The Emmaus narrative and contemporary Christian followership – An empirical case study

The Emmaus narrative and contemporary Christian followership – An empirical case study

This article aims to explore a 'lived discipleship' by determining whether and how contemporary communities of faith could implement the norms and principles reflected in the Emmaus narrative of Luke 24:13-35 within a plausible epistemological framework that might facilitate a fresh unders...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hervormde teologiese studies Vol. 77; no. 4; pp. e1 - e10
Main Authors: Engelbrecht, Pierre B., Schoeman, Willem J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Pretoria African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS 28-06-2021
AOSIS (Pty) Ltd
AOSIS
Subjects:
Bible
Case studies
Christian life
Christianity
contemporary faith communities
discipleship
emmaus narrative
empirical case study
Epistemology
Exegesis & hermeneutics
Focus groups
Followership
lived religion
luke 24:13–35
Plot (Narrative)
Religious aspects
Theology
South Africa
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Summary:This article aims to explore a 'lived discipleship' by determining whether and how contemporary communities of faith could implement the norms and principles reflected in the Emmaus narrative of Luke 24:13-35 within a plausible epistemological framework that might facilitate a fresh understanding of Christian followership as discipleship. This was done through an empirical case study using two focus groups as co-researchers, in order to actively listen to their respective understandings of lived theology in their unique South African contexts. The two focus groups consisted of (1) a contemporary Christian grouping of Afrikaans-speaking, active churchgoers situated in Hazeldean, a suburb in Pretoria East, Tshwane, Gauteng and (2) a contemporary Christian grouping of African, active churchgoers situated in Ivory Park, a suburb in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. This article concluded that Luke 24:13-35 nudged the co-researchers to re-evaluate their contemporary understanding of discipleship and moved them to additional and new perspectives in terms of practical expressions thereof that can be best described as 'lived followership'. A shift from perceiving Jesus in terms of an 'act to follow' by gaining the correct knowledge, to following Jesus as 'a performative act', a shift from 'theoretical knowledge' to 'heart knowledge'. Contribution This article is a part of the Festschrift for Prof. Stephan Joubert. This article plays into similar creative interdisciplinary relationship as seen in the work of Prof. Joubert, by looking at the relationship between New Testament and Practical Theology in order to improve practices of faith that is rooted in a biblical understanding of Jesus.
ISSN:0259-9422
2072-8050
DOI:10.4102/hts.v77i4.6440