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Father Norbert Jansen and the rise of TEEC in Southern Africa
Part two
Part one can be found at the following link:
The theological course
The Summa Theologiae-based course began in
January 1956 with an enrolment of 450 students. The course consisted of three
years of ten lectures each, with set work to be answered by the students at the
end of each lecture. A team of correctors examined the scripts before returning
them to the students. An examination was set up at the end of each year. The course started with the treatise of God
(lectures 1 to 7), went on with a course of moral theology (lectures 8 to 17),
and concluded with an introduction to Christology and ecclesiology (lecture 18
to 30). An able scholastic theologian, Father Jansen made use of the method of deduction and pure abstraction. His theological
methods were based on arguments from authority. “Theology is the science of God
and divine things which proceed from revealed truth.” [1]
Of the 450 students registered for the first
triennial course, 115 students were awarded the course diploma after
successfully completing the examination. 107 students received a certificate
for having followed the entire course and obtaining in excess of 50% of the
marks for their set work. In January 1960, after spending a year revising and
correcting the curriculum, Fr Jansen introduced a second triennial course. 327
students enrolled, 90 of them members of the laity. At the end of the first
year the success rate was higher. More than 200 students completed their
examination. [2] If the course was popular, Fr Jansen wrote in Dominican Topics, it was because the brothers, sisters, and
laity were conscious of the fact that they greatly benefited from it, “not only
in gaining more knowledge of the doctrine of the Church, but also as a means in
their spiritual development”. [3] The stage was now set for the next development
within the correspondence course. Vatican Council II which opened in 1962, had a profound impact upon Fr Jansen’s theological approach and pastoral ministry.
Theological
correspondence education 1962-1970
The renewal, or aggiornamente, of the
Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council significantly influenced Fr Jansen’s
theological approach and pastoral ministry. He concluded that the Fathers of
Vatican II were anxious to restore members of the laity to true status as
active members of the Church and to a participation in the priesthood of
Christ.
Fr Jansen drew the conclusion that one of the
principal reasons accounting for the passive state of the laity at this time
lay in the fact that they were discouraged from engaging in serious study of
theology. [4] Aware that many students, who did not feel at
home with the terminology or philosophical presuppositions of the course were
dropping out, Jansen set himself to study the works of a wide range of modern
philosophers including Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Sartre and Marcel. Upon his acquaintance with the “new”
theology, he “fell in love with it”. [5] Fr Jansen considered that in the writings of these
theologians, the revelation of God is explained in the terms of a philosophy
which is contemporary and living among people. Moreover, by offering deeper
insight into human existence, this philosophy brings religious experience to
light in a manner calculated to provide humanity with a greater consciousness
of God’s encounter with us than ever before. Believing that this was the
theology which would promote ecumenism, the theology which would bring
Protestant and Catholic together, Fr Jansen
posited that by the expression of their faith in the terminology of modern
philosophy they might discover that they have the same faith after all, because
they have the same religious experience in living with Christ.
Catholic and Protestant could then forget about the old controversies, which he believed frequently to have been the result of faulty philosophical interpretation on both sides. Without abandoning Thomas Aquinas, he chose instead an eclectic approach to philosophy based on a combination of Thomism, existentialism and phenomenology. From the beginning of 1964 Fr Jansen began to send out lectures on the phenomenological approach to theology to the students of the theology correspondence course. In return he received letters with positive feedback: students found the new theological approach more easily understandable and of considerable use within their spiritual life and teaching of religion.
In 1966 The Bruce Publishing Company acknowledged
its desire to publish Fr Jansen’s lectures on the new theology. Fr Jansen invited
Fr R.W. Thuys, a professor of philosophy in Zwolle, Holland, and author of
a compendium on dogmatic theology, to come to South Africa to assist him with
the editing of the final text. It was Fr Jansen’s aim to strive that readers of
the book would become more conscious “of that great reality, this true
phenomenon which we experience in ourselves – God’s indwelling in us”. [6]
The course required considerable administration.
Mrs Babs Woods originally acted as administrator for the theology course.
Thereafter Mrs Luky Whittle acted as typist. Fr Jansen himself was very
actively involved in the actual logistics. The typed courses were individually
posted to students “from Rhodesia to Kenya, South West Africa and even to
Europe and the USA”. [7] Each
student’s set work answers and queries were personally answered by Jansen. Over
the years thousands of students took part in the three-year course of theology
as well as supplementary courses in Scripture and sociology. A tireless worker, Fr Jansen oversaw the correspondence course while carrying out full parish duties
and prayer of daily office. [8]
1. Theology Course Introduction (Kroonstad [January 1956]): 4-5, 9
2. Denis, The Dominican Friars in Southern Africa: A Social History, 1577-1990. 192-193
3. Dominican Topics 2/3 (January 1961). 20
4. Jansen, GMA., OP. An existential approach to theology.The Bruce Publishing Company: Milwaukee. 1966. vii
5. Jansen, GMA. An existential approach to theology.The Bruce Publishing Company: Milwaukee. 1966. viii
6. Jansen, GMA. An existential approach to theology. The Bruce Publishing Company: Milwaukee. 1966. ix
7. Norbert Jansen to the bishops of Southern Africa, Welkom. Southern African Dominican Archives: VG Brethren 1968-77. (N Jansen). 4th July 1968
8. Interview with Dr Luky Whittle, PhD. 2017. Kroonstad South Africa as well as interview with Dr Luky Whittle 2019. Kroonstad: South Africa
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