AbstractAgainst a background discussion of the concept and general purpose of education, this article examines sorne key issues in African traditional education, namely its philosophical foundations, content and methods, strengths and weaknesses. The philosophical foundations of African traditional education are the five principles of preparationism, functionalism, communalism, perennialism and holisticism. We have highlighted the physical, social and spiritual content of African traditional education and the practical method of teaching and learning. The strengths and weaknesses of African traditional education are discussed and the attention of readers directed to possible areas for further study.

AbstractIn an effort to shed much needed light on to religion and science perspectives in Africa, a preliminary survey was conducted to examine the views of undergraduate science students (N=143) at St. John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT). This research note presents initial survey findings, which explore perceptions of religion-and-science interactions and evolutionary theory as well as an attempt to ascertain what sources influence undergraduate sentiments about science and religion. Results point to prevalent negative beliefs about evolution and religion–science relationships. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis suggests that students with the most positive science-religion viewpoints identify the influence of university education in shaping such beliefs, rather than the teachings of religious leaders. Factor scores also disclose correlations between participants’ considerations of science-religion relationships and reported statements members of students’ religious communities made about evolutionary theory.

AbstractTraditional health practitioners offer a variety of interventions for people who choose traditional health practice services. Hearing impairment, which may cause significant difficulties in communication, employment and learning, is a condition for which people consult with traditional health practitioners in South Africa. The training undergone by traditional health practitioners sets the tone for the types of intervention for persons with hearing loss. As there is a paucity of literature in this area, 15 traditional health practitioners were interviewed about the training they had undergone and more specifically with regards to hearing loss. The content thematic analysis which was conducted on the interview transcripts revealed that the training of traditional health practitioners has a significant supernatural component which includes a spiritual possession through which the ancestors pass on the inspired knowledge on how to assess and treat clients. The calling to become a traditional health practitioner is reportedly a divine vocation and cannot be refused. During their apprenticeships, traditional health practitioners learn to interpret the dreams sent by the ancestors and learn to hone their skills in the identification of appropriate treatments for hearing loss. The findings of this study suggest the need for open communication between traditional and modern health care providers so that traditional and allopathic health practitioners can learn from each other so as to provide an effective and appropriate intervention for their clients.

AbstractThis article attempts to answer two main questions: “What does it mean to teach political science in an African university when oneself is African?” and “what social realities are we documenting (or should we document)?” As a political scientist, I came to ask myself these questions based on my encounter with the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, and based on the questions that this major event had kindled in me. My encounter with the subject of “genocide” was in all respects an upheaval because I understood suddenly a large weakness in the way political science was taught at Université Gaston Berger. This weakness resides in the absence of reflexivity of the contents, the methods, and the objectives of our teaching and of our research. The most obvious manifestations of this are the marginal control of the dynamics and issues that are at the heart of the evolution of our societies, and a remarkable lack of African perspectives in our instruction. The genocide of the Rwandan Tutsi, or more precisely its absence from the curricula of African universities in general, and at UGB in particular, signals a lack of intellectual sovereignty. If we look more closely at the matter, it appears that all the social sciences taught at our universities are more or less concerned with this issue. In light of this, I will attempt to outline an epistemological project, from my point of view, on what political science teaching and research in Africa ought to be.

AbstractThe use of anointed objects among African Pentecostal prophets as instruments of taping the power of the Holy Spirit is analysed from a perspective of the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit and the use of magical charms in African traditional religions (ATRs). The main question answered in this article is the following: what does the use of anointed objects among African neo-Pentecostal prophets reveal about the underlying understanding of the Holy Spirit? It is argued that the use of anointed objects to tap into the Spirit’s power treats the Spirit as an elusive power that is controlled magically. It is further argued that in Africa, the use of anointed objects resonates with the use of magical charms in ATR. The Christian reliance on anointed objects is challenged by looking at some aspects of the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit. The significant contribution of the article lies in challenging African Pentecostals to relate to the Holy Spirit as a personal divine being instead of an elusive impersonal force that could be mastered only by anointed objects. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article uses the disciplines of systematic theology, ATRs and biblical theology to analyse the undermining of the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit among African Pentecostal prophets by their using anointed objects as instruments of conveying the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in believer’s life and activities.

AbstractThe occurrence of evils in the world, whether humanly or naturally caused, calls for explanation, however incomplete. For John Hick this is a world in which the human experience of hardship plays a useful role in 'soul-making'. But it is also a world of 'souldestroying' evils that damage the veiy integrity of an individual's personhood. Drawing upon Trinitarian resources, including the concept of the aesthetic goodness of God, Marilyn Adams discusses how God, and only God, can rectify such damage. The contemporary understanding of cosmic and biological evolution complements these works of theodicy by showing something of the constraints under which this world-in-the-making has developed - one that may be viewed eschatologically as raw material for a future resurrected world

AbstractThe meanings and aims of natural theology in its historical and contemporary phases are discussed. As ‘the search for God through the exercise of reason and the observation of the world’, it complements the theology of revelation and constitutes the arena for the escalating dialogue between science and theology. Such dialogue is prompted by the unfolding scientific picture of cosmic history – of an expanding and evolving universe, intelligible to the human mind, remarkably fine-tuned as though designed to allow the emergence and evolution of life into its hierarchy of complexity.

AbstractA new-style natural theology is introduced which aims at a grand narrative of divine creation, based on the scientific accounts of cosmic, biological and human evolution. It features the emergence of imagination as a high point in the evolutionary development of humankind, creating the possibility of abstract thought, making for moral and aesthetic awareness and creativity, and playing a key role in the phenomenon ofhuman altruism. After presenting a detailed account of the nature and background story of this singular cognitive attribute, we discuss a recently presented ‘new natural theology’ concerning altruism at its morally highest levels. We then describe elements of a Trinitarian-based grand narrative which embraces such altruism - one which stands in sharp contrast to the natirral theologies oftwo South African theologians, briefly outlined here for comparison. Such a narrative seems a particularly appropriate basis for the church’s engagement in the big issues of today’s world..

AbstractThe burgeoning science-and-theology discourse of the past four decades has produced a new natural theology, broadened beyond its traditional task of finding arguments for the existence of God. Much of its concern has been to address the evolutionary world-picture of the sciences and thence give a theistic account of the universe. Here we suggest an account that draws upon the concepts of kenosis and to kalon (the beautiful) – one that has implications for the teaching of science in South Africa and for developing an inclusive theological approach to religious pluralism.

AbstractIt is argued that the theological enterprise, irrespective of its socio-cultural context, needs to take into account the scientific picture of our multi-levelled world of nature and humanity. Recent science-and-theology discussion has given rise to a new-style natural theology that seeks to place the knowledge of the world gained from the natural and human sciences within a Trinitarian framework of understanding. From this inter-disciplinary enterprise a rich doctrine of creation is envisaged, centred on a grand narrative of the universe in all its beauty and costliness - one that concerns theologians in the academie and socio-political challenges they face, and particularly in the task o f developing an African ‘theology o f recontruction’.

AbstractThe emergence of a new scientific world-picture during the course of the 20thcentury has created the challenge to theology, as in the time of Aquinas, to act as the great integrating discipline, drawing upon the full range of knowledge to formulate a grand narrative of the evolving cosmos. First, key questions of the science-theology debate of the past three decades are outlined, with emphasis on the epistemic aspects. George Ellis's theistic cosmology is then presented briefly, as an example of a limited integration that brings together the realms of the physical and the moral. Using the same hypothetico-deductive approach, an axiomatic framework is proposed as a way of extending his model into a more comprehensive scheme - one that is based on a fundamental idea of trinitarian theology, the kenosis of God. This is then linked to the traditional triad of transcendental values - truth, goodness and beauty - with reference on the one hand to the neglect of beauty in modern culture, and on the other hand to the role of the Holy Spirit as the One who affirms particularity and inspires beauty.

AbstractA textbook surveying the key developments in the natural sciences over the past 450 years and all the main associated theological questions. It provides an outline of the present science and theology discourse and suggests how a scientific description of the world may be placed within a broad theistic scheme. Modern science has developed in three broad phases: the Scientific Revolution; the rise of geology and Darwin's theory of evolution; and the natural sciences of the 20the century. The first two phases are described through the work of leading scientific figures, from Copernicus to Newton and from Linnaeus to Darwin. Thus setting the scene for a review of the lively science-theology discourse of the past half-century.

