Battle for the heart

The battle of the heart can be seen as the core problem of the Christian religion in modern culture. According to Augustine, the complex mixture of longings are the driving forces of human lives. These longing are not an intellectual puzzle, but rather a craving for sustenance. The contributions locate the battle for the heart and transformation of society and church in the context of an ethnic, multi-religious, socio-economical divided Africa. Where are the authentic voices of leaders who can change the heart? How to mend a 'broken' heart? How to transform congregations towards inclusion of difference? Can we embrace the dignity of difference as attitudes that enable transformation of church and society?

Prof Chris A. M. Hermans holds the chair in Pastoral theology, especially Empirical Theology at Radboud university Nijmegen (since 2003) and the chair in Empirical study of religion (since 2005). He is an extraordinary professor in the Department of Practical and Missional Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa (since 2018).

Prof Jan-Albert van den Berg is professor and Head of the Department Practical and Missional Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.