Conspectus
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14194/2580
Aims, Scopes, and Values
Conspectus is the journal of the South African Theological Seminary. Like the Seminary, the values of the journal are encapsulated in the phrase, “Bible-based, Christ-centred, and Spirit- led.” Launching from an appreciation of interdisciplinary discourse, the journal publishes from across the broad spectrum of theological studies (Biblical Studies, Practical Theology, Systematic Theology, Studies in Church and Society), while establishing links with extra- theological disciplines where appropriate. Like the Seminary, Conspectus invites contributions from the broad spectrum of denominations while showcasing academic research from a broadly evangelical perspective. The journal seeks contributions from authors who subscribe to a high view of Scripture, as is consistent with evangelical tenets.1 Publishing articles that employ reader-centered methodologies for exegesis does not lie in Conspectus’s purview.2 Additionally, as SATS is based on the African continent, the journal foregrounds contributions from the Majority World. To be published in Conspectus an article must go beyond a summary of secondary sources and present the results of sound theological research valuable to the church, including scholars, pastors, students, missionaries, and/or other Christian practitioners. Conspectus is an open-source journal, catalogued under ATLA (American Theological Library Association), Logos Bible Software, Galaxy Software, Sabinet, the Directory of Open Access Journals, African Journals Online (AJOL), and the SATS website.3
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Item Conspectus Volume 29(South African Theological Seminary, 2020-03) Bernard, Gerard; Lioy, Dan T.; Kvidahl, Clifford B.; Venter, Marieke; Semmelink, Willem; Adjei-Brown, Clement; Asumang, Annang; Amevenku, Frederick Mawusi; Boaheng, Isaac; Manyika, Batanayi I.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Jabini, Franklin; Atterbury, Vincent E.; Brodie, Robert; Domeris, William R.; Erdey, Zoltan L.; Jabini, Frank; Kunhiyop, Samuel W.; Lessing, Pelham; Lioy, Dan T.; Mahlangu, Elijah; Malherbe, Johannes S.; Maré, Leonard; Peppler, Christopher; Pretorius, Mark; Smith, Kevin G.; Song, Arthur; Woodbridge, Noel B.; Du Toit, Philip; Erdey, Zoltan L.Item Conspectus Volume 30(South African Theological Seminary, 2020-10) Manyika, Batanayi I.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Wendland, Ernst R.; Domeris, William R.; Lioy, Dan T.; Connoway, Izaak J. L.; Malherbe, Johannes S.; Smith, Kevin G.; de Carvalho, José; Falconer, Robert D.; Domeris, William R.; Tysick, Jonathan; Banda, Collium; Cloete, Anita; Coetsee, Albert; Coon, George; Du Toit, Philip; Godfrey Harold; Henry, Desmond; Kabongo, Luc; Kunhiyop, Samuel W.; Lioy, Dan T.; Malherbe, Johannes S.; Manomi, Dougara Ishaya; Manyika, Batanayi I.; Mburu, Elizabeth; Mouton, Elna; Linzay Rinquest; Sindo, Vuyani; van Deventer, Cornelia; Wendland, Ernst R.; Long-Westfall, Cynthia; Wilson, Alistair; Manyika, Batanayi I.Item Conspectus Volume 32(South African Theological Seminary, 2021-10) Anderson, Paul N.; McGrew, Lydia; Mburu, Elizabeth; Zogbo, Lynell; Costa, Tony; Aryeh, Daniel Nii Aboagye; Lioy, Dan T.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Domeris, William R.; Porter, Christopher A.; Boaheng, Isaac; Ndereba, Kevin Muriithi; Luka, Reuben Turbi; Burlet, Dustin; Vongjen, Moses; Urga, Abeneazer G.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Long-Westfall, Cynthia; Wilson, Alistair; van Deventer, CorneliaThe issue launches into Paul N. Anderson’s article, “Jesus in Johannine Perspective: Inviting A Fourth Quest for Jesus.” Here, Anderson critiques the parsimonious quests for the historical Jesus, lamenting the neglect of the Gospel of John. He advocates for a Fourth Quest for Jesus—one inclusive and appreciative of John’s unique and historical contribution. In another article about John’s historicity, “Is Jesus John’s Mouthpiece? Reconsidering Johannine Idiom,” Lydia McGrew aptly challenges the view that Johannine idiom is indicative of elaborations of Jesus’s discourses on the part of the