A critical systematic-ethical appraisal of the ethical design by Miroslav Volf within the South African context

This thesis offers a critical systematic-ethical appraisal of Miroslav Volf’s theological ethics within the South African context. Against the backdrop of persistent social fracture marked by gender-based violence, environmental degradation, economic injustice, and ecclesial disengagement, the study investigates whether Volf’s central ethical categories of embrace, memory, and flourishing can serve as credible resources for public theology in South Africa today. Through a qualitative theological method, the research engages in close textual analysis of Volf’s major works, placing them in sustained dialogue with contextual theological voices and lived South African realities. Drawing additionally on David Schweiker’s multidimensional ethical framework, the study evaluates the coherence, limits, and constructive potential of Volf’s ethics when applied beyond their original context. The thesis argues that, when critically reinterpreted and contextually grounded, Volf’s theology offers a compelling moral imagination capable of addressing deep-rooted ethical fractures while resisting reduction to abstract reconciliation or moral idealism. The study ultimately proposes a contextually responsive ethical framework that contributes to contemporary South African theological reflection and public moral discourse.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Pretoria

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Veldsman, Daniel Petrus

• Theology
• Christian Ethics
• Ethics
• Philosophy
• GBV
• Enviroment
• Racial division
• Church
• Modern context
• Miroslav Volf
• Framework
• Systematic Theology

Statement dc:rights

• © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

Disclaimer Letter

Dc Identifier Other

April 2026

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/108077