Abstract

DELPORT, Khegan M.. Pathways in African Philosophical Theology: Augustine Shutte (1938-2016) and Gerrit Brand (1970-2013). STJ [online]. 2021, vol.7, n.1, pp.1-26. ISSN 2413-9467.  https://doi.org/10.17570/stj.2021.v7n1.t4.

The article seeks to describe one trend within the theological scene in South Africa, a trajectory that could be called "African Philosophical Theology". In the first part of the article, some methodological problems surrounding such a descriptive category are discussed. Thereafter, I attempt to give a summary of the contributions of two thinkers who could be grouped within this category, namely Augustine Shutte (19382016) and Gerrit Brand (1970-2013). In this regard, Shutte's approach can be viewed as a philosophical synthesis of Thomistic and African accounts of personhood, while Brand's constitutes a meta-theology, a postfoundationalist attempt to articulate those criteria that are fundamental to adjudicating doctrinal and religious change. While their respective projects are distinctive, I argue that both of them can be classified as practicing a variety of metaphysics and theology that takes seriously the deliverances of African thought, performing thereby a "decolonial" gesture within philosophical theology.

Keywords : African philosophy; Augustine Shutte; Gerrit Brand; philosophical theology.

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