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The New Westminster Theology and South African Evangelicalism

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The New Westminster Theology and South African Evangelicalism THE NEW WESTMINSTER THEOLOGY AND SOUTH AFRICAN EVANGELICALISM A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF JOHN FRAME'S METHODOLOGY AND EPISTEMOLOGY WITH A VIEW TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTEXTUAL EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY. Town Cape A Dissertation submitted ofin partial fulfilment of the requirements for Master of Arts in the Department of Religious Studies. University By David Nugent Field Supervisor Prof. John W. De Gruchy Department of Religious Studies University of Cape Town March 1992 The Ulli·.-t;r~it·/ ·)\ Cnp~ ·ro"'r' h:::s.bc:.en given the rtnht to reproduce this thesiS m whole or ill part. Copyright is held by the author. The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University ABSTRACT. This dissertation attempts to answer the question "Do the methodological and epistemological proposals of John M. Frame have anything to contribute to the construction of a contextual evangelical theology in South Africa - a theology which is both faithful to its evangelical roots and yet radically engaged with the contemporary context?" This question is dealt with in four stages. Firstly, Frame's theology is expounded against the background of its context in America~ Secondly, four aspects of Frame's theology are critically evaluated. They are perspectivalism, theology as application, hermeneutics, and the relationship between theology and praxis. This evaluation has three dimensions. It investigates the relationship between Frame's theology and the historic Reformed tradition. It examihes the use that is made of Frame's theology by othe~ theologians related to the Westminster Seminaries, in particular, the work of Harvie M. Conn and Vern S. Poythress. Finally, the evaluation seeks to examine the usefullness of Frame's theology in the South Afrian context. This analysis results in the identification of certain weaknesses in Frame's methodological proposals. The conclusion of this dissertation is that Frame's theology provides certain methodological tools which can be employed in the construction of a contextual South African theology which is both radically engaged with its context, and faithful to the core of the evangelical tradition. For this to be possible it is proposed that certain modifications need to be made to overcome the weaknesses of Frame's theology. These modifications are the following: the integration of a strongly christological approach to Frame's concept of lordship with particular reference to a theology of the cross; the affirmation that God is, in a particular way, the God of the poor and oppressed; an understanding of the accommodated and context-relatedness of biblical revelation, and the incorporation of perspectives from the sociology of knowledge. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This dissertation could not have been completed without the assistance of a number of people. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. John De Gruchy, for his guidance and help in the writing of this dissertation. His influence on this dissertation extends beyond his supervision, in that his writings and lectures have had a major influence on the development of my theological understanding. My wrestling with devel6ping a theological response to the South African context has been strongly influenced by two resources, the New Westminster Theology and the work of John De Gruchy. It is therefore particularly appropriate that this thesis on the New Westminster Theology should be supervised by John De Gruchy. Secondly, I would like to thank Profs. John Frame, Vern Poythress and Harvie Conn for their creative contributions to theology. In particular, I would like to thank them for their help in the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank Mrs. Jackie vanden Bos of Westminster Theological Seminary in California for helping me to acquire John Frame's lecture outlines. Thirdly, I need to thank Roger Palmer and the staff of the University of Cape Town Student YMCA. They have encouraged and helped in different ways, particularly in allowing me the time to work on the thesis and in doing some of the work which I should have done. Fourthly, and most importantly, I would like tha~k my parents who have supported and encouraged me in many ways, not the least in providing mrist of the financial resources for my undergraduate and graduate studies. Without their help this dissertation would never have been completed. I would particularly thank my mother who has worked for many hours at the computer turning my illegible scrawl into the present typescript. The financial assistance of the Centre for Science Development towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed in this publication, or conclusions arrived at, are those of the author, and are not necessarily to be attributed to the Centre for Science Development. Soli Deo Gloria. CONTENTS I Introduction. 