PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS, ARTICLES, BOOK REVIEWS
2011
L’EGLISE CHRETIENNE AU RWANDA
PRE ET POST-GÉNOCIDE
L’Harmattan, Paris
152 pages
ISBN: 978 2 296 12984 9
This booklet contains a a description in retrospect of Rwandan Genocide, and the years thereafter with a special attention to the role of the Churches, and the value of the Christian faith. Are the Churches responsible for the ethnic divisions that finally lead to the Genocide in 1994, as is claimed by the actual government ?
The book is based on official documents and on my personal and obervations and reflections.
This book is a revision and actualisation of my book INDICIBLE RWANDA, published in 2007. `
How to obtain this book?
The book may be ordered directly with the Editor: see www.editions-harmattan.fr.
It also may be obtained through payment of € 15,00 (postage included) on my personal bank account: G. van 't Spijker, Utrecht, The Netherlands, account: BIC ABNANL2A; IBAN: NL96ABNA0478275277, mentioning the address where the book should be sent.
2007
- About the Churches and the Genocide
INDICIBLE RWANDA. Expériences et réflexions d’un Pasteur missionnaire. Yaounde : CLÉ.
This booklet of 130 pages gives my account of the Rwandan genocide, with a special focus on the role of the Curches before, during and after the genocide. How is it possible that the churches, who represented a majority of the population have not been able to prevent this tragedy? Are the churches responsible for the violence in Rwanda, as the actual government tends to claim?
- A collection of articles written by young African theologians.
Théologiens et théologiennes dans l’Afrique d’aujourd’hui. (Recueil édité ensemble avec Maurice Cheza). Paris/Yaoundé : Karthala/CLÉ .
In this booklet the Belgian theologian Maurice Cheza and I, have, as one of the working units of the Ecumenical Association of French speaking Missiologists (Association Francophone Oecumenique de Missiologie) edited several articles of young African theologians, Protestant and Roman Catholic, men and women.
Whereas the founding fathers of the African theology were concentrated on fundamental questions of Gospel and Culture, a new generation is interested in concrete questions of religion and society, women and male domination, reconciliation, and the dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
2004
- In rememberance of Ype Schaaf.
‘En dan zullen we zien …”. Ter gedachtenis aan Ype Schaaf (1930-2003). Edité ensemble avec Lútsen Kooistra et Jaap van Slageren, Leeuwarden: Friesch Dagblad. 110 pages.
Booklet in memory of Ype Schaaf, founder of the Christian Publishing House CLÉ, Yaoundé, Cameroun. The booklet consists of an anthology of the manyfold writings of Ype Schaaf.
2003
Anthropologie et missiologie. XIX-XXe siècles. Entre connivence et rivalité. Actes du colloque du CREDIC et de l’AFOM à Doorn (Utrecht) 2003.
Édité ensemble avec Olivier Servais. Paris: Karthala.
This is the Collection of Papers Read a the Colloquium on the relationship between Social Anthropology and Misiology, organised by the Centre of Research and Exchange on the Diffusion and Inculturation of Christianity (CREDIC) and the French speaking Ecumenical Association of Missiology Association (AFOM), held at Doorn (Utrecht) in 2003.
2001
- On the Churches and the Rwandan Genocide.
Zijn daar nog woorden voor? Overwegingen bij het drama van Rwanda. Allerwegen 32/41, 56 pages.
Reflections on the drama of the Genocide in Rwanda. In Dutch.
1990
- My Doctoral Thesis on Burial and Mourning in Rwanda.
Les usages funéraires et la mission de l’Eglise. Une étude théologique et anthropologique des rites funéraires au Rwanda. Kampen: Kok. ISBN 90 2423320 8.
This is the text - in French - of my doctoral thesis, presented at the Free University, Amsterdam in 1990. The first part of the book provides a comprehensive summary of Rwandan rituals of burial and mourning based on my antropological field research. I describe how they have survived and changed in the course of history, which proves their social value.
