The South African Baptist Journal of Theology 2024 Call for Papers
Theme: Evangelicalism and Politics – Friend or Foe?
With so many elections taking place worldwide in 2024, we must ask what the role of religion in politics is. This can obviously be overly broad with varying theological strokes. But when it comes to individual Christian believers’ responsibilities, we must ask what the civic responsibility of Christians in politics is. We note that there are many biblical references to the role of leaders, politics, and even political leaders and how these have shaped the landscape for the spread of the gospel but also with reference to the actions of the Christian in responding to both good and bad political leaders (Daniel 3; Romans 13; Titus 3:1-2).
The traditional evangelical response to politics was often a separation between church and state where the one sphere had no power over the other. Yet, in recent years there has been a drastic shift with faith and religion playing a dominant role and coercive power in politics as was seen in the USA presidential process with the role of the republicans. The role and influence of religion in politics is also clear in many African countries with often militant approaches resulting in corruption, violence, and loss of life.
A Google scholar search on the topic of evangelicals and politics produces more than 9000 scholarly articles for 2023 alone. The 2024 edition of the SABJT, therefore, invites scholarly articles of evangelical persuasion and practice on the theme of “Evangelicalism and Politics – Friend or Foe?”. The general theme will be inviting articles on how evangelicals can engage in politics so that the kingdom of God can be present. Furthermore, the following sub-themes will be considered:
- Evangelicals and politics
- The separation between church and state
- An evangelical ethic toward civic responsibility and voting
- Holding political leaders to account
- The kingdom of God and politics
- Evangelicals occupying political offices
- Evangelical political parties and the rise of right-wing nationalism