The alarming disparity between South Africa’s marriage and divorce rates highlights a critical need for effective premarital counselling (PMC), especially given the research gap concerning the specific approaches used within the South African church context. The latest marriage and divorce statistics reveal that the divorce rate in South Africa is two times higher than the marriage rate. This study addresses this by exploring the lived experiences of African Christians regarding marriage preparation. The study employed a qualitative, phenomenological design, gathering data from 13 participants (n = 13) through semi-structured interviews. Osmer’s practical theological guiding approach was employed. The Covenant Attachment Theory was utilised as a theoretical framework. Findings indicated that while PMC is generally perceived positively, ukuyalwa [traditional marriage instruction] is the prevalent form of preparation in black churches, underscoring the communal role in marriage preparation. Participants’ views ranged from finding ukuyalwa helpful to being critical of its practicality, reflecting a desire among contemporary African Christians for the contextualisation of traditional practices to better meet modern needs. The results offer critical insights to enhance pastoral PMC in South Africa and advance the contextualisation of pastoral care. The study proposes practical theology as a framework for PMC and offers a model that could be used in designing PMC programmes in an African Christian setting.
Contribution: The article employs an integrated literature and empirical study to contribute to understanding lived experiences of African Christians regarding PMC and insights to enhance pastoral PMC in South Africa.
A combination of measurements of the CP properties of Higgs boson interactions with electroweak gauge bosons is presented, using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. Results from $H\toττ$, $H\to WW^{*}$, $H\toγγ$, $H\to ZZ^{*}$, and $WH,H\to b\bar{b}$ channels are combined. No evidence of CP violation is observed, and constrains on the CP-violating operators in the SMEFT framework are set in the Warsaw basis. The results from the combination improve by over 40% on previous individual limits on $c_{H\tilde{W}}$ and, for the first time, simultaneous constraints on three coefficients $c_{H\tilde{W}}$, $c_{H\tilde{B}}$, and $c_{H\tilde{W}B}$ are set. This limits are the most stringent constraints to date on the relevant Wilson coefficients in the SMEFT framework with minimum model dependence.
The angular distributions of Drell-Yan lepton pairs provide sensitive probes of the underlying dynamics of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) effects in vector-boson production. This paper presents for the first time the measurement of the full set of angular coefficients together with the differential cross-section as a function of the transverse momentum of the $W$ boson, in the full phase space of the decay leptons. The measurements are performed separately for the $W^-$ and $W^+$ channels. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2017 and 2018, during special low-luminosity runs with a reduced number of interactions per bunch crossings (pile-up). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of $338$ pb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The low pile-up conditions enable an optimised reconstruction of the $W$ boson transverse momentum. All results agree with theory predictions incorporating finite-order QCD corrections up to next-to-next-to-leading-order in the strong coupling constant, $α_S$.
This Letter reports the first evidence of production of same-sign $W$ boson pairs where at least one of the $W$ bosons is longitudinally polarized and the most stringent constraint to date for the production of two longitudinally polarized same-sign $W$ bosons. The data set used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The study is performed in final states including two same-sign leptons (electrons or muons), missing transverse momentum, and at least two jets with a large invariant mass and a large rapidity difference. Two independent fits are performed targeting the production of same-sign $W$ bosons with at least one, or two longitudinally polarized $W$ bosons. The observed (expected) significance of the production with at least one longitudinally polarized $W$ boson is 3.3 (4.0) standard deviations. An observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 0.45 (0.70) fb is reported on the fiducial production cross section of two longitudinally polarized same-sign $W$ bosons.
The ATLAS Google Project was established as part of an ongoing evaluation of the use of commercial clouds by the ATLAS Collaboration, in anticipation of the potential future adoption of such resources by WLCG grid sites to fulfil or complement their computing pledges. Seamless integration of Google cloud resources into the worldwide ATLAS distributed computing infrastructure was achieved at large scale and for an extended period of time, and hence cloud resources are shown to be an effective mechanism to provide additional, flexible computing capacity to ATLAS. For the first time a total cost of ownership analysis has been performed, to identify the dominant cost drivers and explore effective mechanisms for cost control. Network usage significantly impacts the costs of certain ATLAS workflows, underscoring the importance of implementing such mechanisms. Resource bursting has been successfully demonstrated, whilst exposing the true cost of this type of activity. A follow-up to the project is underway to investigate methods for improving the integration of cloud resources in data-intensive distributed computing environments and reducing costs related to network connectivity, which represents the primary expense when extensively utilising cloud resources.
