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1
Kokobili, Alexander. "An Insight on Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Struggle Against Apartheid in South Africa." Kairos 13, no. 1 (2019): 115–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.32862/k.13.1.5.
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This article focuses of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s role against the apartheid system of racism and socio-political inequality in the Republic of South Africa. Tutu often denounced apartheid in his speeches and public advocacy promoting equality, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence of all South Africans. The ideology of apartheid robbed the black race in South Africa of their human dignity which contradicts the Holy Bible which states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). Despite this, the white National Party of South Africa in 1948 legitimized apartheid as a political system and gained support from the Dutch Reformed Church despite its anti-Christian ethics. Apartheid was adopted to place the white minority in the upper class, while the black majority was left with fewer rights and fewer privileges in South Africa. Desmond Tutu was one of the few Christian leaders in Africa who championed the course for black theology in the demolition of apartheid in South Africa. Tutu’s attitude during the apartheid struggle was not by violent protest or riots but rather through his sermons and public participation in activities clamoring for national unity, love, and equality of all South Africans.
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Nel, Marius J. "The role of Matthew’s ἀφίημι-logia in the decisions of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in post-apartheid South Africa". STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2, № 1 (2016): 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2016.v2n1.a17.
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This article investigates the use of the verb ἀφίημι in selected pericopae in the Gospel of Matthew and the decisions of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) on forgiveness in the post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that while forgiveness is an important topic in Matthew that is interwoven with a number of other important theological themes, it has been a neglected theme in the decisions taken by the General Synod of the DRC since 1994. Not only are there no explicit references to Matthew’s understanding of forgiveness, but are neither of the two references to forgiveness in the Acta of six General Synod’s references to asking forgiveness by the DRC for its active participation in apartheid. The article concludes with a number of suggestions on how Matthew’s ethic of forgiveness can inform the South African reconciliation process without it being reduced to a timeless fixed formula.
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Wepener, Cas, and Hendrik J. C. Pieterse. "Angry Preaching: A Grounded Theory Analysis from South Africa." International Journal of Public Theology 12, no. 3-4 (2018): 401–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15697320-12341549.
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Abstract Expressions of anger can be observed all over South Africa and by individuals and groups from different social, economic and racial backgrounds. In this article the argument is advanced that such expressions of anger can be expressions of love and signs of hope showing that people still care. Therefore, anger should not be avoided, but instead be embraced and channelled for positive ends. This article furthermore develops an argument in favour of the celebration of angry liturgies and the preaching of angry sermons as an integral part of the on-going road towards reconciliation and healing after apartheid in general and in particular it reflects on sermons preached in Afrikaans Reformed churches in South Africa on the theme of anger between 2010 and 2015. By means of content analysis, and specifically Grounded Theory, the collected sermons were analysed and a homiletical theory for praxis regarding angry preaching developed. In conclusion the theory for praxis is presented as homiletical route markers for angry preaching as one way of liturgically embracing and meaningfully channelling anger.
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Froneman, JD. "Die Kerkbode en die viering van Geloftedag, 1910-2010." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 1, no. 1 (2015): 125. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2015.v1n1.a6.
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<strong>The Kerkbode and the commemoration of the Day of the Covenant, 1910-2010</strong> <br /> The commemoration of the former Day of the Covenant was crucial in the development of Afrikaner nationalism and the apartheid ideology, providing theological grounding for twentieth century Afrikaner political philosophy. This article examines how the <em>Kerkbode</em>, official organ of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, supported the dominant view of the commemoration, i.e. that God gave a military victory to the Voortrekkers over the Zulu's, confirming the right of the Voortrekkers (and their descendants) to their own state. From 1910-1990 the editors of the <em>Kerkbode</em> generally supported the fundamentals of the myth (with a single exception in 1920). As the apartheid era came to a close, the <em>Kerkbode</em> started to question these principles, until all references to the Day of the Covenant (since 1996, the Day of Reconciliation) were dropped, only to reappear again. Using the multi-step flow theory one can argue that the <em>Kerkbode</em> helped perpetuate the conventional understanding of the Day of the Covenant, as it may well have influenced the eventual demise of the widespread commemoration of the day.
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Meijers, Erica. "White Brothers–Black Strangers: Dutch Calvinist Churches and Apartheid in South-Africa." Exchange 38, no. 4 (2009): 365–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/016627409x12474551163691.
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AbstractAfter apartheid was abolished in 1994, fierce discussions within the Dutch churches on the theme of apartheid were quickly forgotten. However, we could still learn from this important chapter of church history. Erica Meijers argues that the debates during the 1970s and 1980s have their roots in the changes which the churches underwent in the 1950s and 1960s. Apartheid confronted protestant churches with their own images of black and white, their role in the colonial area and their view of the role of the church in society. All this led to a decreasing solidarity with the Afrikaners and a growing focus on black reality in South Africa. White brothers became strangers and black strangers became allies. This is in essence the transformation of attitude which both the Netherlands Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands underwent between 1948 and 1972.
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Duncan, G. A. "Reconciliation through Church Union in post-Apartheid South Africa: The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa." Verbum et Ecclesia 26, no. 1 (2005): 35–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v26i1.212.
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This paper will argue that the union which brought the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa into being was based on an inadequate view of reconciliation in a Christian context. While lip service may have been paid to the authentic concept, flawed views have led to many misunderstandings concerning the mission and vision of the new church, and despite attempts at reformation and renewal, reconciliation as justice restored still evades the ethos of the young denomination.
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Van der Merwe, Johan M. "Versoening en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk: Die Algemene Sinode van 1994 as baken vir ’n lewe van volheid." Verbum et Ecclesia 38, no. 3 (2017): 105–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v38i3.1626.
