The legacies of Albert Schweitzer reconsidered

Izak J.J. Spangenberg, Christina Landman, Amadi Enoch Ahiamadu, Johan Booyse, Pieter Botha, Cornel du Toit, Garth Mason, Menard Musendekwa, Eben Scheffler, Lovemore Togarasei, Andries van Aarde

AOSIS, Dec 31, 2016 - Religion - 386 pages

 This book on the legacy of Albert Schweitzer contextualises this remarkable intellectualist, humanist, medicine-man, theologian and Nobel Prize winner. This collected work is aimed at specialists in the humanities, social sciences, education, and religious studies. The authors embrace philanthropic values to benefit Africa and the world at large. The publication engages with peers on the relevance of Schweitzer’s work for humanitarian values in Africa. The essays in the book stimulate further research in the various fields in which Schweitzer excelled. Its academic contribution is its focus on the post-colonial discourse in contemporary discussions both in South Africa and Africa at large. The book emphasises Schweitzer’s reverence for life philosophy and demonstrates how this impacts on moral values. However, the book also points to the possibility that Schweitzer’s reverence for life philosophy is embedded in a typically European appreciation of ‘mysticism’ that is not commensurate with African indigenous religious values. From an African academic perspective, the book advocates the view that Schweitzer’s concept of the reverence for life supports not only the Biblical notion of imago Dei but also the African humanist values of the preservation and protection of life, criticising the exploitation of the environment by warring factions and large companies, especially in oil-producing African countries. It also argues that Schweitzer’s disposition on ethics was influenced by the Second World War, his sentiments against nuclear weapons and his resistance to the Enlightenment view of ‘civilisation’. With regard to Jesus studies the book elucidates values promoted by Schweitzer by following in Jesus’ steps and portraying Jesus’ message within a modern world view. Taken over from Schweitzer, the book argues that Jesus’ moral authority resides in his display of love and his interaction with the poor and marginalised. The book demonstrates Schweitzer’s understanding of Jesus as the one who sacrifices his own life to bring the Kingdom of God to realisation in this world. The book commends Schweitzer’s insight that we know Jesus through his toils on the one hand, and through our own experiences on the other. It is in a mixture between the two that the hermeneutical gap between then and now is bridged. It is precisely in bridging this gap that Schweitzer sees himself as an instrument of God’s healing. It defines Schweitzer as the embodiment of being a healer, educationalist and herald of the greening of Christianity. His philosophy on the reverence for life prepares a foundation for Christians to think ‘green’ about human life within a greater environment. He advocates aspects of education such as lifelong learning, holistic education and a problem-based approach to education. Finally, the book analyses both critically and appreciatively Albert Schweitzer’s contribution to the concepts of religious healing prevalent in African Christianity today.

About the author

 Amadi Enoch Ahiamadu

Amadi Enoch Ahiamadu is an alumnus of the renowned University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, where he obtained: PG Dip (Theology) (2003), MTh (2005), and PhD (2007). He has a PGD in Human Rights from the University of Dalarna, Sweden (2003). He graduated previously from the premier Nigerian University of Ibadan, Nigeria with BSc (Honours) (1979) and MTh (1982), both in Political Science. He is a Research Associate and Fellow, University of Stellenbosch in the Discipline Group Old & New Testament and a course developer for the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). He is the coordinator of the Ogba Bible Translation & Literacy Team (OBTLT) that produced the New Testament Bible in the Ogba Language. His research and human rights interests focus on ecological theology and religious studies spanning the entire continent. He is a renowned theologian, linguist, author, pastor, counsellor and mentor. Email: [e-mail]

Johan Booyse

Johan Booyse is a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of South Africa. From 1994 to 2003, he occupied a position as Head of the Departments of History of Education and Further Teacher Education respectively. Currently, he is responsible for providing tuition to postgraduate students in the fields of History of Education, Comparative Education and Education Management. He is particularly interested in the use of metaphors in education and teacher accountability. His interest in the educational legacy of Albert Schweitzer originated in his earlier involvement in an investigation into the effective management of educational change. Email: [e-mail]

Pieter Botha

Pieter Botha is professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies in the Department of Biblical & Ancient Studies, University of South Africa.

