AFRICAJOURNALS
A warm welcome to our distinguished new Editorial Board members
Prof. Dr. John A Ottuh, Department of Christian Religious Studies, Obong University, Nigeria
Prof. Dr. Peter W Baur, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Prof. Dr. Alphonso Groenewald, Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Professor Orlando Carmelo Castellanos Polo, Luis Amigó Catholic University, Medellín, Colombia
Dr. Allison Jessica Chidimma, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Dr. Phillip Ohlmann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin / University of Botswana
Prof. Dr. Jacques W. Beukes, Department: Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology, University of South Africa
Professor, Stefan Fischer, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Department for Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archaeology,University of Vienna
Professor Rahmah Binti Ahmad H. Osman, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia
Dr. David Ming, Sekolah Tinggi Teologi, Kadesi Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Important notice: NO NEW ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED UNTIL AUGUST 15, 2025 for possible inclusion in the Regular Issue 106(5) December, and a decision will be made on possible publication after the double- blind peer reviewing process is followed. This is due to the current reviewing of received articles and also special pre-arranged themed issues being peer-reviewed and currently being processed.
REGULAR ISSUE 106(4) AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025 is now CLOSED
THEMED ISSUE 106(3) JUNE 2025 is now CLOSED
THE BELOW ISSUE IS NOW CLOSED
THEME: Religion in Socio-cultural Space: From Archaic Times to the Digital Age
Guest editor: Ass. Prof. Vasyl Dudar, Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine, [email protected]
Reviewers:
Nutiu Raul - Babeş-Bolyai University, România
Gracinda Vieira Barros - Universidade Federal do Triangulo Mineiro, Brazil
Leandro Daza D - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Dr. Renato Valois Cordeiro - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dr. Valentyna M. Kryvenchuk - Sumy State University, Ukraine
Dr. Pedro Feitoza - Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, Brazil
Kevin Singer - North Carolina State University, USA
Ass. Prof. Muhammad Touseef - The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Ass. Prof. Diren Çakmak - Hitit University, Turkey
Zan Pol - BPP University College, England
CLOSED - THEMED ISSUE 106(2) March /April- 2025
THEME: Religion/Theology, Mother Earth, Pandemics and Gender: Exploring Solutions, Fortitude, and Resilience
(Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians Pan African conference at Trinity College, Ghana, July 2024)
Guest editors: Dr Anniegrace Mapangisana-Hlatywayo, Dr Linda Naicker, Dr Fatimatu N-Eyare Sulemanu
Reviewers:
Dr Bernard Pindukai Humbe
Ms Thandi Soko-de Jong
Dr Fatimatu N-Eyare Sulemanu
Dr Jonas Thinane
Dr Anniegrace Mapangisana Hlatywayo
Dr Slyvia Phalatsi-Shilubana
Dr Linda Naicker
Dr Canisius Mwandayi
Dr Tobias Mnyalaza Masuku
Dr Sophia Chirongoma
NOTE THAT THE USE OF A I IS PROHIBITED. IF USED IN EXTREME CASES IT MUST BE EXPLAINED WHY AND HOW IT HAS BEEN APPLIED. A PLAGIARISM TURNITIN REPORT MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH EACH SUBMISSION AND SIMILARITY SHOULD NOT EXCEED 16 %
Open Access using the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY). The articles are open-access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence CC BY: credit must be given to the creator, the title and the license the work is under. This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator.
Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Indexing is totally beyond our control. We do not control of the indexation of a published work. We cannot guarantee that a published work will be indexed or covered in any particular database because we do not do the indexing it is done by the index.
We look forward to your well researched and rigorous submissions. Prospective authors should request the required format prior to making a submission.
Required article length is ideally 5000-8000 words including references maximum- in some cases they may be longer with a motivation (up to 10000 words).
Please note that a journal publication might take from a minimum of around two months up to six months to appear depending on the suitability of revisions carried out by authors' after the double-blind peer reviews.
The correct journal format and style of referencing are essential for any submission to be considered. There are also the usual processing fees to be paid if articles are accepted after double blind-peer reviewing.
Word count -5000 to 6000 including references. (A maximum of 12 000 in very exceptional cases depending on the theme / topic).
Only the APA referencing and citation style is acceptable. (See prospective author guidelines section)
Articles are indexed in CrossRef and assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
All article(s) should be submitted to our Editorial Office as e-mail attachment to [email protected] We will consider original and significant contributions that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Articles submitted must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere. It is recommended that authors provide their once-off ORCID iD in each of their submission details. This is however not mandatory. Authors must however provide full contact details including email and institutional addresses.
