Johan Buitendag
Biographic Data
| ID | 1138871 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Johan Buitendag |
| GIVEN NAMES | Johan |
| FAMILY NAME | Buitendag |
| SIGNATURE | BUITENDAG J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pretoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3693-0176 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
From dominion to communion: Theology as an interlocutor towards planetary well-being
This article advances an integral eco-theology by incorporating two major normative developments of 2025 – the Conference of the Parties (COP) COP30 outcomes in Belém and the Earth Charter+25 renewal – into a coherent theological response to the climate emergency. Building on my earlier integration of Pope Francis’s integral ecology and Ken Wilber’s ‘all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, and all types’ (AQAL) framework, theology is re…
Resilience of Planet Earth: A call for degrowth and rewilding
This paper examines the urgent need to restore Earth’s resilience through integrated strategies of degrowth, rewilding, and a renewed ethical framework grounded in faith-based values. It critiques the dominant growth paradigm and advocates for a shift towards sustainable living that respects ecological limits and promotes biodiversity. Drawing on theological, ecological, and economic insights, the study emphasises the role of faith communities in…
Integral ecology: Response of an emeritus professor to the contributions of his septuagenarian Festschrift
This article is an edited version of the paper read by the author at the launching ceremony of his septuagenarian Festschrift of the HTS Theological Studies on 22 November 2023 at the University of Pretoria. It states the author’s view on an integral ecology as a way to a theology of nature. The exposition entails the following main foci: a definition of theology (what is in a name?); ontology, epistemology, and reciprocity; ecodomy (ethics); a T…
Consonance precipitates collaboration: The role of faith-based organisations in policymaking for environmental protection
The dialogue between science and religion, aiming for collaboration, not conflict, is crucial in addressing global crises like climate change. Both sides recognise each other’s presuppositions without trying to impose beliefs on the other. The anatheistic approach, which suggests working together regardless of dogmatic belief in God to address mutual threats and find solutions for the planet, is a prime example. This inclusive, synergistic approa…
Honouring Andries van Aarde: A journey of faith, justice, and inclusivity
No abstract available
The transformation of theology in the present climate crisis
Humanity is facing an ecological catastrophe. Culprits include a linear understanding of time which looks only to the future and the human belief in progress. This ideology has remained the same in the search for solutions; technological progress must provide the answer. However, the article argued that a green transformation is needed. Ecological justice is required. Not only the rights of humans but also of nature, the earth and animals should …
New lenses for a new future. Why science needs theology and why theology needs science
The ecological crisis almost forces different disciplines to search together for a better world.We all share one earth: the closer we reach a certain point, the closer we also come together. This places the paper amid the so-called science and religion dialogue in which theology increasingly takes cognisance of empirical research and scientific data. On the other hand, sciences are becoming increasingly aware of the need to transcend their eviden…
A faith-based environmental approach for people and the planet: Some inter-religious perspectives on our Earth-embeddedness
For most people on our planet, spiritual values are vital in driving communitarian behaviour. It is becoming increasingly clear that a lasting and effective social commitment must consider cultural, sociological and religious dimensions. In particular, the current environmental crisis has demonstrated how effectively religious communities have mobilised to respond to climate change. With their emphasis on wisdom, social cohesion and interrelation…
What is in a name? Does the difference between onto-theology and theo-ontology direct the way from eco-theology to theo-ecology? Specific Russian theological perspectives
I approach this venture of figuring out the correct terminology to understand reality through the prism of two distinctive Russian Orthodox theologians, Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) and Sergius Bulgakov (1871–1944). The lens I apply mainly to their works is their respective understanding of cosmology, that is, ontology and epistemology. Therefore, I concur with Grenz to abandon the term ‘onto-theology’ and qualify the inverse as a Trinitarian theo…
A page from Russian cosmology in the Trinitarian story of creation
This article approached the doctrine of the Trinity from the vantage point of the science and religion dialogue, because the issue of faith and reason is integral to this concept. This approach requires humility and silence. A page from the cosmology of the Russian Silver Age sheds light on the notorious schism of 1054 between the Western and the Eastern theologians on the Filioque issue, which manifests the lack of an apophatic and antinomistic …
Emerging Religious Consciousness-A Cosmotheandric Understanding of Reality in the Light of Sophiology of Some Russian Theologians towards an Eco-Theology
Intercultural theology is increasingly a major subject matter of 21st-century scholarly inquiry. This results in an interreligious discourse and encounter at different levels. However, gone are the days when the aim is to identify or even to fuse certain overlapping magisteria. A linguistic-cultural approach takes us beyond mergers or grand unified theories. To speak of reality as a whole is not to talk about the whole of reality. Creatio continu…
Imago Dei: We are but dust and shadow
This article is about the imago Dei, proceeding from an ecotheological perspective. Both the ‘image of God’ and the ‘likeness of God’ are examined based on the understanding that God is a relational God. It approaches the question of the imago Dei in terms of God’s incorporeal nature, and what it is that human beings have in common with God apart from the human being’s capacity for personal and interpersonal relationships. It addresses the questi…
Nature as God: A juxtaposition of Vito Mancuso and Alexander von Humboldt in their search for understanding reality
This article’s premise is that science holds the promise of deepening religious perspectives on creation. The natural sciences have convincingly proved that nature is not static, or a ready-made creation dropped from heaven. Theologians need to read nature as scientists see it and engage with that understanding theologically. The concept of resonance is applied to denote this tangential relationship as an eco-social constructivist understanding o…
The logic of antinomy in religious discourse: Pavel Florensky’s meta-language of theology, science and art
Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky is a towering figure of the 20th century. He is recognised among many significant thinkers of the world’s cultural and philosophical panorama of the previous century. In the face of cultural repression and religious persecution of the Soviet regime, he preferred martyrdom to exile and not to deny his faith. The legacy of Florensky is incredibly multifaceted. His works span across the most varied fields of science and…
The search for verisimilitudinous knowledge
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported
Human rationality in Vito Mancuso’s liberal Catholic theology augmenting the notions of Van Huyssteen’s ‘postfoundational transversality’ and McGrath’s ‘rational consilience’
The cue for this article is human rationality being the cornerstone in Wentzel van Huyssteen’s thinking, and Alister McGrath’s scepsis about the feasibility of a postfoundational transversality in particular. This article does not intend to juxtapose Van Huyssteen’s postfoundational rationality to McGrath’s enterprise of a ‘rational consilience’ but contends that a transversal approach to rationality engages social ramifications as well. Subseque…
The indigenisation of eco-theology: The case of the Lamba people of the Copperbelt in Zambia
This article shows how eco-theology could and should be indigenised in an African context using the Copperbelt in Zambia as a case study. The ecological crisis worldwide has given rise to the call for everyone to work together to start caring about our natural environment. In theology, the response to this call received the name eco-theology. By means of a literature review, ethnographic information and governmental legislation, the article tries…
Ecodomy as education in tertiary institutions. Teaching theology and religion in a globalised world: African perspectives
On 29 July 2017, an international colloquium entitled ‘Re-Imagining Curricula for a Just University in a Vibrant Democracy – Carrying the Conversation Forward’ was held at the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. A wide range of scholars from African and non-African countries provided variegated perspectives on how tertiary theological and religious education could contribute positively to the development of contem…
The religious vision of nature in the light of Laudato Si’: An interreligious reading between Islam and Christianity
The environmental crisis is undoubtedly one of the most critical and urgent problems of our times. Many people are raising their voices in support of nature to build a better future for humanity and for our planet. In this article, the authors explore the specific contribution that Christianity and Islam can offer in this debate and how religions can help bring back into the ecological discourse the element of the sacred that abandoned the reflec…
Jesus: Divine relationality and suffering creation
The basic challenge that readers of the New Testament face is not only about what Jesus Christ teaches but who he is. Functional Christology has developed at the expense of ontological Christology. This challenge centres on Jesus Christ’s relevance, in terms of his identity, not only for Christians in particular but also for creation as a whole. The question ‘who is Jesus Christ in relation to creation?’ is thus of special interest to this study.…
Grandeur in this view of life
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported
Life in its fullness: Ecology, eschatology and ecodomy in a time of climate change
Given the close relationship of ecodomy with other words that also derive from oikos – especially economy and ecology – the term ‘ecodomy’ opens a space for dialogue with other disciplines, especially economics and the physical and social sciences. The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople, known as the ‘Green Patriarch’, identifies the climate change crisis as a ‘ kairos moment’ for churches and the …
Finding an academic voice in postapartheid South Africa: Systematic Theology at the University of Pretoria
How can an academic voice concerning systematic-theological reflection find expression at a public university in a postapartheid SA? In this chapter, the different research foci of the members of the Department of Dogmatics and Christian Ethics at the UP are presented and interpreted as attempts to find such a voice as a collection of voices within a society characterised by shifting social-ecclesial and theological landscapes. The specific resea…
Rethinking research impact by Theology and Religious Studies with references to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria
TRS are two interconnected and mutually dependent fields of academic inquiry, which belong to the larger and more encompassing domain of general humanities. Given this interconnectivity, reciprocity, and interdependability as integrative part of the humanities, TRS find themselves in the same position of being constantly evaluated from various perspectives, including the particularly measurable aspect of research outputs. While research outputs c…
Panente sme as n funksionele, induktiewe konstruk in die gesprek tussen die teologie en die (natuur)wetenskap
Panentheism: A functional and inductive endeavour in the dialogue between science and religion. Panentheism is an approach that gains more and more popularity in both systematic and practical theology, as well as in philosophy. But what lies at the heart of panentheism? Could panentheism be the key to a valid contemporary understanding of God and creation? This article aims at illuminating the richness of panentheism whilst at the same time explo…
Rethinking research impact by Theology and Religious Studies with references to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria
TRS are two interconnected and mutually dependent fields of academic inquiry, which belong to the larger and more encompassing domain of general humanities. Given this interconnectivity, reciprocity, and interdependability as integrative part of the humanities, TRS find themselves in the same position of being constantly evaluated from various perspectives, including the particularly measurable aspect of research outputs. While research outputs c…
Panente sme as n funksionele, induktiewe konstruk in die gesprek tussen die teologie en die (natuur)wetenskap
Panentheism: A functional and inductive endeavour in the dialogue between science and religion. Panentheism is an approach that gains more and more popularity in both systematic and practical theology, as well as in philosophy. But what lies at the heart of panentheism? Could panentheism be the key to a valid contemporary understanding of God and creation? This article aims at illuminating the richness of panentheism whilst at the same time explo…
Finding an academic voice in postapartheid South Africa: Systematic Theology at the University of Pretoria
How can an academic voice concerning systematic-theological reflection find expression at a public university in a postapartheid SA? In this chapter, the different research foci of the members of the Department of Dogmatics and Christian Ethics at the UP are presented and interpreted as attempts to find such a voice as a collection of voices within a society characterised by shifting social-ecclesial and theological landscapes. The specific resea…
Nature as creation from an eco-hermeneutical perspective: From a ‘natural theology’ to a ‘theology of nature’
For researchers who are interested in the relationship between theology and the natural sciences, 2009 is of special importance. It is now 500 years since Calvin was born and 450 years since his Institution of the Christian Religion was finally published. It is also 200 years since Darwin’s birth and 150 years since his On the Origin of Species appeared in print for the first time. Calvin and Darwin are representative of two separate lines which …
Binne of buite die blokkie? ‘n Poging om iets oor tyd en ewigheid te sê
This article deals with the dialogue between theology and science with special reference to eschatology. It takes the relation of time and eternity as the leitmotiv for the exposition, based on the view that the latest insights from physics enrich the theological debate and vice versa. Neither discipline, however, is indispensable to the other. After a short epistemological discourse, a theological and scientific understanding of eschatology are …
Nagmaal aan gelowiges - Ouderdom maak nie saak nie. En alkohol
Eucharist for believers - Age does not matter - And alcohol? For centuries the church accepted the principle that the Holy Communion is meant only for adult believers. This view changed fortunately. The other assumption remains, namely that wine, and to be more precise, alcoholic wine, is to be used. Understandably there would be parents who are of the opinion that they don’t want to expose their children to alcohol. How constitutive is wine - an…
Karl Heim se verstaan van ruimte in die debat tussen die teologie en natuurwetenskap
Karl Heim’s understanding of ‘space’ in the debate between theology and natural sciences This article gives a brief synopsis of Karl Heim’s understanding of space in terms of its present and past spheres and the overarching metapolar sphere of God where all dichotomies are being resolved. The rather clas-sical booklet of Edwin Abbott, ‘Flatland’, is used as an introduction to indicate the importance of understanding reality in terms of dimensions…
Karl Heim se verstaan van tyd in die debat tussen teologie en natuurwetenskap
Whereas a preceding article focused on Heim’s understanding of “space”, this article focuses on “time”. It is believed that Heim made an enormous contribution to the debate between theology and natural sciences and that time and space form the fabric of understanding reality. The author interprets Heim’s concept of time as a trajectory of time which means that a network of linear, cyclical and punctual time is envisaged. Tribute is paid to Moltma…
Anders dink anders doen. Op soek na ‘n eko-teologiese perspektief op kloning