He studied at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria. His research publications deal with the ethnography of ancient communication, the redescription of historical events by means of social history and cross-cultural comparison and the contemporary relevance of traditions and philosophies. Like many South Africans he is concerned about ethics, hence the interest in Albert Schweitzer’s moral philosophy. Email: [e-mail]

Cornel du Toit

Cornel du Toit was appointed as head of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion at the University of South Africa in 1993. He established the South African Science and Religion Forum (SASRF) in 1993. The SASRF has convened 19 times since its inception and enjoys national and international recognition. He specialises in the relationship between science and religion as well as contemporary philosophical and ethical issues. Du Toit has organised and presented 34 seminars and has edited and published 30 seminar proceedings. He has read 77 papers at national and international seminars, published 65 refereed academic articles, three monographs and has contributed 44 chapters to various books. Email: [e-mail]

Christina Landman

Christina Landman has been teaching and researching at the University of South Africa for the past 38 years where she is a professor at the Research Institute for Theology and Religion. She has acquired two doctorates, one in Pastoral Counselling and the other in Church History and Polity. She is the Editor-in-Chief of two academic journals, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae and the Oral History Journal of South Africa. She has published about a hundred academic articles and several academic books, amongst which she regards Township Spiritualities and Counselling (2008) as the most important. Email: [e-mail]

Garth Mason

Garth Mason is a senior lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies and Arabic at the University of South Africa. Previously he has held teaching

positions at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Botswana. His research interest incorporates religion, life writing and the self. Email: [e-mail]

Menard Musendekwa

Menard Musendekwa is a minister of religion in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. After completing the Diploma in Theology at the RCZ Murray Theological College, he served in Marondera. He continued his studies at Justo Mwale University, Zambia, where he completed his Bachelor of Theology degree before joining Stellenbosch University where he completed his Master of Theology degree in 2011. He then Joined RCZ Murray Theological College and shortly after that was appointed Faculty Coordinator at the Reformed Church University, Zimbabwe. He is presently serving as the Academic Dean at Murray Theological College. He is also a research associate with Stellenbosch University and a PhD candidate at the University of South Africa. Email: [e-mail]

Eben Scheffler

Eben Scheffler (teaching Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology at the University of South Africa) wrote his doctoral dissertation on Suffering in Luke’s Gospel (published by Theologischer Verlag, Zürich, 1993). Other publications include Fascinating discoveries from the biblical world (2000), Politics in ancient Israel (2001) as well as Ancient Israelite literature in context, 2006 (co-author). He has a special interest in the historiography of ancient Israel, the historical Jesus, hermeneutics and psychological biblical interpretation (acting as co-chair of the SBL Research Unit). His interest in Schweitzer dates back from his ninth year when he received Thomas’s book (see bibliography) as a Christmas gift in 1962. Like Schweitzer, he is a firm believer in the relevance of the historical Jesus and the philosophy of ‘reverence for life’ for today. Email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Izak J.J. Spangenberg

Izak Spangenberg started his academic career as a lecturer in Biblical Studies at the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg (now the

University of Johannesburg) in 1979. After being appointed, he enrolled for the doctoral degree in Old Testament at the University of South Africa (UNISA) under the supervision of Professor James Alfred Loader. The thesis focused on the book of Ecclesiastes. Since then he has remained interested in the wisdom and apocalyptic literature of Israel and has published a number of articles on Job, Ecclesiastes and some Wisdom psalms. He was appointed as a senior lecturer in the Department of Old Testament at (UNISA) in 1987 and moved through the ranks until he became a full professor in 2005. Since 2002 he has been actively involved in discussions about a possible New Reformation in Christianity and has contributed to a book concerning this issue. Email: [e-mail]

Lovemore Togarasei

Lovemore Togarasei is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Botswana, Botswana. He currently holds a visiting professorship in the Research Institute of Theology and Religion, University of South Africa. His research concentrates on the Bible in African Christianity, and he has published widely on Pentecostal expressions of Christianity in Africa. Email: [e-mail]

Andries van Aarde

Andries van Aarde is Post-Emeritus Professor in the Dean’s Office at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria. He served as Research Manager from 2000 to 2005 in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria, and from 2005 to 2014 as an honorary professor. From 2009 to 2015 he was a senior research fellow in the Unit of the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria. He is chief editor of AOSIS Publishing Scholarly Books and editor-in-chief of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studie, an ISI and Scopus accredited journal. He obtained three doctoral degrees, respectively in theology, ancient cultural studies, and ancient languages. Andries is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa’s (ASSAf’s) Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa (CSPiSA). He has published extensively in the field of gospel studies, historical Jesus studies, early Christianity and hermeneutics. Email: [e-mail]

Bibliographic information

• Title: The legacies of Albert Schweitzer reconsidered; Volume 1 of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae
• Authors: Izak J.J. Spangenberg, Christina Landman, Amadi Enoch Ahiamadu, Johan Booyse, Pieter Botha, Cornel du Toit, Garth Mason, Menard Musendekwa, Eben Scheffler, Lovemore Togarasei, Andries van Aarde
• Editors: Izak J.J. Spangenberg, Christina Landman
• Publisher: AOSIS, 2016
• ISBN: 1928396038, 9781928396031
• Length: 386 pages
• Subjects: Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects; Religion / Christian Theology / Christology; Social Science / General