AbstractIntelligent design, the new incarnation of creationism, is appearing in schools and universities across the world. The stock response by scientists seems to be: 'It is not science'. What proponents of intelligent design and irreducible complexity have managed to do, however, is introduce enough of the scientific method into their arguments to make this stock response untenable. We argue that, in South Africa, students of biology are conflicted and confused over this issue and the reconciliation of their religious and scientific beliefs, and therefore need to learn about it in such a way that they are fully cognisant of what science and the scientific method is. In this way they can fully understand the weaknesses of the intelligent design position from a scientific point of view.

AbstractThis chapter examines the likely predictors of the rejection of vaccination in Nigeria using survey data. The survey data shows that reading science news weekly is not as significant a predictor of opposition to vaccination as feeling informed about new scientific discoveries and new medical discoveries. The data streams, the polio vaccine controversy, the Ebola crises and the survey data show the importance of religion as a competitor for cultural authority in health matters in West Africa. Poliomyelitis, a highly infectious disease caused by a virus, attacks the nervous system of children under five years and can cause total paralysis or death in a matter of hours. The chapter uses media archives to monitor changing attention to science in Nigerian newspapers as a proportion of total news coverage; the competing actors and how their occurrence changed over time during the Oral polio vaccine and the Ebola crises.

AbstractIs there a metaphorical wall that separates science and religion? In the continued interaction between science and religion, the questions of ontology (what is there?) and epistemology (how do we know what is there?) plague efforts to come to an integrated model that successfully includes both partners. In this article, three possible scenarios are discussed: firstly, that science and religion occupy opposite sides of a dividing ‘wall’. Secondly, that science and religion stand on the same side of a ‘wall’ that separates the known from the unknown. Thirdly, the possibility that no ‘wall’ exists and that science and religion effectively come to interdependent conclusions based on their interaction within an open system. This article addresses the questions of transcendence and immanence against the background of the wall metaphor.

AbstractThis study investigates the use of traditional medicine by traditional healers in a South African context in the fight against Covid-19. Appropriating spiritual help in fighting the symptoms of the virus would be part of the treatment prescribed by traditional healers. This is not an evaluative study to judge whether traditional healing methods are valid or not. This is a descriptive exercise to show how traditional healers appropriate the help of the spiritual realm in the process of healing. Two different worldviews are discussed to indicate under which conditions the help of the spiritual realm is required in the healing process. The discussion of the porous and buffered worldviews provides insight into how people perceive their reality, and the influence of the spiritual realm in it. By describing how healing functions in an African (porous) worldview by adopting help from the spiritual realm, the importance of rituals as mediating actions, are emphasised. A porous worldview is not only found among African communities; several examples illustrate this. The conclusion drawn is that all illnesses and healing systems are culturally influenced, and one cannot be judged as being better or more efficacious than the other.

AbstractThe science and faith debate is dominated by Western voices. In order to enrich this debate, the authors study the discourses of different groups of Christian academics and master's students in francophone Africa. This article describes the process of reconstructing and analyzing the discourse of a group of master's students from Abidjan (Ivory Coast) with the help of group model building and focus groups. Three characteristic features that emerge from this discourse include the foundational position of faith, the central role of truth, and the ambiguous connotations of the term “science” in this context. The reconstructed discourse is then brought into conversation with the North Atlantic debate, with a special focus on the concept of scientism.

AbstractIn the first part of the article, the authors explain how both their research among MA students and academics in Abidjan, Kinshasa and Yaoundé and the dominant theories about the science and religion debate pushed them in the direction of an alternative approach of this debate. In the second part, they present three substantial elements of such an approach, based on their field research. First, they underline the importance of a shared point of departure for an intercultural and more equal debate on science and religion. They propose to start with a critical assessment of what is perceived as real. Second, they urge for a reticent use of western academic systematizations and to use the proper categories of the research population to value and understand the proper contribution of the different cultures. Finally they plead for substantial attention to what is called the post-colonial condition because of the involvement of Western countries to the worldwide spread of both science and (Christian) faith.

Abstract"Context and Catholicity in the Science and Religion Debate" published on 14 Apr 2020 by Brill.

AbstractAlthough US Pentecostalism has traditionally been characterized by unease towards science, due to socio-economic positioning and theological stances, Pentecostals like James Smith and others have recently launched a ‘fresh engagement with the sciences’. The feasibility of his proposal is discussed in this article. Based on the contributions of four Pentecostal participants in the research project “Science and Religion in French-speaking Africa,” the author argues that their perspectives are not coloured by naturalism, which according to Smith is one of the main limiting factors to traditional US Pentecostal engagement with science. Consequently certain expressions of African Pentecostalism would be open to Smith’s proposal. Nevertheless, the author argues that both the African and the US cultural contexts need to be taken into account more seriously. Such an approach reveals that in both contexts the possibilities for a fresh Pentecostal engagement with the sciences are more limited than Smith suggests.

AbstractLa plupart des établissements d'éducation supérieure dans le monde francophone se veulent 'laïcs' et neutres. À travers la recherche qualitative des discours sur foi et sciences des étudiants et des professeurs universitaires chrétiens menée dans trois villes africaines, il se dégage la priorité à la foi et la compatibilité entre science et foi, dans un contexte d'influence de la culture africaine.

AbstractBringing together scholars from six continents, this book explores the rich diversity of ways that Christianity engages with science, addressing how contextually distinctive issues are also vital to global discourse.

AbstractTanzania, in East Africa, is one of the world’s least developed nations. However, there is gradual progress in thearea of science and technology. This together with globalization, and the influence of the internet is naturally havingan effect on the world view of Tanzanians. At St. John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT) located in Dodoma,Tanzania, the interaction between science, theology and culture is a new area of interest in education and research.Therefore, in order to better understand current beliefs regarding the relationship between science and religiousfaith a survey was carried out on Tanzanian staff and students at SJUT. The results, discussion and conclusions,written from a Christian perspective, give a helpful guide to “Current Perspectives on Science and Faith inTanzania”. The present study estimated that 80% of educated Tanzanians believe science and religious faith arecompatible, however, most of these have difficulty harmonizing apparent conflict. Where appropriate in this paperreasoning is given to reveal the complementary nature of science and religious faith. From the results of this surveythere is clearly opportunity and interest for education in the interaction between science and theology in Tanzania.

AbstractAdvances in science and technology confront us with many of the pressing questions and challenges of today. This article describes the course ‘Science, Faith and Culture’, a new course in the 2012–2013 Academic Year for the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences at St. John's University of Tanzania, and demonstrates its significance to Christian higher education, the focus being on the Tanzanian context. A course evaluation by students indicates that it has helped students to think critically and has also resolved previous struggles by presenting the compatibility between science and religious faith. Traditionally, universal or cosmic harmony is important to the African, according to well-known theologian and philosopher John Mbiti, thus reinforcing the relevance to the Tanzanian context. The course is beneficial for the development of the Christian mind and has as its foundation the gospel of Christ. This paper also intends to be an encouragement and resource for other Christian higher education institutes worldwide to use as a basis for developing such a course within their own cultural context.

AbstractLaïcités! Autrefois horizon indépassable du modèle républicain, la laïcité à la française, régie par un modèle plutôt restrictif qui étonne les autres Européens, prépare son centenaire dans un état de malaise qui conduit à s’interroger sur les différentes formes de laïcité possibles. Cette interrogation requiert l’examen des fondements et des limites de toute laïcité, que le poids nouveau de l’islam en pays « de chrétienté » oblige aussi à repenser. Pour le bien de la cité pluraliste d’ici-bas comme pour assigner à l’Église sa juste place au milieu d’elle, une réflexion historique, biblique et théologique rigoureuse revêt un caractère d’urgence. Orateur du colloque de la Faculté Libre de Théologie Évangélique consacré à la laïcité, Jean Baubérot, Président de l’École Pratique des Hautes Études (Sorbonne), où il est titulaire de la chaire « Histoire et sociologie de la laïcité » et directeur du « Groupe de Sociologie des religions et de la laïcité » (CNRS-IRESCO), a tracé les perspectives que tentent de prolonger et de discuter les autres contributions contenues dans cet ouvrage, dont les auteurs sont : Henri Blocher, Jacques Buchhold, Sébastien Fath, Bernard Huck, Harold Kallemeyn, Émile Nicole, Alain Nisus.

