Identity, power, and responsibility

Reflections on prophetic preaching in South Africa

Abstract

Within South African homiletic thought, prophetic preaching has predominately been understood as preaching steeped in Black Theology of Liberation (BTL). Historically homiletics in South Africa showcased both a rejection of BTL as a merely political ideology and promoted BTL as paramount for prophetic preaching in the democratic context. The former relented, whilst the latter is still dominant. However, there has been no research on the implications of prophetic preaching regarding the proposed outcomes of such preaching, which has a relatively broad scope, including poverty relief, development, admonishment of corruption, and the Lordship of Christ in the public sphere. In this article, I will reflect on prophetic preaching as preaching BTL from a postcolonial, psychological, and ethical perspective, locating four potential consequences of prophetic preaching: a colonial identity paradigm, resentment, misrepresentation of the vital flaws of society, and the relenting of personal responsibility.