The article’s departing point is the conviction that contemporary micro-biology and gene-technology have confronted Christian ethics with a reality for which it is not sufficiently equipped. The whole debate on human cloning and human stem cell research has raised the challenge of a fresh understanding of man and humanity as well as an ethic that takes the creation as a whole seriously. The question posed is whether the zygote or even the embryo …
Binne of buite die blokkie? ‘n Poging om iets oor tyd en ewigheid te sê
This article deals with the dialogue between theology and science with special reference to eschatology. It takes the relation of time and eternity as the leitmotiv for the exposition, based on the view that the latest insights from physics enrich the theological debate and vice versa. Neither discipline, however, is indispensable to the other. After a short epistemological discourse, a theological and scientific understanding of eschatology are …
Nature as creation from an eco-hermeneutical perspective: From a ‘natural theology’ to a ‘theology of nature’
For researchers who are interested in the relationship between theology and the natural sciences, 2009 is of special importance. It is now 500 years since Calvin was born and 450 years since his Institution of the Christian Religion was finally published. It is also 200 years since Darwin’s birth and 150 years since his On the Origin of Species appeared in print for the first time. Calvin and Darwin are representative of two separate lines which …
A critical assessment of Anton Szandor LaVeys Philosophy of Indulgence as a dogma based assault on Scripture
The aim of this article has been to critically assess and unmask Anton Szandor LaVey s Philosophy of Indulgence reflected in The Satanic Bible (1969) as a dogma based assault on Scripture. The main task of this article has been to expose some contemporary ethical and dogmatic utterances used to express disagreements which LaVey alludes to in The Satanic Bible against Scripture. The debate in which these disagreements are expressed is their interm…
Panente sme as n funksionele, induktiewe konstruk in die gesprek tussen die teologie en die (natuur)wetenskap
Panentheism: A functional and inductive endeavour in the dialogue between science and religion. Panentheism is an approach that gains more and more popularity in both systematic and practical theology, as well as in philosophy. But what lies at the heart of panentheism? Could panentheism be the key to a valid contemporary understanding of God and creation? This article aims at illuminating the richness of panentheism whilst at the same time explo…
Finding an academic voice in postapartheid South Africa: Systematic Theology at the University of Pretoria
How can an academic voice concerning systematic-theological reflection find expression at a public university in a postapartheid SA? In this chapter, the different research foci of the members of the Department of Dogmatics and Christian Ethics at the UP are presented and interpreted as attempts to find such a voice as a collection of voices within a society characterised by shifting social-ecclesial and theological landscapes. The specific resea…
Rethinking research impact by Theology and Religious Studies with references to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria
TRS are two interconnected and mutually dependent fields of academic inquiry, which belong to the larger and more encompassing domain of general humanities. Given this interconnectivity, reciprocity, and interdependability as integrative part of the humanities, TRS find themselves in the same position of being constantly evaluated from various perspectives, including the particularly measurable aspect of research outputs. While research outputs c…
The indigenisation of eco-theology: The case of the Lamba people of the Copperbelt in Zambia
This article shows how eco-theology could and should be indigenised in an African context using the Copperbelt in Zambia as a case study. The ecological crisis worldwide has given rise to the call for everyone to work together to start caring about our natural environment. In theology, the response to this call received the name eco-theology. By means of a literature review, ethnographic information and governmental legislation, the article tries…
Ecodomy as education in tertiary institutions. Teaching theology and religion in a globalised world: African perspectives
On 29 July 2017, an international colloquium entitled ‘Re-Imagining Curricula for a Just University in a Vibrant Democracy – Carrying the Conversation Forward’ was held at the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. A wide range of scholars from African and non-African countries provided variegated perspectives on how tertiary theological and religious education could contribute positively to the development of contem…
The religious vision of nature in the light of Laudato Si’: An interreligious reading between Islam and Christianity
The environmental crisis is undoubtedly one of the most critical and urgent problems of our times. Many people are raising their voices in support of nature to build a better future for humanity and for our planet. In this article, the authors explore the specific contribution that Christianity and Islam can offer in this debate and how religions can help bring back into the ecological discourse the element of the sacred that abandoned the reflec…
Jesus: Divine relationality and suffering creation
The basic challenge that readers of the New Testament face is not only about what Jesus Christ teaches but who he is. Functional Christology has developed at the expense of ontological Christology. This challenge centres on Jesus Christ’s relevance, in terms of his identity, not only for Christians in particular but also for creation as a whole. The question ‘who is Jesus Christ in relation to creation?’ is thus of special interest to this study.…
