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The article describes the dialogue between Thomas Groome's approach to faith formation and Gestalt theory in order to develop a practice approach to faith formation. The transversal model of cross-disciplinary dialogue, developed by Wentzel van Huyssteen, is utilised to develop a practice approach to faith formation. The process of faith formation, according to Thomas Groome's Shared Christian Praxis approach, encompassing five movements, is described first. This is followed by a literature study on Gestalt theory. The philosophical roots of Gestalt theory as well as specific Gestalt concepts are explored in order to explain the process of human growth and change. Gestalt theory's paradoxical theory of change, as well as the contact cycle are utilised in order to explain the process of integration and assimilation of faith. The transversal dialogue is continued by relating the insights gained from Groome's approach and Gestalt theory. The context of missional ecclesiology, in which the researcher finds himself, is also accounted for during the dialogue. The process identifies six guidelines for the practice of faith formation. The findings of the dialogue are processed into a practice approach to faith formation. The practice approach is presented in such a way that it can be utilised in a variety of settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ethnographic discourse in the first ethnographic monograph which appeared in the Netherlands, De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika, Natuur- en Geschiedkundig beschreven (1810) by Lodewyk Alberti. Within a European context this book is unique for being the only successful implementation of the ethnographic questionnaire of Joseph-Marie Degérando, the Considérations sur les diverses méthodes a suivre dans l’observation des peuples sauvages (1800), and the anthropological ideas of the Société des Observateurs de l’homme. In Alberti’s case, this resulted principally into a focus on the cultural aspects of ethnographical description. Furthermore, Alberti was the first to proof the usefulness of ethnographic knowledge in the management of colonial relationships. The personal aim of his book was to apply for the position of landdrost of Uitenhage, assuming that the Cape Colony could be restored to Dutch rule, which was in 1810 still a possibility.

This article explores metahistory in the poetry of Peter Blum. In many of Blum’s poems Western civilisation is confronted with the forces of barbarism, without civilisation necessarily being given preference over barbarism. By focussing on the metahistorical aspects of Blum’s work, it is possible to illuminate the dialectical relationships between apparently disparate cultural domains in his work—past and present, Europe and South Africa—which critics up till now have treated as self-contained entities. From this angle, Blum appears to be a poet who was highly critical of white South African culture of the 1950s. Keywords: Peter Blum, Afrikaans poetry, metahistory, civilisational discourse, barbarians.

The article describes the dialogue between Thomas Groome’s approach to faith formation and Gestalt theory in order to develop a practice approach to faith formation. The transversal model of cross-disciplinary dialogue, developed by Wentzel van Huyssteen, is utilised to develop a practice approach to faith formation. The process of faith formation, according to Thomas Groome’s Shared Christian Praxis approach, encompassing five movements, is described first. This is followed by a literature study on Gestalt theory. The philosophical roots of Gestalt theory as well as specific Gestalt concepts are explored in order to explain the process of human growth and change. Gestalt theory’s paradoxical theory of change, as well as the contact cycle are utilised in order to explain the process of integration and assimilation of faith. The transversal dialogue is continued by relating the insights gained from Groome’s approach and Gestalt theory. The context of missional ecclesiology, in which the researcher finds himself, is also accounted for during the dialogue. The process identifies six guidelines for the practice of faith formation. The findings of the dialogue are processed into a practice approach to faith formation. The practice approach is presented in such a way that it can be utilised in a variety of settings.

This article explores metahistory in the poetry of Peter Blum. In many of Blum’s poems Western civilisation is confronted with the forces of barbarism, without civilisation necessarily being given preference over barbarism. By focussing on the metahistorical aspects of Blum’s work, it is possible to illuminate the dialectical relationships between apparently disparate cultural domains in his work—past and present, Europe and South Africa—which critics up till now have treated as self-contained entities. From this angle, Blum appears to be a poet who was highly critical of white South African culture of the 1950s