Racism as a challenge for church and society in democratic South Africa: Human dignity perspective

• Main Author: Leepo J. Modise
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AOSIS 2020-10-01
• Series: Theologia Viatorum
• Subjects: racism; church; society; democratic; human dignity
• Online Access: https://theologiaviatorum.org/index.php/tv/article/view/35

The image of God has been vandalised by racism in South Africa, which it is argued is a sin. It is an ecclesiological responsibility to address the vandalised image of God in South Africa. The author will argue from the human relationship as a build-up to the Theanthropocosmic principle. This principle denotes the relationship between God (theos) the human being (anthropos) and the physical-organic environment (cosmos). For addressing this responsibility, the grounds of internal racism are exposed using a philosophical interpretation. According to the author, there is a correlation between sin and racism. The latter is viewed as multidimensional from a Theanthropocosmic perspective. The theoretical framework will be within hamartiology and soteriology. The philosophical interpretation will be utilised to broaden the understanding of the theological problem of the vandalised image of God.