The second part describes the negative attitude to these burial customs held by the missionaries that witnessed the birth of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. This is followed by a theological reflection on these traditional customs and my plea to integrate them into the life of the Christians and the rituals of the Church.
For a English summary click here:
ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
2011
'La rivalité des alliances: les Eglises après le génocide rwandais'.
in: Salador Eyezo'o et Jean-François Zorn (dir.), Concurrences en mission. Propagandes, conflits, coexistences (XVIe-XXIe siècle), Actes diu 31e colloque du CRÉDIC tenu à Brives-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze, France) du 30 août au 3 septembre 2010. Serie: Mémoire d'Eglises. Paris: Karthala 2011, 297-310.
After the genocide of 1994 a cosiderable number of new protestant Churches have been created, mainly of a charismatic of Pentecostal character. These Churches have founded some new Associations of Churches, the Evangelical Alliance and the Forum of Born Again Christians in Rwanda (FOBACOR), both different from the earlier based Protestant Council of Churches (CPR). The political regime tries to get grip on the Churches by the creation of the so-called a Peace Plan.
For the full text, click here.
'New Christian Churches as Challenge for Theology in Africa'.
Presentation at the Colloquium on The Relevance of a Western Model of Theological Education in Today African Society, May 3-5, 2010, organized by Faculty of Protestant Theology of Butare, Rwanda, now Department of Protestant Theology of the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS), Butare, Rwanda.
For the full text, click here.
‘Rwanda’.
Dans: J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, (Eds), Religions of the World. A comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Santa Barbara/Denver/Oxford: ABC-CLIO Second Edition, 2481-2486. ISBN 978-1-59884-203-6.
Also available as e-book.
A concise overview of Rwanda’s population, its political history, its religions: the traditional world view and the movements within the tradition, the Christian mission and churches and the meaning of Islam in Rwanda society.
For the full text, click here.
2009
Quand le mythe ‘donne à penser’. Les mythes africains sur le mal’, Carrefour. Journal de théologie de la Faculté de Théologie protestante de Butare, Rwanda, no. 8 (2009), 9-22.
(= 'Myths as a starting point for theological reflection'). In this article a number of African myths on the origin of evil have been collected and analyzed. On the basis of the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur it is argued that myths should serve as basic resource material for theological reflection.
2006
‘Religion and the Rwandan Genocide’.
Dans: Tore Ahlbäck and Björn Dahla (eds.), Exercising Power. The Role of Religions. Concord and Conflict. Based on Papers Read at the Symposium on Exercising Power: The Role of Religions in Concord and Conflict Held at Ǻbo, Finland, on 17-19 August 2005, Ǻbo, Finland: Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, 2006., pp. 339-357.
2005
‘The Role of Social Anthropology in the Debate on Funeral Rites in Africa’, Exchange 34/3 pp. 156-176.
‘La Mission comme préparation au changement de la société. La mission protestante allemande au Rwanda de 1907à 1916 – son contexte et ses conditions matériels’.
In: Jean Pirotte (dir.), Les conditions matérielles de la mission. Actes du colloque du CREDIC à Belley (Ain), France. Paris : Karthala Paris.
This article is also published in: Perspectives missionnaires 49 (2005/1), 31-46.
This article analyses the motivation and the missionary goal of the first Protestant Missionary of Rwanda, Dr. Ernst Johanssen (1864-1934). It is argued that Johanssen expected that the influence of Western colonialism would disrupt the Rwandan society, but that the Gospel should enable the new Rwandan church to counterbalance the negative influence of Western society.
‘Genezen op de zendingsconferentie’, De discussie over ing op de Wereldzendingsconferentie in Athene 2005. Wereld en Zending 34/4, pp. 75-86.
The report of the World Missionary Conference in Athens 2005, with a particular focus on the discussions on Healing.
2004
‘1 P 3,18-20 et les chrétiens d’Afrique’,
In : La descente du Christ aux enfers. Supplément Cahiers Evangile, 128 (juin 2004), Paris, Editions du Cerf (Service biblique catholique Evangile et Vie), 104- 107.
