God created humanity in his image (imago Dei) so that they become God's disciples. The core dutie... more God created humanity in his image (imago Dei) so that they become God's disciples. The core duties of being a disciple are to be responsible for, utilise and care for the earth as part of leiturgia 3 , which according to Deddens is, "service to the benefit of the people and an act of worship" (1993:15). Indeed, we must heed the call of creation in our worship services. From a Reformed perspective, the Fall, however, resulted in a disregard for worshipping God, living with him and taking care of the earth. Instead, the earth has been subject to exploitation ever since. This exploitation is in sharp contrast to Matthew 28:20 where Jesus instructed his disciples to go and teach the nations to observe all his commands, one of which was to "care for and subdue" the earth. This exploitation is seen in our time in the phenomenon called, global warming, which is gradually ravaging the environment. A lot has been proclaimed by religious bodies over time, governments as well as organisations, advocating the preservation of the environment, but to no avail. In this article, we argue that, for religious communities, leiturgia and discipleship should be considered as an alternative to merely holding conferences and seminars on the environment. The care for nature is at the centre of multifarious debates, but nothing ever comes of it because, so we argue, the value of true discipleship has been pushed aside as though it never existed. This article addresses the above by first highlighting the historical background of the notions of leiturgia and discipleship as a core of the mission to preserve the earth, then secondly, we present action taken at present to attend to the earth's destruction. The article then demonstrates concretely, as an alternative, how leiturgia and discipleship could serve to care for the earth and how as an essential part of true discipleship, glorifying God is in accordance with the missio Dei.
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)
From scholarly research, Africa's position on the planet and historical constituents especial... more From scholarly research, Africa's position on the planet and historical constituents especially minerals expropriation and labour made the continent a strategic partner to most world powers. This was understood during the voyages of the Dutch Indian Company to India. Even during the Cold War, powerful countries were eager to promote multilateral relationships with some countries in Africa and that strongly impacted the war as well as African politics. This practice did not end with the Cold War but continued and presently Africa is still being influenced by the Cold War proceeds. Through a qualitative method of research, the paper highlights the impact of the cold war and ideology its time on African philosophy as well as the shift in African political dynamics. Hence, the paper investigated how these relationships affected African thought and destabilized Africa as a habitat for culture and African norms especially in the midst of the Ukraine-Russian war. Ukraine-Russian war i...
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government declared a National State of Disaster, and banned la... more President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government declared a National State of Disaster, and banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus on March 21, 2020. Less than a week after he banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus. Families were also encouraged to bury their deceased loved ones as soon as possible after they leave the mortuary. This left families with little to no time to grieve and execute certain expected customary rituals, some of which are performed on the deceased. Families were prohibited from handling the remains of their loved ones and assigned people by the government assumed that role. The bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients were carefully transported and covered in body bags, but in terms of custom, they should be wrapped in a cow skin or blanket according to customary rules. According to African customary law, close family members should be present in the same room as the deceased and perform rituals to ward off evil de...
This paper investigates the relevance of singing and performing the Te Deum Laudamus in the postm... more This paper investigates the relevance of singing and performing the Te Deum Laudamus in the postmodern Christian era, especially in view of changing enactments and perceptions of the purpose of the hymn. The Te Deum has been used in various ways in church history, sung as a confession of praise and regularly used since the time of St Benedict during Matins (morning service). While the Reformers were critical of the late medieval worship, they did not query incorporating the Te Deum into their liturgies, because it brought meaning to the glorification of a benevolent God. This explains its use also by most Christian churches in their liturgies in the postmodern era. However, the pertinent question remains: Is the Te Deum still applicable to the postmodern church, which is characterised by secularism, charismatic sermons, and commercialised worship. The question is instigated by events and conceptions of the universe from the era of Gregorianism to Darwinism. In answering this questio...
