Ludwig Wittgenstein, in his Philosophical Investigations (1958), invites one to consider how the rules of religious language function within its community. These rules set the parameters that ensure Christianity’s ‘language-game’ remains coherent. George Lindbeck (1984) adopts a similar framework in The Nature of Doctrine, arguing that doctrine functions like the grammar of a language, providing a structure that allows for both continuity and change. This article extends the metaphor of grammar to explore Christian doctrine as the grammar of prayer in the works of Martin Thornton and Hans Urs von Balthasar, putting them in theological dialogue with one another. The methodology integrates Vanhoozer’s ‘canonical-linguistic’ approach with Frame’s Triperspectival model, which includes the normative, situational and existential perspectives. Here, doctrine is identified as the grammar of prayer in both Thornton’s ascetical theology and von Balthasar’s theological anthropology. This Vanhoozer–Frame Triperspectival approach reframes Christian doctrine not as a set of abstract and static beliefs, but as the living grammar that shapes our encounter with the Triune God. Contribution: This article contributes to the field of Christian spirituality by employing a Vanhoozer–Frame model that integrates a canonical-linguistic approach with triperspectivalism in order to bring Martin Thornton into dialogue with Hans Urs von Balthasar. Through a constructive retrieval and integration of Thornton’s ascetical theology and von Balthasar’s theological anthropology, the article develops an original account of doctrine as the grammar of prayer.
This article examines how models of church–state relations were expressed in Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic, using utilitarian reasoning as a key analytical lens. Drawing on theological, historical, legal, and social science sources, it considers four major paradigms: state-controlled church, church-controlled state, separation of church and state, and a symbiotic church–state relationship. Through a qualitative synthesis of official records, scholarly literature, and legal frameworks, the study analyses how pandemic governance shaped the interaction between religious institutions and the state, particularly in relation to public health measures, religious freedom, and institutional autonomy. The findings show that state control was dominant, marked by selective enforcement of regulations and the instrumental use of religious actors to support political authority. Framed within utilitarian thought, the article contributes to broader debates on church-state relations in Africa and highlights important theological implications for ecclesiology, human rights, and religious practice in times of crisis. Contribution: This article offers a unique scholarly contribution by providing a comprehensive theological analysis of church–state relationship models as manifested in Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic. It further interrogates the ethical and theological appropriateness of the predominant state-controlled church model, drawing on utilitarian arguments and examining the role of faith in public health. Utilitarian ethics is a moral philosophy that holds that the best action is the one that maximises overall happiness or well-being for the greatest number of people. It brings into conversation the Kairos document’s categories, State theology, Church theology, and Prophetic theology, highlighting their Zimbabwean manifestations and evaluating their suitability in pandemic governance. This critical engagement bridges gaps in literature by integrating ecclesiological theory with ethical analysis, offering new perspectives for theologians, sociologists, and policymakers on safeguarding religious rights, community welfare, and institutional integrity in times of emergency.
Social media circulation of violence and suffering raised a practical-theological problem because ordinary users could extend visibility and interpretation without producing the content themselves. This study examined how Indonesian Christian youth understood and negotiated moral responsibility when viewing, reacting to, framing and recirculating violence- or suffering-related social media content. The study involved 90 youth from Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa (GMIM), aged 19–30 years (31 women and 59 men), across 10 church settings in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Ten nine-participant focus group discussions (FGDs), conducted May–July 2026 and lasting 70–80 min, were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, cross-group comparison and staged practical-theological interpretation. Moral disengagement (understood here as distancing oneself from moral responsibility) and amplification were introduced only after first-cycle coding. This clarifies that moral disengagement and amplification are two distinct sensitising concepts introduced after first-cycle coding. Five themes were constructed: perceived moral distance in mediated encounters; contested and graded digital responsibility; the moral ambiguity of visibility; framing as interpretive participation and person-recentring action. Participants sometimes diffused responsibility because content was already viral, but others insisted that downstream acts still had consequences. They also distinguished justice-oriented visibility from victim exposure and spectacle. The study concluded that Christian digital ethics could not be reduced to sharing versus not sharing. Moral discernment needed to ask what was made visible, how it was framed, whose dignity was protected and where attention was directed. Contribution: The study proposes responsible amplification as a context-sensitive practical-theological grammar for Christian digital moral agency, comprising five modes: AMPLIFY, RESTRAIN, REFRAME, REDIRECT and REFUSE. These modes connect digital participation with dignity, neighbour responsibility, truthfulness, justice and Christian witness.
The greatest gift of human intellectual ingenuity in the modern era is technology. It has transformed commerce, communication, and identity. However, this gift has also given rise to a wide range of ethical dilemmas. Digital media, in particular, has created numerous avenues for moral failure that not only undermine but also reinterpret the traditional concept of sin. This article examines the extent to which cyber-related crimes may be regarded as sin within the framework of traditional Christian thought. Many forms of cybercrime have become culturally acceptable because of their perceived economic value, raising significant ethical questions concerning structural complicity, intention, and moral agency. The article explores cyber-romance scams, Yahoo-Yahoo, and digital addiction as examples of digital practices that persist despite exhibiting many of the characteristics traditionally associated with sin. The article argues that cyber-romance scams and Yahoo-Yahoo illustrate the institutionalisation of moral decay, subtle deception, and socio-economic pathologies. At the same time, digital addiction requires more nuanced ethical evaluation because addiction can diminish agency, intentionality, and moral responsibility. Contribution: The study nuances a moral theology that addresses the problem of cyber-ethics, aiming to reimagine righteousness in a digitalised world from an analytic theology’s perspective.