A warm welcome to our numerous new 2025 appointed Editorial Board members from all the corners of the Earth, we thank you for your passion for education and willingness to guide the Pharos Journal of Theology to new heights!
The Pharos Journal of Theology, formerly known as the Ekklesiastikos Pharos was originally published in Alexandria (Egypt) directly by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate as a theological review at the beginning of the 20th Century. The Journal, one of the oldest scholarly periodicals in Africa, continued to be published by the Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, and under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, as Ekklesiastikos Pharos (New Series, African Edition), We are now an independent journal under AFRICAJOURNALS since the Ekklesiastikos Pharos as such ceased in 2016. To this end, we have revised the focus to an extent and have also endeavoured to maintain the quality standards set by its illustrious predecessor.
The Journal is an international, progressive, double blind reviewed journal of scholarship reflecting the history and philosophy of religious thought in all traditions and periods. The scope embraces the History and philosophy of religious thought in all traditions and periods, including: Inter-faith harmony, Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), Systematic Theology, Christian Ethics, Biblical Studies, Church History, New Testament, Old Testament, Pastoral Theology, Religious Education, Propagating faith through Artificial Intelligence, Biblical and Christian Archaeology, Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism, Education and Religion, Liturgics and Spiritual Practice, Eco Theology, Missiology/Gospel and Culture, Comparative Religion and Inter-Faith Studies, Psychology and Faith, Ethnic religions - beliefs associated with particular ethnic groups, Liturgics, Theolinguistic Research in World Religious Studies, Religion and the use of Art, African Traditional Religion (ATR), African Instituted Churches (AIC), Indigenous Religions, Pneumatology, Gospel and Culture, and Comparative Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Esotericism, Post-Secular Spirituality, Law and Theology, Politics and Theology, The scriptures of Islam - Qur'an and the hadiths, Religion and Socio-Cultural Identity, Religion and AI, Religious Consciousness.
The Pharos Journal of Theology is an AFRICAJOURNALS publication that provides a forum for discussing theological issues from cross-cultural perspectives. It features relevant articles and in-depth reviews on the latest publications of great interest besides in the field of Theology also to academics, lay people and professional theologians.
The Pharos Journal of Theology is Indexed on Scopus, DOAJ, ERIH PLUS - Norwegian Social Science Data Services LEVEL 1, - we are also indexed in BIBP - Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (Université Laval) and EZB Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB - electronic journals database) as well as in AcademicKeys and EBSCO
Frequency: There can be up to six issues, but usually only five in each annual volume. Of these there can be two special issues depending on suitable proposals submissions' and reviewer availability which means there will only be three regular issues then. If two special editions/issues are accepted only three/four other regular issues will be permitted- if three special issues then only three regular issues- thus a maximum of six issues per annum in all. Papers may be accepted after double-blind peer reviewing based on current strong external review support for special issues as well as regular issues. The good amount of well qualified peer reviewers we currently have can realistically cover submitted articles given that a fair number of reviewers available are retired and have far more time than working academics, although many of the latter are always willing to review as well.
Editor/s in Chief roles: The editor’s objective is to accept intrinsically good quality papers and reject bad quality papers.
The journal editor has various roles and responsibilities, including:
The Editorial Assistants are responsible for the day-to-day editorial office tasks, such as submission checks and correspondence with authors and reviewers.
The Editorial Board comprises of a team of experts in the journal's field.
They may at times assist the editor(s) in decision making over issues such as plagiarism claims and submissions where reviewers can’t agree on a decision. They review submitted manuscripts and may also advise on journal policy and scope. They identify topics for special issues, which they may guest edit and attract new authors and submissions while promoting the journal to their colleagues and peers.Existing Board members may have suggestions for new members. The location of Board members represents the reach of the journal and their expertise should represent the journal's scope. These representatives are appointed from key research institutes and also include former guest editors of special issues, authors of key reviews and top reviewers.
Special Editions/Issues Proposals: There is possibly one or two per year that can be considered depending on suitable peer reviewers' availability and external guest editorial assistance by experts in the field. A ‘Special Issue’ is a collection of papers focused on a specific topic. It may also be a collection of papers from a Conference associated with the journal. At times, when there is some synergy in scope, two Special Issues may be merged into one where themes allow for this and on approval by the EIC and guest editors. In such cases article numbering may be the same for different themes. This means that in one theme out of say three, article numbers may begin at 1 again, or run on from prior themes. For further details see About. Special issues will also be reviewed by additional external editors and reviewers.