AbstractÀ force de poser la problématique des rapports entre Bible et science en termes de conflit ou de démarcation absolue, l'on vient à négliger le fait que les deux sont attaqués dans leur comune pretention à la vérité. La Bible ne serait qu'un texte écrit de mains d'hommes purement hommes, et la science, un simple vivier de recettes pour la satisfaction de nos besoins pratiques. Les linges qui vont suivre voudraient contribuer a attirer l'attention des chrétiens sur les enjeux attachés à cette question. Pour ce faire, nous sollicitons l'aide de deux disciplines auxquelles nombred e chrétiens africains restent encore trop étrangers : l'apologétique qui permet la défense, notamment sur le front intellectuel, de l'espérance quj en nous, et l'épistémologie, qui permet de réfléchir sur les sciences d'un point de vue qui soit à de les aider à poursuivre leur propre objectif de vérité, en tant qu'elle ne saurait se réduire à un obJectif d'utilité. Spirituelle ou objective, la vérité est de Dieu, et le diable, qui est le père du mensonge, ne peut pas qu'en affaiblir la nécessité et le sens. Nous nous efforçons donc de montrer en quel sens et avec quel bonheur les combatsa respectifs de l'apologétique et de l'épistémologie se soutiennent et se soustendent, et d'articuler les raisons pour lesquelles l'église d'Afrique devrait y porter une meilleure attention.

AbstractIn this contribution, an overview of the distinct ways in which the interplay between knowledge, values, and beliefs took shape in the South African context since 1948 is offered. This is framed against the background of the paleontological significance of South Africa and an appreciation of indigenous knowledge systems, but also of the ideological distortion of knowledge and education during the apartheid era through the legacy of neo-Calvinism. The overview includes references to discourse on human rationality (as an implicit critique against ideology), on the use of social sciences in theological reflection, on the teaching of evolution in public schools, on science and religion, and on religion and ecology. The essay concludes with a survey of some of the major voices regarding the interface between religion and science in South Africa.

AbstractIn part one of this essay I critically reflect on Steven Pinker's claim that “a scientific Englishunderstanding of the world” is “becoming the de facto morality of modem democracies, international organizations, and liberalizing religions, and its unfulfilled promises define the moral imperatives we face today” . I do so by revisiting the relationship between science, theology and morality. In part two I consider the theological contribution to the discussion from a Christian humanist faith perspective, and do so largely in dialogue with Bonhoeffer’s Christological understanding of reality and mystery. I argue that this challenges the adequacy of a purely scientific understanding in defining moral imperatives, but also provides a basis for a genuinely Christian participation in the humanist project.

AbstractIn recent decades, religiously motivated schools have gained a new social and political presence and significance in many African countries. Although religious networks and organizations—Christian as well as Muslim—have played a central role in providing education in colonial and postcolonial settings, liberalization and privatization measures since the 1980s have opened up new opportunities for religious engagement at all educational levels. The contributions to this issue explore the implications of these recent transformations on Christian and Muslim investments in the educational domain. To do so, they examine these implications in view of reconfigurations of national and regional educational fields under the influence of colonial and postcolonial administrations. Furthermore, they address the multiple, often-contested meanings, practices, and institutional setups that have shaped and been constituted by, the field of ‘religious schooling’ in the context of both neoliberal reform measures and transnational religious renewal trends. Finally, they illustrate the need to adopt an increasingly comparative perspective in the analysis of religious education, and to understand how (internally differentiated) instances of Christian and Muslim education have developed historically in relation to each other.

AbstractCe livre est écrit pour attirer votre attention, pour vous amener à faire des recherches et pour constater de vous-même. Raison pour laquelle les explications ont été très simplifiées avec une lecture facile. Les Africains ont cessés d’être eux-mêmes sans savoir exactement ce qu’ils sont devenus. La seule chose certaine est qu’ils sont devenus dès lors très vulnérables parce qu’ils doivent attendre que le nouveau maître leur explique ce qu’ils sont, ce qu’ils seront. Les Africains sont entre l’Afrique qu’ils ne connaissent pas et l’Occident qu’ils ne connaîtront jamais. Il est important que la science s’allie à la spiritualité si l’on veut vraiment devenir une civilisation évoluée dans tous les sens du terme. Dieu n’a pas créé le monde. Dieu a fait le monde en utilisant un code, le code cosmique et le code cosmique (le grand ordre des choses) a créé le monde. C’est le code cosmique qui gère la matière physique. Le monde est fait d’information énergétique organisée, le monde est saturé de forces informationnelles non visibles et pourtant agissantes. Je l’ai déjà dit, Dieu est le garant de l’ordre établi des choses. Dieu n’a pas d’émotion. On ne demande rien à Dieu et Dieu ne gère pas les affaires de la famille. Dieu est au-dessus de tous et ne se mêle de rien. Dieu se soucie de l’être que seulement quand l’Homme a rejoint son monde invisible. L’univers est mathématique à l’image du monde virtuel des jeux comme DRIV3R sur PlayStation 2 que l’on code en utilisant des langages de programmation tels C, Java, JavaScript,… et quand nous explorons ce royaume mathématique, nous avons en quelque sort un aperçu de l’esprit de Dieu, un aperçu du « visage » de la conscience divine.

AbstractFew human phenomena in our time are as controversial or confusing as religion. People seem to live in two worlds: a mythical and a scientific one. They talk about either of these worlds in isolation but cannot reconcile the underlying presuppositions. Believers are less naïve than the ‘new atheists’ suppose, and atheists do not come without their quota of superstition and belief. Midway between the two opposites is a burgeoning, secular new spirituality that has assumed many forms in recent years. The groups are often marked by some form of naturalism, which try to accommodate science. The premise in this article is that religion, being a product of normal evolutionary processes, is ‘natural’. This implies that cultural evolution is ongoing and supports the thesis that religion (in this case Western Christianity) is making a major transition. As for science, I briefly outline the role of metaphysics. That is because science often has to invoke metaphysical constructs to make sense of the bigger picture. Following Aristotle, the metaphysical dimension of science is a blank page which every era fills with its own interpretation. In that sense, it is ‘more than’ just empiricism, verifiability, and it is accompanied by some metaphysical baggage. At this metaphysical level, the traditional dominance of causality makes way for emergence.

AbstractThis article gives a general introduction to reasons why metaphysics might be considered a human constant. The basic metaphysical stance is rooted in human nature and human consciousness, being open to change and continually challenged. The biological rootedness of metaphysics relates to human consciousness, human dualisms, language (especially metaphor) and the fact that humans are self-transcending beings. It is suggested that the dualisms humans experience and express are not foreign to nature and part of the knowledge process. It is argued that metaphysical concepts such as unity, holism and relatedness are still necessary for human self-understanding and understanding of reality. The focus on the exclusivity of the human mind (Kant) contributed to the objectification and eventual manipulation of nature in science and technology and culminated in modernism. The existentialist and nihilistic responses that followed were inevitable. The tacit role of metaphysics in physics is indicated with reference to concepts such as nothingness and the quest for unity. Humans are destined to update their metaphysics in an ever-changing world.

AbstractThe term “secular spirituality” is meant to convey the contemporary phenomenon of spirituality as experienced in different spheres not associated with structured, institutionalised religion. An outline is given of the relation between secular reality (the natural realm) and religious/spiritual reality (the supernatural realm), as it developed from pre-secular animism (pre-modern unity with nature) to secular dualism (modernism) to post-secular holism (influence of postmodernism). Then follows a brief discussion of secular spirituality in Africa with reference to struggle spirituality. Secular spirituality in its technospiritual mode is becoming increasingly important and is dealt with cursorily before dealing with secular spirituality as a model for a postmodern natural theology. In this context “natural theology” is not concerned with proofs of God’s existence, but seeks to integrate the natural and supernatural dimensions of human life meaningfully.

AbstractIn this article the latest developments in particle physics form the basis for rethinking their implications for a religious doctrine of creation. The assumption is that scientific insights that are accepted on solid grounds will influence belief, but will not replace or terminate it. Some aspects of particle physics provide a background to explain the importance of the discovery of the Higgs boson. The question is: can science serve as the final explicator of the world? After looking at the role of metaphysics and truth in science, we briefly consider some unsuccessful attempts to assign God a demonstrable place in physical reality. Would that necessarily imply a creator God? The role of belief in creation in the origin and development of religions is traced in order to determine whether religions entailing such a belief are viable, with due regard to the impact of worldview and evolution on the doctrines of creation and God. In conclusion we look at the distinctive contribution of religion to human life with reference to the role of emotion and affect.