This exploration of island identity considers the island of Madagascar, not as an ideology or mythology, but as a country with its distinctive geographical situation and environment, a reality which shapes the culture, language, and identity of its people. After highlighting different aspects of island identity in the context of Madagascar, the paper explores how this is reflected in the language and culture, and in Bible translation.
This article employs descriptive and explorative methods concerning father absence and missional parenting. It identifies numerous ramifications caused by father absence and the failing role of men. Father absence has been a serious social issue in South Africa, which has become more tenacious in post-colonial South Africa because of economic reasons, untold fatherhood, refused fatherhood, fatherhood accountability, divorce and dissolution of households. This social issue influenced and affected both family and society dysfunction and created a vicious cycle of poverty in many South African homes. This article aimed to lessen the predicament of fatherlessness by considering the role of missional parenting where the father and mother form a partnership and collaborate for the family’s progress and actualise God’s pre-eminent plan for families in South Africa. The literature review and methodology provided rich insights and considerable knowledge to help support families who do not have a father figure and men in their fatherly role. Missional parenting is gospel-centred and can be a detriment to father absence. Parents follow the example of Jesus Christ as saviour in missional parenting.
Contribution: This article employed a descriptive and explorative modus operandi and explored a respective method to effectuate family disharmony in the context of South Africa. It endorses the journal’s focus on church and family in the field of Missiology and Practical Theology. A fatherless South Africa because of the social ill of father absence is a concerning issue.
This article re-reads John 17:1–26 with a focus on the theme of oneness within the micronarrative. A multilayered and polyvalent analysis of the text reveals that the theme of oneness holds the prayer together to suggest a new way forward for the Johannine community. The vision and the missio-praxis expressed in the prayer align the thought patterns of Jesus, the narrator, and the community of John. The interactions and the resultant wider perichōrētic relationships between Father and Jesus, Jesus and believers, Father and believers, believer(s) and believer(s), Father–Jesus–believers and Paraklētos and Father–Son–Paraklētos–believers and the World exist as a paradigm for today’s ecclesiastical bodies and theological institutions and organisations for wider ecumenism and dialogue.
Contribution: This article discusses the theme of oneness in John 17:1–26 as a paradigm for wider ecumenism and dialogue. As HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies emphasises biblical, ecumenical and dialogical engagements in theological discussions, this article fits well within the scope of the journal.
The life cycle of a successful technological innovation usually follows a well-known path: a slow inception, gradual assimilation of the technology, an increase in its frequency up to a certain peak, and then a decline. These different phases are characterized not only by varying frequency of use but also by degree of standardization and distinguishability. The Levallois method, a sophisticated Middle Paleolithic technology aimed at producing desired stone items of predetermined morphology, is one such innovation. It has been repeatedly suggested that the Levallois method originated within earlier Lower Paleolithic Acheulian industries, and this work contributes to this discussion. We analyze the reduction trajectory of prepared cores and predetermined blanks from the late Acheulian sites of Jaljulia and Revadim, adding important new evidence for the Lower Paleolithic origins of the Levallois method and its adoption and assimilation in the human stone-tool repertoire of this period in the Levant. Revadim and Jaljulia also provide a rare opportunity to study patterns in the early assimilation of technological innovations. These sites yielded rich lithic assemblages typical of the late Acheulian in the Levant. The assemblages include handaxes but are mostly dominated by flake production technologies and flake-tools. The early appearance of prepared cores at both sites signals, in our view, the inception of concepts related to the Levallois method, termed here proto-Levallois, in the late Acheulian Levant. Through a detailed analysis of prepared cores and their products, we are able to characterize the early stages of assimilation of this method, using it as a case study in a broader discussion of the adoption and assimilation of technological innovations during Lower Paleolithic times.
Ao publicar o seu último número de 2022, a Caminhos, revista vinculada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Religião da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, manifesta seu agradecimento público às pesquisadoras e aos pesquisadores que, ao longo desse ciclo, contribuíram como pareceristas ad hoc, conforme a demanda dos artigos recebidos. Trata-se de um trabalho sem o qual não se poderia dar continuidade ao processo editorial, com foco para a publicação de materiais consistentes e de alto nível acadêmico e científico. Seus nomes, em ordem alfabética, seguem abaixo:
Qumrán es uno de los sitios arqueológicos más famosos de los tiempos modernos. Los manuscritos allí encontrados han revolucionado los estudios bíblicos y los conocimientos sobre el judaísmo de los años inmediatamente anteriores a la era cristiana y de los primeros tiempos de ésta. Para un estudioso de la Biblia o de la Historia de las Religiones es verdaderamente fascinante adentrarse en la extensa literatura que existe sobre el tema. Este trabajo es el fruto de una primera mirada, de un sobrevuelo rápido sobre la historia de los descubrimientos de Qumrán. La "visita" a las ruinas de Qumrán es el pretexto para informar a un amigo, con una carta, de lo que allí se observa y contarle lo que pasó allí, por casualidad, hace ya más de 40 años.