Guest Editors
We may accept special issue proposals which are subject to evaluation and approval by the Editor-in-Chief. Only two per annum are possible-not more.
Our guest editors are responsible to identify/invite authors for a special issue. They set deadlines to ensure timely submissions and timely publication and manage the peer review of the papers submitted.
Our guest editor/s responsibilities :
• Identify/invite authors for the special issue.
• Set deadlines to ensure timely submissions and timely publication.
• Manage peer review of the papers.
• Provide running order of articles, an Editorial to summarize the special issue,
• Help with marketing activities of the special issue if possible.
All papers received should must be double blind peer reviewed before they are published.
• You are expected to handle the peer review process within the editorial system in a timely manner.
• You are required to make decisions based on at least two independent referees’ reports.
• It’s very important to investigate any potential conflict of interest. Guest Editors can handle the review process of all papers if they are not authored by themselves. If there are submissions from Guest Editors, the review process will be taken care of by Editor-in-Chief.
Publication info - see also About section
Our publication model has been carefully thought-out to allows minimal processing fees. We are of the view that academic publishing is a not-for-profit enterprise undertaken for the good of universal dissemination, and it should not be determined by any exclusionary pay barriers. The authors of each accepted paper after a double-blind peer reviewing are asked to pay nominal processing fees. Readers and authors have the benefit of free and open access. No fees are charged for access to our journal but we have publication expenses such as peer review management, journal production, archiving and online hosting. We thus have article processing charges to authors, institutions for each articles published.
Text changes after a proof layout issue
Authors are given the opportunity to revise and approve the text of the accepted manuscript in the final phase of copy-editing and are sent a proof to check. After the author checks and then resends it to us, the work is then considered as approved by him or her. The author must thus carefully proofread the final proof galleys. Proofreading is intended to correct any typesetting mistakes and may not be used to bring in any new changes.
Reviews: The aim of our book reviews is to provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. Reviews should be at least two pages in length and offer valuable insights and indicate author name an affiliation.Book reviews take more work than some realize and they need to be well considered and crafted. Reviewers should take the task very seriously.Contact the editor before writing the review to ascertain if there is an interest and also send the editor a copy of your curriculum vitae along with:
(1) a short justification for why the book needs to be reviewed and (2) also state why you should be the one to review it.
Disclaimer: The aim of our book reviews is to provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. All opinions are the authors own. The opinions expressed in the below review belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views of the journal.
Processing Fee Waiver Policy
We have a waiver policy in place for deserving authors. The provision for either a complete or partial fee waiver depends entirely on a case-by-case assessment. The waiver may be total, or allow for a 1/2 or 3/4 processing fee or less to be paid. A request for a waiver as stated, can only be considered if the request for a waiver has been sent to the related journal before submission of the manuscript. The Managing Editor will decide on the merits of each request. There is also a limit to the total waiver grants per year, so once reached, no further waivers are possible. Please note that the journal does not charge any submission fee only a processing fee if the manuscript is accepted after the peer reviews and subsequent revisions deemed to be satisfactory.
Archiving
We have an electronic backup system in place to maintain access to the content of the journal in the event that we no longer publish. All articles are kept in no less than three electronic places and also archived with the National Library of South Africa (NLSA Legal Deposit).
Article rejection
Please note that no reasons need to be furnished to prospective authors as to why an article has been rejected for publication in the journal. Additionally, if an article is beyond the scope of the journal, it is rejected. The current rejection rate is around 71%. Many rejections are made based on poor abstracts, problems with the writing/presentation of the paper, and problems with the research on which an article is based.
The editors reserve the right to reject any papers without review if they are considered to be inappropriate for the journal or if they do not meet the journal's basic submission criteria. Where a study is identified as basically problematic, a preliminary review is conducted to ascertain the extent of the faults before deciding to reject a work. The editor will clearly explain the reasons for rejection to the authors.
A desktop rejection is an immediate rejection based on a preliminary review of the submission by the editor. This is usually based on the fact that a manuscript does not fit the journal’s scope or when it clearly fails to meet basic quality standards.
Rejection after peer reviews takes place when a decision to reject an article is based on feedback from peer reviewers.
We calculate the acceptance rate using all articles received, and also the articles that are sent to reviewers noting which were eventually published and all that were rejected.
Accessible knowledge base
We seek to make accessible a knowledge base in a wide range of related disciplines. The PHAROS JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY, with its quality articles, showcasing both current and applicable knowledge in a number of disciplines directly or indirectly related to Theology and from across the globe, is slowly emerging as a favoured scientific research platform among academics.
