Scielo RSS http://www.scielo.org.za/rss.php?pid=1015-875820180003&lang=en vol. 38 num. 2 lang. en http://www.scielo.org.za/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://www.scielo.org.za http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300001&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300002&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Marcion of Synope has long been considered a heretic by all Christian churches. He is frequently grouped with the Gnostic trends of Early Christianity, although this is not entirely accurate. While he made a handsome financial contribution to the Church of Rome, he was eventually excommunicated. Yet, even if his doctrines can seem extravagant, contradictory, alien to modern values, and even anti-Semitic, his theology is relevant in our contemporary world because of the ever-growing threat of religious violence and fundamentalism. In his attempt to cleanse Christianity of its Jewish elements, Marcion set the bases for a critique of the cult to a violent God and the divine inspirations of violence. Marcion believed that the Old Testament God (Yahweh) was, in fact, the same as the creator or the material world, from which we must escape. He contrasted that God's violent deeds with the peaceful nature and character of the New Testament God. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Because of its seeming mix of different styles, Psalm 62 has intrigued researchers for a long time. It has been regarded by many as the prayer of an innocent person who was accused of some wrongdoing, but the direct exhortation to the "people" of God to put their trust in him seems to argue against this. The pertinent influence of wisdom-thinking also agitates against a reconstructed cultic setting. Some investigators have consequently argued that the psalm is a conflation from different sources. This article attempts to contribute to the debate about the seeming mix of styles by arguing from a social-scientific analysis that the psalm should be read against the background of a post-exilic context of exploitation in Jerusalem and the ensuing debate about the value of continued dedication to God. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In this contribution, the five main views in understanding the fulfilment of the law in Matthew 5:17 are critiqued in terms of their inconsistency with the co-text of the Gospel. The whole of 5:17-48 is assessed in terms of the challenging relationship between the statements about fulfilment or completion of the law and the Prophets in 5:17-18 and the way in which Jesus seems to intensify obedience to law per se in 5:19-48. The interpretation of 5:19-48 is sought by considering all of Jesus' words in the entire Gospel in terms of entry into the kingdom (5:19-20), doing the perfect will of the Father (5:48), and the way in which the law and the Prophets are fulfilled and accomplished in Christ (5:17-18). A dialectical approach is followed wherein statements concerning the retention of strict obedience to law are considered to be part of the thesis; statements that are opposed to strict obedience to law are considered to form the antithesis, and the way in which these opposites are related is considered as the new synthesis. This thesis, antithesis and synthesis form the solution to understanding fulfilment in Matthew 5:17. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300005&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Although the book of Joshua is often read as being hostile to non-Israelites, this paper argues that its concern is not with ethnicity but rather with the nature of someone's relationship to Yahweh. Understood against the wider narrative arc of the book, Joshua 24 thus becomes the point where this is explored in full. This then establishes a pattern that runs through the Former Prophets which consistently demonstrate the possibilities for foreigners within Israel. The means by which this is presented suggest that Joshua in particular is arguing against a dominant social model which is opposed to foreigners. From this, it can be seen that Joshua is establishing an ethical paradigm which is welcoming to those who commit to Yahweh. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300006&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en There is always a reason behind a paradigm shift that takes place in society. The Presbyterian Church (CCAP) in Malawi is one of the religious institutions that played a critical role in the nation's liberation and fight for independence. Seven weeks into independence a cabinet crisis occured where some ministers were dismissed, while others resigned in support of their fired colleagues. Ironically, the Church kept a low profile and did hardly anything to intervene. This article assesses how, in 1964, the cabinet crisis impacted on the role of the Church and argues that political conflicts influence relations between the Church and the State. Furthermore, the article contributes to the current debate on Church and State relations through the lenses of Calvin's Church and State and the 1964 cabinet crisis. The article is informed by Calvin's Church and State, with the focus on how this conceptual thought influences Church-State relations. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300007&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en This study makes use of the Functionalist Translation approach in the translation of ברך in Job 2:9 in line with Christiane Nord's Model of Literary Communication to demonstrate how early translators' cognisance of the language and culture of the source text may have influenced the way they translated ברך in Job 2:9. The premise of this paper is that the translators began to render ברך in Job 2:9 conversely when they were no longer familiar with the culture of the Hebrew source text. The study aims to demonstrate that a functionalist approach in literary translation may assist with the translation of enigmatic texts in the Hebrew Scriptures to produce a target text that takes into account the source-culture inventory and appropriately communicates the translated text to the target-culture perspective. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300008&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en The concept "integral mission" denotes the contribution of churches in helping people and communities with material resources. It remains unclear as to how this widely held theological concept is done practically. At a theological level, there has been a general silence on reflection regarding how organisations can practically do integral mission. Using an institutional theological understanding of compassionate ministry within the church of the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM), this article demonstrates the convergences and divergences that may arise in an organisation as it attempts to implement integral mission interventions. It is also an empirical case study of leadership and grassroots (implementation) level staff to show the differences that may exist and weaken integral mission efforts. At a theory formation level, the article contributes to understanding the dynamics of implementing integral mission. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300009&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en Early Christians considered themselves strangers in the world. This view was deeply rooted in the forgoing Jewish tradition. The Torah begins with human beings who are not at home; they had been driven away from the garden of Eden. The patriarchs dwelled as sojourners in Canaan. Later, Israel ended with the diaspora. According to the New Testament, Christians are strangers even more, because their home is in heaven with Christ. Consequently, they can be at home everywhere, since they are at home nowhere. Therefore, nationalism or striving for an ideal society should be alien to Christians. They only support the well-being of the country in which they live, as far as that is possible in a world where human beings are never really at home - a situation of which Christians are fully aware. It is precisely by this attitude that they contribute most to the well-being of other people. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300010&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In the many cases of conflicts co-fuelled by sociocultural identity contestations, religions cannot play the role of reconcilers, because they have become part of the problem through association with one of the contesting parties. This contribution argues that, in order to come to terms with this, religions have to rediscover the reconciliation practices within their traditions, become more critical of their own past reconciliation record, and develop a theology that pays proper attention to the challenges generated by sociocultural identities. The argument is illustrated with an analysis of the role played by Christian churches in South Africa during the apartheid era. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In the many cases of conflicts co-fuelled by sociocultural identity contestations, religions cannot play the role of reconcilers, because they have become part of the problem through association with one of the contesting parties. This contribution argues that, in order to come to terms with this, religions have to rediscover the reconciliation practices within their traditions, become more critical of their own past reconciliation record, and develop a theology that pays proper attention to the challenges generated by sociocultural identities. The argument is illustrated with an analysis of the role played by Christian churches in South Africa during the apartheid era. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300012&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In the many cases of conflicts co-fuelled by sociocultural identity contestations, religions cannot play the role of reconcilers, because they have become part of the problem through association with one of the contesting parties. This contribution argues that, in order to come to terms with this, religions have to rediscover the reconciliation practices within their traditions, become more critical of their own past reconciliation record, and develop a theology that pays proper attention to the challenges generated by sociocultural identities. The argument is illustrated with an analysis of the role played by Christian churches in South Africa during the apartheid era. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582018000300013&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en In the many cases of conflicts co-fuelled by sociocultural identity contestations, religions cannot play the role of reconcilers, because they have become part of the problem through association with one of the contesting parties. This contribution argues that, in order to come to terms with this, religions have to rediscover the reconciliation practices within their traditions, become more critical of their own past reconciliation record, and develop a theology that pays proper attention to the challenges generated by sociocultural identities. The argument is illustrated with an analysis of the role played by Christian churches in South Africa during the apartheid era.