment of society.

So, I hope you will join us for the Nelson Mandela Colloquium, as we remember rightly, but also take up our own responsibility for change, transformation, and justice in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

Heading to the XII International Bonhoeffer congress in Basel, Switzerland

I am all packed!

In just a short while I am heading to Basel in Switzerland for the XII International Bonhoeffer congress where I am delivering a paper see:
http://www.mission-21.org/en/agenda/agenda/events-from-mission-21/archive/2015/August/article/bonhoeffer-kongress/

My Brompton bicycle is all packed and loaded! I love this bike!

All packed and ready to go to the #bonhoeffer Congress in #Basel with my #Bromptonbicycle @bromptonbicycle

A video posted by digitaldion (@digitaldion) on Jul 5, 2016 at 10:59pm PDT

I will ride to Nijmegen station, catch the train to Basel and ride to the conference venue - viola! Just awesome!

My paper is on Bonhoeffer and Mandela in conversation around (African) Christian humanism. I will post more details here and on Twitter @digitaldion during the week.

The secret of life is love

I came across this beautiful quotation today and wanted to share it here:

“The secret of life is love. In love we go out of ourselves and lay ourselves open to all the experiences of life. In the love of life we become happy and vulnerable at the same time. In love we can be happy and sad. In love we can laugh and weep. In love we can rejoice and must protest at the same time. The more deeply love draws us into life, the more alive and, simultaneously, the more capable of sorrow we become. That is the dialectic of the affirmed and loved life.”

- Jurgen Moltmann

It rings true for me.

The God who is love calls us to a life of love.

In responding to that call daily we become truly alive. Love is not only the core of life, but also the source of living - it brings about justice and it opens the possibility for joyful existence.

Last night Jurgen Moltmann was interviewed at the Homebrewed Christianity gathering here at the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta. I will post a link to that interview as soon as Tripp Fuller makes it available.

In the meantime I invite you to watch this lovely interview between Jurgen Moltmann and Miroslav Volf on a theology of joy:

http://youtu.be/s04zdvrBz-c

Blessings from Atlanta!

I will share a bit of a 'travel report' as soon as I get a chance. It has been wonderful to visit New York, Princeton (the Seminary, University and our good friend Will Storrar at the Center for Theological Inquiry), and just as wonderful being in Atlanta.

At the AAR I presented a 'country report' on the scope and nature of public theology on a panel this morning, and tomorrow I shall present a paper of Nelson Mandela and African Christian Humanism in the Wesley Studies group).

Until soon,

Dion

Nelson Mandela and the Methodists Italian TV documentary

Below is a copy of the documentary on Nelson Mandela and his Church, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa that was produced and shot by my friend Paolo Emilio Landi.  

You will see our Presiding Bishop (Zipho Siwa), my Bishop (Michel Hansrod), my close friends Revds Kevin Needham, Andre Butner, as well as my mentor and friend, Bishop Peter Storey and my friend Alan Storey (among others) in the documentary.  I also get to say a few words - this documentary follows the connection between Nelson Mandela and the Methodist Church of South Africa.  In part it is based on the research that I conducted in 2014 on Nelson Mandela's faith biography.

My little piece was filmed in our University Library at Stellenbosch late last year. It is so great to see this story told.  I am so grateful to Paulo and his team for putting it together.

You can read 'Mandela and the Methodists' which I wrote last year and was published in the journal of South African Church History here:  http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/14102

A 25 anni dalla scarcerazione da Victor Verster, ripercorriamo alcuni aspetti meno noti della vita del grande leader Sudafricano, Nelson Mandela, L’uomo, che guidato dalla sua fede, protestante e metodista seppe gestire l’apartheid e la nascita della nuova democrazia in Sud Africa. Uno tra gli uomini più amati e celebrati del XX secolo.