This work by www.pharosjot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License and based on a work at www.pharosjot.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.pharos.com as well as unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Copyright
When an article is published in the Pharos Journal of Theology, the author(s) of the article may retain the copyright of the article. Author(s) may republish the article as part of any book or other materials. When reusing a published article, author(s) should always cite that the article was originally published in the Pharos Journal of Theology and include the article DOI. The author should also accept that the article remains published by the Pharos Journal of Theology (except in occasion of a retraction of the article).
Article DOI
A DOI number (Crossref) is assigned to your article immediately after publication which will make your research outputs easy to find, cite, assess, and will also be linking out your content within the research community.
Conflict of Interest Statement The authors must declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial associations that could be construed as a possible conflict of interest.
You as an author/s are required to adhere to the NSEF Code of Best Practice:
- The reported findings and/or conceptual insights must be original, in the sense that
that they are novel findings or insights that are not published elsewhere.
-Any paper submitted to a journal should only be considered for possible publication
if the author(s) have certified that the paper in question is not under consideration by
another publication, and will not be submitted to any other journal until a final
rejection decision (or formal withdrawal) from the present journal has been received.
-Manuscripts must contain, or permit reference in sufficient detail, of the methods and
materials used in the study (where applicable) in order to make explicit how the
knowledge was generated, and the academic basis for the claims being made.
-Integrity of scholarship requires that no apparently inconsistent data are omitted.
-The statistical treatment of data must be thorough and the conclusions reasonable,
and based on the results of the research and objectives.
-The existing relevant literature must be appropriately and fairly cited, and self-citation
must be limited; in this respect, efforts should be made to ensure that reference is
made to the first report of a finding or conceptual insight, if possible, rather than a
later citation with reference to subsequent work.
-Authorship must conform to the notions of responsibility and credit; thus special
attention must be given to the first ‘lead’ author (sometimes explicitly shared), and
the inclusion in the authorship listing only of persons who have made a significant
contribution to the production of the work at an intellectual, practical or conceptual
level.
Speculative decisions and statements must be clearly specified as such and kept to
a minimum (except where the nature of the contribution requires speculation, such
as philosophical articles, case discussions, theology, etc.).
-Acknowledgement of funding sources and possible conflicts of interest must be
stated.
-Author affiliations should be provided which reflect b
Disclaimer:
The PHAROS does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. Any liability claims against the author in respect of damage caused by the use of the information provided, including any kind of information which is incorrect or incomplete, are therefore excluded. The journal reserves the express right to supplement, publish less or additional articles in a volume, modify or delete in part or in whole sections of articles in volumes posted on this website, without prior notice. The Editor-in-Chief and Africajournals disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any possible publication process oversight, rejection of an article, or ideas expressed in the articles. The text of this disclaimer is deemed legally binding. The author(s) of respective articles appearing in this Journal is/are solely responsible for the content of their article/s; the publication of an article shall not constitute or be deemed to constitute any representation by the Editors, or africajournals regarding the data presented therein in terms of accuracy and validity to support the relevant conclusions reached or the adequacy of the design or methodology in totality. Readers should thus make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of any research methodology described in the relevant article. In case of more than one author, their article must accurately reflect who did the work. All published work should be attributed to one or more authors including all involved as authors. Authors must declare in their articles that they have acknowledged all significant contributions made to their publication by individuals who did not meet the journal's criteria for authorship, such as statisticians, translators etc. PHAROS is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. In such a case, the authors are responsible and should be held liable.
Articles are published and made freely available for all via open access online, this form of copyright agreement allows the owners of intellectual property (authors) to maintain copyright in their journal articles. The statements and opinions contained in the publications in volumes are solely those of the individual author/s and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or the publisher. Although efforts are made to ensure that the contents of the articles are correct, PHAROS will not be responsible for any errors made or damages suffered as a result of reliance being placed on information obtained from the Journal. Furthermore, opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not reflect the opinion or viewpoint of PHAROS. Publication of an article/s does not imply endorsement or agreement with any particular statement made in an article/s. PHAROS is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. The authors are responsible and should be held liable in such a case.