The article exists of quotations from the African theologians, Benezet Bujo, Jean-Marc Ela and Michael Bame Bame, who argue that the article of the Apostolic faith of the Descent of Christ into Hell, as based on 1P3, 18-20, is of decisive importance for African Christian thinking.
‘Valeur de l’anthropologie sociale pour le débat sur les rites funéraires traditionnels en Afrique’.
In : Olivier Servais et Gérard van ‘t Spijker (dir.), Anthropologie et Missiologie. XIXe-XXe siècles. Entre connivence et rivalité. Actes du colloque conjoint du CREDIC et de l’AFOM, 2003 à Doorn, Pays-Bas, Paris, Karthala, 137-158.
The article makes a plea for the analysis of Social Anthropology as basis of a missionary approach towards traditional funeral customs in Africa,
‘Anthropology: A Tool for Missionary Studies’, "
In: Kwame Bediako, Mechteld Jansen, Jan van Butselaar, Aart Verburg (eds.), A New Day Dawning. African Christians Living the Gospel. Essays in honour of Dr. J.J. (Hans) Visser, Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 2004, 52-65.
‘Hoe de dood onder de mensen kwam: Oostafrikaanse verhalen over het kwaad’.
In: Cors van der Burg en Lourens Minnema, In de ban van het kwaad. Het kwaad in religieuze verhalen wereldwijd. Zoetermeer, Meinema, 2004, 34-39.
(= 'How death entered the human community. East-African Myths on the Origin of Evil).
2003
'Die Botschaft des Sieges Christi in Afrika’.
In: Thiesbonenkamp, Jürgen; Cochois, Helgard (red.) Umwege und Weggefährten. Festschrift für Heinrich Balz zum 65. Geburtstag -Neuendettelsau/Erlanger Verlag für Mission und Ökumene, 503-515.
The Message of the Victory of Christ as expressed in African conceptions of the Christ’s Descent into Hell.
‘Maakwerk of spontane expressie van geloof? Over contextuele theologie in Afrika’.
In: C.J.G. van der Burg (red.), Veelkleurig christendom: contextualisatie in Noord, Zuid Oost en West. Festschrift voor Anton Wessels. Zoetermeer, Meinema, 127- 142.
The article deals with the question: What is African Theology about ? Is it an artificial product of academic reasoning or the spontaneous expression of the Christian faith?
2002
'Six Moments cruciaux de l'histoire de l'oecuménisme au Rwanda',
In: Maurice Cheza, Monique Costermans et Jean Pirotte, dir.), Oecuménisme et pratiques missionnaires. Série: Mémoire d'Eglises. Paris: Karthala, 309-316.
The article mentions six moments in the history of Christianity in Rwanda that have been of crucial importance for the development of ecumenism in Rwanda. '
'Credal Hymns as Summa Theologiae: New Credal Hymns in Rwanda after the 1994 war and genocide’, Exchange 30/3, 256-275.
‘Rwanda’.
In: J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, (Eds), Religions of the World. A comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Santa Barbara/Denver/Oxford: ABC-CLIO 2002.
2000
Written together with Auli van ’t Spijker: ‘Het kwaad van Rwanda is te groot’, Wereld en Zending 29/1, 11-18.
The Evil of the Events in Rwanda is too heavy to handle. Considerations in the aftermath of the Genocide.
‘Zes momenten uit de geschiedenis van de oecumene in Rwanda’, Wereld en Zending 29/4, 85- 90.
Six crucial Moments in the History of Ecumenism in Rwanda. (In Dutch).
1999
'Religion in Rwanda after the Genocide', Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 9/2, 56-176.
1998
‘Stereotypen in de Rwandese geschiedschrijving. Een pleidooi voor ontideologisering.’
In : Michael Elias et Ria Reis (Dirs), ‘Getuigen ondanks zichzelf’. Feestbundel te ere van J.M. Schoffeleers. Maastricht: Shjaker Publishing 1998, 253-274.