God created humanity in his image (imago Dei) so that they become God's disciples. The core dutie... more God created humanity in his image (imago Dei) so that they become God's disciples. The core duties of being a disciple are to be responsible for, utilise and care for the earth as part of leiturgia 3 , which according to Deddens is, "service to the benefit of the people and an act of worship" (1993:15). Indeed, we must heed the call of creation in our worship services. From a Reformed perspective, the Fall, however, resulted in a disregard for worshipping God, living with him and taking care of the earth. Instead, the earth has been subject to exploitation ever since. This exploitation is in sharp contrast to Matthew 28:20 where Jesus instructed his disciples to go and teach the nations to observe all his commands, one of which was to "care for and subdue" the earth. This exploitation is seen in our time in the phenomenon called, global warming, which is gradually ravaging the environment. A lot has been proclaimed by religious bodies over time, governments as well as organisations, advocating the preservation of the environment, but to no avail. In this article, we argue that, for religious communities, leiturgia and discipleship should be considered as an alternative to merely holding conferences and seminars on the environment. The care for nature is at the centre of multifarious debates, but nothing ever comes of it because, so we argue, the value of true discipleship has been pushed aside as though it never existed. This article addresses the above by first highlighting the historical background of the notions of leiturgia and discipleship as a core of the mission to preserve the earth, then secondly, we present action taken at present to attend to the earth's destruction. The article then demonstrates concretely, as an alternative, how leiturgia and discipleship could serve to care for the earth and how as an essential part of true discipleship, glorifying God is in accordance with the missio Dei.
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)
From scholarly research, Africa's position on the planet and historical constituents especial... more From scholarly research, Africa's position on the planet and historical constituents especially minerals expropriation and labour made the continent a strategic partner to most world powers. This was understood during the voyages of the Dutch Indian Company to India. Even during the Cold War, powerful countries were eager to promote multilateral relationships with some countries in Africa and that strongly impacted the war as well as African politics. This practice did not end with the Cold War but continued and presently Africa is still being influenced by the Cold War proceeds. Through a qualitative method of research, the paper highlights the impact of the cold war and ideology its time on African philosophy as well as the shift in African political dynamics. Hence, the paper investigated how these relationships affected African thought and destabilized Africa as a habitat for culture and African norms especially in the midst of the Ukraine-Russian war. Ukraine-Russian war i...
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government declared a National State of Disaster, and banned la... more President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government declared a National State of Disaster, and banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus on March 21, 2020. Less than a week after he banned large gatherings to help contain the spread of coronavirus. Families were also encouraged to bury their deceased loved ones as soon as possible after they leave the mortuary. This left families with little to no time to grieve and execute certain expected customary rituals, some of which are performed on the deceased. Families were prohibited from handling the remains of their loved ones and assigned people by the government assumed that role. The bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients were carefully transported and covered in body bags, but in terms of custom, they should be wrapped in a cow skin or blanket according to customary rules. According to African customary law, close family members should be present in the same room as the deceased and perform rituals to ward off evil de...
This paper investigates the relevance of singing and performing the Te Deum Laudamus in the postm... more This paper investigates the relevance of singing and performing the Te Deum Laudamus in the postmodern Christian era, especially in view of changing enactments and perceptions of the purpose of the hymn. The Te Deum has been used in various ways in church history, sung as a confession of praise and regularly used since the time of St Benedict during Matins (morning service). While the Reformers were critical of the late medieval worship, they did not query incorporating the Te Deum into their liturgies, because it brought meaning to the glorification of a benevolent God. This explains its use also by most Christian churches in their liturgies in the postmodern era. However, the pertinent question remains: Is the Te Deum still applicable to the postmodern church, which is characterised by secularism, charismatic sermons, and commercialised worship. The question is instigated by events and conceptions of the universe from the era of Gregorianism to Darwinism. In answering this questio...
women were already in ministry in Old and New Testament times, though they were not officially re... more women were already in ministry in Old and New Testament times, though they were not officially recognised as ministers as they are today. This practice was adopted by the methodist Church of Southern Africa (mCSA). Despite the profound move of the mCSA to enable women to enter the ministry and serve as ministers in the mCSA, female clergy are still being ostracised. This was affirmed by the Bishop of the Cape of Good Hope District, reverend michel Hansrod, in an address to the synod. He conceded the following: "It is with great sadness that we recognise and confess our slowness in affording women the opportunities of leadership and poor stationing." This statement implies that clergywomen in the mCSA are still regarded as unsuited to be leaders. This article sets out to offer the mCSA insight into the best way to resolve the problem of ostracism and disempowerment of clergywomen in ministry in the mCSA. The article highlights the historical background of women in ministry and from that perspective, brings forth God's intention in creating humanity. Then it offers a discourse on how the mCSA neglects women in ministry, in contradiction to Scripture. finally, the article formulates a missional paradigm embedded in the missio Dei that could assist the mCSA in addressing the pleas of women in ministry.
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