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God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation
Includes bibliographies.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Religious Studies
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613217136574464 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Boesak, Willem Andreas |
| author2 | Villa-Vicencio, Charles |
| author_browse | Boesak, Willem Andreas Villa-Vicencio, Charles |
| author_facet | Villa-Vicencio, Charles Boesak, Willem Andreas |
| author_sort | Boesak, Willem Andreas |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographies. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17354 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:37.404Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17354 God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation Boesak, Willem Andreas Villa-Vicencio, Charles Religious Studies Revenge Forgiveness - Religious aspects Includes bibliographies. God's wrath results in divine acts of vengeance in favour of the powerless and the oppressed. This manifestation of anger is devoid of hatred and malice, for in the first epistle of John, love is equated with God in such a way that it is the personification of the divine Being (1 John 4:7-12). God's grace, forming the nexus between compassion and wrath, renders any suggestion of a contradiction in the divine nature untenable. Human vengeance is, however, an ambiguous concept. It emanates from human anger, which often includes hatred and malice. Nevertheless, this cannot simply be dismissed as a destructive force, as it can be a valid form of resistance. The crucial theological-ethical question arises: Can the wrath of God's children (human vengeance) legitimately reflect divine anger? The first part of the thesis deals with the historical content of God's wrathful children, focusing on the history of struggle in South Africa. The age-old history of injustices perpetrated against black people has generated a deep-seated anger, a dangerous socio-political rage that cannot be ignored. The central question is: How should black people handle their anger theologically? Given the multi-religious and -cultural South African context this issue needs addressing at an ecumenical level, while taking interfaith perspective into account. The Zealots of first-century Palestine, the late-medieval reformer Thomas Muntzer, and the African-American activist Malcolm X, wrestled with the interplay between faith and vengeance. Case studies of these revolutionaries are dealt with in the second part of the thesis, and assistance is sought from their experiences in clarifying our own theological formulation. The final part of the thesis argues that post-apartheid South Africa requires a comprehensive, inter-faith 'ethic of vengeance' to curb destructive black political rage. 2016-02-29T12:04:40Z 2016-02-29T12:04:40Z 1993 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17354 eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Religious Studies Revenge Forgiveness - Religious aspects Boesak, Willem Andreas God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| title_full | God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| title_fullStr | God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| title_full_unstemmed | God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| title_short | God's wrathful children : toward an ethic of vengeance, retribution, and renewal for a post-apartheid nation |
| title_sort | god s wrathful children toward an ethic of vengeance retribution and renewal for a post apartheid nation |
| topic | Religious Studies Revenge Forgiveness - Religious aspects |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17354 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT boesakwillemandreas godswrathfulchildrentowardanethicofvengeanceretributionandrenewalforapostapartheidnation |