Tydskrif vir Christelike Wetenskap | Journal for Christian Scholarship

Bydraende faktore tot die vorming van die Christelike identiteit van 'n hoëronderwysinstelling: 'n Reformatoriese perspektief

2025-08-13T14:16:30+02:00

This article is the third part of a research project investigating the state of Christian higher education in South Africa. The first part provided a global overview of Christian higher education, while the second part identified Christian higher education institutions in South Africa through data analysis. This article focuses on the factors contributing to forming the Christian identity of higher education institutions from a Reformed perspective.

Christian higher education has a long history and has grown globally, particularly in South America, Asia, and Africa. Many universities founded as Christian institutions have secularised over time, while others have maintained or even strengthened their Christian identity. This research seeks to determine what makes a higher education institution Christian and what factors contribute to the retention or loss of this identity.

A qualitative research design was used, and data was collected by means of thematic analysis of key works on the factors contributing to the retention of Christian identity in higher education institutions. The analysis identified six main contributing factors: the way personnel and leadership figures are appointed, the authority structures within which the institution is accountable, the role of foundational documents such as faith statements, the institution’s view of science and its relationship to the faith statement, the public rhetoric and symbolism of the institution, the way students are admitted, as well as the student-centredness of the institution. By paying attention to these identified factors, it is possible to ensure that the identity of a Christian higher education institution is strengthened and developed amidst the pressures of secularisation.

Böhmistiese voluntarisme, transmutasie van die wil en verenigingsmistiek in Andrew Murray se Dying to Self

2025-08-13T09:48:23+02:00

The end of the eighteenth century witnessed an upsurge in deterministic theologies of freedom of will. Jonathan Edwards, for example, combined Protestant theology (which to him was a celebration of the greatness of God) with the new scientist philosophical thinking of John Locke. Edwards propounded a solution to the free-will issue which raised more problems than it solved. The root of the problem lies in Edwards’ arguments based on assumptions gathered from the physical world and posing the problem of free will in quasi-physical terms. In opposition to scientist approaches to the problem of free-will, Platonically inclined theological views inspired by Romantic idealism shifted the emphasis from materialistic scientism to grace, personality and love in Medieval mysticism ? particularly the tradition of Augustine, Ockham and Eckhart. The German mystic, Jacob Boehme, gained in influence in Britain towards the end of the eighteenth century through the works of the Anglican theologian William Law. Boehme’s views on free-will shaped Andrew Murray’s spirituality on this issue to a significant degree. This article investigates the contours of Murray’s voluntaristic mysticism, the connection between will and desire in his theology, and the implications of the dialectics between self-will and love-will in his work Dying to Self. Murray’s mystical spirituality juxtaposes God’s love-will and human self-will. When the intelligent creature turns from God to self, or nature, he acts unnaturally, he turns from all that which makes nature to be good; he finds nature only as it is in itself, and without God. And then it is that nature, or self, has all evil in it. If you ask why the Spirit of Love cannot be displeased, cannot be disappointed, cannot complain, accuse, resent, or murmur, it is because Divine love desires nothing but itself; it is its own good, it has all when it has itself, because nothing is good but itself and its own working; for love is God, and he that dwells in God, dwells in love. The dialectical tension between determination and freedom of will is transcended by appealing to the mystical power of love-will. To Murray, the transmutation of self-will to love-will is possible because every spirit stands in the place where it was created in equal weight, and has its free will where into it introduces its longing imagination, the essence and property of that it receives in the great mystery of all beings. The will is free in Christ when our sins are drowned in the blood and Death of Christ, and He is a member of us. His will becomes our will; for He gives Himself through Christ into the Bride, as into our will, which is also God’s will; and we receive Him with good cause into our Love, into our Will, which is also God’s will; and sink ourselves down in him through Christ into God. The divine birth is the culmination of man’s will surrendered to the Will of Christ and the apex of man’s unification with God. Freed from the miserable labour of self, to rest in meekness, humility, patience, and resignation under the Spirit of God, is like the joyful voice of the Bridegroom to the soul. To Murray, goodness, piety, holiness can only be ours as thinking, willing, and desiring are ours, by being in us as a power of heaven in the birth and growth of our own life. The freedom of the soul dedicated to God finds its highest culmination in Love and not in determination or libertarianism because Divine Love desires nothing but itself and he that dwells in God, dwells in Love and Liberty.

The relevance of disciple-making to the church in a post Christian age

2025-08-13T10:03:57+02:00

Die kerk het die opdrag ontvang om dissipels te maak van alle nasies. Die vroeë Christelike kerk het hierdie opdrag getrou uitgevoer gedurende die eerste paar eeue. Nieteenstaande vervolging en teenstand, selfs die aflegging van hulle lewens in diens van die evangelie, het hulle die boodskap bly voortdra. Dit blyk dat die evangelie en verlossing deur die soendood van Christus ? leefwyse was wat hulle nie anders kon nie as om te deel met almal met wie hulle in aanraking gekom het. Hierdie studie ondersoek die praktyk van dissipelmaking in die evangeliese kerke teen die agtergrond van die vroeë christelike kerk en op grond van verskeie opnames in die verband word bevind dat daar ? ernstige agterweelating daarvan is in baie kerke. Verder dat die praktyk om dissipels te maak aangepas is of vervang is met hedendaagse alternatiewe. Hierdie toedrag van sake het gelei tot die ontmoediging, ontmagtiging en beskroomdheid van gelowiges om hulle geloof met ander te deel. Desteenstaande die ontwikkeling van die vroeë kerk oor die eeue bly die instrinsieke natuur en funksie van die kerk onveranderlik. Die kerk en gelowiges moet opnuut hulle roeping herontdek en met erns opneem, terwyl die beginsels en metodes van die vroeë kerk geïnkorporeer kan word.

Kuyperania 1960s-1970s: A Survey of English-language Literature on Abraham Kuyper

2025-08-13T10:15:47+02:00

This survey examines the significant English-language literature on the Dutch neo-Calvinist Abraham Kuyper from the 1960s to the 1970s. It includes brief biographies of the authors. The articles examined reflect the diverse and multifaceted impact of his legacy during the 1960s and 1970s, with a combination of admiration as well as developing critiques on various aspects of his thought.

Die sendeling: 'n Evaluering van die rol en betekenis van die sendeling

2025-08-13T11:51:08+02:00

The missionary, once honoured and respected, is currently criticized for their role and actions during their missionary work. The latter is often attributed to the belittling and ignoring of the culture, knowledge, and views of those under whom missionary work was accomplished. This article aims to provide an overview of the role and meaning of missionaries. The framework is to consider approaches to missionaries and also to state the author’s point of view on them. Two approaches in particular come to the fore. Crafford (1982) and Cronjé (1981)’s extensive works regarding the missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church speak positively of the actions and influence of the former, especially in Africa. In contrast stands the point of view of Comaroff and Comaroff (1991; 1997) who, from their anthropological and postcolonial approach, make extremely critical statements about the missionaries in Africa, especially those working among the Tswana. Comaroff and Comaroff essentially view mission as control through power and question every possible aspect of the influence of mission, from cultural and religious influence to attire and architecture. The method followed here is to consider the prevailing implications of mission as presented by mission theologians. Therefore, opposing viewpoints are compared, and the author’s own viewpoint is presented. Post-colonial criticism is addressed, considered, and often answered. The conclusion is that there is still a need to take note of missionaries’ service and the spreading of the gospel and their positive influence in Africa specifically.

Neoplatonistiese Eros-spiritualiteit, transmutatiewe wilsmistiek en William Law se Böhmisties-mistieke invloed op Andrew Murray se teologie

2025-08-13T12:11:56+02:00

Andrew Murray frankly admits that he owed much to William Law. Speaking of Law, he says: “I confess that in all my reading I have never found anyone who has so helped me in understanding the Scripture truth of the work of the Holy Spirit.” In Law he discovered a rich store of ideas and in four books he gave extracts from Law’s works: Wholly for God, The Divine Indwelling, The Spirit of Love, and Dying to Self. Law’s mysticism was not original in a strict sense, but the English interpretations of the works of the German mystic, Jacob Boehme, by Dionysius Andreas Freher. Also the Platonist influence of Anglican mysticism provided a platform for Law’s mystical inclinations. The upshot of these influences on Law’s spirituality was a mysticism with strong undercurrents of Neo-Platonic mystical spirituality. Law’s mystical conceptualisation of the soul, desire, the human will, humility, the love of God, and the mystical unification of the human soul with God, contributed largely to Murray’s theological views on the universal revelation of love, atonement and the meaning of Christ’s suffering. At the centre of Murray’s mystical spirituality is the Boehme-Law idea of the great mystery of man’s creation with a free will, the renewal of his will in redemption, and that God has made the execution of His will, in many things, dependent on the will of man.

Patronaatskap, herskrywing en sensuur

2025-08-13T14:02:55+02:00

This article’s basic premises stem from the Christian Philosophical theory (in which the concepts of the Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd are central). These concepts include inter alia the view of the ground-motive in scientific endeavours, transcendental criticism, the enduring aspect of norms and values, the impossibility of total objectivism and rationality and the dangers of extreme relativity. This article is embedded in the theory of a Scientific, Personal Narrative (SPN). As a relatively new research methodology it strives to reconcile a scientific discourse (which complies with all the traditional aspects thereof) with a personal narrative. The reason for choosing this methodology is because it affords the possibility to blend personal experience (the publication of a column and the subsequent polemic reaction) with a structural framework. Because personal scientific approaches (like auto-ethnography) are often contested, the whole question of subjectivity in science is investigated in depth from different standpoints/viewpoints/perspectives. Corner stones of this article are the Christian Philosophy, the SPN, child and youth literature, rewriting, patronage, literary history as manipulation and the literary system. After a brief discussion of youth literature, all the books referred to in my column are thematically discussed. The most important finding is that these books refrained from representing reality as it was, but rather portrayed an idealized reality as surmised in my column. In conclusion André Lefevere’s explication of rewriting in a specific literary system controlled by a patronage, is used as explanitory frame for the aforementioned polemic. One of the key findings is that rewriting is rife and often the original text ‘dissappears’. This was the case with my column which was rewritten by various critics: the majority creating their own text in a highly unethical way, according to the studies of Wessels (2023) and Olivier (2024). Lefevere’s (1992) theoretical explication explains why opponents of any incumbant system are punished, while supporters are rewarded.

Simon P. Kennedy: Against Worldview: Reimaging Christian Formation as Growth in Wisdom

2025-08-13T10:55:13+02:00

The concept of worldview is pervasive in modern discourse, yet it remains fraught with challenges, particularly due to its frequent misuse and oversimplification. Many of these problems arise from the wrong use of the term. It has been aligned with a simplistic theoretical notion. Too often it is ill-defined and its definition is nebulous and uncertain. It is time for a rethinking of the term. This is exactly what Kennedy, a research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia and a non-resident fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest, aims to do in Against Worldview. In this sense then he is not so much against worldview as for reimagining it.

Egbert Schuurman: Technology and Christianity: Essays on the Interface

2025-08-13T11:26:06+02:00

Egbert Schuurman (b. 1937) is a prominent Dutch philosopher, engineer, and politician. He is a former Professor of Reformational Philosophy at the Universities in Delft, Eindhoven and Wageningen. He was also a Member of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament for the Reformatorische Politieke Federatie, and, since 2000, the Christen Unie. As this book indicates, he has written extensively on the intersection of technology, faith, and ethics; his writings offer profound insights. Schuurman views technology as using “tools to give form to nature for human purposes” (144).

Harry van Dyke: The Legacy of Abraham Kuyper

2025-08-13T11:39:07+02:00

Most readers of this journal are likely familiar with the name Abraham Kuyper. Some names that perhaps may not be so familiar are Kuyper’s predecessors and successors. Harry Van Dyke, Professor Emeritus of History at Redeemer University in Canada, has ably examined seven who preceded Kuyper and seven who came after him. The seven predecessors discussed are:

Willem Bilderdijk (1756–1831),
Isaac da Costa (1798–1860),
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801–1876),
Otto Gerhard Heldring (1804–1876),
Johan Adam Wormser (1807–1862),
Isaac Esser (1818–1885), and
Klaas Kater (1850–1916).