Prof. Dr. John A Ottuh, Department of Christian Religious Studies, Obong University, Nigeria
Prof. Dr. Peter W Baur, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Prof. Dr. Alphonso Groenewald, Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Professor Orlando Carmelo Castellanos Polo, Luis Amigó Catholic University, Medellín, Colombia
Dr. Allison Jessica Chidimma, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Dr. Phillip Ohlmann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin / University of Botswana
Prof. Dr. Jacques W. Beukes, Department: Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology, University of South Africa
Professor, Stefan Fischer, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Department for Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archaeology,University of Vienna
Professor Rahmah Binti Ahmad H. Osman, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia
Dr. David Ming, Sekolah Tinggi Teologi, Kadesi Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Important notice: NO NEW ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED UNTIL AUGUST 15, 2025 for possible inclusion in the Regular Issue 106(5) December, and a decision will be made on possible publication after the double- blind peer reviewing process is followed. This is due to the current reviewing of received articles and also special pre-arranged themed issues being peer-reviewed and currently being processed.
REGULAR ISSUE 106(4) AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025 is now CLOSED
THEMED ISSUE 106(3) JUNE 2025 is now CLOSED
THE BELOW ISSUE IS NOW CLOSED
THEME: Religion in Socio-cultural Space: From Archaic Times to the Digital Age
Guest editor: Ass. Prof. Vasyl Dudar, Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine, [email protected]
Reviewers:
Nutiu Raul - Babeş-Bolyai University, România
Gracinda Vieira Barros - Universidade Federal do Triangulo Mineiro, Brazil
Leandro Daza D - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Dr. Renato Valois Cordeiro - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Dr. Valentyna M. Kryvenchuk - Sumy State University, Ukraine
Dr. Pedro Feitoza - Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, Brazil
Kevin Singer - North Carolina State University, USA
Ass. Prof. Muhammad Touseef - The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Ass. Prof. Diren Çakmak - Hitit University, Turkey
Zan Pol - BPP University College, England
CLOSED - THEMED ISSUE 106(2) March /April- 2025
THEME: Religion/Theology, Mother Earth, Pandemics and Gender: Exploring Solutions, Fortitude, and Resilience
(Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians Pan African conference at Trinity College, Ghana, July 2024)
Guest editors: Dr Anniegrace Mapangisana-Hlatywayo, Dr Linda Naicker, Dr Fatimatu N-Eyare Sulemanu
Reviewers:
Dr Bernard Pindukai Humbe
Ms Thandi Soko-de Jong
Dr Fatimatu N-Eyare Sulemanu
Dr Jonas Thinane
Dr Anniegrace Mapangisana Hlatywayo
Dr Slyvia Phalatsi-Shilubana
Dr Linda Naicker
Dr Canisius Mwandayi
Dr Tobias Mnyalaza Masuku
Dr Sophia Chirongoma
NOTE THAT THE USE OF A I IS PROHIBITED. IF USED IN EXTREME CASES IT MUST BE EXPLAINED WHY AND HOW IT HAS BEEN APPLIED. A PLAGIARISM TURNITIN REPORT MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH EACH SUBMISSION AND SIMILARITY SHOULD NOT EXCEED 16 %
Open Access using the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY). The articles are open-access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence CC BY: credit must be given to the creator, the title and the license the work is under. This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator.
Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Indexing is totally beyond our control. We do not control of the indexation of a published work. We cannot guarantee that a published work will be indexed or covered in any particular database because we do not do the indexing it is done by the index.
We look forward to your well researched and rigorous submissions. Prospective authors should request the required format prior to making a submission.
Required article length is ideally 5000-8000 words including references maximum- in some cases they may be longer with a motivation (up to 10000 words).
Please note that a journal publication might take from a minimum of around two months up to six months to appear depending on the suitability of revisions carried out by authors' after the double-blind peer reviews.
The correct journal format and style of referencing are essential for any submission to be considered. There are also the usual processing fees to be paid if articles are accepted after double blind-peer reviewing.
Word count -5000 to 6000 including references. (A maximum of 12 000 in very exceptional cases depending on the theme / topic).
Only the APA referencing and citation style is acceptable. (See prospective author guidelines section)
Articles are indexed in CrossRef and assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
All article(s) should be submitted to our Editorial Office as e-mail attachment to [email protected] We will consider original and significant contributions that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Articles submitted must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere. It is recommended that authors provide their once-off ORCID iD in each of their submission details. This is however not mandatory. Authors must however provide full contact details including email and institutional addresses.
A warm welcome to our numerous new 2025 appointed Editorial Board members from all the corners of the Earth, we thank you for your passion for education and willingness to guide the Pharos Journal of Theology to new heights!