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The Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria chose oikodome as a Faculty Research Theme (FRT) in 2014. This term refers to life in its fullness. The Dutch Reformed Church, as one of the partners of the Faculty, contributed to life in its fullness through the important role it played in the reconciliation in South Africa since 1986. One of the beacons on this road of reconciliation was the General Synod of 1994. It became known as the ‘Synod of reconciliation’ as a result of the visits of Mr Nelson Mandela, Prof. B.J. Marais and Dr Beyers Naudé, and the important decisions that the meeting took. It was however, not only the visits of these important roleplayers in history which made the meeting a beacon on the road to reconciliation. This chapter shows that it was imbedded in a much larger context of reconciliation in South Africa in which the Dutch Reformed Church played an important role. By participating in the process of reconcilation in the country, the Dutch Reformed Church contributed to oikodome – life in its fullness for all.
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Crafford, D. "Uitdagings vir die Ned Geref Kerk in Suidelike Afrika met Malawi en Zambië as illustrasiegebiede." Verbum et Ecclesia 11, no. 1 (1990): 17–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v11i1.1009.
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Challenges for the Dutch Reformed Church in Southern Africa with Malawi and Zambia as illustration areas What will be the challenges for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa if in the coming decades its isolation from Africa could be ended because of political developments in a post-apartheid era? The Dutch Reformed Church planted indigenous churches in many African Countries like Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia. The role of the church in Africa will be determined by its relations with these younger churches. The challenges in the fields of evangelism, church ministry, the youth and in the socioeconomic and political areas are illustrated specifically in the cases of Malawi and Zambia.
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Oakley, Robin. "The Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk and the Nama Experience in Namaqualand, South Africa." Itinerario 27, no. 3-4 (2003): 189–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0165115300020829.
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In Steinkopf, a former coloured Reserve in the Northern Cape Province, the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk (NGS; Dutch Reformed Mission Church), a former sub-branch of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK; Dutch Reformed Church) forged a legitimate public space for the expression of Nama identity in the 1960s. The legitimisation of aboriginal identity was not accidental, but very much an expression of apartheid policies of the day. I hope to demonstrate both the content and the consequences of this particular episode in Steinkopf, and thereby contribute to an understanding of the links between a crumbling capitalist infrastructure and the ideological efforts to reinforce that infrastructure through processes of ethnic strengthening. My claim is that the NGK played an ideological role supporting the capitalist interests as it strengthened the super-structural pillars of the segregation and apartheid eras.
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Meiring, P. G. J. "Bonhoeffer and costly reconciliation in South Africa – through the lens of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission." Verbum et Ecclesia 38, no. 3 (2017): 18–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v38i3.1559.
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer never visited South Africa, and he probably did not know a great deal about the country. But the relevance of the German theologian for South Africa was never in doubt. In the struggle against apartheid his message and his theology served to guide theologians, church leaders as well as lay Christians alike. His life and his death served to inspire many during their darkest hours. Theologians, with John de Gruchy in the lead, studied his works extensively. Heroes from the struggle against apartheid, Beyers Naudé, Desmond Tutu and Steve Biko, among others, were hailed as latter-day Bonhoeffers. Nelson Mandela’s famous ‘Speech from the dock’ before his conviction and imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial was compared to Bonhoeffer’s essay on The structure of responsible life (1995). At ecumenical gatherings, his name and his teachings were often invoked, whenever protest was lodged against the injustices of apartheid. But it was especially in the aftermath of apartheid, when the very serious challenges of reconciliation and nation building, of healing and forgiveness, as well as of amnesty for perpetrators weighed against the demands of justice to the victims were at stake, that many turned to Bonhoeffer for guidance. The author who served with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the TRC, discusses the prerequisites for reconciliation in South Africa against the backdrop of the TRC experience, emphasising the real need for South Africans, following in the footsteps of Bonhoeffer, to look for ‘costly reconciliation’.
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Kgatla, ST. "Ministerial formation policies of the Northern Theological Seminary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa:." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 5, no. 1 (2020): 191–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2019.v5n1.a10.
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This article investigates the theoretical and practical effectiveness of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa’s (URCSA) ministerial formation of the Northern Synod. The URCSA is part of the Reformed Movement (Calvinism) that was established by the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) of South Africa that mainly came from the Netherlands to establish itself in South Africa and later established ethnic churches called daughter churches into existence in terms of a racially designed formula. After many years of the Dutch Reformed Church missionary dominance, the URCSA constituted its first synod in 1994 after the demise of apartheid. It was only after this synod that the URCSA through its ministerial formation tried to shake off the legacy of colonial paternalism and repositioned itself to serve its members; however, it fell victim to new ideological trappings. This article is based on a study that traces some basic Reformed practices and how the URCSA Theological Seminary of the Northern Synod dealt or failed to deal with them in its quest for the ideal theological ministerial formation.
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Van der Watt, G. "Die Sendingpraktyk van die Ned Geref Kerk: Enkele tendense vanaf 1952 tot met die eeuwenteling." Verbum et Ecclesia 24, no. 1 (2003): 213–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v24i1.322.
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In this past half century the Dutch Reformed Church was continuously building on the tradition of extended missionary involvement within South Africa as well as in several countries in Southern Africa. During the fifties and sixties there were a flourishing of activities, driven by, amongst other reasons, an idealism and optimism concerning the homeland-policy or grand apartheid. The seventies and eighties were therefore characterised by resistance; the DRC had to reconsider its approach. While the church had to largely withdraw from the traditional fields, it found alternative areas for involvement, mainly abroad. In the nineties a whole new world dawned and the church once again had to adapt. The emphasis shifted to local congregations and a variety of approaches. World mission came into the focus. The way ahead for the Dutch Reformed Family of Churches could only be as one united church, fulfilling it’s calling to mission within the African and especially South African context, while staying true to its reformed tradition.
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Strauss, Piet. "Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en die Afrikanervolk kerkordelik verwoord." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2, no. 2 (2016): 447–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2016.v2n2.a21.
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The Dutch Reformed Church and the Afrikaner – in its church orderThe Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Afrikaner people had close ties in the 1960’s. This was intensified by the apartheid system in South Africa. The policy of apartheid was supported by the DRC, most of the Afrikaners and the National Party in government. In 1962 the DRC determined in its church order that it will protect and build the Christian-Protestant character of the Afrikaner people. This group was singled out by a church that was to be for believers of all nations. It also gave the DRC an active part in the development of this group. The documents Church and Society-1986 and Church and Society-1990 changed all this. The close links between the DRC and Afrikaans cultural institutions ended and the DRC declared that it caters to any believer. The church order article about the Afrikaner was omitted.