AbstractThis chapter examines the likely predictors of the rejection of vaccination in Nigeria using survey data. The survey data shows that reading science news weekly is not as significant a predictor of opposition to vaccination as feeling informed about new scientific discoveries and new medical discoveries. The data streams, the polio vaccine controversy, the Ebola crises and the survey data show the importance of religion as a competitor for cultural authority in health matters in West Africa. Poliomyelitis, a highly infectious disease caused by a virus, attacks the nervous system of children under five years and can cause total paralysis or death in a matter of hours. The chapter uses media archives to monitor changing attention to science in Nigerian newspapers as a proportion of total news coverage; the competing actors and how their occurrence changed over time during the Oral polio vaccine and the Ebola crises.

AbstractThe past quarter-century has seen an explosion of interest in the history of science and religion. But all too often the scholars writing it have focused their attention almost exclusively on the Christian experience, with only passing reference to other traditions of both science and faith. At a time when religious ignorance and misunderstanding have lethal consequences, such provincialism must be avoided and, in this pioneering effort to explore the historical relations of what we now call "science" and "religion," the authors go beyond the Abrahamic traditions to examine the way nature has been understood and manipulated in regions as diverse as ancient China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa. Science and Religion around the World also provides authoritative discussions of science in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- as well as an exploration of the relationship between science and the loss of religious beliefs. The narratives included in this book demonstrate the value of plural perspectives and of the importance of location for the construction and perception of science-religion relations. -- Book Description.

AbstractGeographical relevance could be a significant factor in bridging the gap between science and society. To better describe and map the coverage of science in South African newspapers, the scientific issues are clustered to identify case-specific co-occurrences of keywords. Lists of keywords have been used to identify the scientific disciplines, issues, actors, and references to nations. Science journalism is the reporting on issues related to scientific backgrounds and advancements, processes, applications, and results in science, technology, and medicine. Analysis of intensity and thematic flow of media coverage of science over time delivers key indicators of public attention to science, thereby shedding light on the local authority of science, as granted by journalists in South Africa. The cultural authority granted to science by journalists in South Africa is perceived to be lower than in the United States of America and most European countries, at least in so far as space for reporting is taken as a measure of attention.

AbstractThe document discusses science and African culture from the perspective of Akan culture in Ghana. It makes two key points: 1) Metaphysically, Akan ontology does not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. All phenomena are part of a single, homogeneous order governed by consistent principles. This contrasts with Western dualisms and is conducive to scientific inquiry. 2) Epistemologically, Akan thought is empirical in that existence is understood as having a locative meaning. Reality is limited to what can be directly or indirectly experienced. This empirical outlook, combined with a view of natural order governed by exceptionless laws, creates a framework hospitable to science.

AbstractThere ought to be at least three men on the platform advocating strategies for tackling coronavirus. One, perhaps, a scientist. Two, a man with a big heart who is close to God. Thirdly, a politician.

AbstractThe first part of this paper seeks to develop an approach to traditional African thought already sketched in several previous contributions to this journal. My approach to this topic is strongly influenced by the feeling that social anthropologists have often failed to understand traditional religious thought for two main reasons. First, many of them have been unfamiliar with the theoretical thinking of their own culture. This has deprived them of a vital key to understanding. For certain aspects of such thinking are the counterparts of those very features of traditional thought which they have tended to find most puzzling. Secondly, even those familiar with theoretical thinking in their own culture have failed to recognise its African equivalents, simply because they have been bunded by a difference of idiom. Like Consul Hutchinson wandering among the Bubis of Fernando Po, they have taken a language very remote from their own to be no language at all. DE LA TRADITION A LA SCIENCE Cet essai est divisé en trois parties. La Ière partie concerne à la fois la pensée traditionnelle d'un villageois africain et la pensée d'un homme de science occidental. La IIème partie concerne les caractères qui séparent ces deux modes de pensée et établit la comparaison entre l'approche à la sociologie des idées exposées ici, et d'autres courantes en sociologie contemporaine, et s'efforce de demontrer qu'elle en est la plus profitable. Dans la Ière partie, l'auteur développe, en outre, le concept d'un modèle théorique, en tant qu'outil intellectuel, qui serait commun à la pensée africaine traditionnelle et à la pensée occidentale. Il démontre que beaucoup de différences supposées profondes entre les deux modes de pensée tiennent, plus qu'à autre chose, à des différences de langage de leurs modèles théoriques respectifs. Ceci admis, toute une série d'énigmes et de problèmes que posaient la pensée traditionnelle vont se résoudre d'eux-mêmes. Non seulement l'étude envisagée ici apporte une nouvelle lumière sur la nature de la pensée traditionnelle, mais, en outre, elle ouvre la voie à une compréhension plus claire de ce qui sépare une telle pensée de la pensée d'un homme de science en démontrant que la pensée personnelle opposée à la pensée impersonnelle est un faux problème qui ne fait que détourner l'homme de science des différences réelles et essentielles entre les deux modes de pensée. Désormais, l'étude des caractères communs, loin d'être une cause d'erreurs, sera une nécessité préliminaire à toute analyse des différences existantes. La IIéme partie, où ces différences sont étudiées en détail, paraîtra dans un prochain numéro de la revue.

AbstractIn Part I of this paper, I pushed as far as it would go the thesis that important continuities link the religious thinking of traditional Africa and the theoretical thinking of the modern West. I showed how this view helps us to make sense of many otherwise puzzling features of traditional religious thinking. I also showed how it helps us to avoid certain rather troublesome red herrings which lie across the path towards understanding the crucial differences between the traditional and the scientific outlook. DE LA TRADITION A LA SCIENCE Après avoir exposé le problème de la continuité dans la 1 ère partie de cet article, l'auteur en arrive maintenant à celui qui concerne les différences. En fonction de l'hypothèse d'Evans-Pritchard, il démontre que la différence essentielle entre une culture traditionnelle et une culture qui repose sur la Science se trouve confrontée avec plusieurs possibilités théoriques. Dans les cultures traditionnelles, les choix sont très limités. Le système de croyances établi est absolu et l'unique choix possible réside entre l'ordre établi et le chaos. Dans une culture qui repose sur la Science, les options sont plus étendues. Le choix ne réside plus entre l'adoption et le chaos. L'auteur, ensuite, énumère sept oppositions importantes de l'ordre établi entre la pensée traditionnelle et la pensée scientifique, et expose comment elles se rattachent toutes à la différence de base mentionnée plus haut. Enfin, on peut supposer qu'il y ait, en arrière-plan, trois facteurs étroitement associés à l'évolution de la tradition vers la Science. Le premier est la mutation de base qui fait passer la transmission des croyances de la voie orale à la voie de l'écriture. Le second, le développement de l'hétérogénéité culturelle à l'intérieur de la communauté. Le troisième, le développement de ce que l'on pourrait appeler le complexe de la 'découverte par le voyage et le commerce'. L'importance de ces trois facteurs et leur influence va à l'encontre du choix entre les deux alternatives traditionnelles.

AbstractHow are the ‘old’ and the ‘new' expressed in the field of knowledge and know-how? What did we know yesterday, and what do we know today? What was, yesterday, and what is, today, the mythical part in what we believe we know? And how do we define, in each case, the core of concrete and universally valid knowledges? What rights and duties do we acclaim as human beings, as women, as children, as peoples or nations, and what understanding do we today have of these rights and duties? What is the impact, of what we today call globalisation, on the evolution of knowledge, know-how, and the awareness of such rights and duties? To these questions, and to other related ones, this book provides some answers. It is the result of a conference held in Cotonou in October 2006, on the theme “Traditional knowledges and modern science”. It is dedicated to the memory of Georg Elwert, a German Africanist who passed away in 2005, and whose work on Benin, Africa and the Third World remains a source of inspiration for many.

AbstractThe Logos and Cosmos Initiative (LCI) is a five-year IFES program that will focus on mentoring students, staff, and academics in Latin America and Francophone Africa. The LCI will equip them and fund them to carry out projects in the University that foster dialogue between Theology and the Sciences (both social and natural). This initiative,...

