The Sound of Silence: Abortion in South Africa
July 11, 2017
Abortion is a highly controversial and emotive subject in many places, but in South Africa, it seems to elicit very little conversation. Andre and Marianne van Zyl take on this thorny but important issue from a Christian perspective in a talk entitled The sound of silence: Abortion in South Africa.
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Christianity is a Joke: God and the Power of Humour
June 18, 2017
This talk was given by Johan Erasmus.
It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it... Perhaps that is why angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. - GK Chesterton
A key indication to whether you 'caught' a joke is to laugh at the appropriate time. Your laughter indicates your comprehension. Perhaps one can argue that if you have never laughed during prayer, bible study or worship that you didn't 'get it'. Maybe it is our religious fear of blasphemy that prevents us from laughing? Yet it would seem that humour is a powerful tool in the hand of God, which is why it permeates the Bible. It not only helps to understand ourselves better - it also makes God more accessible. Many will tell you that Christianity is serious and therefore no laughing matter. I would like to suggest that because it is serious, laughing matters! It is funny, because it is true...
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A Christian Response to Islamic Terrorism
June 18, 2017
(Apologies for the poor quality of the recording.)
The recent attacks across Europe, means that many people need to figure out how they deal with the threat of Islamic Extremism. Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and others are the African version of the same threat.
Secular Europe is at odds with itself and clutching at straws in their attempt to engage with this explosive issue. Christians however have the benefit of reflecting on the Scriptures to navigate this ethical dilemma, but a dilemma it remains.
How should Christians respond when Isis behead innocent people in the Middle East? What does it look like when the cross comes across radical Islamic terrorism?
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“The Shack” - The Problem of Evil
June 7, 2017
"The Shack" - and the Problem of Evil." By Dr. Roedolf Botha
Human suffering still carries some of the deepest and most frequently asked questions today: Is there a benevolent God? Does he really care about us? How can a loving God allow so much human affliction? A few years ago a very controversial book, The Shack, tried to address some of these questions. The book had also recently been translated into a movie. Tonight we are going to explore some of the ideas in it in trying to answer some of life's most fundamental questions.
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Jesus on Riches and Poverty
May 16, 2017
The Christian church is often seen as a socially and politically conservative body, preserving the status quo...we even have official state churches in some countries. But Jesus was a radical, even a revolutionary, in all sorts of ways, and he challenged the status quo, finally getting crucified by the authorities. He had some extraordinarily hard-hitting things to say to rich people and about the use and abuse of money, and about sharing resources. Conveniently rich Christians often seem not to have heard what Jesus said! But in our unequal world Jesus is a very relevant voice: he called people to find God's love and to respond to it in practical action.
The talk was given by Prof David Wenham.
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Deconstructing Marxism
May 11, 2017
(We apologize for the poor quality of this recording is poor. There is an echo which appears and disappears every now and then.)
“Libraries were full of ideas—perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”
The great battles in history were not necessarily fought on Normandy, Waterloo or Stalingrad, but rather in lecture halls, churches and books. Fighting other bodies is easy, fighting other ideas - that is the tricky part. C.S. Lewis famously said that good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy exists.
One of the most influential ideas to capture the human imagination has been that of Marxism. Few ideas has had the same impact. Our forefather in this country use to engage with it by labelling it the Rooi Gevaar, but little meaningful engagement ensued. As Marxism re-enters the South African political landscape it becomes crucial to debate and evaluate this potent idea. Like most philosophies Marxism attempts to describe reality, but when and where is that description not real?
At Dialoog we like to wrestle with big ideas and as Paul says in 2 Cor. 10:5, attempt to 'Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ'. Join us as we try to Deconstruct Marxism.
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What Difference Does Our Response to Christ Make?
May 5, 2017
RZIM Apologist Andy Moore discusses the question of whether the roads we take in life all lead to the same place, or whether the paths we choose make a difference? What difference, in particular, is made by our responses to the claims of Jesus Christ?
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Soul Detox: Anxiety
April 18, 2017
"Fear is caused by an external source, while worry and anxiety is produced from the inside. Worry is fear that has unpacked its bags and signed a long-term lease. Worry never moves out on its own - it has to be evicted." - John Ortberg
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