‘Where are the prophets?’
How academic theology failed us
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19232118 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephan De Beer (0000-0002-8614-099X, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 82 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0259-9422 • E-ISSN: 2072-8050 |
| Publisher | AOSIS (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.4102/hts.v82i1.10981 |
| OpenAlex | W7119521720 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
Against the backdrop of precarious global and local politics – a threat to democracy, global wars, xenophobic violence, oppressions of sexual minorities and a permanent youth precariat in South Africa – do academic theologies foster prophetic responses or succumb to imperial co-option? Departing from the Kairos Document’s threefold call to conversion, this article laments the lack of a Kairos consciousness today, with reference to five areas of concern. Contribution: This study explores what theological formation for prophetic communities might look like, marked by Le Bruyns’ three elements of criticality, contextuality and change; participating in concrete sites of struggle and sustained by a ‘lived faith’. It imagines theological schools as ‘schools of prophets, servants and healers’, not only breaking the silence but also going beyond prophetic rhetoric through embodied theologising
Consciousness · Embodied cognition · Kairos · Politics · Rhetoric · Silence · African cultural and philosophical studies · Christian Theology and Mission · Theological Perspectives and Practices
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |