Jesus in South Africaâšlost in Translation?

Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 brill.nl/jrt

Jesus in South Africa—Lost in Translation?

Elna Moutona & Dirkie Smitb a Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Faculty, Stellenbosch University Email: [email protected] b Professor of Systematic Th eology, Stellenbosch University Email: [email protected]

Abstract Within South African circles, Jesus is seen, interpreted, and understood in diverse and complex ways. It is almost impossible to provide any representative overview of these many ways in which the message concerning his person and work has been and still is being appropriated and claimed in South African churches and communities. Th is paper briefl y surveys four of the dominant discourses about Jesus in contemporary South African society; namely, Jesus in the popular news and newspaper debates, academic circles and scholarship, the worship and spirituality of congregations and believers, and public opinion concerning social and political life. In all cases, major trends are pointed out, which raises the question of whether these developments perhaps involve forms of betrayal, and ways in which the fi gure and message of Jesus may be lost in these diverse forms of translation.

Keywords Jesus, South African theology, historical Jesus, Jesus and spirituality, Jesus in public opinion

Looking for Jesus Christ in South Africa Today1 Who is Jesus in South Africa? How is Jesus seen, interpreted, and understood in the South African context? How is the person and work of Jesus translated into the South African reality? Th ese are very complex questions in need of complex answers. Th e story of South Africa has been and still is a story of many stories; the context of South Africa is a context of many contexts, dif- ferent worlds, and diff erent realities. Any attempt to look for Jesus Christ,

1 Th is paper was read during the October 2007 annual International Conference organized by the Moluccan Th eological Council together with IRTI (VU University Amsterdam), the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Th eology (Stellenbosch, South Africa) on the theme “Jesus—Lost in translation?”

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/187251609X12559402787155

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 248 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 therefore, runs the risk of selection and over-simplifi cation, and reduction and forgetfulness—perhaps even of ignoring the obvious. Even attempts to respect the complexities are still faced with the problem of how to fi nd a grid that could help us see the richness and diversity. Should one look at the diff erent views of Jesus in the confessional traditions—like David Bosch has done?2 Should one use the once popular contrast between more cultural, so-called African appropriations of Jesus and more political, so-called black theological appropriations of Jesus—a contrast that Desmond Tutu, Bonganjalo Goba, Manas Buthelezi, Allan Boesak, and many others, once were continuously forced to address?3 Should one use a commonly shared grid of images of Jesus—following Jaap Durand, for example—and seek to deter- mine whether and how they are also present in South Africa?4 Or should one perhaps use the well-known threefold typology and look for Jesus in the acad- emy, the church, and society—a typology that many South African scholars

2 Bosch used such a typology in his infl uential plenary paper during the well-known SACLA Conference of Christian leaders during the apartheid years, “For such a time as this” (Sunday July 8, 1979, unpublished) but he would later also develop this in the conclusions of his magnum opus on missiological theory, David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission (New York: Orbis, 1991), 512-18. Pointing out that diff erent traditions appropriate and emphasize diff erent aspects of the story and fi gure of Jesus, he argues that “[t]he Calvinist tradition, one could say, focuses on the ascension. For John Calvin, Christians live between the ascension and the parousia; from that position they seek to comprehend what their mission is,” 515. 3 During the years of struggle against apartheid and especially with the rise of black theology in South Africa, these leading theologians, together with many others, often addressed these questions. See, for example, the documentation of the conference Black Th eology revisited (Braamfontein: ICT, 1983), organized and published jointly by the Institute for Contextual Th eology and the New Horizon Project. Frank Chikane edited the volume of essays, including important contributions by Mokgethi Motlhabi, Buti Tlhagale, Bonganjalo Goba, Simon Maimela, and Sister Bernard. Other important contributions on the same question and related themes published elsewhere include, for example, Bonganjalo Goba, “An African Christian theology: Towards a tentative methodology from a South African perspective” (JTSA 1979, Vol. 26), 3-12; Sigqibo Dwane, “Christology and liberation” ( JTSA 1981, Vol. 35), 29-38; and also Jabulani A. Nxumalo, “Christ and ancestors in the African world: a pastoral consideration” (JTSA 1980, Vol. 32), 3-21, although with a diff erent focus. For a more recent overview and proposal, see Tinyiko S. Maluleke, “Black and African theologies in the New World Order: A time to drink from our own Wells” (JTSA 1996, Vol. 96), 3-19. Already in an internationally well-known but in apartheid South Africa banned publication on black theology edited by Basil Moore, Manas Buthelezi raised this question, “An African Th eology or a Black Th eology?”, in Basil Moore (Ed.), Th e Challenge of Black Th eology in South Africa (Atlanta: John Knox, 1973), 29-35, while many of the other contributors refl ected on the same theme. 4 J.J.F. (Jaap) Durand, “Jesus en lewensituasie,” (Jesus and Life Contexts) in his volume of collected essays, Teks binne konteks. Versamelde opstelle oor kerk en politiek (Text within Context: Collected Essays on Church and Politics) (Bellville: University of the Western Cape, 1986), 100-06.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 249 have used, including Russel Botman and Nico Koopman?5 Would it be more helpful to concentrate on the Jesus ‘before Christianity’ or the Jesus ‘not of the church’ and the Jesus ‘not of the doctrine’—like Albert Nolan, Jim Cochrane, and several others, although from widely diff erent backgrounds and persua- sions and for radically diff erent reasons?6 Or could precisely the opposite way prove more fruitful; namely, to focus on the Jesus of the faithful, the images of Jesus among the ordinary believers, in worship and spirituality—for example, in the enormously popular and infl uential South African industry of spiritual publications and broadcasting? Or should one not so much look for Jesus but, rather, for diverse ways in which the salvation that Jesus off ers is viewed—like Ronald Nicolson?7 Who is Jesus in South Africa—and where should one look for views on his person and work? Rather than following any available grid or pre-determined typology, the following survey simply attempts to remember some of the best known dis- courses around Jesus in South Africa over the last decades. Dependent on published material—which already presents a serious limitation in answering this question adequately in South Africa—this brief overview off ers nothing more than an attempt to record some of the best known and therefore, per- haps, the most representative discourses around Jesus in South Africa. It asks whether it is possible to hear what people said about Jesus in some of the most important social locations in South Africa, and in each case remembers some representative voices, contributions, or controversies.

Jesus—In the News? It is no exaggeration to claim that today Jesus is extremely popular in many parts of the South African public media, especially some radio stations and

5 For Botman’s ideas on Jesus Christ and public life, see his “Who is ‘Jesus Christ as community’ for us today? Th e quest for community: A challenge to theology in South Africa,” JTSA 1996, Vol. 97, 30-38; on the three publics, see, for example, Nico N. Koopman, “Th eology and the fulfi llment of social and economic rights,” in André van der Walt (Ed.), Th eories of social and economic justice (Stellenbosch: SunMedia, 2005), 128-40. Koopman is developing his infl uential public theology around these three publics and with specifi c focus on Christology. 6 See, for example, Albert Nolan, Jesus before Christianity. Th e gospel of liberation (Cape Town: David Philip, 1976); and several works by James R. Cochrane, often referring to the postgraduate work of his student G. Philpott, published as Jesus is tricky and God is undemocratic (Pieter- maritzburg: Cluster, 1993), for example, “Christ from above, Jesus from below” ( JTSA 1994, Vol. 88), 3-14; much more comprehensive in James R. Cochrane, Circles of Dignity (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1999), esp. 24ff . 7 Ronald Nicolson, A Black future? Jesus and salvation in South Africa (London: SCM, 1990).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 250 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 certain newspapers—albeit often for reasons of controversy and scandal. Th is is not a reference to the continuous role of religious public broadcasting and to religious publications, including church magazines and regular columns with spiritual content, but a reference to the powerful presence of specifi c debates about Jesus in the public media—debates that are clearly of interest to at least certain circles of the public opinion and that cause heated and almost uninterrupted polemical exchanges in the letters received from readers. Clearly, Jesus matters—and many people feel deeply divided. It is not so easy to characterize these controversies and to reduce them to main themes and issues. Th ey are, of course, part of broader debates in these circles about the same issues that occupy churches and believers in many parts of the contemporary world—the authority of scripture, especially claims regard- ing its responsible interpretation; the possible implications of the scriptural message for moral issues, and—in particular—questions concerning homosexual- ity; creationist accounts of the historical origins of the world rejecting scien- tifi c and evolutionary teachings; the role of Christian faith in a seemingly secularized society, yet at the same time, a seemingly increasingly religious world; the proper position, role, and infl uence of the Christian church and tradition in an interreligious, democratic, and tolerant society; the possible responsibility of religious communities, including Christianity, for moral for- mation and strengthening the social and moral fabric of a community in many ways dangerously vulnerable and at risk. In many of these debates, of course, Jesus is often simply shorthand for Bible, church, tradition, authority, and morality—which makes Jesus the solution for some and for others the cause of the problem. Th e controversies around Jesus in the public media in South Africa today are, however, still other controversies; namely, much more directly and spe- cifi cally controversies about the person and work of Jesus himself, and not merely the more general debates about religion and church in democratic soci- eties. Th ey are, indeed, part of these broader debates, which is also evident from the fact that they mostly take place in specifi c sections of the South Afri- can populace; namely, those circles more explicitly infl uenced by the conscious eff ects of modernity, secularism, and newly-found individual freedoms. At the same time, these controversies are more explicitly debates about Jesus. It is perhaps possible to discern at least three such controversies around Jesus that are in the news in South Africa today, even during these weeks and days. Th ese are debates around the so-called historical Jesus, debates around the res- urrection of Jesus, and debates around the miraculous healings of Jesus. Th e