The Pharos Journal of Theology, formerly known as the Ekklesiastikos Pharos was originally published in Alexandria (Egypt) directly by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate as a theological review at the beginning of the 20th Century. The Journal, one of the oldest scholarly periodicals in Africa, continued to be published by the Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, and under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, as Ekklesiastikos Pharos (New Series, African Edition), We are now an independent journal under AFRICAJOURNALS since the Ekklesiastikos Pharos as such ceased in 2016. To this end, we have revised the focus to an extent and have also endeavoured to maintain the quality standards set by its illustrious predecessor.
The Journal is an international, progressive, double blind reviewed journal of scholarship reflecting the history and philosophy of religious thought in all traditions and periods. The scope embraces the History and philosophy of religious thought in all traditions and periods, including: Inter-faith harmony, Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), Systematic Theology, Christian Ethics, Biblical Studies, Church History, New Testament, Old Testament, Pastoral Theology, Religious Education, Propagating faith through Artificial Intelligence, Biblical and Christian Archaeology, Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism, Education and Religion, Liturgics and Spiritual Practice, Eco Theology, Missiology/Gospel and Culture, Comparative Religion and Inter-Faith Studies, Psychology and Faith, Ethnic religions - beliefs associated with particular ethnic groups, Liturgics, Theolinguistic Research in World Religious Studies, Religion and the use of Art, African Traditional Religion (ATR), African Instituted Churches (AIC), Indigenous Religions, Pneumatology, Gospel and Culture, and Comparative Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Esotericism, Post-Secular Spirituality, Law and Theology, Politics and Theology, The scriptures of Islam - Qur'an and the hadiths, Religion and Socio-Cultural Identity, Religion and AI, Religious Consciousness.
The Pharos Journal of Theology is an AFRICAJOURNALS publication that provides a forum for discussing theological issues from cross-cultural perspectives. It features relevant articles and in-depth reviews on the latest publications of great interest besides in the field of Theology also to academics, lay people and professional theologians.
The Pharos Journal of Theology is Indexed on Scopus, DOAJ, ERIH PLUS - Norwegian Social Science Data Services LEVEL 1, - we are also indexed in BIBP - Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (Université Laval) and EZB Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek (EZB - electronic journals database) as well as in AcademicKeys and EBSCO
Frequency: There can be up to six issues, but usually only five in each annual volume. Of these there can be two special issues depending on suitable proposals submissions' and reviewer availability which means there will only be three regular issues then. If two special editions/issues are accepted only three/four other regular issues will be permitted- if three special issues then only three regular issues- thus a maximum of six issues per annum in all. Papers may be accepted after double-blind peer reviewing based on current strong external review support for special issues as well as regular issues. The good amount of well qualified peer reviewers we currently have can realistically cover submitted articles given that a fair number of reviewers available are retired and have far more time than working academics, although many of the latter are always willing to review as well.
Editor/s in Chief roles: The editor’s objective is to accept intrinsically good quality papers and reject bad quality papers.
The journal editor has various roles and responsibilities, including:
- Peer review: Managing the peer review process, including selecting experts to review manuscripts and ensuring the process is fair, timely, and thorough
- Content quality: Editing content to improve its quality and deciding whether to accept or reject submissions
- Problem resolution: Resolving issues like plagiarism and ensuring articles are original
- Journal policies: Implementing journal policies, including authorship criteria and legal practices
- Author guidelines: Providing authors with guidelines for preparing and submitting manuscripts
- Journal visibility: Increasing the journal's visibility and spreading awareness of its mission and values
- Editorial board: Building an editorial board and celebrating experts in the field
- Author relationships: Treating authors with courtesy, fairness, and objectivity, and protecting the confidentiality of their work
The Editorial Assistants are responsible for the day-to-day editorial office tasks, such as submission checks and correspondence with authors and reviewers.
The Editorial Board comprises of a team of experts in the journal's field.
They may at times assist the editor(s) in decision making over issues such as plagiarism claims and submissions where reviewers can’t agree on a decision. They review submitted manuscripts and may also advise on journal policy and scope. They identify topics for special issues, which they may guest edit and attract new authors and submissions while promoting the journal to their colleagues and peers.Existing Board members may have suggestions for new members. The location of Board members represents the reach of the journal and their expertise should represent the journal's scope. These representatives are appointed from key research institutes and also include former guest editors of special issues, authors of key reviews and top reviewers.
Special Editions/Issues Proposals: There is possibly one or two per year that can be considered depending on suitable peer reviewers' availability and external guest editorial assistance by experts in the field. A ‘Special Issue’ is a collection of papers focused on a specific topic. It may also be a collection of papers from a Conference associated with the journal. At times, when there is some synergy in scope, two Special Issues may be merged into one where themes allow for this and on approval by the EIC and guest editors. In such cases article numbering may be the same for different themes. This means that in one theme out of say three, article numbers may begin at 1 again, or run on from prior themes. For further details see About. Special issues will also be reviewed by additional external editors and reviewers.
Guest Editors
We may accept special issue proposals which are subject to evaluation and approval by the Editor-in-Chief. Only two per annum are possible-not more.
Our guest editors are responsible to identify/invite authors for a special issue. They set deadlines to ensure timely submissions and timely publication and manage the peer review of the papers submitted.
Our guest editor/s responsibilities :
• Identify/invite authors for the special issue.
• Set deadlines to ensure timely submissions and timely publication.
• Manage peer review of the papers.
• Provide running order of articles, an Editorial to summarize the special issue,
• Help with marketing activities of the special issue if possible.
All papers received should must be double blind peer reviewed before they are published.
• You are expected to handle the peer review process within the editorial system in a timely manner.
• You are required to make decisions based on at least two independent referees’ reports.
• It’s very important to investigate any potential conflict of interest. Guest Editors can handle the review process of all papers if they are not authored by themselves. If there are submissions from Guest Editors, the review process will be taken care of by Editor-in-Chief.
Publication info - see also About section
Our publication model has been carefully thought-out to allows minimal processing fees. We are of the view that academic publishing is a not-for-profit enterprise undertaken for the good of universal dissemination, and it should not be determined by any exclusionary pay barriers. The authors of each accepted paper after a double-blind peer reviewing are asked to pay nominal processing fees. Readers and authors have the benefit of free and open access. No fees are charged for access to our journal but we have publication expenses such as peer review management, journal production, archiving and online hosting. We thus have article processing charges to authors, institutions for each articles published.
Text changes after a proof layout issue
Authors are given the opportunity to revise and approve the text of the accepted manuscript in the final phase of copy-editing and are sent a proof to check. After the author checks and then resends it to us, the work is then considered as approved by him or her. The author must thus carefully proofread the final proof galleys. Proofreading is intended to correct any typesetting mistakes and may not be used to bring in any new changes.
Reviews: The aim of our book reviews is to provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. Reviews should be at least two pages in length and offer valuable insights and indicate author name an affiliation.Book reviews take more work than some realize and they need to be well considered and crafted. Reviewers should take the task very seriously.Contact the editor before writing the review to ascertain if there is an interest and also send the editor a copy of your curriculum vitae along with:
(1) a short justification for why the book needs to be reviewed and (2) also state why you should be the one to review it.
Disclaimer: The aim of our book reviews is to provide insight and opinion on recently published scholarly books. All opinions are the authors own. The opinions expressed in the below review belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views of the journal.
Processing Fee Waiver Policy
We have a waiver policy in place for deserving authors. The provision for either a complete or partial fee waiver depends entirely on a case-by-case assessment. The waiver may be total, or allow for a 1/2 or 3/4 processing fee or less to be paid. A request for a waiver as stated, can only be considered if the request for a waiver has been sent to the related journal before submission of the manuscript. The Managing Editor will decide on the merits of each request. There is also a limit to the total waiver grants per year, so once reached, no further waivers are possible. Please note that the journal does not charge any submission fee only a processing fee if the manuscript is accepted after the peer reviews and subsequent revisions deemed to be satisfactory.
Archiving
We have an electronic backup system in place to maintain access to the content of the journal in the event that we no longer publish. All articles are kept in no less than three electronic places and also archived with the National Library of South Africa (NLSA Legal Deposit).
Article rejection
Please note that no reasons need to be furnished to prospective authors as to why an article has been rejected for publication in the journal. Additionally, if an article is beyond the scope of the journal, it is rejected. The current rejection rate is around 71%. Many rejections are made based on poor abstracts, problems with the writing/presentation of the paper, and problems with the research on which an article is based.
The editors reserve the right to reject any papers without review if they are considered to be inappropriate for the journal or if they do not meet the journal's basic submission criteria. Where a study is identified as basically problematic, a preliminary review is conducted to ascertain the extent of the faults before deciding to reject a work. The editor will clearly explain the reasons for rejection to the authors.
A desktop rejection is an immediate rejection based on a preliminary review of the submission by the editor. This is usually based on the fact that a manuscript does not fit the journal’s scope or when it clearly fails to meet basic quality standards.
Rejection after peer reviews takes place when a decision to reject an article is based on feedback from peer reviewers.
We calculate the acceptance rate using all articles received, and also the articles that are sent to reviewers noting which were eventually published and all that were rejected.
