Christo Thesnaar | University of Stellenbosch (original) (raw)

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Papers by Christo Thesnaar

Affirming and Living with Differences, 2006

Faith, Race and Inequality amongst Young Adults in South Africa: Contested and contesting discourses for a better future

Religions, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has been, and will continue to be, exposed to young democracies who are gra... more The COVID-19 pandemic has been, and will continue to be, exposed to young democracies who are grappling with deep-seated multi-generational and multi-layered traumas which are embedded in past and present conflicts as well as injustices. In the lead-up to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa, being a young democracy, has experienced an increase in anger, violence and vengeance due to on-going poverty, lack of service delivery, housing and land, etc., at all levels of society. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the injustices that are based on the legacy of generational trauma and pain that are caused mainly by an unjust political system, centuries of colonialism, violence, and conflict. These injustices have also exposed the commitment and promises that the religious sector made, during the hearing of the faith communities at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), to the reconstruction and development of the country as well as to reconciliation and healing of the nation. S...

TeologiePraktiese Teologie En MissiologiePlease help us populate SUNScholar with the post print v... more TeologiePraktiese Teologie En MissiologiePlease help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: scholar@sun.ac.z

People experience healing and reconciliation in spaces outside of their congregations. This cause... more People experience healing and reconciliation in spaces outside of their congregations. This causes them to grapple with the question: Why they do not experience healing and reconciliation within their own local congregations? Another important question people raise is: What is pastoral about pastoral counselling? Both these questions indicate that congregational leaders and the congregations itself are struggling to create spaces within their ministry to assist people in need of healing and reconciliation. This contribution will therefore try to indicate whether pastoral care and counselling are experiencing an identity crisis in terms of its calling. I will further argue that it is essential for a pastoral theology to be rooted in theology. Link to this I will share some thoughts on the congregation as a space for healing and reconciliation.

Guilt and shame as key concepts in understanding the perpotrator within the reconciliating proces... more Guilt and shame as key concepts in understanding the perpotrator within the reconciliating process in South Africa This article focuses on the question : What role does the perpetrators of human rights during the apartheid era and beyond play in the process of reconciliation and healing within South-Africa? The reality is that most perpetrators were absent during the Truth and Reconciliation process and this tendency continues to prevail. This goal of this article is therefore to try to understand the perpetrator. With this goal in mind the article will firstly define the concept "perpetrator", then it will focus on the impact of guilt and shame of the perpetrator and how that leads to finding excuses for their conduct. The author believes that guilt, shame and finding excuse is fundamental in trying to understand the perpetrator within the process of healing and reconciliation. This article wants to contribute to the process of healing and reconciliation in South Africa.

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-maile... more Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: scholar@sun.ac.zaTeologiePraktiese Teologie En Missiologi

Healing and salvation is not possible without truth This research continues to contribute to heal... more Healing and salvation is not possible without truth This research continues to contribute to healing and reconciliation in a post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission context within South-Africa, by focusing on truth as a key aspect in the healing and reconciliation process. In this regard Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu makes a significant point when he states “There can be no healing without truth. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission helped us to also understand truth as healing and restorative truth. This seems to support the movement towards a more relational, personal, subjective and narrative understanding of truth. The church can contribute to the process of healing and reconciliation by creating safe spaces where healing as transformative truth can help people deal with the past. This contribution wants to reconfirm the importance of the meaning of truth for healing and reconciliation in a time where truth is under pressure.

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2017

The university campuses across South Africa have recently been challenged by significantstudent p... more The university campuses across South Africa have recently been challenged by significantstudent protests concerning issues such as the abolishment of study fees, aspects ofdecolonisation and language policies, to name but a few. This contribution will briefly reflecton these challenges by engaging with the narrative of decolonisation. An area of particularfocus is whether reconciliation is still relevant within the current South African context, giventhe nature of the issues driving the university protests. This contribution will attempt toprovide some recommendation for public theologians to engage with these challenges in aresponsible way in their endeavour to be advocates for sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Verhandeling (B. Th.) -- Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 1991.Full text to be digitised and attach... more Verhandeling (B. Th.) -- Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 1991.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 2011

Substance abuse among young people is an ever increasing reality and one of the most significant ... more Substance abuse among young people is an ever increasing reality and one of the most significant contributing factors to domestic violence within families. The essential question is how practical theology and, to be more exact, pastoral interpretive guides (within the local church) can contribute to assist individuals, families and communities in dealing with this traumatic reality in a responsible way. This article argues for a theologically responsible pastoral hermeneutic as it engages with the challenges of the presented case study, within a transdisciplinary approach.

