Supreme Court of Appeal judge
Retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa
mediator and Arbitrator
Elected a Fellow of the Association of Arbitrators (FAArb (SA)) in South Africa
Professional Banker
Elected a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa
Anglican church priest
Ordained a Priest of the Anglican Church in the Cathedral of St Mary, the Virgin, Johannesburg
JUDGE NIGEL WILLIS
Born in Cape Town, South Africa on 5 June 1953, Judge Nigel Willis has been on the forefront of the legal profession in South Africa, with a lengthy list of accomplishments that span over five decades. A patriotic South African, he is
passionately keen on making a difference for the betterment of the country. Here we present his achievements, monographs, articles, book reviews, sermons and published judgments for your perusal.
Published Articles
Below are links to a few articles by Judge Nigel Willis posted on the Internet on various news outlets.
26 September 2003
A Single Tax Could Unlock Growth by Nigel Willis in the Mail & Guardian.
1 July 2011
The Times they are A-Changing and the Judiciary must Keep Up by Nigel Willis in the Mail & Guardian.
5 February 2016
Enigmatic Smuts Elusive in New Biography, A Review by Nigel Willis published in the Mail & Guardian.
23 August 2017
Unravelling Darwin’s Hunch, A Review by Nigel Willis in The Mail & Guardian.
29 March 2019
Why A Prosperous & Stable Europe is So Important to South Africa by Nigel Willis in The Sunday Times.
Book Reviews
Judge Willis has done many Book Reviews throughout the years and you’ll find the latest ones below. For more please do visit his Book Reviews page.
Sermons
Here you’ll find extracts of Judge Willis’ sermons held at the St George’s Anglican Church in Parktown, Johannesburg. For more of Judge Willis’ Sermons, please visit the Sermons page.
Wednesday 2 June 2021
Short Sermon
[1] Among the privileges of being part of the Anglo-Catholic tradition is that we get to read the Apocrypha – in church, nogal! It contains many treasures of wisdom and some delightful stories. The Book of Tobit has parallels with the canonical book of Job. Tobit is a work of fiction – a novel – but, like many good novels, it resonates with important messages to us. It is not hard to see both the Greek and OT influence in this story.
[2] This may explain why, in colloquial language, ‘apocryphal’ is often used as a by-word for ‘not a true story’. We are allowed to read a book like Tobit purely for fun. We may make of it what we will. We should, however, be mindful of the fact that it was part of the religious literature of the Jews living at the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth. It was written in Greek, not Hebrew. It was part of what was known as the Septuagint. The Septuagint consisted of the canonical OT literature (translated into Greek) and the Apocrypha.
Sunday 6 June 2021
Second Sunday After Pentecost
[1] Please forgive me if my sermon this morning is about four or five minutes longer than usual. I shift responsibility for this to the nature of the readings and the times in which we live.
[2] In my short sermon on Wednesday 19 May I mentioned how much we are indebted to the scholars of classical Greek in helping us to understand much of the subtlety in the NT.
[3] We certainly need their help in understanding the gospel reading today. It contains a passage, also appearing in Matthew’s gospel, that has been much misunderstood and, consequently, deeply disturbing to many of the faithful: ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.’ In your pew Bibles, The Revised English Bible, the word ‘slanders’ is used instead of ‘blasphemes’.