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Rossouw, Pieter Fourie. "Inclusive Communities: A missional approach to racial inclusivity within the Dutch Reformed Church." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2, no. 1 (2016): 381. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2016.v2n1.a19.
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This article dealt with racial diversity in homogenous white Afrikaans faith communities such as the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). This study was partially an account of the researcher’s own discontent with being a minister in the DRC against the backdrop of his own journey of finding a racially integrated identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. It focused on the question of how a church like the DRC can play an intentional role in the formation of racially inclusive communities. The study brought together shifts in missional theology, personal reflections from DRC ministers and contemporary studies on whiteness. The researcher looked towards a missional imaginary as a field map for racial diversity in the church. This was mirrored against contemporary studies on white identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. From this conversation the researcher argued for a creative discovery of hybrid identities within white faith communities. Missional exercises such as listening to the stories of strangers, cross cultural pilgrimages and eating together in strange places can assist congregations on this journey.
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de Gruchy, John W. "From Resistance to National Reconciliation: The Response and Role of the Ecumenical Church in South Africa." Studies in Church History 40 (2004): 369–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0424208400002990.
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Scattered through the history of the Christian Church are seminal moments that have shaped the future course of Christianity whether for good or ill. When later historians of Christianity will write about the twentieth century, I anticipate that they will refer to the role of the Churches in Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa as paradigmatic both in terms of success and failure. They might also refer to the role of the Christian Church in the transition to democracy in both countries in similar terms. In what follows I will offer some reflections on the South African side of the story, briefly tracing the response and role of what I have termed the ‘Ecumenical Church’ in South Africa to African resistance, democratic transition and national reconciliation.
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Thesnaar, Christo. "Facilitating Healing and Reconciliation with Young People Living in the Aftermath of Political and Cultural Conflict. The Challenge to the Church and its Youth Ministry." Journal of Youth and Theology 2, no. 1 (2003): 8–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24055093-90000201.
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Writing from his considerable experience as a pastoral theologian working for reconciliation and healing in post-apartheid South Africa, Dr Christo Thesnaar offers a timely and challenging article here. His. development of a consistent theological and pastoral approach to healing and reconciliation in the. aftermath of political and cultural conflict is strengthened by his pragmatic suggestions for all youth workers who may be engaged in a similar ministry.
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Ross, Robert, and Tracy Kuperus. "State, Civil Society and Apartheid in South Africa: An Examination of Dutch Reformed Church-State Relations." Canadian Journal of African Studies 34, no. 2 (2000): 469. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/486436.
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Elbourne, Elizabeth, and Tracy Kuperus. "State, Civil Society and Apartheid in South Africa: An Examination of Dutch Reformed Church-State Relations." African Studies Review 43, no. 3 (2000): 167. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/525085.
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Theron, P. F. (Flip). "From Moral Authority to Insignificant Minority: The Precarious State of the Dutch Reformed Church in a Post-Apartheid South Africa." Journal of Reformed Theology 2, no. 3 (2008): 228–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156973108x333722.
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AbstractThis article focuses on the transformation of the 'dearly beloved church' of the Afrikaners from a formerly mighty social institution in the 'old' South Africa to just another minority group in the 'new.' It argues that the Reformed tradition needs a 'political theology' in which the church's message of the cross is not compromised in search of social glory and political power.
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Müller, Retief. "Traversing a Tightrope between Ecumenism and Exclusivism: The Intertwined History of South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church and the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Nyasaland (Malawi)." Religions 12, no. 3 (2021): 176. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel12030176.
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During the first few decades of the 20th century, the Nkhoma mission of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa became involved in an ecumenical venture that was initiated by the Church of Scotland’s Blantyre mission, and the Free Church of Scotland’s Livingstonia mission in central Africa. Geographically sandwiched between these two Scots missions in Nyasaland (presently Malawi) was Nkhoma in the central region of the country. During a period of history when the DRC in South Africa had begun to regressively disengage from ecumenical entanglements in order to focus on its developing discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism, this venture in ecumenism by one of its foreign missions was a remarkable anomaly. Yet, as this article illustrates, the ecumenical project as finalized at a conference in 1924 was characterized by controversy and nearly became derailed as a result of the intransigence of white DRC missionaries on the subject of eating together with black colleagues at a communal table. Negotiations proceeded and somehow ended in church unity despite the DRC’s missionaries’ objection to communal eating. After the merger of the synods of Blantyre, Nkhoma and Livingstonia into the unified CCAP, distinct regional differences remained, long after the colonial missionaries departed. In terms of its theological predisposition, especially on the hierarchy of social relations, the Nkhoma synod remains much more conservative than both of its neighboring synods in the CCAP to the south and north. Race is no longer a matter of division. More recently, it has been gender, and especially the issue of women’s ordination to ministry, which has been affirmed by both Blantyre and Livingstonia, but resisted by the Nkhoma synod. Back in South Africa, these events similarly had an impact on church history and theological debate, but in a completely different direction. As the theology of Afrikaner Christian nationalism and eventually apartheid came into positions of power in the 1940s, the DRC’s Nkhoma mission in Malawi found itself in a position of vulnerability and suspicion. The very fact of its participation in an ecumenical project involving ‘liberal’ Scots in the formation of an indigenous black church was an intolerable digression from the normative separatism that was the hallmark of the DRC under apartheid. Hence, this article focuses on the variegated entanglements of Reformed Church history, mission history, theology and politics in two different 20th-century African contexts, Malawi and South Africa.
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Snyman, Gerrie F. "'Will It Happen Again?' Reflections On Reconciliation and Structural Contraception1." Religion and Theology 6, no. 3 (1999): 379–410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157430199x00236.
