https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4305 Fri, 01 May 2026 09:16:53 GMT 2026-05-01T09:16:53Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/5488 Of serpents, reeds, understanding, and turns : some perspectives on implied apologetics and Pentateuch theory Lombaard, Christo The history of the churches in South Africa has also been a history of the scholarly interpretation of the Bible. Critical Pentateuch theory has a peculiar nature in this regard in that its main proponents have felt a need to explain what they do. In this article, the associated rhetorical strategies of three Old Testament scholars from or with a strong link to South Africa are briefly described. And, cognisant of how this history may play out in future, suggestions are offered on three possible directions for the accompanying dynamics to Pentateuch theory in South Africa. Peer reviewed Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/5488 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4478 Of serpents, reeds, understanding, and turns : some perspectives on implied apologetics and Pentateuch theory Lombaard, Christo The history of the churches in South Africa has also been a history of the scholarly interpretation of the Bible. Critical Pentateuch theory has a peculiar nature in this regard in that its main proponents have felt a need to explain what they do. In this article, the associated rhetorical strategies of three Old Testament scholars from or with a strong link to South Africa are briefly described. And, cognisant of how this history may play out in future, suggestions are offered on three possible directions for the accompanying dynamics to Pentateuch theory in South Africa. Peer reviewed Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4478 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4477 "... quam intime medullae animi mei suspirabant tibi": De spriritualiteit van Augustinus' "verborgen jaren" tot aan de bekering in 386 Oort, J. van (Johannes) In popular works, and even in handbooks of (church) history, it is often assumed that Augustine was converted from paganism to Christianity. This perception is incorrect. Augustine (354-430) was a North African by birth. In all likelihood his mother Monnica was of Berber extraction, i.e. she originated from the indigenous black Berbers. She became a Catholic Christian (though with some touch of the Donatist Christianity prevalent in Augustine’s inland home town Thagaste). Augustine’s father Patricius was a conservative heathen and only baptised a Catholic when Augustine was sixteen. Young Augustine thus grew up in a religiously very diverse environment. His school education in Thagaste and nearby Madauros strengthened the pagan element. During his student years in Carthage Augustine became a member of the Gnostic- Christian Church of Mani (216-276), the prophet from Babylon who established a new Church which expanded from present day Iraq until the Atlantic and the Pacific. More than ten years Augustine was a member of the New Age-movement of his time. After a long and intense spiritual journey came, in 386, his final conversion to Catholic (= orthodox) Christianity. The article aims to indicate that – both thetically and antithetically – all previous spiritual factors had a lasting influence on the spirituality of the future doctor gratiae. During all these periods he sighed for true knowledge of God: “how in my inmost being the very marrow of my soul did pant after You!” (Conf. III,6,10). Peer reviewed; Text in Dutch, abstract in English Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4477 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4476 Storytelling as a methodology in developing a theology of reconstruction Gathogo, Julius The article sets out to explore the problem statement: “How significant is storytelling as one of the methodologies for developing a theology of reconstruction in post-Cold War Africa?” It is based on the premise that, with post-Cold War Africa being characterised by calls for a reconstruction of African society in all fronts, storytelling will no doubt provide a rich resource. To achieve its objective, the article will revisit the historical background of the theology of reconstruction; and attempt to survey a sample of the Gikuyu (African) traditional understanding of the concept of reconstruction, and the case of some African traditional forms of communication. Afterwards, it will attempt to survey some of the approaches to developing a theology of reconstruction – alongside storytelling. Peer reviewed Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4476 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z