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‘Church and state’ conference in August
Reformed Church Southern Suburbs in Cape Town will host a conference with the theme “Apartheid of church and state: global perspectives” on 11 and 12 August 2023. The conference features a line-up of respected Reformed theologians and pastors, including RCSS’s Simon Jooste. More information about the conference will be released
‘Apartheid’ of church and state: Pilgrim politics for dual citizens
Simon Jooste I am the pastor of a multi-cultural English-speaking Reformed church on the southern tip of Africa in a city called Cape Town. Since 1652, when the first Dutch settlers landed in the Cape, the church has struggled to fulfil the Great Commission amid common cultural enterprise with its
Simon Jooste reviews The Gift of Life. Part 3: What kind of reformation?
The tensions and inconsistencies that I have attempted to illustrate in this book review beg another question: What kind of reformation is The Gift of Life after? The answer Professor Vorster appears to provide is one of “flourishing personhood” that roots out of church and society the dehumanizing idols of racism, sexism,
Simon Jooste reviews The Gift of Life. Part 2: Postmodern identity politics gets a Galatians 3:28 makeover
At this point it is worth asking: what informs Professor Vorster’s overarching moral vision? Throughout The Gift of Life, the contention is that definitions of human dignity found in the liberal democratic and human rights traditions can be translated into Christian value (84, 97). In other words, humanist conceptions of equality
Simon Jooste reviews The Gift of Life. Part 1: Political liberalism or liberation theology?
North-West University Professor J. M. Vorster’s The Gift of Life: Towards an ethic of human personhood (2021) represents a crowning of his career as a Reformed pastor, theologian, and ethicist in the South African context. I review this volume as a fellow office-bearer within the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) with
Paul re-forms the body in Corinth
By Simon Jooste, pastor of RCSS Embodiment is central to salvation, so is suffering in the body. Without the incarnation, passion, and ongoing enfleshed intercession of Christ, there is no redemption. This was the heartbeat of the apostle Paul’s preaching in ancient Corinth, a city pulsing with ideas and illicit