AbstractThis article explores the concept of hybrid epistemology in relation with the author’s theological teaching of his neighbours from the northern townships of Pretoria and the students of the University of Pretoria. It is written from the perspective of a black African mission practitioner who values with equal footing the diverse ways human beings can acquire knowledge. He longs to see a symbiotic relationship between different epistemologies and be prioritised in the theological training of Africans. He stresses that the value in authenticity would allow the diversity of epistemologies to weave together in a symbiotic way. This article is a case study that reflects on the symbiotic relationship between different epistemologies using the five human senses as a multi-sensory approach to knowing. It discusses the experiences with students from InnerCHANGE and the University of Pretoria.

AbstractÀ l'inverse d'autres pays africains où elles disparurent au moment des indépendances, voire après, les écoles confessionnelles (principalement catholiques) trouvèrent en Côte-d'Ivoire une place de choix au sein du système scolaire public. Divers facteurs expliquent la dynamique d'intégration nationale ici décrite et interrogée, entre autres, du côté de l'État, la politique religieuse du président Houphouët-Boigny (consécration des missionnaires) et, du côté de l'Église, le souhait des évêques ivoiriens de sauvegarder un réseau d'écoles contre l'avis de certains missionnaires occidentaux (convention scolaire de 1974). Ce détour par l'histoire, construit à partir d'une périodisation originale, contribue à éclairer les enjeux d'une tendance actuelle, celle d'un devenirprivé des écoles confessionnelles, à l'origine de nouvelles luttes opposant d'une part l'Église et les dirigeants politiques ivoiriens, et d'autre part les nouveaux acteurs émergents de l'enseignement catholique (parents d'élèves, syndicats) et l'Église. L'article montre comment, selon des contextes, des tendances plurielles, parfois opposées, modifient le cadre et le contenu des échanges entre les acteurs publics et privés investis dans le devenir des écoles confessionnelles. /// Unlike other African countries, where religious schools vanished upon or following independence, parochial schools in the Ivory Coast hold a select place in the public school system. Various factors account for this in both the state (President Houphouet Boigny's religious policy and the devoted work of missionaries) and the Catholic Church (the 1974 "school convention" and the bishops, desire to save a network of schools despite advice from certain missionaires). This look back on history, using an original periodization, sheds light on issues in the current trend toward privatizing religious schools private. This trend has set off new conflicts between the Church and political leaders and between new actors in Catholic schools (pupils, parents, unions) and the Church. Depending on the context, many, sometimes opposite, tendencies are modifying the framework and contents of exchanges between public and private actors interested in the future of the country's religious schools.

AbstractThis article draws a comparison between the Portuguese in relation to British and French discourses on overseas educational policies at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century until the 1930s. It focuses on three main colonial educational dynamics: school expansion (comparing the public and private sectors); State–Church relations (comparing these relationships at the European and colonial levels); and missionary competition (comparing Catholic with Protestant strategies towards educational incorporation). Colonial discourse is seen here as a power‐knowledge discourse aimed at constructing the colonial subjects as individuals, enabling them to imagine themselves as belonging to a particular cultural polity. The article intends to show how cross‐national discourses on education affect the principles on which theories of schooling are built and the ways in which they influence the first attempts to systematize pedagogical and school models in the colonial peripheries. On the other hand, it tries to understand, within government technologies of domination, the conflicting views, negotiations and ambiguities between global policy formulation and local school system implementation. In this sense, the author sought to analyse the different ways in which concepts such as ‘assimilation’, ‘civilizing mission’, ‘adapted education’, and ‘learning by doing’ were mobilized and appropriated into the colonial education discourses in order to legitimize particular governmental strategies. Two main ideas run through the text: the first attempts to demonstrate the existence of discontinuities between official educational ideologies at home and local system and school expansion strategies in the colonies. The second claims that educational borrowing from other colonies at the Empires' peripheries was, more often that is thought, a crucial feature of colonial educational discourse.

AbstractLa responsabilité de! 'Homme dans la recherche de son bien-être n'est plus à démontrer. Cette responsabilité ne peut être transférée. Maîtriser son environnement pour son bien-être ne peut se faire qu'à travers des connaissances qui ne sont pas toujours innées. En tant que chrétienne et enseignante-chercheur, comment je concilie ma vie chrétienne et ma vie d'universitaire? L'objectif de cette réflexion est de montrer qu'il existe une relation entre la foi et la science, selon l'hypothèse que Dieu s'intéresse à tous les aspects de l'être humain. En questionnant le regard de la science sur ma foi, la démarche chrétienne dans mon travail scientifique et l'influence de ma formation scientifique sur ma foi,je parviens à montrer cette relation étroite qui existe entre la science et la foi, d'une manière ou d'une autre. Ainsi fait, la foi et la science sont deux concepts qui vont ensemble. Les recherches concernant les choses créées sont indispensables, de manière autonome, sans se référer automatiquement à Dieu, en vue de la connaissance, gage du bien-être de l'Homme, dès lors qu'un travail de recherche a pour intérêt de résoudre un problème qui se pose.

AbstractToutes les religions pratiquees en Afrique noire accordent un role decisif a la guerison, a la prevention du malheur ou a la reparation de ses consequences. En chacune des trois grandes aires religieuses de cette region du monde (l'islam, le christianisme et la religion premiere), il y a des personnes qui soignent avec des plantes et d'autres matieres naturelles. Il y a egalement des «voyants» qui detiennent le pouvoir mysterieux de soulager les humains de toutes sortes de langueurs. Leur efficacite se saisit dans un contexte ou la medecine moderne est encore inaccessible aux multitudes, et ou l'on croit que la maladie, la therapie et la guerison ont toujours une dimension spirituelle. Cet article tente de cerner ce contexte en s'appuyant sur des illustrations qui montrent comment, par le biais de la medecine autochtone et du ministere chretien de la guerison, la misericorde va a la rencontre de la misere des humains.

AbstractThroughout its history, Christianity has stood in a dichotomous relation to the various philosophical movements or eras (pre-modernism, modernism, postmodernism and post-postmodernism) that took on different faces throughout history. In each period, it was the sciences that influenced, to a great extent, the interpretation and understanding of the Bible. Christianity, however, was not immune to influences, specifically those of the Western world. This essay reflects briefly on this dichotomy and the influence of Bultmann’s demythologising of the kerygma during the 20th century. Also, the remythologising (Vanhoozer) of the church’s message as proposed for the 21st century no more satisfies the critical Christian thinkers. The relationship between science and religion is revisited, albeit from a different perspective as established over the past two decades as to how the sciences have been pointed out more and more to complement theology. This article endeavours to evoke the church to consider the fundamental contributions of the sciences and how it is going to incorporate the sciences into its theological training and message to the world.

AbstractTraditional health practitioners (THPs) in South Africa are increasingly acknowledged as essential providers of health care and the National Department of Health is taking firm steps towards the formal regulation of THPs. However, tensions continue to dominate the landscape of research and policy debates on the role and practices of THPs, particularly with respect to historical injustices, gaps in scientific evidence, mistrust on the part of biomedical practitioners and toxicity of medicines. In this chapter, we report on the findings of a study of peer reviewed and grey literature related to THPs up to 2015 and argue that the world view of the biomedical paradigm is very different from that of the healing paradigm as the former uses a scientific knowledge lens while the latter uses an indigenous knowledge lens. We argue that in subscribing to indigenous knowledge systems, the merging of biomedical and traditional healing paradigms provides for a complementary system of plural health care, which could offer patients a truly holistic and comprehensive form of care. The current body of evidence demonstrates much progress in the way that traditional healing is perceived in South Africa, having shifted from a derogatory 'witchcraft paradigm' supported by the Witchcraft Suppression Act (3 of 1957), to a more tolerant, and in some instances reconciliatory, discourse of a 'healing paradigm' now protected under the Traditional Health Practitioners Act (22 of 2007).

AbstractSince the colonization of Zimbabwe, mainline churches dominated the religious landscape; however, they continued to concentrate on their traditional identities and forms of worship. Pentecostal Christianity took advantage of this sluggish pace to embrace newer technological ways to their worship. Pentecostal churches became relevant to most young people who are the majority of technology users. Scholars have concluded twenty-first century to be a period of the Fourth Industrial Revolution where technology that used to be an appendage to humanity made humanities to be appendages to technology. While humanity embraced current trends of educational technology, information technology, biotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence, incorporation of technology among mainline churches has not been common. The research used Zimbabwe Council of Churches to analyse the extent to which technologization of religion had impacted mainline churches. The chapter argued that traditional theology and forms of worship and dogmas of the mainline churches deprived them from growth resulting in their membership declining. The chapter challenged mainline churches to embrace technology because it is an unstoppable revolution. It is a new culture and form of entertainment since a number of people spend most of their time on technology. Above all, technology improves the revenue base for churches.