Grandeur in this view of life
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported
Life in its fullness: Ecology, eschatology and ecodomy in a time of climate change
Given the close relationship of ecodomy with other words that also derive from oikos – especially economy and ecology – the term ‘ecodomy’ opens a space for dialogue with other disciplines, especially economics and the physical and social sciences. The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople, known as the ‘Green Patriarch’, identifies the climate change crisis as a ‘ kairos moment’ for churches and the …
Imago Dei: We are but dust and shadow
This article is about the imago Dei, proceeding from an ecotheological perspective. Both the ‘image of God’ and the ‘likeness of God’ are examined based on the understanding that God is a relational God. It approaches the question of the imago Dei in terms of God’s incorporeal nature, and what it is that human beings have in common with God apart from the human being’s capacity for personal and interpersonal relationships. It addresses the questi…
Nature as God: A juxtaposition of Vito Mancuso and Alexander von Humboldt in their search for understanding reality
This article’s premise is that science holds the promise of deepening religious perspectives on creation. The natural sciences have convincingly proved that nature is not static, or a ready-made creation dropped from heaven. Theologians need to read nature as scientists see it and engage with that understanding theologically. The concept of resonance is applied to denote this tangential relationship as an eco-social constructivist understanding o…
The logic of antinomy in religious discourse: Pavel Florensky’s meta-language of theology, science and art
Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky is a towering figure of the 20th century. He is recognised among many significant thinkers of the world’s cultural and philosophical panorama of the previous century. In the face of cultural repression and religious persecution of the Soviet regime, he preferred martyrdom to exile and not to deny his faith. The legacy of Florensky is incredibly multifaceted. His works span across the most varied fields of science and…
The search for verisimilitudinous knowledge
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported
Human rationality in Vito Mancuso’s liberal Catholic theology augmenting the notions of Van Huyssteen’s ‘postfoundational transversality’ and McGrath’s ‘rational consilience’
The cue for this article is human rationality being the cornerstone in Wentzel van Huyssteen’s thinking, and Alister McGrath’s scepsis about the feasibility of a postfoundational transversality in particular. This article does not intend to juxtapose Van Huyssteen’s postfoundational rationality to McGrath’s enterprise of a ‘rational consilience’ but contends that a transversal approach to rationality engages social ramifications as well. Subseque…
A faith-based environmental approach for people and the planet: Some inter-religious perspectives on our Earth-embeddedness
For most people on our planet, spiritual values are vital in driving communitarian behaviour. It is becoming increasingly clear that a lasting and effective social commitment must consider cultural, sociological and religious dimensions. In particular, the current environmental crisis has demonstrated how effectively religious communities have mobilised to respond to climate change. With their emphasis on wisdom, social cohesion and interrelation…
What is in a name? Does the difference between onto-theology and theo-ontology direct the way from eco-theology to theo-ecology? Specific Russian theological perspectives
I approach this venture of figuring out the correct terminology to understand reality through the prism of two distinctive Russian Orthodox theologians, Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) and Sergius Bulgakov (1871–1944). The lens I apply mainly to their works is their respective understanding of cosmology, that is, ontology and epistemology. Therefore, I concur with Grenz to abandon the term ‘onto-theology’ and qualify the inverse as a Trinitarian theo…
A page from Russian cosmology in the Trinitarian story of creation
This article approached the doctrine of the Trinity from the vantage point of the science and religion dialogue, because the issue of faith and reason is integral to this concept. This approach requires humility and silence. A page from the cosmology of the Russian Silver Age sheds light on the notorious schism of 1054 between the Western and the Eastern theologians on the Filioque issue, which manifests the lack of an apophatic and antinomistic …
Emerging Religious Consciousness-A Cosmotheandric Understanding of Reality in the Light of Sophiology of Some Russian Theologians towards an Eco-Theology
Intercultural theology is increasingly a major subject matter of 21st-century scholarly inquiry. This results in an interreligious discourse and encounter at different levels. However, gone are the days when the aim is to identify or even to fuse certain overlapping magisteria. A linguistic-cultural approach takes us beyond mergers or grand unified theories. To speak of reality as a whole is not to talk about the whole of reality. Creatio continu…
Philosophy (26 works) · Epistemology (22 works) · Theology (21 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (15 works) · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics (15 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Law (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Theology and Philosophy of Evil (9 works)