Papers by Tinyiko Maluleke
New Agenda (Issue 59), 35-39., 2015
The title is a play on the famous words of exclamation by former South African President Jacob Zu... more The title is a play on the famous words of exclamation by former South African President Jacob Zuma - under pressure from parliamentarians regarding allegations of his involvement in corruption, he responded by saying: 'Thixo wase George Goch'! ([My] God from George Goch!). At one stage, the South African democracy had three 'men of God' at the helm of crucial institutions, namely, former President Jacob Zuma who was an ordained priest of one of the neo-Pentecostal churches; former opposition party leader Mmusi Maimane; and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who is an ordained preacher of South African wing of the Nigerian charismatic church called the Winner's Chapel. This article explores the worrying implications of the seeming ultra-religiosity of such leaders in an ostensibly secular democracy. This becomes even more worrisome when considered against the backdrop of rising incidents of dangerous and humiliating religious practices in South Africa.
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At some stage one can foresee a situation where black people will feel they have nothing to live ... more At some stage one can foresee a situation where black people will feel they have nothing to live for and will shout out to their God: “Thy will be done. ” Indeed, His will shall be done but it will not appeal equally to all mortals for indeed we have different versions of His will. If the white God has been doing the talking all along, at some stage the black God will have to raise his voice and make Himself heard over and above the noises from His counterpart (Steve Biko).
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The Routledge Handbook of African Theology
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New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy, 2015
The three men in charge of South Africa's executive, judiciary and parliamentary opposition a... more The three men in charge of South Africa's executive, judiciary and parliamentary opposition are all involved in charismatic churches while, at the lower levels of society, self-proclaimed prophets lead their flocks in ritual acts of humiliation. For this writer, all these are signs of a toxic and pervasive model of leaders and followers.
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International Review of Mission
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The Ecumenical Review
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Theology
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Verbum et Ecclesia, 2009
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International Review of Mission, 2020
This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and w... more This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and work of Desmond Tutu. As much as space permits, it tries to glean the ways in which Tutu has lived out his understanding of mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation in his various roles as lecturer of theology, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants … following the example of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Church needs to offer its own special gift to this country-the gift of eschatological faith. In common language this is the gift of imagination. .. This is what Archbishop Tutu managed to do for us when, in the midst of the violence of the 1980s and the 1990s, he held out a mirror of a different country, of a better people whom he called "the rainbow people of God." 1 1
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Doing Theology in the New Normal [Edited by Jione Havea, SCM Press, pp 326-342, 2021], 2021
This essay outlines some key considerations and principles for doing theology in (South) Africa a... more This essay outlines some key considerations and principles for doing theology in (South) Africa and in the world beset by the Covid19 pandemic - which is sometimes called 'the new normal'. Building on the lessons learnt from the global and the South African history of pandemics and the ways in which they have been managed so far, the essay uses the metaphors of graveyard and prison to characterize the contemporary context for doing theology in the midst and in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Ecumenical Review, 2021
Insofar as public theology is one of several contextual theologies in the world that is focused o... more Insofar as public theology is one of several contextual theologies in the world that is focused on and limited to specific contexts, its raison d'être may be understandable. But we argue that if or since public theology has ambitions to become a totalizing and global theological methodology-a ready-made frame to be adapted to and adopted in various contexts-we shall, in this article, unmask and interrogate the unspoken imperial ambitions of global public theology. We will use Black and African theologies to evaluate it. In this article, we argue that the context in which Black and African theologies are done is too important for them to be buried under generalized and seemingly context-less notions of public theology. To this end, we will sketch a few issues that define the context in which Black and African theologies are being done today. These include doing theology not at the helm but in the shadow of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, doing theology in the midst of violence, and doing theology in a manner that does not minimize the painful history of the continent of Africa. In closing, we will propose a theological agenda for Black and African theologies at this time.
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Journal or Theology for Southern Africa , 2020
“Long long ago, a white man came to Africa. When the white man arrived in Africa, he had the Bibl... more “Long long ago, a white man came to Africa. When the white man arrived in Africa, he had the Bible, and the Africans had the land. “Come, close your eyes, let us pray together”, said the white man. And so they prayed together. At the end of the prayer, when they opened their eyes, behold, the white man had the land and the Africans had the Bible”.. So goes the fable that forms the pole around which this article is built.
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International Review of Mission, 2020
This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and w... more This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and work of Desmond Tutu. As much as space permits, it tries to glean the ways in which Tutu has lived out his understanding of mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation in his various roles as lecturer of theology, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants … following the example of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Church needs to offer its own special gift to this country-the gift of eschatological faith. In common language this is the gift of imagination. .. This is what Archbishop Tutu managed to do for us when, in the midst of the violence of the 1980s and the 1990s, he held out a mirror of a different country, of a better people whom he called "the rainbow people of God." 1 1
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New Agenda (Issue 59), 35-39., 2015
The title is a play on the famous words of exclamation by former South African President Jacob Zu... more The title is a play on the famous words of exclamation by former South African President Jacob Zuma - under pressure from parliamentarians regarding allegations of his involvement in corruption, he responded by saying: 'Thixo wase George Goch'! ([My] God from George Goch!).
