By: Kevin Norwood on June 23, 2017
Mark Mathabane in his autobiography Kaffir Boy gives a clear picture of what life under apartheid is truly like for those who are on the lowest level of humanity. In his words, he was a “fourth class citizen.” The struggle of what faced human beings because of other human’s desire for control and power is…
By: Jason Kennedy on June 23, 2017
I have to admit, I was never really familiar with apartheid. Sure, I had heard the word and even heard about Nelson Mandela, but it was something far in my rearview mirror. I am not sure why. It is probably the closest thing to Nazis Germany and the Holocaust that my generation has seen. Maybe…
By: Phil Goldsberry on June 22, 2017
Introduction In 2000, I invited a young South African, Brendon, to live with us and work for our church. Together, we worked from New York and he from Johannesburg, to get a “religious workers visa”. I had met this young man through Youth for Christ. He was traveling with a South African YFC group that…
By: Marc Andresen on June 22, 2017
“There is a death far worse than physical death, and that is the death of the mind and soul…” [1] This is a poignant summary of the fascinating yet overwhelming book, Kaffir Boy, written by Mark (Johannes) Mathabane. It is a powerfully moving book, in part, because it shows the devastating impact of bad leadership.…
By: Aaron Peterson on June 22, 2017
Kaffir Boy is the sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes hopeful, autobiography of Mark Mathabane who grew up in the horrendous environment of apartheid in South Africa. One theme throughout the story is religion. At first Mark’s mother becomes a Christian for the material perks being a Christian offers to blacks in South Africa. This part reminded me…
By: Garfield Harvey on June 22, 2017
“One of the apartheid’s chief aims was the elimination of competition between black and white, invariably to the benefit of whites.”[1] Therefore the government designated land for both groups but the whites reaped the benefits because they received the lands with natural wealth. The blacks had to settle for the poorer lands, which was also…
By: Rose Anding on June 22, 2017
Introduction Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa is authored by Mark Mathabane. The playwright narrates how he was brought up in overwhelming poverty and received education in cruel boulevards and the most distressed ghetto of South Africa, where bloody gang battles and midnight police incursions…
By: Pablo Morales on June 21, 2017
Author Mark (Johannes) Mathabane wrote his autobiography in 1986 in order to give people a window into the atrocities of Apartheid. The book Kaffir Boy describes life in the segregated township of Alexandra through the eyes of a child who eventually escapes the suffocating claws of poverty and segregation through the pursuit of education. Through his love for tennis, Johannes eventually gets…
By: Claire Appiah on June 20, 2017
Mark Mathabane—Kaffir Boy an Autobiography: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa Introduction In this raw and captivating autobiography, Mark Mathabane, utilizes the imaginative creativity of his journalistic skills to depict the poignancy and triumphs of his first eighteen years of life under South Africa’s apartheid system. He…
By: Aaron Cole on June 15, 2017
Summary: Kaffir Boy, The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa, by Mark Mathabane is a sobering look at what it meant to grow up as a black male in the 1960’s and the 1970’s in abject poverty of Alexandria, South Africa during the Apartheid. Mathabane’s autobiography takes the…
By: Kevin Norwood on June 9, 2017
What is the point of evangelism? Is it the salvation of the person that is being reached with the good news? When organizations send missionaries into all the parts of the world one of their goals is to evangelize those who have never heard the gospel message of the good news. They go through cultural…
By: Jason Kennedy on June 9, 2017
In studying Christianity worldwide, Phillip Jenkins states in his book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity: Assuming no great gains or losses through conversion, then there would be around 2.6 billion Christians, of whom 695 million would live in Africa, 610 million in Latin America, and 480 million in Asia. Europe, with 574…
By: Aaron Cole on June 9, 2017
Summary: Christian Theology and African Traditions by Matthew Michael is an insight read into the convergence of Christian history and the cultural and traditional effects of and upon African culture. Michael demonstrates how Western Christianity in particular has imposed its’ culture and tradition upon the African Church and has used theology as a vehicle…
By: Garfield Harvey on June 9, 2017
My research topic in the doctoral program at Portland Seminary centers on the idea of cultural intelligent and its influence on corporate worship. In my research, I learned through Genesis 10:6-20 that the kingdoms were founded by families of the founders of Ethiopia, which I alluded in one of my previous blog posts. If these…
By: Phil Goldsberry on June 8, 2017
Introduction Why does this people group, denomination, socio-economic quota, or ethnicity get a pass? Can being from a certain continent give you a “green card”, “Get Out of Jail Free-card”, or “I can do what I want because I am __________ – card (You fill in the blank)”. After my rant, I reflected on my own…
By: Aaron Peterson on June 8, 2017
The small size of Matthew Michael’s, Christian Theology & African Traditions is deceiving because it really is an immense theological textbook that deserves to be in every pastor’s library. This book will serve as a great reference for me. I appreciate and value this work. Maybe it’s because I’ve taught World History for over 20…
By: Claire Appiah on June 8, 2017
The renown evangelical theologian and academic, Matthew Michael, has produced a quasi-systematic theology work which seeks to understand Christian theology through close dialogue with the Bible, especially in the context of African worldviews and traditions. He sees the necessity of Christian theology engaging the worldviews of the African people in terms of their beliefs, values,…
By: Rose Anding on June 8, 2017
Introduction The African evangelicals recently began to disagree on their intention to develop a Christian theology in an African context. In connection to that, they have taken a plan to develop and African Bible commentary. Drawing illustrations from Matthew Michael’s Christian Theology and African Traditions, this paper notes some of the reality of the…
By: Marc Andresen on June 8, 2017
What is the view from our heart? The heart’s view is what we perceive to be reality. In Christian Theology and African Traditions Matthew Michael encourages us that theology must engage at this level: at the level of worldview. Michael’s book is a good companion volume to How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind by Thomas…
By: Pablo Morales on June 7, 2017
Growing in cultural awareness has been a progressive experience in my life journey. I can say with certainty today that cultural context is more complex and intricate than I had ever anticipated. It shapes us more than what we realize. Let me share a few experiences as I reflect on this week’s reading. LANGUAGE: Even…
