Keywords:
quality of life, context, life-giving, South Africa, lifestyle, kwaliteit van lewe, konteks, lewegewend, Suid-Afrika, Leefstyl
Abstract
This article reflects on ways in which the idea of an ethical
quality of life of the people of God can be contextualized. This idea is largely
similar to the concept of the wholeness of life that is found in documents of the
World Council of Churches. Attention is given to the results of efforts to improve
the quality of life in Africa through modernization during the development era, as
well as to the quality of life in post-apartheid South Africa. The consumer culture
has a strong influence on rich and poor, but there are different forms of resistance
to modernisation. These forms of resistance often become destructive. If the church
wants to present an attractive life-giving alternative, we need a moral vision, even
a new cosmology, as well as the technology, practices, life styles and other ways to
make that vision a reality.