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AbstractThe essay deals with the inability of churches and individuals to take the indispensable next step of radically recasting their reading practices of the Bible in a post-apartheid society. Failure to remodel the premises and practices of Bible interpretation results in a sense of betrayal. Although the theological justification for apartheid might be confessed as a sin, the reading practices of the Bible that allowed for a theological justification never changed. However, a confession regarding apartheid entails a critique of the values embedded in the stories of the Old Testament in particular. Once this is recognised, it will be easier to argue a case for a better dispensation for women in those churches in which they are excluded from church offices. The essay discusses the recent female uproar in the Gereformeerde Kerke of South Africa against gender discrimination in their structures of power. The essay also responds to the crisis of faith generated in the laity by some of the confessions. It is argued that the laity had no means of recognising the falseness of the previous ideologically inspired apartheid readings of the Bible, because the leadership of the churches never provided them with the tools of responsible criticism. The reading practices of the past acted as a protective sheath for the theological justification of apartheid. For the confessions of the churches to become meaningful at all, and not tainted by smacks of political opportunism, a call is made for a more critical approach to the values embedded in the Bible stories.
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Jonker, W. D. "In gesprek met Johan Heyns." Verbum et Ecclesia 15, no. 1 (1994): 13–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v15i1.1079.
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In conversation with Johan Heyns The author commends Professor Heyns for his enormous contribution to the Reformed theology in South Africa. Heyns opted for a dynamic and inspiring theology of the Kingdom of God, which calls forth a response of obedience from all believers. However, the author is of the opinion that the philosophical character of the theology of Heyns, and especially his allegiance to the philosophy of Stoker in which the concept of the creation plays a dominant role, has hampered his possibility to develop a profound exegetical and Christological theology that could be critical enough of the kind of heresies which threatened the church during the apartheid era.
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van Wyngaard, George J. (Cobus). "Plurality in the Theological Struggle against Apartheid." Journal of Reformed Theology 13, no. 2 (2019): 120–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15697312-01302019.
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AbstractThe church struggle against apartheid remains a key case study in ecumenical public theology, with particular relevance for the Reformed tradition. The importance of Christian theology in both the justification of and opposition to apartheid is well known. Also, the process of ecumenical discernment for responding to apartheid became a significant marker in global ecumenical reflection on what today we might describe as public theology. However, the idea of a theological struggle against apartheid risks ironing out the different theological positions that oppose apartheid. This article highlights some of the attempts to analyze the theological plurality in responses to apartheid. Then it proceeds to present an alternative way of viewing this plurality by focusing on the way in which different classic theological questions were drawn upon to analyze apartheid theologically. Using as examples the important theologians David Bosch, Simon Maimela, and Albert Nolan, it highlights how apartheid was described as a problem of ecclesiology, theological anthropology, and soteriology. It argues that this plurality of theological analyses allows us to rediscover theological resources that might be of particular significance as race and racism take on new forms in either democratic South Africa or the contemporary world. Simultaneously, it serves as a valuable example in considering a variety of theological questions when theologically reflecting on issues of public concern.
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Editor, Editor. "Book reviews / Boekresensies." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 1, no. 1 (2015): 361. http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2015.v1n1.br.
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Brümmer, Vincent. <i>Vroom of regsinnig? Teologie in die NG Kerk</i>, 2013, Wellington: Bybel Media, ISBN: 9780864877185<br /> Conradie, Ernst M. <i>Reconciliation - A guiding vision for South Africa?</i>, 2013, Stellenbosch: Sun Press, ISBN: 9781920689087<br /> Conradie, Ernst M. <i>South African perspectives on Notions and Forms of Ecumenicity</i>, 2013, Stellenbosch: Sun Press, ISBN: 9781920689063<br /> Conradie, Ernst M & Klaasen, John. <i>The Quest for Identity in so-called Mainline Churches in South Africa</i>, 2013, Stellenbosch: Sun Press, ISNB: 9781920689223<br /> Conradie, Ernst M. <i>Saving the earth? The legacy of reformed views on “re-creation”</i>, Studies in Religion and Environment, Vol. 8, 2013, Lit Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Wien, ISBN: 9783643903044<br /> Lessing, H, Besten, J, Dedering, T, Hohmann, C and Kriel, L (eds). <i>The German Protestant Church in colonial Southern Africa: The impact of overseas work from the beginnings until the 1920s </i>, 2012, Pietermaritzburg: Cluster, ISBN: 9783447067751
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Omar, Ayesha. "Sam C. Nolutshungu: Race, Reform, Resistance and the Black Consciousness Movement." Comparative Political Theory 1, no. 1 (2021): 80–104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/26669773-01010006.
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Abstract This paper excavates and historically contextualizes the political theory of a largely neglected thinker within South African black intellectual history, Sam C. Nolutshungu. It seeks to rectify the current imbalance in South African intellectual history which largely neglects or effaces the contribution of black thinkers in the colonial or Apartheid period notwithstanding significant black contributions in theorizing racial submission, domination, reform and popular resistance in the context of state oppression. In this paper I argue that two such areas of inquiry are present in Nolutshungu’s overall position on political reform. The first is with regards to his intervention in the race- class debates which dominated political and intellectual discussions during the late Apartheid period. Here, Nolutshungu, argues that political domination could not be reformed with simple concessions as a result of its racially exclusionary nature. Thus Nolutshungu argued that race rather than class was the fundamental source of domination. The second is the theoretical evaluation of the social and political significance of the Black Consciousness Movement as an important symbol of resistance and racial solidarity. The link between these two aspects of his thought, I argue are not insignificant and should be carefully considered. Nolutshungu’s valuable analysis on the route to political reform is strengthened by his evaluation of the role of the Black Consciousness Movement, which for Nolutshungu was an instance of how resistance was mobilized along racial rather than class lines. Moreover, the Black Consciousness Movement not only prioritized the question of race as a primary factor in its mode of resistance but served to illustrate how and why meaningful change in South Africa was contingent on the abolition of racial oppression and the overturning of the institutions of Apartheid. Finally, I argue that there is a contextual urgency in undertaking projects that seek to establish the importance of black intellectual ideas and reclaiming these ideas in order to give content and meaning to contested contemporary debates on justice, legitimacy, liberty, equality and land rights in South Africa. While the discourse of the negotiated settlement and reconciliation sparks intense debate often resulting in greater forms of racial polarisation, historical rumination and reflection offers a powerful and enduring opportunity for collective inquiry.
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Sjollema, Baldwin. "Blanke Broeders-Zwarte Vreemden: De Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland en de apartheid in Zuid Afrika 1948â1972 [White Brothers-Black Strangers: The Netherlands Reformed Church, The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and apartheid in South Africa 1948â1972] by Erica Meijers." Ecumenical Review 61, no. 4 (2009): 430–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.2009.00039_1.x.
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Meiring, Pieter Gerhard J. "The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Rev. James Buys at the Microphone." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6225.
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On October 19, 1997, Rev. James Buys presented the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa’s submission to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He firstly reported on the extent to which URCSA, through its theology and activities, contributed to the violation of human rights during the years of apartheid, especially referring to the church’s stance on the notorious Group Areas Act, the government’s Labour Policy, the Mixed Marriages Act and the chaplain services. For all of this, a heartfelt apology was rendered. Buys, secondly, reported on the decisions and actions taken by URCSA during the 1970s and 1980s to resist apartheid, ranging from prophetic statements by individuals and synods, to eventually taking an active part in the struggle against apartheid. The role that the ecumenical community inside as well as outside South Africa had played to encourage and empower URCSA to define its message and actions, was also mentioned by Buys. Concluding his statement, Buys discussed URCSA’s recommendations for the process of reconciliation in South Africa. The author, who was present at the Faith Communities Hearing when Buys addressed the TRC, added a number of personal remarks pertaining to URCSA’s statement and to the role that URCSA is called to play on the road to reconciliation and nation-building in the country.
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Van Wyk, Amie. "An essay on what the reformation could not prevent the identification of church and 'volk'. Three examples reconsidered." Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship 83, no. 1 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.19108/koers.83.1.2403.
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In this year of REFO 500 the author investigates the question why the Reformation with its ‘theology of sola Scriptura and solus Christus’ could not prevent the successive identification of church and ‘volk’ in history and why it could not prevent the fatal consequences this identification had for the gospel message of reconciliation, the exemplary existence of the church of Christ and the coming of the kingdom of God. Three examples serve as proof for this statement: the attitude of the Anglican Church in England during the second Anglo-Boer War (now called the South African War)(1899-1902); the Lutheran Church in Germany during the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa during the years of apartheid (1948-1994). All three examples reveal an untenable identification of church and ‘volk’, although in varying degrees. How could that happen?
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Potgieter, A. V., P. M. Heyns, and G. B. Roux. "Die predikant: bewaker of veranderingsagent in ’n tydperk van transformasie?" In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 28, no. 3 (1994). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v28i3.1507.
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South Africa finds itself in a transition period on its way to a non-racial democracy and an integrated society. This is in contrast to a past characterized by apartheid. In this transition period, many South Africans and members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) struggle with questions and uncertainties concerning a future dispensation for the country and the church issues that need to be addressed. The question is whether the DRC, and specifically the minister, can play an active role in the transition to an integrated South Africa by, for instance, facilitating acceptance, understanding, peace and reconciliation among church members of all races within the congregation and wider contexts. It is probable that ministers have questions concerning their own role, as well as the role that church members expect of them to play during this transition period.
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Rathbone, Mark. "Reframing the Tower of Babel narrative for economic justice within the South African context." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 72, no. 3 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i3.3490.
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The Tower of Babel narrative is profoundly connected to the history of South Africa and its interpretation in the Dutch Reformed Church document entitled Human Relations and the South African Scene in the Light of Scripture (1976), which was used to justify apartheid. In this article, it is argued that this understanding of the narrative is due to racist framing that morally justified the larger apartheid narrative. The Tower of Babel narrative was later reframed for liberation and reconciliation by Desmond Tutu. However, apartheid had an impact not only on the sociopolitical dynamics of South Africa. Submissions to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by business and labour highlight the impact of apartheid on the economy and specifically black labour. These revelations are responsible for new questions regarding the economics of the narrative that arise and may enrich the understanding of the Tower of Babel narrative. This focus on the economic aspect of the narrative is also supported by historical research on the Tower of Babel narrative that reveals that the dispersion of the people on the plain of Shinar may refer to the demise of the Sumerian empire, which was among other influences brought about by a labour revolt. In this regard, the narrative is a theological reflection on the demise of an unjust economic system that exploited workers. The purpose of this article is to critically explore this economic justice aspect embedded in the narrative in order to determine whether this reframing of the narrative is plausible. This is particularly important within the post-apartheid context and the increase of economic problems such as unemployment, poverty and economic inequality.
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Thesnaar, Christoffel H. "Seeking feasible reconciliation: A transdisciplinary contextual approach to reconciliation." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 70, no. 2 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v70i2.1364.
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In South Africa scholars in the broad field of practical theology are currently faced with a daunting challenge: to rethink the reconciling role of the institutional church in the light of continued challenges facing reconciliation within post-apartheid and post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) South Africa. This contribution investigates whether the transdisciplinary, region-centred scientific research approach with a focus on the Hölderlin perspective on reconciliation could assist scholars in practical theology to address reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The article proposes a contextual and constructive approach to reconciliation in order to assist South African scholars in the field of practical theology and the institutional church to address the challenges of reconciliation in a post-apartheid and post-TRC society. The contribution confirms that this approach does indeed assist the field of practical theology to contribute to reconciliation without the risk of speaking a language that nobody beyond theology can understand.
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Muller, Retief. "The Awkward Positioning of a Dutch Reformed Missionary in Apartheid South Africa." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 1 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6805.
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The Rev. D. P. (David) Botha was a lifelong apartheid critic and minister in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and later the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Early in his career, he served as a “missionary” in a DRMC congregation in Wynberg, and subsequently in other congregations in the Western Cape, South Africa. During his career, he wrote an important book and engaged in public discourse through contributions in newspapers and other mainstream publications. Focusing on these sources, most of which now form part of his private collection in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Archive, this article traces Botha’s growing agitation regarding the implementation of apartheid policies, in the aftermath of the institution of the 1950 Group Areas Act. Among other things it illuminates the early apartheid-era white view of the other, as experienced and critiqued by this insider-outsider minister with respect to his assessment of general white perceptions of so-called “coloureds” in the Cape Town area. Through specific attention to Botha’s correspondences with A. P. Treurnicht and Beyers Naudé, this article also shows the problematic perspective of a white missionary seeking to alleviate the impact of policy decisions on his church members, while simultaneously buying into the predominant ideology of racial categorisation.
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Plaatjies-Van Huffel, Mary-Anne. "Whose Land Is it anyway? A historical Reflection on the Challenges URCSA Encountered with Land and Property Rights." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 2 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/7359.
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The proposal to amend the Constitution of South Africa 1996 regarding the expropriation of land without compensation has invigorated a robust discourse with regard to the land issue in South Africa. Cognisance should be taken of how the land issue was handled during the apartheid dispensation and the way it has played out in the constitutional democracy dispensation since 1994 in South Africa. This article will attend to issues relating to land in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). URCSA was constituted in 1994 due to a merger of two racially segregated churches, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). The DRMC was constituted through mission endeavours of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) during 1881 to serve so-called coloured members of the DRC. The DRCA was constituted in or about 1910 to serve African members. In order to understand the controversy in URCSA from 1994–2012 with regard to property rights, one has to understand how the colonists and missionaries (and later the apartheid regime) utilised “divide and rule” and supremacy strategies to secure property rights for churches of people from mixed descent and Indian people (the DRMC) and the Reformed Church in Africa [RCA]); while at the same time restricting property rights for churches of members from African descent (the DRCA). This is evident in the way the constitutions of the above-mentioned mission churches were drafted. This article will attend to the following subthemes: property rights of the DRMC challenged by apartheid laws; property rights of the DRCA challenged by apartheid laws; a court case regarding the expropriation of land without compensation; controversy regarding property rights (1998–2012); from litigation to out-of-court settlement on property rights (1998–2012); and lastly out-of-court settlement between the DRC, the DRCA and URCSA.
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Strauss, Piet J. "Johan Heyns and critique in the Dutch Reformed Church against apartheid: The moderator a prophet?" HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 74, no. 3 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v74i3.4965.
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Johan Heyns was the moderator of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1986 to 1990. This church was known as a moral and theological supporter of apartheid until the 1980s. In 1980 Heyns was, for the first time, involved in public critique against the pro-apartheid stance of his church. He took an influential part in writing a new document that criticised apartheid and was accepted by the General Synod of 1986. Heyns was elected as moderator or chairman of this synod. The years from 1986 to 1990 became the busiest of his life. He became the leader in his church’s defence of the new document Church and Society in and beyond South Africa. In order to get back into the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and to stay on in the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, the Dutch Reformed Church decided to depart from its apartheid ways. Heyns’ message on apartheid was shaped by his Reformed approach to life, in which he chose reform as the method for change.
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Fortein, Eugene Andre. "Where have all the Prophets Gone? URCSA 25 years Later: Re-Acquainting with Prophetic Theology in Post-apartheid South Africa." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6226.
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The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) was formed in 1994 as a merger between the former Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA). URCSA, as the bearer of the Belhar Confession, has always stood within the tradition of Prophetic Theology. This article upholds the presuppositions that the prophetic nature of Black Liberation Theology impacted on the reasoning of the authors of various anti-apartheid documents like the theological declarations of the Belydendekring and Alliance of Black Reformed Christians in Southern Africa (ABRECSA), the Kairos Document and Belhar Confession; and with the advent of our democracy, URCSA not only lost her Kairos conscience but parted with Prophetic Theology—hence the title of this paper. Issues like state capture, corruption, the expropriation of land without compensation, poverty, racism, and so forth are all issues plaguing our young democracy and require a clear theological response. This article argues for renewed acquaintance from the church, URCSA, with Prophetic Theology, which will enable the church to not only speak prophetically but to challenge the status quo. Prophetic Theology is much better prepared to engage with the challenges posed in post-apartheid South Africa because it is grounded in a hope that is unprepared to accept the world as it is.
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Coetzee, C. F. C. "Violence in post-apartheid South Africa and the role of church and theology." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 38, no. 2 (2004). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v38i2.433.
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South Africa is known as one of the most violent countries in the world. Since the seventeenth century, violence has been part of our history. Violence also played a significant role during the years of apartheid and the revolutionary struggle against apartheid. It was widely expected that violence would decrease in a post-apartheid democratic South Africa, but on the contrary, violence has increased in most cases. Even the TRC did not succeed in its goal to achieve reconciliation. In this paper it is argued that theology and the church have a great and significant role to play. Churches and church leaders who supported revolutionary violence against the apartheid system on Biblical “grounds”, should confess their unbiblical hermeneutical approach and reject the option of violence. The church also has a calling in the education of young people, the pastoral care of criminals and victims, in proclaiming the true Gospel to the government and in creating an ethos of human rights.
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Strauss, Piet J. "Die Algemene Sinode van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk van 1990 en die Gelofte van 1838." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 55, no. 1 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v55i1.2717.
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The General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church of 1990 and the Covenant of 1838. The Dutch Reformed Church as a church consisting of mainly Afrikaners, was confronted by a new societal dispensation and a new government in South Africa in and after 1994. The trend of the new constitution of 1996, as well as a new public discourse laid the emphasis on the individual and his rights in a society open to all. This discourse implicitly communicated negative tones on actions, activating minority groups for their own separate ideas. As if the General Synod expected this coming challenge, the Synod of 1990 already had a report of its Commission on Doctrine and Actual Affairs on the Dutch Reformed Church, keeping the Day of the Covenant of the Voortrekkers in 1838. This article investigated the stance of this General Synod on this issue with two, seemingly main objectives: an acceptable, grounded reason for people to keep the Day of the Covenant, and a positive link between the Covenant of 1838 and reconciliation in a modern South Africa. The method used was a study of literature and primary sources on these issues. The General Synod of 1990 made two relevant statements in its new environment. In the first place, it decided that individuals should associate with the Covenant on moral grounds and not because they are forced to do so. The core of the Covenant of 1838 was the request that God enable people taking the vow, to win the battle foreseen – the Battle of Blood River – and to promote Christian values for establishing a new Christian society. An issue which is still relevant in South Africa today. That is why the Voortrekkers promised to build a church as the focus point of their forseen society. The second statement of this Synod was that reconciliation as a catchword in the 1990s in Christian South Africa, is part of the promotion of a Christian society. Reconciliation in a biblical perspective remains relevant in South Africa.Contribution: Seen from the approach of this article as a Christian approach, these statements of the General Synod of 1990 help the Dutch Reformed Church as church to fulfil its tasks in Soutern Africa today.
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Baloyi, Elijah M. "A continued racial character of some of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa: Strategic moves evading reconciliation and unity of churches in post-apartheid South Africa." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 74, no. 1 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v74i1.4782.
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The quest for liberation of all South Africans from past racial divides since the inception of democratic government has been prioritised for more than 24 years now. Although this is an ongoing process and some achievements have been made to this end, it is yet evident that the impact of racism and apartheid still influence many lives both in and outside the churches. The Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa (GKSA) is amongst the churches that officially removed the barriers of apartheid to have one united church. The relevant question would be to ask if relatively good progress had been made towards uniting these churches. This article intends to unveil evidence in the form of case studies that reconciliation and unity are still a journey which the members of the mentioned church should embark on. There are members of some congregations under this church who are still held within the culture of separation and hence they make it difficult to unify the church. The foundation for reconciliation had been laid down, but the challenge is now to build unity upon it. Despite some racial signs still visible in some churches, this article concerns itself in looking a place where unity, peace and reconciliation are expected to be at the top of the agenda. The article attempts to propose some strategies towards unity within the GKSA. Practical case studies will be consulted to indicate the existence of the challenge of racism in the GKSA, despite efforts to eradicate it from government and other stakeholders concerned.
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Smit, E. J. "Enkele aspekte met betrekking tot die gereformeerde erediens en kerklied in ’n multikulturele Suid-Afrika." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 44, no. 1 (2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v44i1.139.
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A few aspects regarding the reformed worship service and liturgical song in a multicultural South Africa Worship originates within a specific culture. Because cultures are constantly changing and developing, the church also has to deal with change in its worship services. In postapartheid South Africa, with its variety of cultures, the reformed churches will increasingly have to take cognisance of the realities and issues brought about by its multicultural context. When focusing in this regard on one of the important acts in reformed worship, namely the liturgical song, some fascinating issues present themselves. It shows that the reformed churches in South Africa are indeed facing exceptional challenges. In the liturgical song God affords his church the perfect gift with which these challenges can be met. If handled in the Biblical way, the reality of a multicultural context becomes an opportunity to witness to the world the forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.
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Meiring, P. G. J. "Reforum: A brief but not unimportant chapter in the Dutch Reformed Church’s apartheid saga." Verbum et Ecclesia 42, no. 1 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v42i1.2241.
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In 1985 when storm clouds were gathering over South Africa, and a state of emergency was declared, a group of members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) Family, clergy as well as laity, founded an organisation, Reforum. The two-fold aim of Reforum was to provide a prophetic witness against apartheid, calling the DRC to take leave of its theology of apartheid, and, secondly, to work towards the reunification of the DRC Family. The article researches the original Reforum documents, minutes, reports, conference material and letters, that hitherto laid untouched in the DRC Archive, in Pretoria. The programme of Reforum, especially the national and regional conferences held by the organisation over the 7 years of its existence, is discussed. The initial negative reaction of the DRC officials and synods, as well as the critique from some in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and the DRC in Africa that Reforum was not radical enough in its approach, are recorded. The summation, at the end, is that Reforum did play a significant role, albeit humble and short lived, in the annals of the DRC’s apartheid saga. Relevance: The DRC’s apartheid saga, the story of a church that had over many years lived with apartheid and even provided a theological argument for separate development, eventually came to the point where the DRC not only repented of its past, but declared apartheid and the theology of apartheid a sin and a heresy, continues to fascinate historians, including church historians. For South African Christians, clergy as well as laity, it helps explain their often troubled past, as well as present. The often neglected story of Reforum and the role and contribution of the organisation in this process needs to be recorded. Original research: the author provides original qualitative research, using material that had lain untouched in the DRC Archive for three decades. This may be considered to be a preliminary study. The archival material merits more and deeper attention. It may well provide material for post graduate research.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research is of value for the study of South African general history, South African church history, ecumenical studies, and practical theology.
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De Gruchy, John. "The contest for Reformed identity in South Africa during the church struggle against apartheid." Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif 54, no. 3-4 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.5952/54-3-4-384.
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Strauss, P. J. "Kerk, staat en politieke modelle in ‘Kerk en Samelewing -1990’." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 48, no. 3/4 (1992). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v48i3/4.2458.
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Church, state and political models in ‘Church and Society - 1990’ In this article the author looks into motives and trends surrounding the viewpoints of the document ‘Church and Society - 1990’ with regard to the relationship between both the church and the state and the church and practical political models in South Africa. This document of the 1990 General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church - traditionally labelled as a significant pro-apartheid church - is the sequel to a statement by a previous Synod four years earlier. The main finding is that ‘Church and Society - 1990’ tends to give a Scriptural basis to current political tendencies and thinking in South African government circles.
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Kgatla, Selaelo Thias. "Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Church Unity between former DRMC and DRCA, 1994." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 45, no. 3 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6224.
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Church unity between the former Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA) took place in 1994 under particularly difficult circumstances. South Africa was on the brink of civil war, as the oppressed majority of the country was pressurising the apartheid regime to surrender to their legitimate demands for a democratic dispensation. The regime was relentless and violently resisted any change that would franchise black people. The struggle involved political, social, economic and religious dimensions and many people lost their lives as a result. It was under these circumstances that the DRMC and the DRCA forged ahead with church unity. The most enabling means for survival in the struggle for unity of the two churches was their faith in God as expressed in the Belhar Confession. This article explores the circumstances under which church unification was forged between the two Reformed churches and their eventual unity in 1994, as well as the concrete steps they took in their ritual of unification.