AbstractAfrica is at a three-way crossroads of culture, religion, and modern education (including science). Both scientists and a largely religious population often perceive these narratives as being in conflict. Kenya has a high proportion of practicing Christians, but little enthusiasm exists for engaging with science as a complimentary resource for helping humanity thrive.

AbstractProf. Francis W. Muregi of Mount Kenya University presenting of "Scientific Naturalism and the Limits of Science" during the CSAK Regional Conference 2018 at Sweet Lake Resort, Naivasha Kenya

AbstractTraditional eschatology clashes with the theory of entropy. Trying to bridge the gap, Robert John Russell assumes that theology and science are based on contradictory, yet equally valid, metaphysical assumptions, each one capable of questioning and impacting the other. The author doubts that Russell's proposal will convince empirically oriented scientists and attempts to provide a viable alternative. Historical-critical analysis suggests that biblical future expectations were redemptive responses to changing human needs. Apocalyptic visions were occasioned by heavy suffering in postexilic times. Interpreted in realistic terms, they have since proved to be untenable. The expectation (rather than the vision) of a new creation without evil, suffering, and death is not constitutive for the substantive content of the biblical message as such. Biblical future expectations must be reconceptualized in terms of best contemporary insight and in line with a dynamic reading of the biblical witness as God's vision of comprehensive optimal well-being that operates like a shifting horizon and opens up ever new vistas, challenges, and opportunities.

AbstractAbstract. The approach of experiential realism could indicate where science and faith deal with the same reality, where science questions faith assumptions, and where faith goes beyond the mandate and method of science. Although prescientific, Martin Luther's theology is the classical prototype of an experiential theology. We experience God's creative power in all of reality. We discern its regularities through observation and reason. So faith opens up all the space needed by science. However, experienced reality is highly ambiguous. It obscures God's intentions. God's intentions are revealed in the proclamation of the gospel: God is unconditionally for us and with us and not against us. This proclamation is a promise, appropriated in faith, and geared to a vision of what ought to become. It is based on the interpretation of a catastrophe—the cross of Christ—as God's pivotal redemptive act in human history. It goes beyond the mandate and method of science, yet it is capable of giving the latter a sense of purpose, criteria of acceptability, and authority to act in the interests of humanity and the earth. Theology challenges science to acknowledge the necessity of a transcendent frame of reference and moral accountability. Scientific insight challenges theology to reconceptualize its assumptions on God, creation, and eschatology to integrate best science.

AbstractThis paper describes inculturation biblical reading in a narrow way to include mainly that reading of the Bible that takes for granted what is believed to be a peculiarly African spiritualistic cosmology. A central element of this method includes pitting a supposedly African spiritualized cosmology against a supposedly Western rationalistic and disenchanted cosmology. Proponents of this method claim that a relevant biblical interpretation in the African context should enable Africans to deal with issues arising from their belief in an enchanted world. This essay problematizes the focus on this enchanted cosmology and argues that the African condition can be effectively addressed through interpreting the Bible in ways that encourage the development of the scientific imagination, which could lead to the development of science and technology and an improved standard of living for the people.

AbstractThe Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology challenges the dominant understanding of the Holy Spirit in African Christian salvific discourse. The most prevalent approach in reflections on the Holy Spirit and salvation in African Christian theology insists that these doctrines be made to address the spiritualized African traditional religious cosmology. This dominant approach to the Holy Spirit and salvation have therefore led to the baptism of African traditional religious cosmology in African Christian theology. Baptizing the African cosmology has, in turn, brought about the emphasis on the miraculous in African pneumatology and soteriology. The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology further argues that such stress on the miraculous blocks other ways by which the Holy Spirit might be understood in African soteriological discourse. In addition, this study proposes that the Holy Spirit be perceived as enabling critical philosophical rationality and the development of science and technology in Africa, features that are crucial to enhancing the well-being of the continent and its peoples.

AbstractThe history and contributions of the Department Science of Religion and Missiology at the UP have been described with a particular focus on a discussion of the understanding of both disciplines. In the case of Science of Religion, the research covers theological discourses in the discipline, attending to issues such as secularisation as well as Theology of Religions. It is argued that, in future, Science of Religion will continue to contribute to three areas of concern, namely studying religions, secularisation and theology of religion and religions. The section concludes with a brief overview of future contributions by the Department. Missiology is defined in terms of current insights in the discipline against the background of the decline in mission studies at many universities. The research argues for Missiology to be an intrinsic part of Theology. The following discourses in Missiology are noted, namely flourishing life, ecological justice, the role of the Holy Spirit in the missio Dei, missional church, contextualisation and indigenisation, and mission from the margins. Past and future contributions from the Department are described. This includes an argument for the change of the name of the Department to the Department of Religion Studies. In terms of future developments, research into flourishing life as well as deep incarnation are noted as exciting new possibilities.

AbstractThe author attempts to describe and to evaluate secular and religious action and thought in Africa using the concept of “humanization”. This article is part of longer-term work on the evolution of “tentative” secularization of African societies and on the relation between religion and laicity in Africa. He considers the “laicity” clause contained in the majority of the constitutions of African states, the functioning of nondenominational schools, the programmes of moral education in such schools, the misadventures of socialism, Marxism and scientism in different parts of Africa, and the conflicts between church and state in African societies. He draws no conclusions, ending by speculating on the possibility of a secular religiosity in Africa and of an “African political theology” which would harness laicity to the service of a “significant, grown-up faith”.

AbstractAround the world, many Anglican churches are on the front line in helping communities as they respond to issues like environmental change, health crises and other humanitarian needs. They often become ‘science communicators’, by sharing information and growing awareness for how science can help address problems impacting people and planet. The Rt Revd Dr Emily Onyango became the first female bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya, in 2021. She has also taught theology at St. Paul's University in Limaru. She is part of the Anglican Communion Science Commission. The Lambeth Conference team spoke with her about why the church needs to think about faith and science.

AbstractMany proponents of the Abrahamic religions assume that the Theory of Evolution is ipso facto opposed to religion, and therefore, since religion derives from scripture, which is the divinely inspired word of an infallible God, the Theory of Evolution must be false. This paper argues that not only is this view incorrect, but that religion can be helped by accepting the Theory of Evolution. The paper will present a specific variety of the Problem of Evil known as Rowe’s ‘E2’, and try to show why existing responses to it fail. The paper argues, however, that Rowe’s E2 can be answered by the Theory of Evolution.

AbstractThis chapter presents evidence for the vital and often misinterpreted role that the public has to contribute to the evolution of a national system of innovation. Exploring the public understanding of science in South Africa, broad-based inequalities have led to a highly stratified society. The cultural authority of science has evolved since the late 19th century and has been deeply interdependent on public perception and social climate. Attitudes to science were measured using two indices: Index of Scientific Promise and the Index of Scientific Reservation. With the exception of the attitude index, the index of interest in science was positively correlated with the knowledge; informedness; info-source and engagementindices. The relationships between Interest, Information seeking, Informedness and to a lesser degree Engagement is expected as the elements of the public understanding of science could be seen as nested within each other.

AbstractThis collection of essays – the product of the 8th annual conference of the Africa Society of Evangelical Theology – wrestles with the topics of God and creation from distinctly African perspectives. Touching on topics from environmentalism, to ethnic conflict, to childlessness, the contributors present a powerful and timely reflection on the nature of God as creator and the implications of that identity on our relationship with the divine, with the earth, and with each other.

AbstractIn 2013, the largest Ebola outbreak in history swept across West Africa, claiming thousands of lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea and sending the international community into panic. By 2014, experts were grimly predicting that millions would be infected within months, and a huge international control effort was mounted to contain the virus. Yet paradoxically, at this point the disease was already going into decline in Africa itself. Why did outside observers get it so wrong? Paul Richards draws on his extensive firsthand experience in Sierra Leone to argue that the international community's alarmed response failed to take account of local expertise and common sense. Crucially, Richards shows that the humanitarian response to the disease was most effective in those areas where it supported community initiatives already in place, such as giving local people agency in terms of disposing of bodies. In turn, the international response dangerously hampered recovery when it ignored or disregarded local knowledge.