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 251 everyday news shows many signs and symptoms of the divisive presence of these discourses, somewhere. A few well-known public fi gures—including some biblical scholars, for example—started a movement which they called the New Reformation. Th ey organized conferences, published a book with this title, drew much attention in newspapers and the public media, addressed some public meetings, also in congregations, and eventually some of them publicly gave up their member- ship of the offi cial church.8 Although the group represents a variety of frustra- tions and complaints, a mood or movement rather than an organization with boundaries and membership, and does not itself already seem to have a clear focus or shared position, it is obvious that at least one widespread concern is a new-found interest in the so-called historical Jesus. Th e direct infl uence of the North American Jesus Seminar is very obvious; the church’s view of Jesus— including the New Testament, the Gospels and the Letters, the faith of the early church, the tradition, including the development of Christological cate- gories, the content of the creeds and the confessions—is seen as historical fal- sifi cations under cultural infl uences, and the church is accused of deliberately hiding the historical truth about the real Jesus from its members. During the same time, a Dutch Reformed theological student from the Faculty of Th eology at Pretoria, with the support, assistance, and encourage- ment of some ministers in the church, offi cially accused some of the lecturers of the faculty of heresy, for complex reasons—based on exact notes which he secretly took over years of what some of them said—but perhaps focused on the claim that they deny the ‘literal,’ the ‘real,’ the ‘factual’ or the ‘historical’ nature of the resurrection of Jesus. In spite of their continuous claims to the contrary—in newspapers, on the radio, on websites, in public meetings, in church assemblies, during the offi cial church investigations, in popular publi- cations, even in a book on the resurrection—and their public confession of the faith of the church and the creeds, and in spite of the fact that the DRC offi cially rejected the accusation and disciplined the student, these accusa- tions stay in the news.9 Very recently, an initially anonymous and extremely

8 For a volume of essays from the perspective of this New Reformation, see Piet Muller (Red.), Die nuwe hervorming (Th e New Reformation) (Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis, 2002). 9 For some of the many publications on the resurrection of Jesus, see, for example, Julian Müller, Opstanding (Resurrection) (Wellington: Lux Verbi.Bm, 2006); Frits Gaum, 20 Gesprekke oor die opstanding van Jesus uit die dood (20 Conversations about Jesus’ Resurrection from Death) (Kaapstad: Ex Animo, 2004). For an important earlier contribution, see J.J.F. Durand, “Th eology and resurrection—Metaphors and paradigms” ( JTSA 1993, Vol. 82), 3-20. For some of the more

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 252 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 controversial DVD was widely distributed with the obvious intention to con- tinue to spread and to support with visible evidence these accusations about a new, alternative, and false gospel being present in church and theological cir- cles in South Africa. Currently, a process is underway that may illustrate a third, albeit similar concern. Some prominent ministers and members of the Dutch Reformed Church—including, for example, the respected scientist Louw Alberts; the successful publisher of evangelical spirituality Chris Johnson; the church his- torian Hoffi e Hofmeyr, who recently resigned from the Pretoria Faculty; and the retired systematic theologian from UNISA, Adrio König—formed still another new movement in the church, which they call the Evangelical Initia- tive. Although they claim that they are not yet ready to meet the leadership of the church, they have written to all ministers of the church inviting them to join what is obviously intended as an alternative structure within the church, born out of deep concern for what they regard as a crisis in the church. Th ey have their own alternative confession (of six foundational claims, with brief exposition of each) and their own organizational structures (for brothers; and for children). Th ey distributed a sermon to all ministers in which they actually advertise the organization, and invited them to use it during worship in their own congregations, and they invited all ministers and members for a celebra- tion in Pretoria early in October, in the hope that, should they draw thousands of concerned people, they would have enough popular support to confront the leadership of the church about the crisis. Perhaps the most interesting of the six foundational claims in their confes- sion—because the other fi ve are well-known evangelical convictions probably already shared by most members of the DRC, as the leadership also immedi- ately indicated—is their explicit conviction that “the miracles of Jesus Christ is a central part of the gospel.” Explaining this conviction, they say that the supernatural miracles of Jesus are so important because Jesus declares that this is how the kingdom of God comes—when he casts out evil powers (bose magte) from human beings.10 popular and often controversial contributions to this public debate about the so-called historical Jesus, see, for example, the New Testament scholar Jan du Rand, Jesus van Nasaret: Wat glo ek? ( Jesus of Nazareth: What do I believe?) (Vereeniging: CUM, 2005); the pastoral theologian Murray Janson, Op soek na die ware Jesus (In Search of the True Jesus) (Wellington: LuxVerbi.BM, 2002); and the systematic theologian Adrio König, Die helfte is my nooit oor Jesus vertel nie (I was not told even half about Jesus) (Wellington: LuxVerbi.BM, 2001). 10 Matt. 12: 28. So-called spiritual warfare in the name of Jesus has become a very popular theme in many circles in South African churches; for only one example of this growing

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It is not clear why they highlight this conviction in this remarkable way, as one of their six foundational concerns. It may be related to South African debates, also in study commissions, synods, and public discussions, about the importance of spiritual warfare and a continuous struggle against Satan, espe- cially regarding miraculous healings. Th ere have, for example, been regular reports in the news of groups of church members, sometimes including prom- inent people, visiting Nigeria to seek healing from so-called prophets. If this is the background, then the argument is often made that this aspect, so central to the Gospels, is more easily understood and practiced in African cultural environments, and that the practices today are, in fact, the same as those reported in the Gospel accounts. It may however also be related to a special concern of König’s theology over many decades; namely, with the ongoing power struggle between God in Christ and the powers of evil in history and the world. In his own views on Christ, God, and in later years also explicitly the providence of God, he has always argued strongly for a theology in which this ongoing power struggle is taken very seriously.11 Taken together, these three controversies provide convincing evidence that the widespread interest in Jesus in the news is the result of a new historical consciousness in some circles of the South African population. Assumptions of modernity (Western style) and the taken-for-granted convictions and criti- cal questions of so-called secular positivism are challenging the faith and proc- lamation of the church, for many South Africans perhaps for the fi rst time, and for this reason they struggle in many ways with similar questions to those that church and theology elsewhere had to confront much earlier, although some of these questions take on a specifi c African garb.12 conversation and literature, see Chris van Wyk, Bid of baklei? ‘n Nuwe verstaan van geestelike oorlogvoering (Pray or Fight? A New Understanding of Spiritual Warfare) (Stellenbosch: Buvton, 2003). 11 For some of König’s own early work in this regard, see Een wat sterker is (One who is stronger) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1972); Ek is wat Ek is (I am what I am) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1973); and Hier is Ek! (Here I am!) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1975). In later years, his interest in the ongoing power struggle became very obvious in works such as God, waarom lyk die wêreld so? (God, why does the world look like this? ) (Wellington: LuxVerbi.BM, 2007). 12 Some of the most instructive studies in this regard have been published by J.J.F. (Jaap) Durand, including his Ontluisterde wêreld. Die Afrikaner en sy kerk in ‘n veranderende Suid-Afrika (A Disenchanted World. Th e Afrikaner and his church in a changing South Africa) (Wellington: LuxVerbi.BM, 2003) as well as his later Doodloopstrate van die geloof (Dead-end Streets of Faith) (Stellenbosch: SunMedia, 2005). For other important works dealing with the same changes in society and challenges to the faith, see for example Piet Naudé, Drie maal een is een (Th ree times one is one) (Vereeniging: CUM, 2004); Ben du Toit, God? Geloof in ’n postmoderne tyd (God? Faith in a postmodern time) (Bloemfontein: CLF, 2000); and Anton van Niekerk, Geloof sonder sekerhede

