The dawning of a new era - Stellenbosch University

Today a new era dawned in my ministry and working life - on the 2nd of January 2014 I arrived at Stellenbosch University at around 7.50am to move into my new office in the Faculty of Theology.  

Yesterday my appointment as Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology and Ethics (with a focus on Public Theology) came into effect! I am truly grateful for this magnificent opportunity to serve the Church and society in the academy!

I am so excited about what the future holds in this new post! For some years I have been attached to the faculty as a staff member in Ekklesia (the Center for Leadership and Congregational) - however, this new post is as a full time academic with both undergraduate and post graduate teaching and research responsibilities.

I will be teaching Ethics and Systematic Theology and will have a particular focus on the Church's role in the various 'public' spaces of society (politics, economics, health care, education, the arts and many others).  This is where most of my attention and energy has been focussed in the last decades.  The Unashamedly Ethical and EXPOSED 'Shining a light on corruption' campaigns have aimed at precisely this, to support and empower the Church for making a positive contribution to the transformation of the nation and the world.

So, today I moved my stuff from my 'old office' in the Ekklesia side of the faculty building into the 'faculty' side of the building (which is pictured above - I took this photo about three years ago.  Isn't it a beautiful building?) Each of the departments are clustered together, and I am in the section for Systematic Theology, Church History, Ethics and Ecclesiology. It is a beautiful sunny office with rows and rows of book shelves and lots of wood - befitting the historical look of the Kweekskool buildings.

My prayer for this new sesion in my ministry is that I will have an opportunity to serve both the Church and the nation in developing critical though and ideas, useful tools, and well trained people who can bring about transformation and the renewal of society for the sake of justice and grace.

I am inspired by the following quote from a speech that former President Nelson Mandela gave at the Methodist Conference in Umtata on 18 September 1994:

One cannot over-emphasise the contribution that the religious community made particularly in ensuring that our transition achieves the desired result. The spirit of reconciliation and the goodwill within the nation can, to a great measure, be attributed to the moral and spiritual interventions of the religious community.

Now that a major part of the journey towards democracy has been traversed, new and more difficult tasks lie ahead of us. For, political democracy will be empty and meaningless, if the misery of the majority of the people is not addressed.

The Church, like all other institutions of civil society, must help all South Africans to rise to the challenge of freedom. As South Africa moves from resistance to reconstruction and from confrontation to reconciliation, the energy that was once dedicated to breaking apartheid must be harnessed to the task of building the nation.

I would appreciate your prayers for me, and of course also for Megie, Courtney and Liam, as this new phase in our lives takes shape.

I will remain the Chairman of the Board of 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' as our team works towards the G20 meetings in Australia in November 2014.  In addition to that I will also serve on one or two other boards (Unashamedly Ethical, the Power Group Charitable Trust, Half Time and Alpha).

Public theology - would the world be a better place without Christians?

This exceptional article by Clint le Bruyns, a public theologian from the University of Stellenbosch, explores the nature of theology as public discourse.  It makes for wonderful reading.

However, what struck me most about the article is the opening paragraph of two... In those paragraphs he comments an a recent parody post by an atheist who suggests that the world would be a better place if Christians were removed from it... Less wars, less consumption, better use of the earth's resources, and less nonsensical and irrational thought.

I was deeply challenged by this.  I'd love to hear your perspective on that particular thought (please read the article first!) and Clint's article in general.  What do you think, would the world be a better place without Christians?

Here's the first part of the article, please click the link at the end to read the rest.

Isn’t it ironic that just a week ago there was much ado about recent eschatological predictions that the world as we know it was starting to come to a dramatic end through the so-called ‘rapture’ event on May 21, 2011, at which time the faithful community of believers would be rescued from this earth to be taken up to heaven? A parody of the predicted event was posted the same day onYoutube by ‘The Thinking Atheist’.[1] The clip is titled “After the Rapture”[2] and begins with the mischievous claim that the prediction had actually come to pass. “Everything has changed. It is now a world without Christians”, it quipped, news which was being received around the world with “a sense of joy, of jubilation, of freedom” as “the world unites in celebration”. It explains the reason for this as follows:

Christian homes suddenly empty are now providing free clothing, furniture and appliances to be donated to the poor. The dramatic decrease in motor vehicles on the road is decreasing the demand for fossil fuels, driving gas prices down…. Prison populations have virtually disappeared. Recycled Bibles are now being used to make juice and milk containers for schoolchildren. Former religious institutions are now being used for exploration, health, science and recreation. Our planet now has more money, more food, more space, more resources, more education, and more common sense than ever experienced in recorded history.

Here's the video he refers to.

Read more here...