Quo Vadis church history? : some theses on the future of church history as an academic theological discipline

CITATION: Vosloo, R. 2009. Quo Vadis church history? : some theses on the future of church history as an academic theological discipline. Scriptura, 100:54-64, doi:10.7833/100-0-653.The original publication is available at http://scriptura.journals.ac.zaIn response to the invitation to reflect on the future of Church History as an academic theological discipline, this essay discusses five theses: (i) The vitality of Church History as an academic discipline is linked to its ability to contribute towards a responsible engagement with the Christian past in a culture of historical amnesia and harmful memory; (ii) a constructive dialogue with the social sciences can be helpful en route to a more responsible historical hermeneutic for Church History; (iii) as a theological discipline Church History ought to be attentive to “history from below”; (iv) it is necessary for Church History to continue reflecting on its mapping habits; (v) the focus on shared history, which attends to the way in which divisive histories are interwoven, holds much promise for South African church historiography.http://scriptura.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/653Publisher's versio