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When taken together, it is also clear that all these controversies reveal the concern of some in South Africa that Jesus is indeed lost somewhere—the real historical Jesus in the false Christological faith and proclamation of the church; the resurrected Jesus in the unbelieving historical consciousness of Western modernity; the powerful Jesus still struggling daily with the evil powers and the Evil One, in contemporary Africa, like in the days of the Gospels, in the closed worldview of a contemporary positivist, scientist, and secularist spirit.

Jesus—In Scholarship? It is already clear that the debates around Jesus in the news are closely related to developments around Jesus in scholarship. Sometimes they merely report on and refl ect those developments, sometimes they are caused by attempts to bring scholarly debates also to the public attention, sometimes they are moti- vated by disturbed responses in the circles of faith and church, and sometimes they are simply reactions to rumors about what is happening in the world of scholarship. So, what is happening in the world of South African scholar- ship—and what has been happening there to Jesus? A fi rst response speaks for itself. Th e unrest and polemics in the popular news media are caused by the—much belated—impact of historical consciousness and historical-critical methodologies in the circles of especially South African New Testament scholarship. Insightful overviews and interpretations—for example, of the history of New Testament scholarship in South Africa in gen- eral, by Andrie du Toit, and of the work of the scholarly body, the New Testa- ment Society of Southern Africa in particular, by Pieter de Villiers—confi rm the observation.13 On the controversial DVD, one of the Pretoria accused,

(Faith without Certainties) (Wellington: Lux Verbi.BM, 2005). Th e nature of these uncertainties and questions is clearly seen in the extensive report on an internet discussion in Etienne van Heerden, Erns Grundling & Th omas Mollett (Eds.), Die omstrede God—Bestaan God of nie? (Th e controversial God—Does God exist or not?) (Stellenbosch: Rapid Access, 2004). 13 A.B. (Andrie) du Toit, “Die opkoms en stand van die Nuwe-Testamentiese ondersoek in Suid-Afrika” (“Th e rise and status of New Testament research in South Africa”: Deel (Part) 1 (HTS 1993 Vol. 49/1), 503-14; Deel (Part) 2 , (HTS 1993 Vol. 49/4), 786-809; Deel (Part) 3, (HTS 1994, Vol. 50/3), 531-42, all three parts with extensive bibliographical information. See also P.G.R. (Pieter) de Villiers, “Turbulent times and golden years. Th e fi rst twenty-fi ve years of the New Testament Society of South Africa (1965-1990),” Neotestamentica 2005, Vol. 39/1, 75- 110; and “Methodology and hermeneutics in a challenging socio-political context,” Neotestamentica 2005, Vol. 39/2, 229-53. In a sensitive evaluation, De Villiers refl ects on both the seeming lack of historical work and the seeming reluctance to engage with ‘the bitter history’ of South African society itself, in the second of his papers.

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Jurie le Roux—who wrote an equally helpful overview of the development of Old Testament scholarship—correctly observes that the radical historical awareness of the 19th century in Western thought only reached South African biblical scholarship during the last few years. It would be interesting to speculate on possible reasons for this. Most prob- ably, a reluctance of many local biblical scholars to get involved in the abuse of the Bible by the theology of apartheid contributed to their fl ight into literary and a-historical structural approaches to the text, and to an almost exclusive focus on questions of method during the years of the struggle, with the result that an interest in historical issues—for example, the historical Jesus—arrived almost overnight, made possible only by the social and political transforma- tion, but these questions concerning the ethical responsibility of reading these religious documents have already been debated at length in South African scholarly circles. However, whatever the reasons, the implication is, in any case, clear. Th e historical Jesus, who according to many had been lost, suddenly arrived in South African biblical scholarship, surrounded by confl ict. Many fi gures, book titles, and essays constituting this discourse could be mentioned, but perhaps two important and widely discussed studies by New Testament scholars could be taken as representative; namely, Fatherless in Galilee. Jesus as child of God by Andries van Aarde,14 and Wie was Jesus regtig? by Francois Wessels.15 But is this the only possible response to the question concerning the Jesus of academic theological work in South Africa? Several other valuable overviews— for example, the mapping of systematic theology in Africa by Ernst Conradie and Charl Fredericks,16 the comprehensive analysis of literature on the Bible

14 Van Aarde is a prolifi c author of scholarly papers, including many contributions dealing with questions concerning who Jesus was (often in the important South African theological journal Hervormde Teologiese Studies, HTS). Of many, see, for example, “Die relevansie van die historiese Jesus-ondersoek vir kerklike teologie” (“Th e relevance of the historical Jesus research for ecclesiastic theology”) (HTS 2000, Vol. 56/2&3), 549-71; and “Th e ‘cause of Jesus’ (Sache Jesu) as the Canon behind the Canon” (HTS 2001, Vol. 57/1&2), 148-71. See also from his student and colleague P.A. Geyser, “Waarom Jesus-studies?” (“Why Studies of Jesus?”) (HTS 2000, Vol. 56/1), 63-83. Van Aarde’s major contribution in this regard however remains his monograph, Andries van Aarde, Fatherless in Galilee (Philadelphia: Trinity, 2001). 15 G. Francois Wessels, Wie was Jesus regtig? (Who was Jesus really?) (Wellington: Lux Verbi. BM, 2006). He provides a detailed and fair overview of several infl uential scholarly answers to the question of the historical Jesus before he develops and argues his own suggestions. 16 Ernst M. Conradie & Charl E. Fredericks (Eds.), Mapping Systematic theology in Africa. An indexed bibliography (Stellenbosch: Sun Press, 2004).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 256 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 in Africa by Gerald West and Musa Dube,17 the interpretation of academic theological trends particularly in the Dutch Reformed Church by Piet Naudé,18 the NEXUS data base of the National Research Foundation on completed and current research (50 printed pages with titles just on ‘Jesus’), the valuable vol- umes of the South African Th eological Bibliography, and a survey of the respected theological journals published in South Africa—show that a comprehensive answer should be far more nuanced. Based on such overviews, at least three other broad remarks become necessary, although each of them calls for further refl ection and careful consideration. A second response should simply be the acknowledgement that mainstream Christological refl ection, very well informed about many theological dis- courses in the rest of the contemporary world—including Dutch, German, and English discussions, but also the contributions of the so-called Th ird World, Africa, Asia, Latin America, including liberation, black, and feminist theologies, as well as evangelical, ecumenical and worldwide confessional developments—continued to take place. On the whole, South African theo- logical scholarship did not take place somewhere in an isolated corner, but remained part of, and often contributed to, global refl ection. In many theological faculties, seminaries, and Bible schools, the historical faith of the church was taught and studied. Serious postgraduate work in Chris- tology was continuously being done during recent years, by South African scholars—for example, Russel Botman and Lyn Holness;19 by South African scholars who wrote their doctoral dissertations elsewhere—for example, Takatso Mofokeng, Daan Cloete, and Welile Mazamisa;20 and by scholars from else-

17 Gerald O. West & Musa W. Dube (Eds.), Th e Bible in Africa. Transactions, trajectories, and trends (Leiden: Brill, 2000), with many articles and an extensive bibliography. 18 Piet J. Naudé, “Constructing a coherent theological discourse: Th e main challenge facing the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa today” (Scriptura 2003, Vol. 83), 192-211; see also his later address to the New Testament Society, “Can we still hear Paul on the agora? An outsider perspective on South African New Testament scholarship,” Neotestamentica 2005, Vol. 39/2, 339-58. 19 Both wrote their doctoral theses on Christological themes, see H. Russel Botman, Discipleship as transformation? Towards a theology of transformation (Bellville: University of the Western Cape, unpublished doctoral dissertation, 1994); and Lyn Holness, Christology from within: a critical retrieval of the humanity of Christ, with particular reference to the role of Mary (Cape Town: UCT, unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2001). Several South African New Testament scholars, of course, also wrote doctoral dissertations at South African universities on themes related to the Gospels and to Jesus Christ, over many years. 20 All three wrote their doctoral theses on Christological themes at universities in the Netherlands, see Takatso A. Mofokeng, Th e crucifi ed among the crossbearers. Towards a Black Christology (Kampen: Kok, 1983); Gerhard D. Cloete, Hemelse solidariteit. ’n Weg in die relasie

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 257 where in Africa who wrote their dissertations in South Africa—for example, recently Godwin Akper and Victor Nakah.21 Important studies on Christol- ogy were published—from monographs like Willie Jonker’s Christus, die Middelaar and Adrio König’s Jesus die Laaste to comprehensive systematic the- ologies by, for example, Johan Heyns and Klaus Nürnberger;22 and perhaps one may include Bram van de Beek’s Jezus Kurios, written partly in and dedi- cated to the Th eology Faculty in Stellenbosch.23 Again, this trend also calls for careful consideration and further interpreta- tion and speculation. Th ere is little doubt that this kind of theological work and especially publications have become less common in South African cir- cles. During a meeting of the Th eological Society of South Africa, where tussen christologie en soteriologie in die Vierde Evangelie (Heavenly Solidarity. A Road in the Relationship between Christology and Soteriology in the Fourth Gospel) (Kampen: Kok, 1978); and Llewellyn W. Mazamisa, Beatifi c Comradeship. An Exegetical-Hermeneutical study on Lk 10: 25-37 (Kampen: Kok, 1987). In earlier years, many other South African biblical scholars, of course, also completed their doctoral work on themes related to Jesus Christ and Christology, while some studied elsewhere, including Bernard C. Lategan, Die aardse Jesus in die prediking van Paulus volgens sy briewe (Th e Earthly Jesus in the Preaching of Paul according to His Letters) (Rotterdam: Bronder, 1967); H.J.B. (Bernard) Combrink, Die diens van Jesus: ‘n Eksegetiese beskouing oor Markus 10: 45 (Th e Service of Jesus: A Exegetical Refl ection on Mark 10: 45) (Groningen: V.R.B., 1968); W.R. (Bill) Domeris, Th e Holy One of God (Durham, unpublished doctoral thesis, 1983); J. Cilliers Breytenbach, Nachfolge und Zukunftserwartung nach Markus: Eine methodenkritische Studie (Discipleship and Future Expectation According to Mark: A Critical Study of Methods) (Zürich: Th eologischer Verlag, 1984). 21 Godwin Akper, Contemporary African perspectives on Jesus’ Cross and human suff ering: A critical comparison of African Christologies (Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University, unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2004), as well as several papers on Jesus Christ in African faith and theology since then; also Victor Nakah, Evangelical Christianity and African Culture? A critical assessment of the salvifi c signifi cance of the cross of Christ in Shona Culture (Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University, unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2007). 22 Willem D. Jonker, Christus, die Middelaar (Christ, the Mediator) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1977); Adrio König, Jesus die laaste (Christ the Last One) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1980); Johan A. Heyns, Dogmatiek (Dogmatics) (Pretoria: NGKB, 1978); Klaus Nürnberger, Sistematiese Teologie (Systematic Th eology) (Genadendal: Evangeliese Broederkerk, 1975). For more recent works by some of them also with implications for views concerning Jesus Christ, see also Adrio König, Die helfte is my nooit oor Jesus vertel nie (I was not told even half about Jesus); Klaus Nürnberger, Th e living dead and the living God (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2007), as well as Klaus Nürnberger, Biblical theology in outline (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster, 2004). 23 A. (Bram) van de Beek, Jezus Kurios: de Christologie als hart van de theologie. Spreken over God 1,1 ( Jesus Kurios: Christology as the Heart of Th eology. Speaking about God 1,1) (Kampen: Kok, 1999). Another Dutch theologian, Martien Brinkman, in fact also completed a part of his monograph, De niet-westerse Jezus. Jezus als bodhisattva, avatara, goeroe, profeet, voorouder, en genezer (Th e non-western Jesus. Jesus as bodhisattva, avatara, guru, prophet, ancestor, and healer) (Zoetermeer: Meinema, 2007), during a sabbatical in Stellenbosch.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 258 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 prominent South African theologians were invited to look back on their own development and work, there was no doubt that this is indeed the case. Again, there may be very material contributing causes, many of them related to the spirit of the time, to global trends, to social and political changes, to lan- guage politics, to changing patterns in reading and publication in general, to spiritual needs, to the self-understanding of the churches and their changing expectations regarding ministers and theological training; yet, the trend away from this kind of traditional scholarship can hardly be denied or ignored. Perhaps this is yet a diff erent form in which a certain understanding of Jesus is being lost. A third response should be that there seems to be a lack of interest in the so-called deliberate inculturation of Jesus in South African scholarship, at least as long as culture is limited to refer only to issues like language, clothing, music, liturgical renewal, and external cultural customs and practices. Th e fi ndings of Mapping systematic theology in Africa. An indexed bibliography dem- onstrate this powerfully. Th e section on ‘the doctrine of Christ’ lists about 165 titles, of which only about 15 were written by South Africans, and of those only one essay by Frank Chikane, “Th e incarnation in the life of the people in Southern Africa” (already from 1985), vaguely deals with this kind of con- cern.24 Th e editors admit that “this bibliography remains incomplete in many respects,” but even if some titles were omitted that do focus on the question of Jesus in cultural dress and practice, the overwhelming nature of this absence can simply not be ignored. Again, the probable causes for this lack of interest call for further consider- ation and speculation. Perhaps the obsessive emphasis of the apartheid society on language and culture, almost defi ning human beings—the so-called ‘Afri- kaner’ but also ‘Africans’—primarily and often exclusively in terms of their real or imagined cultural particularities, in terms of their tribal traditions, his- tories, clothing, music, dance, and language, rather than in terms of their full and common humanity, contributed to this lack of interest? Perhaps the expectation that ‘Africans’ should long to clothe Jesus in their particular cul- tural garb, that African Christians should be concerned with inculturation and contextualization, while Western theology and scholarship continue to refl ect on the real Jesus, was experienced as a form of paternalistic insult and coloni- zation? Perhaps South African black believers, churches, and theologians— based on their particular experiences—deliberately rejected any separation between culture, on the one hand, and the rest of their lives—politics, eco-

24 Conradie & Fredericks (Eds.), Mapping Systematic theology in Africa, 116.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 259 nomic life, education, socialization, labor—on the other, and refused to lose the fullness of the incarnated, crucifi ed, and risen Jesus for an inculturated, religious Jesus only? Th is would explain the fourth response that is necessary; namely, the recog- nition that black South African scholarship on Jesus always seemed to take these social realities seriously, as the context in which Jesus matters. Th is is, for example, well demonstrated in Takatso Mofokeng’s Th e Crucifi ed among the crossbearers. Towards a Black Christology. Black Christology, according to Mofo- keng, arises in the continuous interplay between two questions; namely, a black anthropological question, on the one hand, and a Christological ques- tion, on the other hand. Th e black anthropological question actually involves two questions: Who am I, and How can I be liberated to my authentic self ? Th e Christological question is the question: Who do you say that I am? In the interplay between these two questions, black Christology retells the story of Jesus Christ’s incarnation, life and ministry, and cross and resurrection in ways that help to answer the questions about black people’s humanity at the same time, who they are, and how they can be liberated to be who they are. In this retelling of the story of Jesus Christ, everything that is important for the humanity of black people therefore fi nds a new place and meaning—history, culture, values, land, suff ering, ongoing struggle, and spirituality. In his own case, he searches for answers in discussion with the Christologies of the Latin American Sobrino and the Swiss Barth. Th e point is, however, that this is serious theological refl ection on who Jesus is, and how he saves from the all- inclusive experience of being black in apartheid South Africa, in the same way that Christological refl ection through the history of the church consisted of serious attempts to understand who Jesus is and how he saves from the all- inclusive experiences of diverse historical epochs—and not at all simply an attempt to translate an already fully known Jesus into African cultural customs and practices.25 Exactly the same point could be made regarding the scholarly work of many other South Africans, including Cloete’s Hemelse solidariteit and Mazamisa’s Beatifi c comradeship. Both are exegetical and hermeneutical studies, respec- tively of the gospels of John and Luke. For both, Christology and soteriology are inseparable; Jesus’ “comradeship” is “beatifi c,” his “solidarity” is “heavenly,” which in both cases means salvifi c and therefore critical of our forms of com- radeship and solidarity; both read Jesus as “analogy” (Cloete), as “parable”

25 Takatso A. Mofokeng, Th e crucifi ed among the crossbearers. Towards a Black Christology (Kampen: Kok, 1983).

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(Mazamisa) of God and for us, for the church, for discipleship; both “do not deny” that their South African background and experience play a role in how they read and see Jesus; the community of Christ in the world are children of the father, friends of Jesus Christ, pupils of the Holy Spirit (Cloete); Jesus is the parable of God par excellence and comrade of humanity, making the Samaritan an irrupting ‘other’ and comrade of God (Mazamisa).26 Th e same conclusion is probably true of all attempts in South African schol- arship to retell the story of Jesus Christ in such ways that the good news of salvation is indeed heard as existential, meaningful, liberating, healing, and humanizing. Would this explain the longing to fi nd names for Jesus—old and new—describing who he is and what he does in ways that make sense to South African people with their worldviews, social constructions, value systems, and especially experiences of suff ering and dehumanization? Does this also explain the continuous concern with the relationship between Jesus and the ancestors, the living and the dead, because they often represent the already available and perhaps alternative cultural and religious answers to the same anthropological and Christological questions? Would this perhaps also explain the widely felt need to relate Jesus with everyday and real experiences of illness and healing, both physical and spiritual, with experiences of suff ering and need, of power and liberation, of success, blessing, and happiness? Again, more detailed discussion of these issues is necessary, but this could perhaps explain why culture never seemed to become a separate theme for South African black scholarship, separated from the fullness of being human in the everyday realities of the world.

Jesus—In Worship and Spirituality? Th ese last comments serve as a reminder that the most important answer to the question concerning Jesus in South Africa has probably not been given. Th ere is simply no doubt that for ordinary South Africans and for major sec- tions of the South African population, their everyday experience of Jesus in regular worship and the practices of spiritual life is far more important and real than the controversies in the news and the subtleties of scholarship. South Africa is a deeply religious society in which Christian faith and worship occupy

26 Gerhard D. Cloete, Hemelse solidariteit. ’n Weg in die relasie tussen christologie en soteriologie in die Vierde Evangelie (Heavenly Solidarity. A Road in the Relationship between Christology and Soteriology in the Fourth Gospel (Kampen: Kok, 1978); Llewellyn W. Mazamisa, Beatifi c Comradeship. An Exegetical-Hermeneutical Study on Lk 10: 25-37 (Kampen: Kok, 1987).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 261 a pervasive presence. Any proper response to the question of who Jesus is should take account of this reality. But who is Jesus, in South African worship and spirituality? It is an impos- sible question to answer adequately. Th ere are simply too many forms, too many traditions and communities, too many ways to worship and to practice religiosity and spirituality—and they seem to increase by the day. Th ree very broad and general observations must therefore suffi ce. First, the largest single group of Christians in South Africa is the so-called AICs (sometimes called African Initiated Churches, African Independent Churches, African Indigenous Churches, African Instituted Churches or Afri- can Initiatives in Christianity). Th ere is no doubt that worship plays a crucial role in the communal life of these churches, and that this worship very defi - nitely and deliberately represents African styles and forms. Th e variety within this group is however so rich that it is impossible even to begin to say who Jesus is for this family of faith communities. During three offi cial dialogues between the African Independent Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Nairobi 1998; Rwanda 1999; Nigeria 2001), the OAIC (the Organization of African Instituted Churches, established in Cairo in 1978), offi cially representing these communities, divided themselves into three categories; namely, nationalist churches (also known as Ethiopian and African Churches), retaining much in liturgy and doctrine from Western or historical churches; spiritual churches (also known as Zionist or Apostolic), with more informal liturgies in which more forms are borrowed from African traditions; and African Pentecostal Churches, associated with the evangelistic missions of Western Pentecostals, often in confl ict with the spiri- tual churches over their styles of worship, sometimes not regarded as fully African.27 Of these three types, the spiritual churches are particularly well established in South Africa. According to the fi nal Report between the AICs and WARC, they are sometimes called prophet-healing churches because of the centrality of charismatic gifts in their worship and ministry, practiced in the form of prophecy, interpretation of dreams, healing, and prayer for protection from evil. It is clear how this could impact on the views of Jesus in these churches. Th e largest of these groups in South Africa is the Zion Christian Church at

27 See, for full documentation, the report of the three meetings on the website of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, “Th e fi nal Report on the Dialogue between the African Independent or Instituted Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches”; also “Christianity in the African Context” (Reformed World 2005, Vol. 55/1), 38-54.

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Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province, led by Barnabas and Saint Enganas Lekganyane, the grandsons of the founder in 1924, Enganas Lekganyane. Th ey are widely known for their annual celebrations over Easter, when mem- bers travel to Moria in thousands of buses. Th ey deliberately combine Christi- anity with elements of traditional African belief, and it is often said that the bishop sometimes replaces the fi gure of Jesus Christ as Messiah, serving as medi- ator between the congregation and God, like Christ, and being able to per- form supernatural acts and faith-healing, like Christ. During the dialogue with the WARC, a wide variety of themes was dis- cussed, but very little was said about Jesus. Th e reason may perhaps be that the two bodies largely agreed on who Jesus is for them, and realized that the major disagreements to be discussed may be found elsewhere. Th is seems to be fur- ther confi rmed in the only section of any of the three reports as well as the fi nal report where explicit mention of Jesus is indeed made; namely, the “affi r- mation of a common faith” during the second meeting in Kigali, Rwanda: “We affi rm a common faith in the Triune God, in the lordship of Jesus Christ as God incarnate and crucifi ed, who identifi es with us in our suff ering, in the Holy Spirit and his transforming power in our lives.”28 Second, the next largest churches in South Africa, by far, would be the Reformed family and the Roman Catholic Church, and it is fair to say that in the regular weekly worship during the many congregations of these two bod- ies, precisely the same Jesus is proclaimed, confessed, and worshipped. Again, the African form of liturgy and worship is often very characteristic. Any visitor who attends a worship service in the townships or in the many rural congrega- tions and experiences the music and rhythm, the movement and the dances, the amazing choirs and the spontaneous singing of the whole congregation, the involvement of the youth and the passion of the celebration, the powerful preaching and the attentive listening, the seriousness of the prayers, of the thanksgiving, intercession, and dedication invariably comes under a deep impression of the inculturation of the gospel that is at work. Yet, it would be misleading to claim that it is a diff erent Jesus and a diff erent gospel. Anyone who has participated in the ongoing celebrations over the Easter weekend, in the procession and the passion of Good Friday, and in the communal com- memoration and celebrations of the Easter morning will recognize the One Crucifi ed and Risen. It is indeed the same Lord Jesus Christ, who as God

