دورية أكاديمية
A critical assessment of Church and political engagement in Zimbabwe under the new dispensation
| العنوان: | A critical assessment of Church and political engagement in Zimbabwe under the new dispensation |
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| المؤلفون: | Christopher Magezi, Kimion Tagwirei |
| المصدر: | Verbum et Ecclesia, Vol 43, Iss 1, Pp e1-e12 (2022) |
| بيانات النشر: | AOSIS, 2022. |
| سنة النشر: | 2022 |
| المجموعة: | LCC:Practical Theology |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | church, state, politics, fearless, prophetic, engagement, matthew 5:13–16, Practical Theology, BV1-5099 |
| الوصف: | Since the reign of the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Zimbabwe has been seized by retrogressive puppetisation of partisan gospel ministers and churches, worsened by state victimisation of those who stand against political ills. Church and state relations were compromised and fear gripped most citizens. At his inauguration, the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged a ‘new dispensation’ but contrarily remained similar to the preceding regime. Today, Church and state relations remain compromised as leaders appear accommodative when supported and vindictive when critiqued. The prevailing situation divided the Church, leaving some pastors dining with oppressive leaders whilst others side with the oppressed, culminating in disturbing polarisation. Ruling politicians captured some gospel ministers to sanitise the ‘new dispensation’ and vilify its critics. Although multiple researches have been carried out on Church and politics in Zimbabwe, the lack of clarity on how churches should engage with the state remains an ongoing challenge. Using a literature-based approach, this article evaluates ecclesial engagement with national politics in view of the Old Testament’s fearless prophetic involvement in politics and the New Testament’s understanding of the Church as the salt and the light of the world (Mt 5:13–16). Results of this assessment are that Church engagements with politics have been defined by economic volatility, polarisation, corruptibility, hermeneutical weaknesses and theological differences. The article concludes that the Church should contextually apply the Old Testament’s prophetic stance and the New Testament’s ‘salt and light’ engagement in Zimbabwe. Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Assessing Church and political engagement in Zimbabwe under the new dispensation in light of the Old Testament’s prophetic involvement in politics and the New Testament’s conceptualisation of the Church as salt and light (Mt 5:13–16) is a contextually critical contribution that interfaces ecclesiology with Christian, biblical, public and political theologies. |
| نوع الوثيقة: | article |
| وصف الملف: | electronic resource |
| اللغة: | Afrikaans German English Dutch; Flemish |
| تدمد: | 1609-9982 2074-7705 |
| Relation: | https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2527; https://doaj.org/toc/1609-9982; https://doaj.org/toc/2074-7705 |
| DOI: | 10.4102/ve.v43i1.2527 |
| URL الوصول: | https://doaj.org/article/9a05c9e2c9774c24a8c00420a76ebe0b |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsdoj.9a05c9e2c9774c24a8c00420a76ebe0b |
| قاعدة البيانات: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
Full Text Finder | تدمد: | 16099982 20747705 |
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| DOI: | 10.4102/ve.v43i1.2527 |