At one stage, the South African democracy had three 'men of God' at the helm of crucial institutions, namely, former President Jacob Zuma who was an ordained priest of one of the neo-Pentecostal churches; former opposition party leader Mmusi Maimane; and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who is an ordained preacher of South African wing of the Nigerian charismatic church called the Winner's Chapel.
This article explores the worrying implications of the seeming ultra-religiosity of such leaders in an ostensibly secular democracy. This becomes even more worrisome when considered against the backdrop of rising incidents of dangerous and humiliating religious practices in South Africa.
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Journal of Black Theology in South Africa. Vol 10:1, May 1996, pp.1-30., 1996
Since the Native Churches Commission of 1925, which came soon after the Bulhoek Massacre of more ... more Since the Native Churches Commission of 1925, which came soon after the Bulhoek Massacre of more than two hundred members of the Israelite Church at Ntabelanga in the Eastern Cape, there has been a steady scholarly interest in African Instituted Churches. Most if not all of the scholarly interest in these churches has come from outside these churches. In this essay I engage in a critical review of the assumptions, methodologies and objectives of the scholarly and theological interest in these churches.
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Journal of Black Theology in South Africa, Volume 9 No. 1, May, pages 1-30, 1995
At the height of the South African democratic honeymoon, exactly one year into the Mandela presid... more At the height of the South African democratic honeymoon, exactly one year into the Mandela presidency of the country, obituaries of South African Black Theology were being written. In the midst of this cacophony and clamour for new theologies, I raised my hand to object - something I would have to do again and again, ever since. This article was one of my first objections. It is an argument for the continuing relevance of Black Theology in post-Apartheid South Africa.
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Raphael d'Abdon (ed), Marikana: A Moment in Time, pages 144-149, 2013
In the week of following the Marikana massacre, on Thursday the 23rd August 2012, I visited the ... more In the week of following the Marikana massacre, on Thursday the 23rd August 2012, I visited the Marikana Mine, in part to attend a prayer meeting, but also to go and visit the hill on which the massacre took place. This essay contains my reflections and thoughts after this visit. Essentially, the Marikana visit introduced me to an unfolding national nightmare and in a reversal of the famous "I have a dream" speech of Martin Luther King Junior, I concluded : "I have been to the mountaintop at Marikana and my eyes have seen the unpromised land - the land of my nightmares ...
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Joel Carpenter (ed). Walking Together: Christian Thinking & Public Life in South Africa - pages 295-304, 2012
In June 2009, I hosted a group of visiting scholars from a variety of disciplines in the humaniti... more In June 2009, I hosted a group of visiting scholars from a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences hailing from African countries and North America. In this essay I reflect on my experience of the dialogue with the visiting scholars including their thoughts captured in the essays contained in this book. I also reflect on my own challenges of trying to make friends and make peace with an erstwhile enemy-country; the same country in which one was born - but a country in which one had no rights whatsoever . Until April 1994. What then? In the process of doing this, I take a few steps back to the years before 1994, especially my tertiary journey into theology. I also consider the many ways in which the dream of a free, equal and democratic society is under threat.
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Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible. (Geneva: WCC Publications)., 2001
This essay is an evocative and valuative epilogue to a ground breaking book: Other Ways of Readin... more This essay is an evocative and valuative epilogue to a ground breaking book: Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible, edited by Musa W. Dube.
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Papers by Tinyiko Maluleke
At one stage, the South African democracy had three 'men of God' at the helm of crucial institutions, namely, former President Jacob Zuma who was an ordained priest of one of the neo-Pentecostal churches; former opposition party leader Mmusi Maimane; and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who is an ordained preacher of South African wing of the Nigerian charismatic church called the Winner's Chapel.
This article explores the worrying implications of the seeming ultra-religiosity of such leaders in an ostensibly secular democracy. This becomes even more worrisome when considered against the backdrop of rising incidents of dangerous and humiliating religious practices in South Africa.
At one stage, the South African democracy had three 'men of God' at the helm of crucial institutions, namely, former President Jacob Zuma who was an ordained priest of one of the neo-Pentecostal churches; former opposition party leader Mmusi Maimane; and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng who is an ordained preacher of South African wing of the Nigerian charismatic church called the Winner's Chapel.
This article explores the worrying implications of the seeming ultra-religiosity of such leaders in an ostensibly secular democracy. This becomes even more worrisome when considered against the backdrop of rising incidents of dangerous and humiliating religious practices in South Africa.