The Journal of Black Theology in South Africa and its Contribution to the Struggle for Liberation

The Journal of Black Theology in South Africa was a bi-annual academic journal which ran from May 1987 until November 1998. In a context of legislated (at least initially) anti-black racism and repression, it sought to be “a vehicle of communication and a forum for exchange of ideas… (to) hasten the dawning of a new day of freedom” through stimulating “creative thought, lively theological discussion and… (reorienting) the social life and political action of the black community” (Mofokeng, 1987).

This paper will firstly situate the journal within the historical and political context out of which it emerged, mapping and positioning it within the history of black theology in South Africa. Next, the paper will go on to detail some of the journal’s particularities with regard to (among other things) how the journal began, who was involved, what it aimed to do, the role that it played, how it was distributed, its readership, why it ended and how it was structured. The paper will then engage with some aspects of the journal’s content. This of course cannot be covered comprehensively, as such, I have broken it down into the following four sections which will be covered in brief:

1. How the journal develops a hermeneutics/framework/lens of black theology through bringing scripture into conversation with the black experience.
2. How the journal uses a hermeneutics/framework/lens of black theology to explore topical issues such as land, gender, economic justice, colonialism, black identity, racism, labour, negotiations, culture, etc.
3. How the journal brings South African black theology into conversation with other historical and contemporary global expressions of liberative praxis.
4. How the journal uses a hermeneutics/framework/lens of black theology to critique and challenge dominant theology and ideas within in that perpetuate the unjust status quo.

Finally, the paper will look at how the journal imagined the future of black theology in South Africa and put this in dialogue with the actual landscape of black theology in South Africa today, concluding with some tentative thoughts about a way forward.