28 “Th e Kigali Statement. 13th-19th October 1999, L’Eglise Presbytérienne au Rwanda, Kigali. Dialogue between the Organization of African Instituted Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches,” in the Final Report.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 263 incarnate and crucifi ed, identifi es with us in our suff ering, and as Holy Spirit is present through his transforming power in the lives of the believers, in the words of the OAIC and WARC.29 Searching for Jesus in South Africa, one could therefore be inclined to take it for granted that for most people Jesus is the Jesus of the faith of the church, the creeds, and confessions; Jesus the Mediator; the Jesus of the Gospel accounts; the Jesus of the proclamation of the New Testament; the incarnate, crucifi ed, risen, and ascended Jesus; the living Christ who cares for the church, calls the church, and commissions the church; the Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father; and the Jesus who is truly present at the Lord’s Supper. Th is is indeed the Jesus of many popular publications, of church decisions, of personal con- fessions also by theologians, of sermons, of prayer books, of liturgies, of Bible studies, of websites, and chat rooms.30 Perhaps it is necessary, however, to—third—also make special mention of the popularity of spiritual publications and spiritual broadcasting in South Africa today. Again, this is a complex phenomenon that calls for careful dis- tinctions and interpretation. Religiosity (or spirituality) in South Africa takes on many diff erent forms, often deeply contradictory to one another—New Age inspired spirituality; American style televangelism; diverse expressions of Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity; and many forms of success spiri- tuality or prosperity religions. Sometimes Jesus plays an important role in these kinds of spirituality, and sometimes not at all. Sometimes this is the Jesus of the historical faith of the church; sometimes the Jesus is almost not recog- nizable as the Jesus of the biblical Gospels. Many observers will sometimes feel that the Jesus of the Gospels and the creeds is indeed somewhere lost in these expressions of contemporary spirituality. It is in the light of the popularity and impact of diverse forms of religiosity and spirituality that one should probably not take it for granted that the Jesus of the regular worship at least in many Protestant denominations and

29 For a broader academic discussion of the understanding of salvation in African Christian theology, see the Utrecht doctoral dissertation by the South African Gerrit Brand, Speaking of a fabulous ghost: In search of theological criteria, with special reference to the debate on salvation in African Christian theology (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2002). 30 See, for example, works like Willem D. Jonker, Ons posisie in Christus en ons aardse realiteite (Our Position in Christ and Our Earthly Realities) (Harare: CAVA, 1977); J.J.F. (Jaap) Durand, Iemand soos ek en jy (Someone like Me and You) (Stellenbosch: Wever, 2003); Nico Botha, Jesus, die waaragtige lewensweg (Jesus, the True Way of Life) (Pretoria: CB Powell-Bybelsentrum, 2003) and Johan Cilliers, Sal die regte Jesus opstaan, asseblief? (Will the True Jesus Stand up, Please?) (Vereeniging: CUM, 1997), representing many other similar works.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 264 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 congregations is indeed the Jesus of the historical faith of the church, the creeds, and the confessions. One only has to remember a research project some decades ago into the content of religious programs in the public broad- casting media to realize how serious some reservations in this regard may be. At that time it was found that an extremely privatized spirituality completely dominated these religious programs. Church and society, including the his- torical faith of the church and any ethical implications of the gospel, played almost no role at all, including the person and work of Jesus Christ. It was completely absent and replaced by subjectivist religious inner experience.31 At the time, control study groups in actual congregations and worship services did not show much of a diff erent pattern, so that it may perhaps still be the case that the Jesus of the faith of the church, although present in the study of theology and the offi cial documents and decisions of denominations and the ecumenical church, may actually be absent—and therefore somehow lost—in the worship and spirituality of the mainline congregations too. Th ere are, however, very instructive examples where attempts are deliber- ately made to respond to the contemporary need of many people for new and meaningful spiritual experiences, and to do so by appealing to the Jesus of the Gospels. One is certainly a recent book by Albert Nolan called Jesus today. A spirituality of radical freedom.32 It is especially remarkable because thirty years before the same Nolan—who was deeply involved in the so-called kairos theol- ogy of the Institute for Contextual Th eology, of the Kairos Document, and the Road to Damascus33—wrote another very famous study called Jesus before Christianity, in which he painted a picture of Jesus of the Gospels as a passion- ate and critical prophet, committed to social change, before the faith, doc- trine, ritual, and liturgy of the (Catholic) church largely robbed Jesus of these characteristics. A decade later he also wrote an infl uential book called God in South Africa: the challenge of the gospel, which was even more explicitly politi- cal, contextual, radical, and challenging. He was almost taking sides in the South African struggle and claiming God for a very particular historical and

31 Bethel A. Müller, ’n Ondersoek na tendense in Afrikaanse godsdienstige uitsendings van die SAUK en na die hermeneutiese en homiletiese beginsels wat ten grondslag daarvan lê (An Investigation of Tendencies in Afrikaans Religious Broadcasts from SABC and of the Hermeneutical and Homilitical Principles on Which Th ey Are Based (Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University, 1989). 32 Albert Nolan, Jesus today. A spirituality of radical freedom (Cape Town: Double Storey, 2007). 33 Th e Kairos document. Challenge to the church (Braamfontein: Skotaville, 1986); Th e road to Damascus. Kairos and conversion (Braamfontein: Skotaville, 1989).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 265 political cause.34 Th e new study is something fundamentally diff erent—but is the Jesus also? Since those years, he now explains, he became aware of the need we all have for personal liberation and, therefore, spirituality. Still reading the signs of the times, he now discovers that “postmodern people” today “hunger for spiritual- ity.” More and more people are discovering that we need a new spirituality, and he off ers readers Jesus’ own spirituality, which he calls a spirituality of radical freedom, to help “you and me and our contemporaries in the twenty- fi rst century.” He is interested in Jesus’ own mysticism, which was the source behind his prophetic action, his concern for the individual, his own contem- plative prayer, the secret of his extraordinary life. “What did he feel strongly about? What was so memorable about him? What made him so deeply loved and admired by some and hated by others?” He explicitly points out that this is not a book about Christology, but “about Jesus’ own spirituality, about the experience and attitudes behind what he said and did, what fi red and inspired him.” Th is Jesus was “fi rst and foremost a contemplative,” “a mystic,” “a holis- tic healer.” His experience of God as his abba was the source of his wisdom, clarity, confi dence, and radical freedom. Based on this account of Jesus’ spirituality, Nolan then advises how we “can imitate this dimension of Jesus’ life,” practicing a spirituality of healing and becoming healers to one another. For that, we need personal transformation through time and through process; a journey with practical steps, including silence and solitude (rejecting busyness, the supreme distraction); getting to know our own true selves; learning to live with a grateful heart; becoming like children with their humility, childlike trust, sense of wonder, and playfulness, and joy; letting go and becoming detached—in short, learning to experience a new awareness or consciousness; namely, an awareness of oneness, oneness with God, with ourselves, with other human beings, and with the universe, the oneness also known as “the unitive way, the highest stage of mysticism.” On the one hand, this seems like a completely diff erent Jesus from Nolan’s earlier kairos and prophetic phase. Th e context is certainly radically diff erent— the questions, the picture of Jesus, the emphases. So, is the prophetic Jesus lost here in translation? Some would certainly think so, but it could perhaps also be argued that for Nolan himself this new Jesus still stands in some continuity with his earlier Jesus. In Jesus before Christianity he focused on the prophetic ministry of Jesus;

34 Albert Nolan, God in South Africa. Th e challenge of the gospel (Cape Town: David Philip, 1988).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 266 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 in Jesus today he inquires into the spirituality of Jesus that made that possible. He is still not interested in the Jesus of the church, faith, creed, doctrine, rit- ual, liturgy, or theology. He remains critical of all the traditional images of Jesus, but he now inquires even further back, into the awareness of Jesus ‘behind’ the Jesus ‘before’ Christianity. Other readers may perhaps disagree, and see here a radically new and diff er- ent Jesus—no longer the prophetic Jesus of the struggle for justice, but the typical religious fi gure so popular in mysticism and in all contemporary long- ings for authentic selfhood. Th e mere fact that the only references to South African works in his bibliography are to his own two books, out of 98 works quoted, seems to confi rm the impression that the focus has shifted dramati- cally—in his own words, “this book is also contextual, but the context this time is today’s world and not just South Africa.”

Jesus—In Public Opinion and Life? Th e reference to the earlier books by Albert Nolan already serves as a reminder that perhaps the best known and the most characteristic images of Jesus in South Africa are not those of the controversies of the news, scholarship, or the very infl uential practices of worship and spirituality, but the images of Jesus in South African public life over many years. Th is, of course, raises the question in a very interesting new way. Did those images change with the social and political changes in the country, or did they remain? Were they lost along the way, no longer needed for translation into new political and cultural circum- stances, or not? In addition to the radically prophetic images of Jesus of the earlier Albert Nolan and the kairos tradition, the more traditional views of Jesus from fi gures like Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé, Allan Boesak, Wolfram Kistner, and Rus- sel Botman also had a major impact on public life in apartheid South Africa.35

35 For Tutu, see, for example, “Jesus Christ—the man for others,” Bishop Desmond Tutu—the voice of one crying in the wilderness, John Webster (Ed.) (Oxford: Mowbray, 1982) 27-30; “What Jesus means to me,” Hope and suff ering (Johannesburg: Skotaville, 1982), 89-96; God has a dream: A vision of hope (London: Rider, 2004); Th e rainbow people of God, John Allen (Ed.) (Cape Town: Double Storey, 2006); or contributions by others in Buti Tlhagale & Itumeleng Mosala (Eds.), Hammering swords into ploughshares (Johannesburg: Skotaville, 1986); and in Leonard Hulley, Louise Kretzchmar, & Luke L. Pata (Eds.) Archbishop Tutu. Prophetic witness in South Africa (Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 1996). For Boesak, see, for example, Allan A. Boesak, “Jesus Christ the Life of the world” ( JTSA 1983, Vol. 45), 48-54 (his address to the sixth assembly of the World Council of Churches, in Vancouver, later also reprinted in Black and

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Whether drawing on Anglican, Lutheran, or Reformed confessional and spir- itual sources, these infl uential leaders—like many others in a variety of churches and traditions—opposed the ideology of apartheid, the political, legal, and social implementation of apartheid and the biblical and theological justifi ca- tion of apartheid in the name of the historical faith of the church and—very often and very explicitly—in the name of Jesus Christ. Th e same is, in fact, true of other leaders in the struggle as well. During commemorations, Allan Boesak recently reminded newspaper readers of the role of their Christian faith and, in particular, the role of Jesus in the lives of heroes of the struggle like Albert Luthuli and Steve Biko.36 Th is was, by way of example, clearly the case in the theological resistance against apartheid in Reformed circles. In his doctoral dissertation, Anti-apart- heid theology in the Dutch Reformed family of Churches. A depth-hermeneutical analysis, Christoff Pauw recently researched the motives behind anti-apartheid theology in these circles.37 He concludes that this theology was at heart what he calls a form of biblical theology, arguing on the basis of the so-called scopus of scripture, and that the main theological themes were an alternative ecclesi- ology and an alternative Christology. Th e alternative ecclesiology was based on

Reformed, 146-54); as well as several contributions in Om het Zwart te zeggen (For Saying It in Black) (Kampen: Kok, 1975); Farewell to innocence (Kampen: Kok, 1976); Die vinger van God (God’s Finger) (Johannesburg: Ravan, 1977); Walking on thorns (Geneva: WCC, 1984); and more recently but in similar spirit, Th e fi re within. Sermons from the Edge of Exile (Cape Town: New World Foundation, 2004). For Naudé, see, for example, the sermon on “Christus bo alles en almal” (“Christ above All and Everyone”), Beyers Naudé, My land van hoop (My Land of Hope) (Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau, 1995) 153-156. For some of the many other similar voices, see also Njongonkulu Ndungane, A World with a Human Face. A Voice from Africa (Cape Town: New Africa Books, 2003); and Charles Villa-Vicencio, “Liberating Christology or liberation” ( JTSA 1992, Vol. 78), 15-24. 36 See for example Allan A. Boesak, “Die ander gees van Albert Luthuli,” Die Burger (“Th e Other Spirit of Albert Luthuli,” Th e Citizen), 29 August 2007; as well as his “Moed is aansteeklik. In memoriam: Stephen Bantu Biko,” Die Burger, (“Courage is Contagious. In Memory of Stephen Bantu Biko,” Th e Citizen) 8 September 2007: “Ons eer hierdie onvergeetlike mens vir sy geloof (nie in die Jesus van die kerke nie, sê hy self, maar in die Jesus van die evangelie), sy visie, sy geweldloosheid, sy medemenslikheid, vir die hoop wat hy gebring het vir miljoene.” (“We honor this unforgettable human being for his faith (not in Jesus of the church, as he said himself, but in Jesus of the Gospel), for his vision, his nonviolence, his compassion for the hope which he brought to millions of people.”) For what almost seems like a remarkable kind of comparison between Jesus and Steve Biko, also see some of the contributions in N. Barney Pityana et al. (Eds.), Bounds of possibility. Th e legacy of Steve Biko and Black Consciousness (Cape Town: David Philip, 1991). 37 J. Christoff Pauw, Anti-apartheid theology in the Dutch Reformed Family of Churches. A depth-hermeneutical analysis (Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 2007).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access 268 E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 the comfort of the Heidelberg Catechism that the church belongs to Jesus Christ and is called to be a church belonging to Him—understood in the tradition of Barmen. Being united with brothers and sisters through baptism and in the Lord’s Supper contradicted all ways of racial and ethnic exclusion, of “hurting one another” in the words of Calvin, since that would mean hurting the Jesus to whom the church belongs. Th e alternative Christology was based on the claim of the lordship of Jesus Christ over all spheres of life—understood in the tradition of Barmen and of Abraham Kuyper. In many sermons, speeches, and books, someone like Allan Boesak would proclaim this Jesus, while the theo- logical declaration of ABRECSA, the Alliance of Black Reformed Christians in South Africa as well as the concluding words of the Belhar Confession would confess that Jesus is Lord.38 Was this public Jesus lost during the transformation to democracy? At least four contemporary trends could be discerned in response to this complex question. Th ere is—fi rst—still a strong sense in public life in South Africa that Jesus is the Lord, calling his church and people to struggle against evil in all forms— including poverty, illnesses like HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, vio- lence, crime and drug abuse, corruption, moral degeneration and the collapse of family life, degradation of women and children, family abuse, or ecological destruction.39 Although the country is offi cially secular, and although the con- stitution and, in fact, the public opinion in general have all become secular to a large extent, there is little doubt that many South Africans take their reli- gious commitment, which includes their Christian faith and the belonging to Jesus Christ very seriously, also as guide and inspiration in their everyday life. Th ere are many reasons to think that Jesus matters, for many—and that they

38 Particularly illustrative in this regard are many of the essays and contributions collected in Allan A. Boesak, Black and Reformed. Apartheid, liberation and the Calvinist tradition (New York: Orbis, 1984). 39 For ecological implications, see, for example, the argument of David N. Field, “Confessing Christ in the context of ecological degradation” ( JTSA 1997, Vol. 98), 32-44, based on his unpublished doctoral dissertation, Reformed theology, modernity, and the environmental crisis (Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 1996). For an example of the ‘retelling of the stories of women’ in the Gospels, see A.E.J. (Elna) Mouton, “Die Kanaänitiese vrou van Matteus 15: Hervormer in eie reg” (“Th e Canaanitish Woman of Matthew 15: A Reformer in Her Own Right”) (Scriptura 2002, Vol. 80), 220-225. For an example of reading the gospel material and seeing Jesus from the perspective of those suff ering from HIV/AIDS, see the unpublished doctoral dissertation by Miranda N. Pillay, Re-visioning stigma: A socio-rhetorical reading of Luke 10:25-37 in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa (Bellville: University of the Western Cape, 2008).

Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 02:44:55AM via free access E. Mouton, D. Smit / Journal of Reformed Th eology 3 (2009) 247-273 269 feel this Jesus calls them to public responsibility and service. Many offi cial declarations—from SACLA II, to the SACC, to recent statements by the URCSA and the DRC—confi rm this impression.40 It is instructive—second—to take note of the place that views of Jesus and claims concerning Jesus occupied during the work of the Truth and Recon- ciliation Commission. Although the role of the offi cial churches was contro- versial and, in fact, largely absent, the important role of religion, particularly also the Christian faith, was very remarkable indeed—according to many, even problematically so. In studies on the need for further reconciliation in the country, including well-known works by Desmond Tutu, Piet Meiring, and John de Gruchy, references to the person and work of Jesus can very regularly be found.41 Th e conviction that the reconciliation in Jesus Christ is of crucial importance for South African society reaches back a long way into the apart- heid history, with important contributions made at the time by people like Kistner, Durand, Bosch, Nürnberger, and Willem Nicol, in addition to many others already mentioned, and this conviction seems to be as relevant as ever.42

