Is there any hope for ‘truth’ and ‘progress’ in theological thinking today?

dc.contributor.authorVan Huyssteen, J. Wentzel
dc.date.accessioned2018-05-10T13:03:41Z
dc.date.available2018-05-10T13:03:41Z
dc.date.issued2017-11-24
dc.descriptionThis article represents the reworking of the paper delivered by Wentzel van Huyssteen at the Johan Heyns Memorial Lecture on 25 May 2016 at the University of Pretoria.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractTo provide the historical-theological background to his own intellectual pursuit of interdisciplinary theology, Wentzel van Huyssteen tells his story that was prompted in his student days at Stellenbosch by the then young, newly appointed lecturer Johan Heyns. It sprung from the basic understanding and confrontation with the question: How is theology to be understood as a science? The very question became Van Huyssteen’s most basic research question for his academic career, guided by the deep conviction that Heyns adamantly proclaimed, namely that the content and methodology of theology could never be deduced from ‘the truth of revelation’ itself, but would in fact always be shaped by ‘a general theory of science’. For Van Huyssteen, this conviction pointed directly to the tentative and hypothetical nature of all theology. It helped him to put into words what would eventually become the defining character of his own theology, namely seeing the intellectual context of theology as a deeply cultural and contextual venture in which the sciences, politics and philosophy would play a defining role. This role is explicated in the article by focusing firstly on the structure of theological solutions, secondly on interdisciplinarity as challenge, subsequently on continuity and change, and lastly on problem-solving within a post-foundationalist theology. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : A post-foundational approach argues for the interdisciplinary character of theology as science. The approach transcends traditional boundaries of theological, philosophical and social reflection, establishing an intellectual context of theology as a deeply cultural and contextual venture.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentDogmatics and Christian Ethicsen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2018en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.ve.org.zaen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVan Huyssteen, J.W., 2017, ‘Is there any hope for “truth” and “progress” in theological thinking today?’, Verbum et Ecclesia 38(1), a1792. https:// DOI.org/ 10.4102/ve.v38i1.1792.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1609-9982 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2074-7705 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.4102/ve.v38i1.1792
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/64809
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAOSIS OpenJournalsen_ZA
dc.rights© 2017. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectPost-foundationalist theologyen_ZA
dc.subjectTheology as scienceen_ZA
dc.subjectCultural ventureen_ZA
dc.subjectContextual ventureen_ZA
dc.subjectWentzel van Huyssteen
dc.subjectJohan Heyns
dc.subject.otherTheology articles SDG-04
dc.subject.otherSDG-04: Quality education
dc.subject.otherTheology articles SDG-05
dc.subject.otherSDG-05: Gender equality
dc.subject.otherTheology articles SDG-10
dc.subject.otherSDG-10: Reduced inequalities
dc.subject.otherTheology articles SDG-16
dc.subject.otherSDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
dc.titleIs there any hope for ‘truth’ and ‘progress’ in theological thinking today?en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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