evangelist. Rather, by referring to explanatory “asides” and unexplained allusions, she argues that John was scrupulous in his recordings and retellings of Jesus’s teachings. Moving on to hermeneutics, in her article, “Jesus, our Liberator: An Intercultural Dialogue,” Mburu, Elizabeth underscores and demonstrates the importance of contextual African hermeneutics, illustrating how such a reading reveals Jesus as liberator in John 8:31–47 and what the significance is for African contexts. Next is an article entitled, “On Understanding and Translating ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν in John’s Gospel against the Backdrop of English and a Selection of African Languages,” by Lynell Zogbo. Zogbo maps out and analyzes the use of John’s unique double “amen” formula, offering insightful suggestions to Bible translators in Africa and beyond. In his article, “The Use of πιστεύω in the Gospel of John: Some Considerations on Meaning and Issues of Consistency and Ambiguity,” Tony Costa analyzes the Fourth Gospel’s use of πιστεύω by assessing how John uses this word and its other word associations and descriptors in various contexts to distinguish true believers from those embodying a counterfeit faith. Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh enters the world of socio-rhetorical analysis in his article, “The Purpose of σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα in the Gospel of John: A Socio-Rhetorical Reading of John 4:46–54,” by engaging the inner texture of socio-rhetorical reading to re-interpret John 4:46–54. He considers the pairing of σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα and the mode of healing as critical factors for understanding the narrative and its rhetorical aims of inducing faith and promoting Jesus above others. In his article, “Denial Versus Betrayal: A Case Study Analysis of Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot in the Fourth Gospel,” Lioy, Dan T. undertakes a case study analysis of Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot in the Fourth Gospel with the intent of exploring the reason for the two radically different outcomes of both disciples’ lives. Next, Drs. Van Deventer, Cornelia and Domeris, William R., in an article entitled, “Spiritual Birth, Living Water, and New Creation: Mapping Life-Giving Metaphors in the Fourth Gospel,” launch from Cognitive Metaphor Theory to illustrate how images of birth, water, and new life work together to create a metanarrative of reproductive language that includes the gospel’s female hearers in a significant way. In his article, “Of Sheep, Shepherds, and Temples: A Social Identity Reading of the Good Shepherd Paroemia on the Way to a Destroyed Temple,” Christopher Porter analyzes the Good Shepherd discourse in John 10 in light of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, foregrounding an exilic context strengthened by the intertextual use of Ezekiel 34 and Zechariah 10– 11. In another article on the Good Shepherd discourse, Rev. Isaac Boaheng ushers us into the realm of Practical Theology with his essay entitled, “Exegetical and Theological Reflections on John 10:1–18: Implications for Contemporary African Christian Leadership.” Boaheng responds to the challenge of ineffective leadership in the contemporary African society by exploring how leadership principles embedded in John 10:1–18 might inform the behaviors, styles, and leadership philosophies of African leaders. Another Practical theological offering includes Kevin Muriithi Ndereba’s article, “Engaging Youth Worldviews in Africa: A Practical Theology in Light of John 4.” Ndereba problematizes worldview engagement in Africa from a Kenyan context, arguing that robust youth engagement must straddle the traditional/animistic, modern, atheistic, and postmodern worldviews. Launching from Osmer’s approach, he analyzes John 4, exploring the ramifications of John’s Christology for youth ministry practice and higher education. In his article, “The Prologue of John: A Conceptual Framework for African Public Theological Discourse,” Reuben Turbi Luka explores whether the incarnational theology of the Johannine prologue could be instrumental in