Johan Strijdom

“Colonialism” and “Material Culture” in David Chidester’s Oeuvre

Against the background of the recent proliferation of guides on key concepts for the analysis of issues across religious traditions, this article traces David Chidester’s theoretical elaboration of “colonialism” and “material culture” from an African and South African perspective and his application of these key terms to South African case studies. It is argued that within the current context of demands for a decolonisation of the curriculum these terms need to be foregrounded in rethinking Religious Studies programmes at South African universities. How this transformation of the curriculum may be effected, is illustrated with reference to two introductory courses in Religious Studies at the University of South Africa.

The uses of ancient Greek myths: From social-historical description to ideological criticism

ABSTRACT The Paris School, with leading scholars Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet, has made an indelible contribution to the understanding of the social uses of ancient Greek myths within their original historical contexts. This article argues, in line with a postmodern hermeneutics of suspicion, that it would now be imperative to move from social-historical description to ideological criticism of the values encoded by those myths. The argument is throughout illustrated with pertinent examples from ancient Greek mythology.

Suffering for a worthy cause? : the misplaced focus of Gibson's The Passion of the Christ : special topic : The Passion of the Christ

Summary This contribution offers an ideological criticism of Gibsons The Passion of the Christ from the perspective of historical Jesus studies. It is argued that Gibsons funda‐mentalistic hermeneutics gives rise to at least two ethical concerns that need critical reflection: the charge of anti‐Semitism and the problematic doctrine of vicarious suffering. A social‐historical paradigm, informed by the humanities, is offered as alternative.