'I must honestly confess that I am afraid of you' : prophetic preaching as public theological engagement in a context of socio-political fear

Fear is a global phenomenon that impacts individuals, institutions, and nations. Fear is associated with the experience of some form of threat, for example, the fear of a specific enemy. The increase in socio-political uprisings in many contexts around the world is contributing towards an environment of violence, insecurity, and fear. Such situations, challenge preachers to preach in ways that the Christian tradition characterises as "prophetic preaching". This article argues that, in instances of institutionally induced fear, letter writing could serve as a powerful and effective means of public theological engagement. The authors employ an advocacy research paradigm to critically engage Allan Aubrey Boesak's open letter to Alwyn Louis Schlebusch entitled, "A Letter to the South African Minister of Justice." This letter was written in 1979 as South Africa was entering one of the darkest periods of the apartheid state's brutality against its citizens. This article discusses the socio-ecclesiastical motivation(s) that underpin Boesak's courageous and public proclamation of Christian theological truth, in a "prophetic mode", in spite of the fear that characterised South Africa during that period of its history. Furthermore, we argue that this letter can be characterised as a form of public theological engagement. This paper offers a novel perspective on letter writing, amid threat and fear, as a form or prophetic preaching public theological engagement.Fear is a global phenomenon that impacts individuals, institutions, and nations. Fear is associated with the experience of some form of threat, for example, the fear of a specific enemy. The increase in socio-political uprisings in many contexts around the world is contributing towards an environment of violence, insecurity, and fear. Such situations, challenge preachers to preach in ways that the Christian tradition characterises as "prophetic preaching". This article argues that, in instances of institutionally induced fear, letter writing could serve as a powerful and effective means of public theological engagement. The authors employ an advocacy research paradigm to critically engage Allan Aubrey Boesak's open letter to Alwyn Louis Schlebusch entitled, "A Letter to the South African Minister of Justice." This letter was written in 1979 as South Africa was entering one of the darkest periods of the apartheid state's brutality against its citizens. This article discusses the socio-ecclesiastical motivation(s) that underpin Boesak's courageous and public proclamation of Christian theological truth, in a "prophetic mode", in spite of the fear that characterised South Africa during that period of its history. Furthermore, we argue that this letter can be characterised as a form of public theological engagement. This paper offers a novel perspective on letter writing, amid threat and fear, as a form or prophetic preaching public theological engagement.A