AbstractUnity of knowledge is not easily achieved in todayÝs Africa where often there is little conscious interaction between traditional beliefs, Christian faith and modern secularity. The challenge is taken up in this book as scholars from a variety of disciplines wrestle with the relation of faith and science at the frontiers of knowledge. The results are important alike for the integrity of faith, for scienti?c advance and for the attainment of creative cultural unity in society. Readers with such concerns at heart will ?nd much food for thought as they traverse the broad frontiers explored in these wide-ranging essays.

AbstractThe emergence of technology has and is continuing to influence the world causing a new age of civilisation. Human enhancement technologies have the ability to enhance brain medicine for improved focus, doping, embryo screening and hormonal treatment to prevent ageing. The problem is that human enhancement technology poses new questions, such as what does it mean to be human, or is being human static or dynamic? Chiefly, human enhancement technologies bring new competition with African traditional religions to give meaning to and reshape what it means to be human. The paper will draw from the Shona concept of munhu (human being) and unhu (virtues) to show both the meaning of humanity and how to improve lives in African traditional religions. This study explores the extent to which enhancement technologies are mirrored within the Shona culture. The study used transhumanism theory and text-based research. The findings of this article showed that both enhancement technologies and the Shona culture have the similar goals of improving the lives of people, but from different ethical perspectives. The study concludes that the agenda of technological advancement was always visible within the Shona culture but practised differently.

AbstractFollowing the Darwinian bicentennial year 2009, this paper seeks to bring the evolutionary thought of Charles Darwin into conversation with that of the Jesuit palaeontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin The rationale for the study is the critical exploration of the boundaries of evolutionary theory An evolutionary theory that embraces both natural science and metaphysics will be argued for Natural selection's leading to metaphysical questions will assist the author in proposing a holistic theory embracing both natural selection and purpose (in self-organisation and complexification) which transcends the materialist assumption oftentimes accompanying the natural sciences Such integration will be illustrated in Teilhard's Theory of Complexity Consciousness The Teilhardian theorising at the intersection of natural science and metaphysics builds on both the Lamarckian and Darwinian evolutionary theories, embracing faith, reason, natural science, and metaphysics, rather than reducing these as some Darwinians have done

AbstractLes croyants faisant des études supérieures, travaillant dans la recherche ou dans des professions qui interpellent les fondements de leur foi, sont tous les temps confrontés à ce dilemme : comment intégrer la foi et la raison à leur vie quotidienne? Il y a là cause de tension, encore accentuée parce que nombre de nos contemporains présupposent que l'intelligence ne s'accommode pas, ou mal, de la religion, ou s'ils s'en accommodent, que les convictions doivent se limiter à la sphère privée. Tout au long de l'ère chrétienne, des approches diverses ont été adoptées. Elles sont au nombre de 4 : le fidéisme, le rationalisme, le dualisme et la synergie. En ce gui concerne l'auteur, Chimiste et Théologien de formation,jamais il n'a vécu de contradictions dans sa vie de foi et d'homme de science. Au contraire.

AbstractLe fait religieux est devenu une nouvelle grille de lecture du monde. Ce triomphe du discours religieux s'accompagne paradoxalement d'un boom prodigieux des sciences et des techniques avec des conséquences que l'on sait. Comment expliquer cette interpénétration entre les sciences et les pratiques religieuses? Quelles sont les points d'inclinations, de rupture ou de rencontre entre les sciences et ce qui relève de la foi ou de la croyance. Il nous faut un renouveau de notre regard sur les sciences et la foi. La vraie foi habite le monde et les mondes dans une sorte de co-humanité.

AbstractLe présent ouvrage restitue quelques thèmes développés par des chercheurs africains et européens, dans le cadre d’un projet de recherche sur la problématique de la relation entre la Science et la Foi. La quête du bien-être doit-elle se fonder sur la religion ou la science ? Il s’agit de comprendre le contexte des perceptions dominantes sur la relation entre la Science et la Foi dans les différentes communautés chrétiennes d’Afrique francophone. Ces deux domaines marquent les rapports de l’Homme au monde et présentent à l’observation un vaste champ d’interpénétration constitué de points de rencontres ou de convergence d’une part, et d’autre part de points de rupture ou de divergence.

AbstractHistorical and anthropological studies show that science and religion debates are significantly shaped by historical, cultural, and social factors. However, there is limited interaction between contextual studies and the dominant science and religion debate which, although generally conducted in a quasi-decontextualized manner, is in fact largely shaped by Western post-Enlightenment contexts. This article proposes the Christian theological notion of 'catholicity' as a tool that can be used to develop a constructive relationship between these two research traditions. Based on an overview of the relevant dimensions of the theological notion of catholicity, and on a comparison between catholicity in theology and in the natural sciences, the authors propose five ways in which the idea of catholicity contributes to the science and religion debate: (1) it creates awareness of cultural blinders and (2) of power dynamics, (3) it invites different cultural contributions to a critical conversation about the nature of the world that humanity shares, (4) it is a commitment to learning from a global research community while paying attention to marginal voices, and (5) it asks whether particular contexts require particular approaches for the issues at hand.

AbstractThis article explores the importance of “action research” and “participatory research” (AR and PR) for intercultural theology. After introducing these research strategies, it provides a theological rationale for their use in intercultural theology: (1) they move beyond false dichotomies between theoretical and practical theology; (2) they understand professional theologians as part of communities of believers; and (3) they allow for intercultural encounters which approach “the other” as partners in research rather than merely objects of research. Using the example of a research project which studies attitudes to the interface between science and Christian faith among African university students and academics, the article considers three crucial issues for the value and use of AR and PR in intercultural theology: (1) the intrinsic motivation of the partners for intercultural research projects, (2) the role of shared visions of change and (3) the question of truth implied in visions of human flourishing.

AbstractThis article starts with a Christian vision of creation as created for Christ, and then, in that light, explores the value of different approaches to the relationship between science and religion following the Christ and culture typology of Richard Niebuhr (Christ against culture, Christ of culture, Christ above culture, etc.). It argues that there is not just one relation between science and faith, but that this may vary between disciplines, topics, and contexts. In order to navigate this complex world it proposes an ethics of virtue, indicating that discipleship at the university can flourish when we develop appropriate virtues in relation to our faith and academic involvement, focussing on faithfulness, discernment, humility, and courage. Cet article commence par une vision chrétienne de la création comme étant créée pour le Christ, puis, à la lumière de cette perspective, explore la valeur de différentes approches de la relation entre la science et la religion en suivant la typologie Christ et culture de Richard Niebuhr (Christ contre la culture, Christ de la culture, Christ au-dessus de la culture, etc.). Il soutient qu'il n'y a pas une seule relation entre la science et la foi, mais que celle-ci peut varier selon les disciplines, les sujets et les contextes. Afin de naviguer dans ce monde complexe, il propose une éthique de la vertu, en indiquant que le discipulat à l'université peut prospérer lorsque nous développons des vertus appropriées en relation avec notre foi et notre engagement académique, en mettant l'accent sur la fidélité, le discernement, l'humilité et le courage.

AbstractThe aim of this project is to help Christian academics and students in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa develop a constructive relationship between science and religion.

AbstractThis paper seeks to locate the kind of knowledge that is relevant for African development in the twenty-first century African cultural context and to propose the paradigm for achieving such knowledge. To do this, it advances the view that the concept of twenty-first century in an African context must be located with the colonial and post-colonial challenges of the African world and applied to serve the African demand. Anchored on this position, the paper outlines and critiques the wrong assumption on which modern state project was anchored in post-colonial Africa and its development dividend to suggest that this is an outcome of a wrong knowledge design that is foundational to the state project and which the project did not address. It proposes a shift in the knowledge paradigm in Africa and suggests critical self-consciousness as a more desirable knowledge design for Africa. It applies the term ‘rational kingdom’ (defined as a community of reason marked by critical conceptual self-awareness driven by innovation and constructivism) to suggest this paradigm. ‘Innovation’ is meant as the application of reason with an enlarged capacity to anticipate and address problems with fresh options and ‘constructivism’ is meant as the disposition to sustain innovation by advancing an alternative but more reliable worldview that can meet the exigencies of modernity in an African cultural context. The paper then proceeds to outline the nature of the rational kingdom and its anticipated gains and outcomes. It applies the method of inductive reasoning to advance its position. To do this it invokes selected but crucial areas of African life to locate how the developmental demands of these aspects of life suggest a critical turn in African rationality.

AbstractIntegration or transformation? 'Faith and scholarship' or 'faith-directed scholarship' as starting-point for integral Christain scientific endeavour To be discussed in this article is the question whether the contemporary model of integration can be accepted as a valid way towards genuine Christian scholarship. To find an answer to this problem, the following steps are taken. In the introduction attention is asked for the present popularity – overseas as well as in South Africa – of this model of “faith and science”. Subsequently, the meaning of “integration” as viewed by its proponents is explained. In the following section different arguments are advanced against the integration model. The conclusion is that such a model for Christian scientific endeavour should not be regarded as the ideal. In the case of the alternative, viz. integral Christian scholarship, Christian belief is not merely tagged on to “standard” science. The contents of the different disciplines should be transformed in the light of God’s revelation, a Christian worldview, a Christian philosophy, subject philosophy and subject theory.

AbstractThis article consists of three main sections. In the first, reasons are given why a vision for Christian higher education is, to a large degree, still lacking in Africa. The following factors are dealt with to explain this situation: (1) the politicaleconomic- social environment; (2) the character of Christianity on the continent; (3) the state of higher education; and (4) the implications of all these factors for Christian higher education. The second main section develops a basis for a vision for Christian higher education by listening to what Romans 12:2 says about the renewing of our minds. The final section provides an answer to the question how this vision for Christian education could be realized in Africa. A proposal is made for the establishment of an African Center for Christian Higher Education. How this could be done, and what its key activities should be are spelled out in a practical way.

AbstractEnglish translation of Afrikaans article published in Koers, vol. 70(3):373-399, 2005. To be discussed in this article is the question whether the contemporary model of integration can be accepted as a valid way towards genuine Christian scholarship. To find an answer to this problem, the following steps are taken. In the introduction attention is asked for the present popularity – overseas as well as in South Africa – of this model of “faith and science”. Subsequently, the meaning of “integration” as viewed by its proponents is explained. In the following section different arguments are advanced against the integration model. The conclusion is that such a model for Christian scientific endeavour should not be regarded as the ideal. In the case of the alternative, viz. integral Christian scholarship, Christian belief is not merely tagged on to “standard” science. The contents of the different disciplines should be transformed in the light of God’s revelation, a Christian worldview, a Christian philosophy, subject philosophy and subject theory.

AbstractThis book dicusses a variety of topics: historical developments in Christianity,as well as present trends in African Christianity, and the cultural reasons for the dismal failure of development projects on the continent.

AbstractThe justification of cognitive claims in theology can be dealt with adequately only if the epistemological issues of metaphorical reference, experiential adequacy and explanatory progress are seen as crucial problems for the more encompassing problem of rationality in theology. To claim some form of reality depiction the theologian will have to argue for a plausible theory of reference on the basis of interpreted religious experience. In this discussion important analogies between the rationality of theological theorizing and the rationality of science are revealed. Thus explanatory progress in theology shows itself to be a form of inference to the best explanation, and the rationahty of both theology and science is therefore determined by certain epistemic values.

AbstractIn this paper the focus is on the extreme epistemological complexity of the relationship between religion and science as two dominant forces in our culture today. This complexity is aggravated by a seemingly conflictual postrnodern, pluralist challenge to a culture that already reveals itself as decidedly empirically-minded. For theology  and science a meaningful dialogue becomes possible only if both modes of reflection are willing to move away from overblown foundationalist epistemologies and, for theology at least, from the intellectual coma of fideism. The paper finally argues for a postfoundationalist epistemology where theo-logy and science, although very different modes of reflection, do share the  richness of the  resources of human rationality. In so doing it attempts to answer three crucial questions: i) are there good reasons for still seeing the  natural sciences as our clearest available example of rationality at work? ii) If so, does the rationality of theological reflec-tion in any way overlap with scientific rationality?  iii) Even if there are impressive overlaps between these two modes of rationality, how would the rationality of science and the rationality of religious reflection differ?

AbstractThis paper claims that the hazy intersection between the diverse fields of theology and the other sciences is not to be clarified in the first place by exploring methodological parallels or degrees of consonance between theology and the sciences. What should be explored first is the epistemological question of the nature and status of explanations and of explanatory claims in theology and science. The similarities, as well as important differences between theology and science, will thus be highlighted when we focus this discussion on the shaping of rationality in theology and science, on the hermeneutical problem o f relating context and meaning, and on the fallibilist nature of both theological and scientific truth claims.

AbstractThe Leitmotiv of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s work has always been his conviction that the Christian faith, and especially theology as a reflection on this faith, has a universal credibility in our age. This essay approaches this issue and sets forth a thesis in terms of the rationality of theology and of science. The shaping of rationality in both theology and science eventually forms the framework for dealing with the philosophical problems of truth, objectivity and commitment in Pannenberg’s impressive and ever expanding body of thought.

AbstractC'est un héritage de l'intérêt pluruséculaire porté par l'Eglise pour la connaissance géographique, en particulier par la Papauté pour l'exploration. L'action des Papes en faveur des découvertes géographiques n'est plus à démontrer. Elle s'explique par la nature même de l'Eglise catholique qui est apostolique, c'est-à-dire amenée à porter l'Evangile auprès des autres peuples. Son objectif final est l'unité et la pleine possession du globe, car le messafe chrétien s'adresse à tous sans distinction. La connaissance complète et précise du monde, qui reste l'objectif de la géographie, constitue une étape nécessaire. Ainsi, l'évangelisation est considérée comme un moteur de la découverte. Pour rendre compte de ses progrès, les pontifes du Moyen Age font peindre une fresque du monde dans le palais du Latran: Zacharie fait recouvrir son triclinium des tableaux des provinces de l'univers chrétien avec cet avertissement: << même durant leur repas, les pontifes devaient avoir constamment déployé sous leurs yeux le domaine entier de la sollicitude ecclésiastique >>. La fresque s'agrandissait à mesure que se produisaient de nouvelles évangélisations, en commençant par la Saxe. La représentation du monde chrétien se concrétise ensuite au XVIè avec les cartes murales du Vatucan, disposéees dans deux longues galeries. La première réunit les régions du monde, la seconde les villes et provinces d'Italie. Ces fresques témoignent de l'intérêt du Saint-Siège pour la géographie en général at la cartographie en particulier. Mais elles assurent surtout un rôle politique, en rappenlant á leurs spectateurs, qu'ils soient pontifes ou visiteurs, l'immensité du monde chrétien, c'est-à-dire l'étendue du domaine dirigé par le Saint-Siège. Ce monnde chrétien peut prétendre à l'universalité s'il tient compte des territoires de mission. Au XVIè, la congrégation De Propagande Fide devient la seule intitution de la Ppauté qui soit dépositaire des progrès de la géographie religieuse.

AbstractMetaphysics has no place in the science-religion discourses (or dialogues) if understood as an a priori universal content of the nature and causes of all things. From an overview of the positive and negative dimensions and challenges of the contemporary science-religion discourses within each conversation partner itself and between the two, it is argued that metaphysical reflection represents a contextual-linguistic event that ‘takes place’ only after the contextual giveness is taken up within a very concrete historical-linguistic frame of reference for sense making. In a metaphoric sense, it is conclusively compared with the movements of atoms of which we can only state afterwards where the atoms have been. In this sense, McGrath’s remark that ‘(m)etaphysics is not the precondition of any engagement with the world, but its inferred consequence’ is supported. The ‘was’ of metaphysical thinking represents the emergent product of the concrete and specific lifeworlds in which they have ‘taken place’, that is, ‘eventuated’. The ‘was’ of metaphysical reflection is the most powerful (a posteriori) event of credofication (i.e. understanding life in terms of convictions of faith) for human beings in living, making sense of and participating empathically in the question ‘why there is something rather than nothing?’.

AbstractCommunities in Africa must be consulted about lockdowns, argue Alex de Waal and Paul Richards.

AbstractLe constat du rejet total ou partiel de la théorie de l’évolution au nom de motifs religieux par des élèves dans différents pays amène à s’interroger – plus globalement – sur les facteurs influençant l’adoption ou non-adoption d’une conception sécularisée de la science. Cette recherche vise à examiner, à partir d’un questionnaire à réponses fermées, l’influence de deux facteurs : les convictions personnelles des élèves en matière de religion et la filière d’études (scientifique ou non). L’enquête a été réalisée dans sept pays présentant des caractéristiques différenciées en matière de sécularisation : la Belgique, l’Espagne, l’Italie, la Côte d’Ivoire, la République démocratique du Congo, le Maroc et la Turquie.