Accessible knowledge base
We seek to make accessible a knowledge base in a wide range of related disciplines. The PHAROS JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY, with its quality articles, showcasing both current and applicable knowledge in a number of disciplines directly or indirectly related to Theology and from across the globe, is slowly emerging as a favoured scientific research platform among academics.
This work by www.pharosjot.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License and based on a work at www.pharosjot.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.pharos.com as well as unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Copyright
When an article is published in the Pharos Journal of Theology, the author(s) of the article may retain the copyright of the article. Author(s) may republish the article as part of any book or other materials. When reusing a published article, author(s) should always cite that the article was originally published in the Pharos Journal of Theology and include the article DOI. The author should also accept that the article remains published by the Pharos Journal of Theology (except in occasion of a retraction of the article).
Article DOI
A DOI number (Crossref) is assigned to your article immediately after publication which will make your research outputs easy to find, cite, assess, and will also be linking out your content within the research community.
Conflict of Interest Statement The authors must declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial associations that could be construed as a possible conflict of interest.
You as an author/s are required to adhere to the NSEF Code of Best Practice:
- The reported findings and/or conceptual insights must be original, in the sense that
that they are novel findings or insights that are not published elsewhere.
-Any paper submitted to a journal should only be considered for possible publication
if the author(s) have certified that the paper in question is not under consideration by
another publication, and will not be submitted to any other journal until a final
rejection decision (or formal withdrawal) from the present journal has been received.
-Manuscripts must contain, or permit reference in sufficient detail, of the methods and
materials used in the study (where applicable) in order to make explicit how the
knowledge was generated, and the academic basis for the claims being made.
-Integrity of scholarship requires that no apparently inconsistent data are omitted.
-The statistical treatment of data must be thorough and the conclusions reasonable,
and based on the results of the research and objectives.
-The existing relevant literature must be appropriately and fairly cited, and self-citation
must be limited; in this respect, efforts should be made to ensure that reference is
made to the first report of a finding or conceptual insight, if possible, rather than a
later citation with reference to subsequent work.
-Authorship must conform to the notions of responsibility and credit; thus special
attention must be given to the first ‘lead’ author (sometimes explicitly shared), and
the inclusion in the authorship listing only of persons who have made a significant
contribution to the production of the work at an intellectual, practical or conceptual
level.
Speculative decisions and statements must be clearly specified as such and kept to
a minimum (except where the nature of the contribution requires speculation, such
as philosophical articles, case discussions, theology, etc.).
-Acknowledgement of funding sources and possible conflicts of interest must be
stated.
-Author affiliations should be provided which reflect b
Disclaimer:
The PHAROS does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. Any liability claims against the author in respect of damage caused by the use of the information provided, including any kind of information which is incorrect or incomplete, are therefore excluded. The journal reserves the express right to supplement, publish less or additional articles in a volume, modify or delete in part or in whole sections of articles in volumes posted on this website, without prior notice. The Editor-in-Chief and Africajournals disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any possible publication process oversight, rejection of an article, or ideas expressed in the articles. The text of this disclaimer is deemed legally binding. The author(s) of respective articles appearing in this Journal is/are solely responsible for the content of their article/s; the publication of an article shall not constitute or be deemed to constitute any representation by the Editors, or africajournals regarding the data presented therein in terms of accuracy and validity to support the relevant conclusions reached or the adequacy of the design or methodology in totality. Readers should thus make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of any research methodology described in the relevant article. In case of more than one author, their article must accurately reflect who did the work. All published work should be attributed to one or more authors including all involved as authors. Authors must declare in their articles that they have acknowledged all significant contributions made to their publication by individuals who did not meet the journal's criteria for authorship, such as statisticians, translators etc. PHAROS is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. In such a case, the authors are responsible and should be held liable.
Articles are published and made freely available for all via open access online, this form of copyright agreement allows the owners of intellectual property (authors) to maintain copyright in their journal articles. The statements and opinions contained in the publications in volumes are solely those of the individual author/s and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or the publisher. Although efforts are made to ensure that the contents of the articles are correct, PHAROS will not be responsible for any errors made or damages suffered as a result of reliance being placed on information obtained from the Journal. Furthermore, opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not reflect the opinion or viewpoint of PHAROS. Publication of an article/s does not imply endorsement or agreement with any particular statement made in an article/s. PHAROS is by no means responsible for the infringement by the contributing author/s for copyright infringement of a third party. The authors are responsible and should be held liable in such a case.