the formulation of a normative methodology for doing public theology, particularly in Africa. Turbi concludes by arguing that God’s invasion of human history in the incarnation serves as an enduring hermeneutical springboard, a defining model for carrying out the goal of public theology in a normative fashion. Last, but not least, the issue concludes with two book reviews: Dustin Burlet reviews Origins: The Ancient Impact and Modern Implications of Genesis 1–11 by Paul Copan and Douglas Jacoby, and Moses Vongjen reviews Majority World Perspectives on Christian Mission, edited by Nico A. Botha and Eugene Baron.Item Conspectus Volume 33(South African Theological Seminary, 2022-04) Wendland, Ernst R.; Owiredu, Charles; Huovila, Kimmo; Lioy, Dan T.; Antombikums, Aku Stephen; Kasera, Basilius M.; Barron, Joshua Robert; Wamahiga, Florence; Burlet, Dustin; Lovelace, Christopher J.; Urga, Abeneazer G.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Long-Westfall, Cynthia; Wilson, Alistair; van Deventer, CorneliaItem Conspectus Volume 35(South African Theological Seminary, 2023-04) Wendland, Ernst R.; Lioy, Dan T.; Pienaar, Frans-Johan; Owiredu, Charles; Banda Chiwoko, Maxwell; Badenberg, Robert; Barron, Joshua Robert; Menzies, Robert P.; Urga, Abeneazer G.; van Deventer, Cornelia; Long-Westfall, Cynthia; Wilson, Alistair; van Deventer, CorneliaIn the first article, “Theologizing in Africa: With Special Reference to Bible Translation in Chichewa,” Ernst Wendland emphasizes the many ways in which Bible translators function as theologizers. To illustrate this, he focusses on the New Testament Study Bible in Chichewa, reflecting on the art of conveying the meaning of a biblical text in understandable ways in order to serve the reader(/hearer) well. Next, Lioy, Dan T. argues for the basic categorization of human speech as either verbum efficax or verbum inefficax in his article, “The Destructive Power of the Tongue as a Verbum Inefficax: A Canonical-Literary Reading of James 3:1–12 through the Lens of Speech-Act Theory.” Employing speech-act theory, Lioy discusses efficacious speech as the proclamation of the gospel and inefficacious speech as marked by James in 3:1–12, concluding that efficacious speech promotes human flourishing, while inefficacious speech leads to decay. In his article, “Salt and Light: Reading Matthew 5:13–16 within the Context of the Matthean Community,” Frans-Johann Pienaar explores the rhetorical effect of Jesus’s command to be salt and light in the lives of the original audience of Matthew’s Gospel. Pienaar argues that Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:13–16 come as a challenge to an audience facing daily temptation to assimilate after the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Next, Charles Owiredu discusses the metaphors used for menstruation in the Old Testament in his article, “Euphemisms and Metaphors for Menstruation in the Old Testament and Two Ghanaian Bible Translations.” Owiredu analyzes the metaphorical conceptualizations of menstruation in the Hebrew Bible and then compares them with their translations in two Ghanaian Bibles, Twi and Gã, demonstrating that in both Ghanaian and Israelite thought, ideas around indisposition and separation are prominent when language about menstruation is concerned. Finally, in his article, “Reimagining the Role of the Pastor as a Teaching Elder in the Twenty-First-Century Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Nkhoma Synod Context: A Situational Audit of Lilongwe City Congregations,” Maxwell Chiwoko underscores that most preaching in the Nkhoma Synod is done by laypeople. The author argues for a reimagining of the fulfillment of the teaching responsibilities of pastors and for more effective training for laypersons. The issue concludes with three book reviews. Robert Badenberg reviews Who Do You Say I Am? Christology in Africa (2021), edited by Rodney L. Reed, and David K. Ngaruiya. This is followed by a review of Nijay Gupta’s, Tell Her Story (2023), written by Joshua R. Barron. Finally, Robert P. Menzies reviews Adams, Scott's book, In Jesus’ Name: Johannine Prayer in Ethical, Missional, and Eschatological Perspective (2022).