Conspectus : The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary

Far from being formulaic, the Pauline letter opening serves as a dynamic rhetorical strategy that intertwines characters and themes to suit the objectives of each letter. In Philemon the person of Apphia appears in the opening, occupying the unique intersection between identity and rhetoric, where she is inscribed into a social group privileged with proximity to Paul. As the sole female to be included in a Pauline address, questions regarding the inclusion of her name, the seemingly vague appellation of sister (ἀδελφή), and Paul’s silence regarding her relationship to the other parties in the greeting, have led to an ongoing debate regarding this mysterious character. This paper traces and critically engages various renderings of Apphia in the Wirkungsgeschichte of Philemon. It explores the potential rhetorical effect of her inclusion in the Pauline corpus and what it means for Bible interpreters engaging her narrative from the Global South. It is, therefore, a central claim of this paper that tracing the many versions of Apphia retrieves history for contemporary audiences to appropriate meaning from Paul’s salutation to our sister.

Amos is often considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice and God’s righteousness. This article examines the theology and social ethics of the prophet Amos, who ministered to Israel during the reigns of King Jeroboam II of Israel and King Uzziah of Judah. In Amos’s time, materialism was prevalent, hedonism and selfishness increased, and social disparity intensified. This condition necessitated his theology of social justice and true worship of Yahweh.

This paper, through a critical analysis of data extracted from textbooks, theses/dissertations, and scholarly articles, compares the context in which the prophet prophesied with the Ghanaian context— intimately associated with poor governance, fraud and corruption, abuse of power, social injustice, religious hypocrisy, misallocation of resources and self-centredness. While admitting that Ghana’s current socio-religious climate is not wholly similar to that of ancient Israel, the paper identifies similarities between the present Ghanaian context and that of Israel of Amos’s time, and points out how Amos addressed the challenges. This then becomes a basis for drawing lessons for church and political leaders in addressing socioeconomic challenges in Ghana.

How should Christians respond to the ever-growing international Keywords crime of human trafficking? This study seeks for an answer by holding up the current situation to the light of the mission of Jesus as expressed in Luke 4:16–21, and formulating the outline of a practical, workable model of response. It explores the international and South African situation surrounding modern-day slavery and human trafficking from a Salvation Army perspective by consulting several expert studies, illustrating this reality by telling the stories of five women who were trafficked. Using the mission statement of Jesus as a basis for Christian love in action and building on the unique strengths of the Church, this study suggests requirements and key areas for a response by which the Church as a whole, as well as individual congregations and Christians may have a positive impact as part of a modern abolition movement.