Abstract:
The research addressed the issue of symbolic walls that divide, segregate, preserve and
institutionalise. The way in which institutions and especially the Faculty of Theology at the
University of Pretoria facilitated symbolic ‘walls’ was discussed in the overview of the
Department of Science of Religion and Missiology in the first century of the Faculty of
Theology. The concepts of ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘traders’ were then applied because walls,
paradoxically, need gates to facilitate control, movement and, eventually, life. Gatekeepers
were described as the guardians of the status quo, and traders as agents who, in one way or
another, facilitate movement, trade, flow and life in the midst of the shadows of walls.
Missionaries are, by the very nature of the missionary enterprise, more traders than
gatekeepers. Here, the work of Bosch – specifically his ground-breaking work on mission as
contextualisation – provides an explanation of the art of mission as breaking down walls,
opening gates and empowering traders. That is precisely why Missiology is particularly
well suited to assist the church and theology in the art of breaking down walls. The
theological imperative of contextualisation means that the life of the church, theology,
and thus theological training, cannot do without Missiology. The concept of ‘deep
contextualisation’ was discussed as a particularly relevant approach to include a postanthropomorphic
discourse in Missiology. It can assist with the reorientation of the history
of mission on the whole of history and, thus, also deep history. The concept also provides a
way to address the discourses on colonialisation and includes a reorientation on the future
and embracing hope.
