A life of contemplation

“I’m a bit of a pyromaniac,” confesses theologian Prof Johan Cilliers in jest as he places yet another log onto a mini inferno in his spacious fireplace. Professionally, though, terms such as ‘aestheticist’, ‘philosopher’, ‘Biblical interpreter’ and ‘hermeneuticist’ best describe Cilliers, the first permanent staff member of Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Theology to receive an A-rating as world-class scholar from the National Research Foundation.

During his two decades in academia, this former dominee (‘minister’) spent many a Friday – his ‘official’ research day – working at a long table in his yellow and orange braaikamer (‘recreational room used for barbecues’).

Over the years, Cilliers has contemplated the notion of grace, prophetic preaching, the nuances of and linkages between Biblical texts, and how the latter play out in African theology and social transformation. At times controversially, he researched sermons by political figures and theologians such as Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé, Allan Boesak and Andries Treurnicht (the latter two as a part of his PhD). He has also thought deeply about preaching as a space for grace, and how fracking and waste damage the environment.

For him, ubuntu, the African concept of ‘I am because you are’, has a place in religious life: “Theologically speaking, there’s something really compelling about it.”

Over the years, Cillers has written or co-written about this topic in 17 academic books and 24 ‘popular’ ones for wider audiences. Many received accolades. Three were translated into Korean, German and Russian.

During his time at SU, Cilliers’ high-calibre academic output was recognised seven times through means of Rector’s or Vice-Rector’s Awards. In 2019, upon his official retirement as a professor in homiletics and liturgy in the Department of Practical Theology and Missiology, his home faculty published a 541-page Festschrift in his honour. The latter contains contributions from 28 colleagues and former PhD students from South Africa, Malawi, Nigeria, The Netherlands, Germany, the USA and Australia.

One contributor wrote: “He has (in)formed more than one generation of students in the art of preaching and worship.”

Cilliers received all his degrees cum laude from SU, including his doctorate, which he was awarded in 1982 after doing some of his research in Germany. At the time, at 27 years of age, he was the youngest SU PhD graduate in Theology yet.

Through his studies, he introduced the Heidelberg method of sermon analysis and its basic fourfold structure (concerning the biblical text, the congregation, the preacher and God’s presence) to the South African homiletical community. This method has since served as the basis for the research of at least 12 of his 30 PhD students, many of whom now lead churches in South Africa, South Korea, Malawi, Nigeria and Kenya.

Recent publications

Cilliers sees a fireplace, and the community surrounding it, as a metaphor for practising theology, for life and for the warmth of human compassion.

Since retiring, Cilliers and his wife Elna take every opportunity to stoke the fireplace of their cottage in the Karoo hamlet of Merweville.

There, Cilliers paints, indulges in stargazing and genealogy, and ponders universal questions about where we come from, who we are, and where humanity is headed.

It was here that, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Cilliers conceptualised two of his most recent popular Christian books.

In Solank ek hier is: Oor die soeke na sin (2020, ‘As Long as I Am Here: On the Search for Meaning’), he reflects on the meaning of life, and in Die tint van ons toekoms: Padlangse gesprekke oor Psalms (2021, ‘The Tint of Our Future: Off-the-Cuff Chats About the Psalms’), he considers the Psalms, a Bible book from which he reads daily.

“The Psalms address what it means to be human in a way few other texts do. It combines many aspects that are of importance to me, like space, time and community – the basic constituents of life. The Psalms are about real people who laugh, sigh, cry or get angry, and who are joyful and in awe of God.”

Cillers’ ‘retirement job’ over the past three years – that of project manager of a departmental research project – led to the 2022 release of Moving Methodologies: Doing Practical and Missional Theology in an African context, with him as editor.

Ons sal sterwe, ons sal lewe (‘We shall die, we shall live’), which contains ideas about eternity and our transience, was also published in 2022.

“In my younger days, I wrote about the contents of political sermons, for instance.

I am now in the phase of my life where I contemplate the size of our cosmos and notions of eternity, and the idea that humans are mere fractions of a second in cosmological time – a shadow passing by, as the Psalms say.”

Theology as career choice

As a matric learner in De Aar in the Great Karoo, Cilliers considered becoming an astronomer, a vet, a surgeon or a nature conservationist, but theology won in the end.

“Theology provides space to think about all of life’s facets, as a ‘lived religion’. You are enabled to think deeply about the mysteries of the one whom we call ‘God’, about the many ways to describe them, and about the deepest meaning of our being in the here and now, in the space and time given.

“My contribution lies in looking at the basic theological principles underlying human phenomena, irrespective of what the latter may be – or that’s what my friends tell me, at least,” he humbly smiles.

Theology through aesthetics

Cilliers’ own artworks and those of painters such as Salvador Dali, Jan Wolker and Pablo Picasso often adorn the covers and pages of his books.

“I cannot write two sentences without using some sort of image.”

“Images speak louder than words. True art has a way of unlocking the deepest mysteries of humankind, of being human. It often shocks to such an extent that you can understand the human condition better, without giving definitive or quick-fix answers.”

The art of preaching

Cilliers is considered the foremost homiletician (studier of sermons) in South Africa, and also an important international voice on the art of preaching.

“No one really knows what preaching is. The best way to describe it is as a wonderful challenge, a form of communication filled with mysteries.

“Years ago, we thought that theology and being a preacher means that you can provide answers and know how things work or should work – even when it concerns God. The church dumped people into a lot of guilt before they could even experience God themselves.

“We’ve since realised it’s about the mysteries of the one whom we call God, about the mysteries of what we call human, and the mysteries embedded in the relationship between the two.

“It’s a question of awe.

“Awe is often missing in our everyday lives. We rush from A to B. We are driven, even in theology. But by becoming too technically theological one can lose your sense of awe.”

A sense of belonging

Cilliers has tried to instill a true sense of belonging, and of being allowed to ‘be’, in his relationships with students, his now 31-year-old twins, Jacques and Karen, and colleagues far and wide.

“Being allowed to belong is, plain and simple, about human compassion. One could use the term ‘ubuntu’, even though it is an often romanticised, politicised and even weaponised term.

“I’m currently thinking about loneliness versus homecoming and human compassion. Many people, despite being surrounded by others, are deeply, deeply lonely.

“How are people allowed to come together, to become a community, to feel at home? The world has become so cold and homeless. For me, ‘heaven’ is the warmth of homecoming.”

In his book A Space for Grace (2016), Cilliers posed what is still one of the most fundamental human questions to him: “Where is my real home?”

“Home isn’t just about architecture, genealogy and cosmology. At its core, it’s a theological question. Where we feel at home is always a matter of time and space, and always in terms of human compassion, which is ignited by the warmth of God’s compassion.”

Home is where the fire burns.