Jonas Sello Thinane

University of South Africa | unisa

Despite much research conducted on the case of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) since its inception in the 1960s, with particular focus on its role in South Africa ahead of its first democratic elections in 1994 and subsequently, the overall image painted by theological and secular academic scholars of the SACC is negative. As a result,...

Recent efforts to introduce and develop the concept of missio hominum, first by Prof. Nico Smith, followed by Dr Jonas Thinane, are equally plausible and commendable. However, these efforts leave untouched the question of the biblical roots of the missio hominum as a missiological framework in the context of the missio Dei. For the missio hominum t...

Complexity theory continues to fascinate the academics owing to its capability to describe complex systems holistically. This theory makes it possible to understand a complex system by studying its constituent subsystems. Understanding the missio Dei has become somewhat complex, particularly from the perspective of the 1952 Willingen Conference. Th...

As in all other world religions, a deep sense of the mystery is also central to the Christian religion. The mere existence of God is accepted as something mysterious beyond human comprehension. While theological literature speaks extensively of the mysterious nature of the triune God, little or nothing is said of such mysterious nature of God in mi...

This chapter discusses the use of social media by some classical South African Pentecostal churches to minister to their members during the government-imposed lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Christ’s promise to abide with the church until the end of the age (Matt 28:20b) is used to appreciate the availability of social media in a...

The Christian image of God rightly goes back to the Bible as the only source of revelation. According to the creation account in the book of Genesis, God is primarily seen as the creator of heaven, Earth and humankind. Following this understanding, the International Mission Conference (IMC) in Willingen in 1952 expanded the scope of mission beyond...

The understanding of the missio Dei from the point of view of the International Missionary Conference in Willingen has rightly broadened the missiological horizon and promoted new approaches to God’s mission in the world. This conference abandoned the ecclesiological approach to mission and focused attention on God as the foundation or source of mi...

Generally, the problem of xenophobia remains a complex and challenging topic for most countries of the world, for Africans and South Africans in particular. Constructed upon existing literature, this paper contributes to the discourse on anti-immigrant or xenophobic feelings in South Africa. This paper uses Missio Politica as a missiological framew...

As it is the case with many other countries around the world, South Africa has a unique and strong tradition of religious devotion, encompassed by belief in God which is even expressed in the constitution's preamble invoking the presence of God. To ensure that the judicial system carries out its duties responsibly and upholds the fair administratio...

Academic data show little evidence that the concept of the missio hominum was ever explored beyond its context as developed by Nico Smith. There is little to no research that has conceptualised this phenomenon in light of imago Dei and the role it should play in fulfilling missio Dei’s mandate. It uses the relational nature of the Union of the Divi...

From time to time, stories of self-styled spiritual leaders make headlines in South Africa. Christians continue to witness strange, controversial and illegal activities by self-styled spiritual leaders done in the name of the Christian religion. Various people, including theologians, have expressed concern about the human rights abuse that ordinary...

The broader practice of politics in the world, while detached from the religion, cannot be excluded from the mission of the Missio Dei. In fact, the question of mission and politics has prompted Professor Johannes Reimer to propose missio politica as a missiological framework that puts the mandate of mission and politics in one basket. Following th...

In public health history, vaccinations have been seen as very helpful as they help protect societies from preventable diseases and save many lives around the world. Despite the fact that few religious groups oppose vaccination for a variety of reasons, almost all major religions in the world support vaccination as long as it complies with religious...

Missio Dei achieves its goal of total redemption by embracing other sub-missions such as Missio Christos, Missio Spiritus, and Missio Ecclesiae. The argument here is that some self-proclaimed spiritual leaders in South Africa continue to undermine and contradict the goal of Missio Dei through their controversial practices. Various scholars have mad...

Missio hominum as a theological framework within the discipline of missiology in understanding missio Dei still lacks proper exploration. Few attempts have been made by theologians in the past but in different disciplines other than missiology. The exception is the previous studies by Nico Smith who investigated and conceptualised the subject at gr...

Decades after the fall of apartheid, South Africa continues to face problems such as racism, heterosexism, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, and gender-based violence leading to feminicide, which undermines all efforts being made to achieve social justice. Every Christian mission begins or flows out from missio Dei and has a common endeavour to achieve...

The emergence of the concept of Missio Dei (Mission of God) from the perspective of the International Missionary Council (IMC) arguably demonstrated that the role of the Triune God in his own mission was undeservedly marginalized for decades, if not centuries preceding 1952. Over the past decades there has been a sustained research activity concept...

In the world of religions, different religious officials are given different titles. Christianity as a religion in the world and in South Africa particularly, has been severely attacked by selfproclaimed spiritual leaders who perform false miracles and abuse titles that have been respected by traditional mainstream churches for decades. These self-...

This article builds on the excellent article by Prof. Kgatle and Mashau who examined the prospects and success of the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosas by reflecting on the concept of Thuma Mina. In this article, Ramaphosas Thuma Mina's manifesto is placed in the same restorative context as the implementation of the African National Congress (ANC) ste...

It is likely that the storm of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Africa will calm only when the country attains herd immunity. In South Africa, the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plan will first prioritise key frontline forces, the elderly and those with comorbidities. Although there is some new academic insight on COVID-19 within the context...