40 Th is would include statements by the leaderships of the URCSA as well as the DRC regarding state actions in Zimbabwe, to be found on their respective websites, as well as statements regarding other issues of public concern and the calling of the church. 41 See, for example, Desmond M. Tutu, No future without forgiveness (London: Rider, 1999); the more historical account in Piet J.G. Meiring, Kroniek van die Waarheidskommissie. Op reis deur die verlede en die hede na die toekoms van Suid-Afrika (Chronicle of the Truth Commission. Travelling through the Past and Present to the Future of South Africa) (Vanderbijlpark: Carpe Diem, 1999); and particularly the more systematic refl ections of John W. de Gruchy, Reconciliation. Restoring Justice (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002). For an earlier volume, written before the hearings, see H. Russel Botman & Petersen, Robin M. (Eds.), To remember and to heal. Th eological and Psychological refl ections on Truth and Reconciliation (Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 1996). 42 During the 1980s, the theme of reconciliation was extremely controversial in South African church and public circles. Many theologians contributed to these debates. In the latter half of the 1980s the Kairos Document, in rejecting a theology of reconciliation, sparked major public discussions, and several theologians and church leaders representing the so-called National Initiative for Reconciliation took part. Of course, the underlying theological question was always about the nature of the reconciliation in Jesus Christ and therefore about the possible social and political implications that may follow from the ministry of the divine reconciliation in Him. See, for example, the volume of essays published by Klaus Nürnberger & John Tooke (Eds.), Th e cost of reconciliation in South Africa (Cape Town: Methodist, 1988). From a somewhat earlier date, see the volume by Willem S. Vorster (Ed.), Reconciliation and construction (Pretoria: UNISA, 1986), with a contribution by J. Cilliers Breytenbach, who also wrote his Habilitationsschrift on reconciliation in Christ, later published as Versöhnung: Eine Studie zur paulinischen Soteriologie (Reconciliation: A Study on Paul’s Soteriology) (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1989). For very important contributions to the understanding of reconciliation from the biblical traditions in South African ecumenical circles at the time, see the many writings on the theme by the

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During those days it was—third—of crucial importance according to many to remember that in Jesus reconciliation and justice went together, that justi- fi cation and justice go hand in hand, that justifi cation and sanctifi cation together form a double grace—in the words of John Calvin. Again, this con- viction still plays an important role in public life in contemporary South Africa. One illustration of this emphasis on justice has, for example, been the Wirkungsgeschichte of the Belhar Confession, and—in particular—the third article according to which “God has revealed Godself” as a God of compas- sionate justice, which the church “in following Christ” is then called to prac- tice as well. Th ese exact words were taken up by the Southern African Alliance of Reformed Churches in their Kitwe Declaration concerning economic injus- tice. Th is conviction became part of the declaration of a processus confessionis regarding global injustice and ecological destruction during the Debrecen assembly of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In “Th e Declaration of Debrecen,” written as a “covenantal litany” for liturgical use, the words from the fi rst question of the Heidelberg Catechism were repeated again and again, proclaiming the triune God and “our faithful savior Jesus Christ” to whom we belong. In Accra, the next assembly then made a public commit- ment to covenant for economic justice and ecological protection, using words directly from the third article of Belhar, as well as many explicit references to Jesus.43 Another very instructive illustration of the same continuing emphasis on practicing justice as integral part of belonging to this Jesus is found in the recent work of Allan Boesak, perhaps exemplifi ed at best in his Th e tenderness of conscience. African Renaissance and the spirituality of politics. He engages critically with the vision of an African Renaissance—criticizing a lack of his- torical awareness of what really took place during the struggle and as a result a lack of appreciation of the nature of the present challenges and the way for- ward. For him, both the struggle and the way forward depend on what he calls ecumenical theologian Wolfram Kistner; for example, in his volume Hoff nung in der Krise (Hope in Crisis) (Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag, 1988). 43 On the pre-history of the Accra declaration including the role of Southern African Reformed Christians, see Dirk J. Smit, “Th eologische Ansätze für kirchliches Engagement in Fragen der Globalisierung. Reformierte Perspektiven aus dem Südlichen Afrika” (“Th eological Points of Departure for Ecclesiastic Engagement in Questions of Globalization. Reformed Perspectives from Southern Africa”) (Őkumenische Rundschau 2004, 53/2), 160-75. On the declaration itself and its practical implications, see the full volume of the Reformed World of September 2005, Vol. 55/3, with many contributions.

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“a spirituality of politics” or “the tenderness of conscience” in the words of Kuyper. Eloquently and persuasively he appeals for such “a spirituality of pol- itics.” During the struggle, he argues, South Africa benefi ted from “a spiritual dimension” and “a spiritual tradition” without which it is impossible to face our public challenges today. In his explanation of this spiritual dimension, the themes of the Lordship of Jesus (“words from the Belhar Confession that echo the conviction of the Reformed tradition from Calvin to Beza and from John Knox to the Westmin- ster Presbyterians”), of belonging to Jesus Christ (“the faith embodied in the question and answer of Lord’s Day One of one of the ancient confessions of the Reformed tradition, the Heidelberg Catechi”), and of reconciliation and justice belonging integrally together appear again and again. Th e Jesus calling the church now to this ‘spirituality of politics’ is without any doubt the same Jesus that called the church to the struggle then. Th is Jesus has not been lost in the transformation to a secular democracy. It is no wonder that Boesak still speaks about the importance of being able to say ‘Jesus’ and ‘liberation’ together—the Jesus who is our faithful savior is precisely the same Jesus who calls the church to practice justice. It is no won- der that he still publicly claims today that “politics does not have a word for it”—meaning that belonging to this Jesus brings a spiritual perspective that politics alone is unable to provide.44 It is—fourth—obvious that the theme of discipleship is still important today for many. Th e Jesus who called people to follow him then still calls people to follow him today, according to many. Th e ongoing work of Russel Botman, until recently the President of the South African Council of Churches, but also the Rector of Stellenbosch University, could serve as example. In the struggle years he wrote his doctoral dissertation on discipleship in the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeff er, Discipleship as transformation? Towards a theology of transformation. He often explained that the motif in the third article of Bel- har, that Jesus calls his church to follow Him, informed and inspired him greatly. However, he already dedicated the doctoral work to his own children “and the other children of South Africa, those who will know apartheid only by hearsay.”45 In the years since apartheid, he continued to see Jesus in this

44 Allan A. Boesak, Th e tenderness of conscience. African Renaissance and the Spirituality of Politics (Stellenbosch: SunMedia, 2005). For refl ections on the social and political implications of the basic Reformed convictions that we belong to Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ is Lord, see, for example, 120ff , 154ff , 200ff , and 211ff . 45 H. Russel Botman, Discipleship as transformation? Towards a theology of transformation (Bellville: University of the Western Cape, 1994, unpublished doctoral dissertation).

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Jesus in South Africa—Lost in Translation? So, who is Jesus in South Africa? Has any Jesus been lost here in translation? It is fair to say that Jesus matters in South Africa—in the news, scholarship, worship and spirituality, public opinion, and life. Whether any Jesus has been lost in the translation into these contexts will depend on one’s own views of who Jesus really is, the Jesus who may then be lost. Some people are concerned that the so-called historical Jesus Western style has been lost in the faith of the church and the creeds; others are convinced that the crucifi ed and risen Jesus of the Gospels and Letters has been lost in the skeptical and historicist quest for the real fi gure of history, while still others are certain that the Jesus still involved in a continuing struggle with the Evil One is lost in the closed universe of positivism. Some may bemoan that the Jesus of tradition and faith is lost in the longings of contemporary religiosities and spiritualities, others may claim that Jesus has already been lost a long time in Western ecclesial and liturgical forms, and has never fully been found in Afri- can cultural garb and black anthropological experience. Some would be of the opinion that Jesus is lost in the privatism and individualism of much contem- porary worship and spirituality, while others may be convinced that Jesus has been lost in the doctrine and ritual of historical Christianity itself. Some may

46 It is instructive that the well-known British New Testament scholar Richard A. Burridge engages at length with South African scholarship and conversations about Jesus in his recent comprehensive attempt to develop a New Testament ethics. He is particularly interested in the many local attempts to read the Bible together with others and “to follow and imitate Jesus in an open, inclusive community of believers”—in spite of all the cultural, social, and political stumbling blocks and divisions, see Richard A. Burridge, Imitating Jesus. An inclusive approach to New Testament Ethics (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007).

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