Recent Publications
Dr Elina Hankela has co-published an article in the International Bulletin of Mission Research with Prof Ignatius Swart (UWC) and Dr Henrietta Nyamjoh (UCT). The article is titled ‘Language Practices as Religious Innovation: The Case of Pentecostal Charismatic Churches in Xenophobic Contexts’ and stems from a research project that Hankela has been a member of since 2018. Through fieldwork in Johannesburg and Cape Town the authors’ attention was drawn to language as a central feature of religious practice, and a closer interrogation suggested that language practices in the case study churches respond innovatively to xenophobic elements in the environment where these churches are located.
Prof Maria Frahm-Arp published an interesting chapter on Pneumatology and Prophetic Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity during COVID-19 in South Africa. This chapter was published in a book entitled The Use and Abuse of the Spirit in Pentacostalism: A South African Perspective. The book was edited by Mookgo S. Kgatle and Allan H. Anderson. It can be accessed at: DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4324/9781003038795 eBook ISBN9781003038795.
Prof Hennie Viviers published an interesting article on materiality and religion. Please find more details below:
Viviers, H., 2020, ‘The materiality or ‘thingness’ of words and their effects: Some examples from the Book of Proverbs’, Verbum et Ecclesia 41(1), a2100. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v41i1.2100.
Dr Elina Hankela published an article titled ‘Liberating the classroom: Ethnographic elements in liberation theologies curricula’ in the July volume of the Wiley journal Teaching Religion and Theology. In the article Hankela brings two of her long-standing research interests, liberation theologies and ethnography, into conversation in thinking of teaching postgraduate (Honours) courses. This will be an interesting read especially for those of you who have done the liberation theologies course with Hankela.
Professor Farid Esack wrote an article on the recent Turkish government decision to turn the Hagia Sophia (at different times a major cathedral for the Greek Orthodox Church, a mosque and a museum) into a mosque. It was published by the University of Notre Dame. The article, “The Hagia Sophia Debate: A Muslim-Christian Liberation Theology Approach” can be read at: https://contendingmodernities.nd.edu/global-currents/the-hagia-sophia-debate/.
Dr. George Nche published in Transformation, an International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies, 0(00), 1-20 (2020). “The church climate action: Identifying the barriers and the bridges”. This article identifies the barriers to effective church-based climate action and the bridges or pathways out of these barriers/challenges.
Dr. Elina Hankela is a member of a research team that studies xenophobia and Pentecostalism in South Africa. This project is part of the African Theological Advance programme that is facilitated by the Nagel Institute at Calvin University (https://nagelinstitute.org) and funded by the Templeton Religion Trust. Click on the following link to see more about this project:https://vimeo.com/greymattergroup/review/443516337/2241b97884?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc
Iskander Abbasi, a PhD student in our department published an article in the Maydan.com on Islam titled “Why the Muslim World Matters – Building a Home with the homeless. See the link below:
Dr. George Nche has published an article “The Religion-Environment (Climate Change) Connection. Evidence from Nigeria”, in Worldviews 24 (2020) 81–115, (doi:10.1163/15685357-20201004).