This book is a memorial for victims of all kinds of injustices in the South African Society. It o... more This book is a memorial for victims of all kinds of injustices in the South African Society. It offers an attempt to contemplate how the different disciplines of theology can contribute to 'life in its fullness' by focussing both on its 'brokenness' and 'wholeness'.

CITATION: Khoaseb, M. & Thesnaar, C. 2020. 'n Pastorale benadering van hoop en deernis : &#39... more CITATION: Khoaseb, M. & Thesnaar, C. 2020. 'n Pastorale benadering van hoop en deernis : 'n Afrikaiese perspektief op die uitdaging van die COVID-19-pandemie. LitNet Akademies, 17(3):574-592.The original publication is available at https://www.litnet.co.zaDie artikel ondersoek die omvang van en invloed van siekte op Afrika-mense (waarmee in hierdie artikel bedoel word mense na wie dikwels ook as Afrikane verwys word) en bespreek die rol en bydrae van ’n pastorale sorg van hoop en medelye tot ’n betekenisvolle Christelike lewensbestaan. Dit plaas besondere klem op die huidige COVID-19-pandemie wat die meeste dele van die wêreld affekteer, met dodelike gevolge. Die fokus van die artikel is op die omvang van die impak van die COVID-19-pandemie op Afrika-gemeenskappe. Die artikel poog om pastorale sorg te integreer met die konsepte van koinonia en ubuntu in die soeke na responsiewe genesingsalternatiewe vir Afrika-Christene. Koinonia bestaan uit elemente van gemeenskap, aanbiddi...

Trading justice for peace? Reframing reconciliation in TRC processes in South Africa, Canada and Nordic countries, 2021

Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 2013

The above-mentioned chronicle is followed by a collection of six essays that reflect on the TRC, ... more The above-mentioned chronicle is followed by a collection of six essays that reflect on the TRC, the re-enactment thereof and/or the past, present and future challenges we face as a nation. A number of local and international scholars from diverse denominational and religious backgrounds (Jaap Durand, Vincentia Kgabe, Eddy van den Borght, Nico Koopman, Marichen van der Westhuizen, Rashied Omar and Martin Leiner) were asked to reflect, from their own contexts, on what they had heard and what they made of the submissions during the re-enactment consultation. Most were present at the consultation and shared their experiences with the meeting on the last day of the consultation. Others did so only later and are included in this publication. With this in mind, we would like to thank all those who shared their memories and perspectives with us-be it in the form of essays or submissions during the TRC re-enactment consultation. Thank you for entrusting us with these. We would like to thank the Beyers Naudè Centre for Public Theology and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation for initiating and hosting the re-enactment and for supporting this publication after all these years. We are also grateful to the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University for its Hope Project that financed the consultation, as well as this publication. We also wish to thank our publisher, African Sun Media for the professional way in which they made the publication of this book a reality. As editors we are extremely grateful for the privilege to have worked on this publication. Although five years down the line from the re-enactment event, we believe it remains relevant, even necessary, to revisit that memorable event, especially in a time when increased racial tensions and polarisation in our society seems all but a fact of life. May this publication contribute to rekindle the dream of and the commitment of all South African people of faith towards justice, peace and reconciliation.

Verbum et Ecclesia, 2017

The TRC re-enactment consultation18 afforded the opportunity to reflect on the leadership of reli... more The TRC re-enactment consultation18 afforded the opportunity to reflect on the leadership of religious leaders during the apartheid era, and in the years that followed. This chapter is particularly interested in the prophetic leadership provided by religious leaders during apartheid, and 20 years following the transition by engaging with some normative thoughts on prophetic dialogue. The findings on the leadership provided during the post-TRC are reflected upon in terms of reconciliation through the hermeneutical lens of the Belgian scholar Valarie Rosoux. Hereby, this chapter seeked to contribute to reconciliation and national unity in the current South African context with some strategic conclusions to ensure that the process of reconciliation becomes a priority for all faith communities across the nation.

Unemployment is one of the most urgent socio-economic challenges in South Africa. The aim of this... more Unemployment is one of the most urgent socio-economic challenges in South Africa. The aim of this article is to highlight the effects of unemployment on families in order to formulate guidelines for faith-based organisations in addressing the challenges families are facing. These guidelines will be formulated from a theological, more specifically a pastoral-hermeneutical perspective.