Let the plight of the voiceless be heard. Prophetic speaking about poverty today.

Authors

  • NN Koopman

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17570/ngtt.2004.v45s1.a24

Abstract

This article investigates prophetic speaking as the way in which the plight of the poor, marginalised and voiceless people of society is articulated so that this voice functions as norm for economic policies and measures. By using James Gustafson’s four varieties of moral discourse the twofold prophetic task of the church, namely the task of envisioning and indictment, is suggested as the way in which the voice of the voiceless be heard and the process of the restoration of their dignity be served. The relationship of the prophetic discourse to the narrative, technical and policy discourses is described. This analyses offers helpful insights for prophetic speaking in the context of a democracy. The use of prophetic speaking in theological literature, confessional documents and in the Bible is also outlined. Lastly it is portrayed how various Christian practices awake, inform and sustain the prophetic speaking of churches in such a way that all Christians are formed to speak out prophetically in a variety of ways.

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Published

2004-12-31

How to Cite

Koopman, N. (2004). Let the plight of the voiceless be heard. Prophetic speaking about poverty today. NGTT | Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 45(Supp 1). https://doi.org/10.17570/ngtt.2004.v45s1.a24

Issue

Vol. 45 No. Supp 1 (2004)

Section

Articles | Artikels

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