The wonder of water

Abstract

Peer-review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer-Review of Scholarly Books'. The book proposal form was evaluated by our Theological and Religious Studies editorial board. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer-review before publication by two technical expert reviewers who did not include the volume editor and were independent of the volume editor, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements, the editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published. v Research justificationWhile numerous publications have recently appeared on the subject of water, reflections from theology and Christian ethics are often lacking. As such, this scholarly publication wants to add ethical value to the local and global conversations on the theme from a theological perspective. The book reflects on water as a theological theme from perspectives that originated in the disciplines of Christian ethics, systematic theology, biblical studies, natural science and law. It presents novel and innovative inquiries, primarily from a qualitative methodological viewpoint. The book unveils new themes for deliberation and provides new interpretations and insights into existing research. The authors represent a variety of academic, disciplinary and confessional backgrounds and, as such, a range of epistemological points of departure, increasing the richness and value of the contribution. The target audience of this book includes scholars, peers, researchers and professionals with an interest in migration, in particular as reflected upon from the fields of theology and Christian ethics. The chapters are based on original research. No part of the book was plagiarised from other publications.