In exploring the constituent elements of our modern-day nation state, this contribution wishes to highlight those areas in which anachronism might arise in Old Testament interpretations of ‘state’. This might happen due to the influence of deeply-rooted modern-day conceptions, according to which a state consists of a people group living within a distinct territory, governed by a body holding jurisdiction over both people and territory. This contribution explores pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic biblical texts containing the elements of people, land, and king, asking whether these texts wish to convey a political or rather a theological message.
The IceCube Collaboration, the Pierre Auger Collaboration, the Telescope Array Collaboration
Joint contributions of the IceCube Collaboration, the Telescope Array Collaboration, and the Pierre Auger Collaboration to the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017), 12-20 July 2017, Bexco, Busan, Korea.
In 2017 the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA) celebrates its centenary of theological education at the University of Pretoria (UP). In this article the focus is on the build-up to setting up the first 50 years 1917– 1967 at UP. From as early as 1909 there was a yearning for our own theological seminary; however, some of the church leaders expressed their desire for theological education at a university. At the dawn of 1916 everything was in place for the NHKA and the Presbyterian Church of South Africa, as the first two partners, to start a faculty of theology at the Transvaal University College (TUC). On 01 April 1917 the Faculty of Theology commenced its work with prof. J.H.J.A. Greyvenstein of the NHKA and prof. E. MacMillan from the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian link with the faculty was broken in 1933. From 1938 the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) joined the NHKA and two independent sections were established: Section A for the NHKA and Section B for the NGK. There was a steady growth in the number of students and professors and on 13 June 1967 the NHKA filled its sixth professorship in the person of prof. I.J. de Wet. This era was also characterised by a lot of political tension in the heyday of the policy of apartheid. The NHKA was known for Article III in its constitution that propagates that church membership was for whites only. The NHKA support of the policy of apartheid was the cause of a dispute between the Church and prof. A.S. Geyser. In the end the matter was settled in favour of Geyser. There was also a dispute between professors A.G. Geyser and A.D. Pont that ended up in court in 1967. Pont was accused of defamation against Geyser. The court ruled against Pont and Geyser was granted the largest amount of compensation up till then.
The results of a search for vector-like top quarks using events with exactly one lepton, at least four jets, and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search is optimised for pair production of vector-like top quarks in the $Z(\rightarrow \! \! νν) \, t + X$ decay channel. LHC pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is seen and upper limits on the production cross-section of a vector-like $T$ quark pair as a function of the $T$ quark mass are derived. The observed (expected) 95% CL lower limits on the $T$ mass are 870 GeV (890 GeV) for the weak-isospin singlet model, 1.05 TeV (1.06 TeV) for the weak-isospin doublet model and 1.16 TeV (1.17 TeV) for the pure $Zt$ decay mode. Limits are also set on the mass as a function of the decay branching ratios, excluding large parts of the parameter space for masses below 1 TeV.
The books of Ruth and Esther reflect different situations of Israel/the Jewish people concerning their relation to other peoples. The book of Ruth shows a creative new interpretation of the torah to define the conditions for the acceptance of a Moabitess in Israel. The book of Esther narrates that and how Jews can live according to their own law in the midst of different other peoples, without giving up their identity. YHWH shows himself as the one who supports those who live according to his torah and who make his grace visible
in the world.
This article is the introduction to the James Alfred Loader Dedication. It consists of a tribute to Professor Loader’s academic contribution to Old Testament, Middle-Eastern religio-literary studies and the Rabbinical background of the Old- and New Testament. The article is modelled after the tribute published in German in the annual publication of the Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät Wien (Vienna, Austria) due to the honorary doctorate conferred on Professor Loader by the University of Pretoria (South Africa) in 2009. The tribute is combined with a comprehensive curriculum vitae, in part written in German, Afrikaans and English, and consisting of referencing Professor Loader’s personal data, his role as minister of religion, his academic awards, participation in scholarly societies, professional academic positions, academic reviewing, editorial activity, presentation of academic papers and a list of publications.