A plea for discerning new ideological tendencies in the Historiography of Rwanda after the Genocide of 1994. In Dutch.
1997
'The Churches and the Genocide in Rwanda', Exchange 26/3, 233-255.
1994
'Un œcuménisme fragile mais une spiritualité prometteuse au Rwanda'.
In: Leny Lagerwerf, Karel Steenbrink, Frans Verstraelen, Changing Partnership of Missionary and Ecumenical Movements. Essays in Honour of Marc Spindler, IIMO Research Publication 42, Leiden-Utrecht, IIMO, 198-211.
(on: 'Ecumenical Weakness and Spiritual Maturity in Rwanda'. In French) .
1994
'Man's Kinship with Nature. African Reflection on Creation’. Exchange 23/2, 89-148.
A comprehensive history of African Theology, both in Catholic and Protestant cercles, with emphasis on its particular attention to Creation.
'Liberating the Church from its Northern Captivity. Dialogue with Traditional Religion in Africa'. Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 4/2, 170-188.
The articles explanes the reflection of African theologians on Traditional African Religion.
‘Afrikanische Begräbnissitten und die Mission der Kirche’. Zeitschrift für Mission XX/1, 27-37.
African funeral costumes and the Mission of the Church. (In German )
1993
‘Theologie der Reconstructie. Een nieuw sleutelwoord in Afrika’. Een introductie in de theologie van Kä Mana. Wereld en Zending 22/2, pp. 57-68.
Theology of Reconstruction. A new Keyword in Africa. Introduction to the Theology of Kä Mana. In Dutch
1992
De duiven van Assisi. Het christendom en de wereldgodsdiensten. Verwantschap in diepte? Dans: A.C. Bronswijk (ed.)Zoeken naar verborgen diepte. Den haag: Boekencentrum 1987, 33-45.
'The doves of Assisi. Christianity and the World religions. Is there a relationship in depth ?' In Dutch.
1991
“Zolang de kerk nog geen duidelijk tegenargument heeft gegeven…”Begrafenis en rouwgebruiken in Rwanda: uitgangspunt voor evangelisatie. Wereld en Zending 1991/2, pp. 32-42.
‘For as long as the Church has not convince us …..’. Funeral and Mourning Rituals: point of departure for Evangelisation. In Dutc.
1991
'Spreekt de Geest echt alle talen? Niet slechts kerktalen?’ In: Een nieuwe (G)geest? Publication of the Academic Institute for Education “Windesheim”, pp. 41-50.
Does the Spirit really speak more languages than only the language of the Church? Reflections on the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Canberra 1991. In Dutch.
1979
“Waar zijn de broedplaatsen van de Afrikaanse theologie?” Wereld en Zending 1979/4. 359-374.
(="Where is the cradle of African Theology to be found'?). A plea for listening to a peoples theology born at the grass-roots level of the Christian Church.
1982
“La reprise des stations allemandes par les Belges”.
In: Michel Twagirayesu et Jan Van Butselaar (réd.) Ce don que nous avons reçu. Histoire de l’Eglise presbytérienne au Rwanda (1907-1982). Kigali 1982, 77-84.
The restart in 1921 by the Belgian Society for Protestant Mission of the mission stations which had to be abandoned by the German Lutherans missionaries in 1916 in Rwanda.
1968
‘De bezorgdheid der clowns’. De World Student Christian Federation in Finland. Wending 23/8 (1968), 540-545.
Samen met A.H.E. van Hengel. Verslag van de World Student Conference : « Turku ’68 » in Turku, Finland.
A review and appreciation of the World Student Conference in Turku, Finland, organized by the World Student Christian Federation. In Dutch.
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BOOK REVIEWS
2011
Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press 2010. See: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/exch/2011/00000040/00000003/art00008
For full text click here
Knut Holter (ed.), Interpreting Classical Religious Texts in Contemporary Africa, Nairobi:
Acton Publishers 2007, ISBN 9966-888-54-3.
See: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/exch/2011
For full text, click here.