Hermen Kroesbergen
Biographic Data
| ID | 1251675 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hermen Kroesbergen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Hermen |
| FAMILY NAME | Kroesbergen |
| SIGNATURE | KROESBERGEN H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pretoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6992-4760 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
‘Everybody would agree’ – a novel Wittgensteinian approach to philosophy of religion
The non-romantic idea of nature in African theology
In many ways, the African world view and African theology are closer to nature than Euro-American theology is. This can be seen, for example, in its emphasis on holism and interconnectedness, and its inclination to consider all natural objects to be inhabited by the spirit world. This article argues that this closeness to nature should not be confused with a Romantic reverence for nature. Since the 19th century, Romanticism has been very influent…
Faith envy
With this article, I wish to introduce the concept of ‘faith envy’. From time to time, both believers and non-believers envy those who have faith or more faith. People envy, for example, Muslims or Charismatics for the significance and certainty of their convictions in their lives. I propose using ‘faith envy’ as an angle to investigate faith and religious language. This perspective opens up important new questions about faith. If we look at fait…
African leadership and the kind of reality of the spirit world
Leadership in Africa is inextricably connected to the spirit world. Leaders may be chosen through elections or other human processes, but ultimately, they are seen as appointed by God. Leaders may base their decisions upon science or intuition, but ultimately, they let themselves be inspired by revelations from the spiritual realm. Yet, what is meant by the spirit world in this respect? In this article, a new way is explored for investigating wha…
Religious diversity, ecology and grammar
We do not need ‘the earth’ as the space for encounter and cooperation between world religions in the way Moltmann suggests. Firstly, this fails to do justice to the contemporary situation concerning religious diversity: people from different religions have no problem in working together either for promoting ecological goals or for fighting them together. Within religions, there are often greater divergences between eco-friendly and anti-ecologica…
Strange Religion and the Need for Wittgensteinian Philosophy
Wittgensteinian philosophy is needed to make sense of the strange practices in neo-Pentecostal religion that have been in the news in recent years. Other philosophical approaches have argued that spirits and miracles are fake, or real, or reasonable; but this misses the important question of what kind of reality is at stake here. The Wittgensteinian practice of providing hints and reminders clarifies the kind of reality that is implied in a parti…
Religion without Belief and Community in Africa
Religion in Africa is in many respects becoming religion without belief and community again, I will argue in this article. Europeans arriving in Africa did not recognize African religion, because Africans did not have the kind of belief and community characteristic of European concepts of religion. Pentecostalization brings back this African concept of religion without worship groups defined by an adherence to a particular picture of the world, a…
Radical Change in Zambia's Christian Ecumenism
This account of religious change in Zambia discloses shifts in the ideas and practices of Christian unity since independence. It shows that state-backed appeals, at times repressive, under the slogan ‘one nation, one church’ gave way to a series of alternatives in institutional ecumenism, leading towards a challenge to the very nature of ecumenism, grassroots as well as institutional. The new stress is on individual choice and personal services, …
Religion without Belief and Community in Africa
Religion in Africa is in many respects becoming religion without belief and community again, I will argue in this article. Europeans arriving in Africa did not recognize African religion, because Africans did not have the kind of belief and community characteristic of European concepts of religion. Pentecostalization brings back this African concept of religion without worship groups defined by an adherence to a particular picture of the world, a…
Radical Change in Zambia's Christian Ecumenism
This account of religious change in Zambia discloses shifts in the ideas and practices of Christian unity since independence. It shows that state-backed appeals, at times repressive, under the slogan ‘one nation, one church’ gave way to a series of alternatives in institutional ecumenism, leading towards a challenge to the very nature of ecumenism, grassroots as well as institutional. The new stress is on individual choice and personal services, …
Religion without Belief and Community in Africa
Religion in Africa is in many respects becoming religion without belief and community again, I will argue in this article. Europeans arriving in Africa did not recognize African religion, because Africans did not have the kind of belief and community characteristic of European concepts of religion. Pentecostalization brings back this African concept of religion without worship groups defined by an adherence to a particular picture of the world, a…
Faith envy
With this article, I wish to introduce the concept of ‘faith envy’. From time to time, both believers and non-believers envy those who have faith or more faith. People envy, for example, Muslims or Charismatics for the significance and certainty of their convictions in their lives. I propose using ‘faith envy’ as an angle to investigate faith and religious language. This perspective opens up important new questions about faith. If we look at fait…
African leadership and the kind of reality of the spirit world
Leadership in Africa is inextricably connected to the spirit world. Leaders may be chosen through elections or other human processes, but ultimately, they are seen as appointed by God. Leaders may base their decisions upon science or intuition, but ultimately, they let themselves be inspired by revelations from the spiritual realm. Yet, what is meant by the spirit world in this respect? In this article, a new way is explored for investigating wha…
Religious diversity, ecology and grammar
We do not need ‘the earth’ as the space for encounter and cooperation between world religions in the way Moltmann suggests. Firstly, this fails to do justice to the contemporary situation concerning religious diversity: people from different religions have no problem in working together either for promoting ecological goals or for fighting them together. Within religions, there are often greater divergences between eco-friendly and anti-ecologica…
Strange Religion and the Need for Wittgensteinian Philosophy
Wittgensteinian philosophy is needed to make sense of the strange practices in neo-Pentecostal religion that have been in the news in recent years. Other philosophical approaches have argued that spirits and miracles are fake, or real, or reasonable; but this misses the important question of what kind of reality is at stake here. The Wittgensteinian practice of providing hints and reminders clarifies the kind of reality that is implied in a parti…
The non-romantic idea of nature in African theology
In many ways, the African world view and African theology are closer to nature than Euro-American theology is. This can be seen, for example, in its emphasis on holism and interconnectedness, and its inclination to consider all natural objects to be inhabited by the spirit world. This article argues that this closeness to nature should not be confused with a Romantic reverence for nature. Since the 19th century, Romanticism has been very influent…
‘Everybody would agree’ – a novel Wittgensteinian approach to philosophy of religion
Epistemology (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Law (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (4 works) · African cultural and philosophical studies (3 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (3 works) · Environmental ethics (3 works) · Grassroots (3 works)