1 Definitions. 2 The Origins of this Research. 3 Methodology. I I The Context of the New Westminster Theology, 1 The Socio-Religious Context. 1.1 The Resurgence of American Evangelicalism. 1.2 The Dynamics of American Society. 2 The Westminster Tradition. 2.1 Important Westminster Theologians. 2.1.1 J. Gresham Machen. 2. 1. 2 John Murray. 2 .1. 3 Cornelius van Til. 2.2 The Inerrancy of the Bible. III An Exposition of John Frame's Epistemology and Methodology. 1 Epistemology. 1.1 The Objects of Knowledge. 1.2 The Knowing Subject. 1.3 The Justification of Knowledge. 2 Theological Methodology. 2.1 The nature and task of theology. 2.2 Triperspectivalism. 2.2.1 The Normative Perspective. 2.2.2 The Situational Perspective. 2.2.3 The Existential Perspective. IV A Critical Analysis of the Origins and Uses of John Frame's Proposals. 1 Perspectivalism. 1.1 Triperspectivalism. 1.1 .1 The Origins of Triperspectivalism. 1.1. 2 The Usefulness of Triperspectivalism. 1.1.2.1 Carl Ellis : Evangelical Black Theology. 1.1.2.2 Harvie Conn's Theory of Contextualisation. 1.1. 3 An Evaluation of Triperspectivalism. 1.2 "System". and Multiperspectivalism. 1. 2.1 Origins of Frame's Understanding of System and Multiperspectivalism. 1. 2. 2 Perspectives, Systems and the Bible. 1.2.3 Perspectives and Hermeneutics. 1.2.4 An Evaluation of Multiperspectivalism. 2 Meaning as Use and Theology as Application. 2.1 The Origin of Frames's Definition. 2.2 The Usefulness of Frames's Definition. 2.2.1 Harvie Conn's Theory of Contextualisation. 2.3 An Evaluation of Theology as Application. 3 Meaning Then and Meaning Now - The Question of Hermeneutics. 3.1 The Hermeneutics of John Frame and Vern Poythress. 3.2 The Hermeneutics of Harvie Conn and David Clowney. 4 Theology and Praxis: 4.1 The Origins of Frames's Concept of the Relationship between Theory and Praxis. 4.2 Theology and Political Praxis. 5 Conclusion. v Beyond the New Westminster Theology. 1 The Contribution of the New Westminster Theology. 1.1 Theologies and "Systems". 1.2 Contextualisation. 1.3 Theology and Praxis. 2 Overcoming The Weaknesses in the New Westminster Theology. 2.1 Christology and Lordship. 2.2 God and the Poor. 2.3 The Authority of the Bible and Contextual Theologies. 2.3.1 The Context Relatedness of the Biblical Documents. 2.3.2 Accommodation and the Fallenness of Humanity. 2.4 Triperspectivalism and the Sociology of Knowledge. 3 Conclusion. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION. The central thesis of this dissertation is that John M. Frame's epistemological and methodological proposals'can play a major role in developing a contextual evangelical theology in South Af~ica. This introduction will seek to justify this proposal by engaging in three tasks. Firstly, certain key concepts will be defined, secondly, the origins and purpose of this research will be discussed, and thirdly, the methodology that is used will be outlined. 1 DEFINITIONS. The New Westminster Theology refers to a new methodological approach to theology that ha~ been developed within the context o£ the Westminster theological seminaries in the U.S.A. Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia was started in 1930 to preserve and further the Old Princeton tradition'and more recently a new seminary was established in Escondido, California. The theology produced by the Westminster faculty has shifted from a largely defensive to a more creative stance. Part of this shift has been the epistemological and methodological proposals of John M. Frame who teaches apologetics and systematic theology at the California campus. He has interacted extensibly with the New Testament scholar, Vern S. Poythr~ss, who teaches at the Philadelphia campus. Harvie Conn, a Missiologist at the Philadelphia campus has made a creative use of Frame's and Poythress' ideas. This dissertation will focus on 2 Frame's work but will also interact with that of Poythress and Conn. The title ''evangelical" has been used in a wide variety of contexts with different meanings. In the context of this thesis it refers to that group of traditions, institutions and people who bear certain family resemblances. The. concept of family resemblance refers to the similarities and differences often seen in a family. Each member of the family will have some of the family characteristics, but in varying degrees. Yet there is an unmi~takable resemblance amongst the members of the family. The family characteristics of evangelicalism would include the following. A strong emphasis on the supreme authority of Scripture; this emphasis is shared by all members of the famiiy, but it is understood in a number of different ways. The acceptance of the historic orthodox creeds of the church. An understanding of salvation as by_ grace alone through faith alone.
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