Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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Ours is not a faith rooted in irrationality, nor is it a faith dominated by human
rationality. Ours is a faith that has been evidentially tested and proven in response to our
own doubts and those of our critics -- and still it is faith. The task of the believer is not to
prove the historical veracity of Christ and Scripture, as valuable as these things are. Our
[primary] task is to be disciples and witnesses. When we take more upon ourselves than
is given us -- namely bringing others to faith in Christ -- we are sure to make mistakes,
and fall into traps, such as attempting to satisfy the insatiable carnal doubts of men, apart
from the mental and spiritual illumination only the Spirit of God can provide. Truly, “the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction”
(Pro. 1:7).
The Anglican Rift
Perhaps no other contemporary situation exposes the postmodern, post-colonial and
post-Christendom tensions within and proximate to Western Christianity, than the rift
within global Anglicanism. The problems within the Anglican community truly reveal
how great the gap between the culturally compromised Western, mainline groups and
those still faithful to Christ, who are increasingly from the non-Western world. It also
clearly reveals how great the reach of the cultural trends and dynamics affecting the
Western world, church and far beyond.
The story of African Christianity is fascinating, wonderful and extremely encouraging.
“The expansion of Christianity in Twentieth-century Africa has been so dramatic that it
has been called ‘the fourth great age of Christian expansion’” (Isichei, 1995:1). The
continent is historically connected to the very earliest days of Yahweh’s interactions with
the children of Israel, Jesus (Mat. 27:32) and the early church (Act 8:26–29). Some of the
most influential Christians in history came from Africa (e.g., Augustine, Clement,
Cyprian). There are now more Anglicans, for example, in Nigeria than in the United
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa