Original Research - Special Collection: Tjaart van der Walt Commemoration Lecture

Prophetic witness in weakness

Robert Vosloo
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi | Vol 53, No 4 | a2400 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v53i4.2400 | © 2019 Robert Vosloo | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 August 2018 | Published: 13 February 2019

About the author(s)

Robert Vosloo, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Abstract

This article addresses the possible link between prophetic witness and weakness (one can also speak of vulnerability), and expands on reasons why this connection holds much promise for a theological engagement with the question regarding the prophetic role of Christians and churches in the public sphere in South Africa today. With this in mind, the various sections underscore the need for a form of prophetic witness that emphasises respectively prophetic solidarity, prophetic imagination and prophetic performativity. In the process, the article puts forward three statements or theses as invitation for further reflection and conversation, drawing on, among others, the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Giorgio Agamben, Emmanuel Katongole and Judith Butler.

Keywords

Prophetic witness; vulnerability; solidarity; imagination; performativity

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