Abstract

Church and theology on a mesoparadigmatic shift towards the third millennium This article is written from the assumption that the present-day shift from modernity to postmodernity, which influences both church and theology, might be described as mesoparadigmatic in nature. From a specific angle, postmodern theology is considered a contextualization of dialectical thinking and it should, therefore, not be understood as an absolute alternative to the previous paradigm, including reformational theology which anticipated the modem era in a particular sense. The aim of the article is at focusing on postmodernity's selective departure from modernity by means of debating the opinions which have been held by the author and been responded to by others. The article is concluded with an illumination of the road the author is convinced ought to be taken by the church and in theology heading towards the third millennium, specifically against the background of the changing South African context.