Churches in post-apartheid South Africa have rightly emphasised the need for reconciliation and intercultural relationship building. For white people, this has often translated into strategies of inclusion and of sharing. For all their value, though, such approaches usually build on linguistic, cultural, material, and spiritual resources that are the norm for the historically privileged. What...
This seminar raises questions concerning our inherited methods of biblical interpretation developed as they were by the beneficiaries of colonisation may (inadvertently?) perpetuate theologies of oppression and injustice. Our inherited Western hermeneutics values a heavily rationalistic, objective reading of Scripture, detached from the context of the reader. These interpretative methods seldom produce theology to challenge the power and the privileged. This seminar will instead explore a hermeneutical method that is…
Ryan Saville talks to John Scheepers, the director of Isiphambano about his journey with burnout and chronic fatigue. John will also share what he is learning about self-care, rest, and joy in the work of justice, and what the way ahead may look like for Isiphambano.
What if the gospel was so much bigger, richer, and more beautiful than you realised? What if the gospel was not only about heaven one day but also the inbreaking Kingdom of God today? What if the gospel was not only about forgiveness for sinners but liberation from oppression too? What if both of these...
In this online seminar Pastor Brian Koela, in conversation with David Cloete, explores Jeremiah's letter to the exiles (Jeremiah 29:1-8) in particular his injunction that they "seek the peace of the city". What might it mean for us to seek the peace and prosperity of our own very different cities, paying particular attention to the call to repentance and shalom (peace)?
The evangelical church, as a whole, failed the test of apartheid. These failures to stand up against the injustices of the apartheid state were widely acknowledged by evangelicals during the TRC. What was most significant in its absence from these submissions before the TRC was any sustained reflection on the role in which evangelical theology might have played in their failure to engage prophetically with the apartheid regime. In this…
Philemon is not just a letter about a first-century master and slave but a window into what applied theology looks like in a Pauline community. In this seminar, Dr. Batanayi I. Manyika unpacks the construction and intention behind this letter, as well as its history of interpretation. He further examines the gospel’s influence on slave-master relationships in the first century and how these findings might be appropriated for a gospel…
Ryan Saville interviews pastor, activist and author Ben Lindsay talking about his recent book “We Need to Talk about Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches.”
In this talk Ryan Saville explores the concept of race as a form of idolatry. Racial idolatry make promises it cannot keep, asking us to rely on that which only God can give. The idol of whiteness promises that white hegemony will produce stable, reliable and fruitful leadership but leads always to disfunction and division. Mono-cultural or homogenous churches in racialized societies perpetuate racism. Racial idols are fiercely protected by…
Racism has both an individual and a structural element and as such is intricately linked to systems of power and privilege. This talk probes us to examine the intricate link between power and prejudice within both society and the church. And then, building on the work and example of Christ in Philippians 2, invites us to consider what a biblical theology of power and privilege could look like as we…
Isiphambano Centre for Biblical Justice is a study and training centre dedicated to developing a holistic, theological and cross-centred response to racial and economic injustice within the South African context.
We are a non-profit organization that is fully-funded by individual gifts and ministry partnerships. Your contribution will go directly toward the production of more gospel-centered, church-equipping resources.