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Palm, Selina. "Always reforming? Nurturing a church for human rights in South Africa." STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal 4, no. 1 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2018.v4n1.a15.
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This article explores the post-apartheid call to South African churches to play an ongoing theological role in the shared task of building a human rights culture for all. It seeks a counter-hegemonic human rights praxis that emphasises the lack of a human rights culture and turns to the early insights of German Reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann on human rights realisation. This points to an important task for local congregations today. It places this in conversation with current South African empirical realities to argue for a theological disruption of the power-laden imagery underpinning much human rights abuse. It concludes that a liberating Trinitarian praxis for human rights can shape a transformational ecclesiology that speaks to concerns raised by South African church youth within a local church today with a history of struggle involvement. Their voices offer a challenge to churches to be “always reforming” on human rights concerns.
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Du Plessis, Amanda L. "The ministry of hope at grassroots level in a post-apartheid South Africa." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 47, no. 1 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v47i1.715.
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In this article the the ministry of hope to women without hope are investigated in the South African context of hope and reconciliation. Since apartheid ended 19 years ago, a democratic policy has been followed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was assigned the task to lead the population of South Africa to hope and reconciliation. The question may truly be asked whether the current picture could be that of a healed country. On the one hand, a large part of the population demonstrates a negative attitude regarding future expectations of South Africa; on the other hand, there are people at grassroots level who strive daily to bring about reconciliation in society by trying to make life easier for others. Utilising the available resources, which are minimal, the women called Mamas Africa are examples of people who serve the hopeless with hope every day. The central theoretical argument is that the Mamas Africa phenomenon has the potential of bringing hope, should it branch out widely. The concept of Mamas Africa refers to women from all races who promote mutual commitment based on their faith, and also make a difference in the South African society. In this article, an empirical investigation was made into the motivation behind the Mamas Africa phenomenon in the first place. Secondly, a normative investigation was conducted into the theology of hope from the perspective of reformed theology; and finally, pragmatic guidelines have been provided for the ministry of hope to the hopeless in the South African society.In hierdie artikel word die bediening van hoop en versoening aan oënskynlik hooplose vroue ondersoek in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks van hoop en versoening. Dit is reeds 19 jaar sedert apartheid afgeskaf is en ’n demokratiese beleid in Suid-Afrika gevolg word. Die Waarheids- en Versoeningskommissie (WVK) is getaak om die bevolking van Suid-Afrika na hoop en versoening te lei. Dit wil egter voorkom asof die bevolking van Suid-Afrika tans verder van rekonsiliasie is as direk na 1994. Die vraag kan tereg gevra word of dit ’n beeld is van ’n land wat genesing beleef. Ondanks die staking van die WVK se werksaamhede en die oorwegend negatiewe ingesteldheid van ’n groot deel van die bevolking rakende die toekomsverwagtinge in Suid-Afrika, is daar diegene op grondvlak wat elke dag daarna streef om versoening in die samelewing te bewerkstellig deur die lewe van ander te probeer vergemaklik. Die vroue genaamd ‘Mamas Afrika’ is voorbeelde van diegene wat, met die minimum hulpbronne tot hulle beskikking, daagliks die hooploses met hoop bedien. Die konsep Mamas Afrika verwys na vroue van alle rasse wat hulle, as uitvloeisel van hulle geloof en vertroue in God, beywer tot onderlinge versoening. Die vraag wat hier ter sprake is, is die volgende: Wat is die relevansie van die Christelike hoop en versoening as dryfveer vir morele aksie in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing se groei na versoening en nasiewording soos toegepas deur die Mamas Afrika?
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Punt, Jeremy. "Using the Bible in post-apartheid South Africa: Its influence and impact amidst the gay debate." HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 62, no. 3 (2006). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v62i3.381.
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The Bible has generated a significant reception history in the first decade of democratic, post-apartheid South Africa. Its reception history testifies to how the Bible was considered to be important across a broad spectrum of society, also contributing to believers’ lives and sense of self amidst the enormous changes in the country. Recent documents and decisions of the Dutch Reformed Church on homosexuality and the ensuing debates, highlight the influence and impact of Bible use in South Africa today. Examining different hermeneutical approaches to the Bible and using insights from reception theory, a number of interesting trends in the ongoing use and influence of the Bible are highlighted and discussed.
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Vorster, J. M. "Die eise aan die gereformeerde prediking in die teenswoordige kultuur van verandering." In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi 26, no. 4 (1992). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v26i4.1429.
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Modern culture has been defined as a culture of change. In South Africa the present process of change across the broad spectrum of modern life is evident. This reality poses new challenges for Reformed preaching. In this article the major aspects of the new challenges are analysed from a futurological and sociological point of view. Attention is paid to changes in moral standards, secularization, the emancipation of Christian faith in the post-apartheid era, the loss in function and authority of the Church and the decline in ecclesiastical commitment of Christians. The severe influence of the cybernetic revolution and future shock is also discussed with reference to their effect on Christian faith and Reformed preaching.
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Headley, Selena, and Sandiswa L. Kobe. "Christian activism and the fallists: What about reconciliation?" HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 73, no. 3 (2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i3.4722.
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This article aims to understand what role Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement, and the Soweto Uprising, played in Christian activism between the early 1970s and late 1980s. The question is: did the Black Consciousness Movement and the Soweto Uprising influence Christian activists to engage differently with notions such as reconciliation during the struggle against apartheid? The article revisits the actions and thinking of Christian activists before 1994 to understand some of their views on reconciliation, but most importantly, to understand their interactions, engagement with the Black Consciousness Movement and the Soweto Uprising. The article focuses on some of the church leaders and liberation theologians who were inspired and encouraged by Black Consciousness movements, including Allan Boesak and Desmond Tutu. To revisit their thinking and actions, in the heart of the struggle against apartheid, may help us understand current struggles on reconciliation, particularly in connection with the new generation of activists known as the Fallists. We may discover that the new generation is opening ‘old or new’ debates around reconciliation in South Africa.
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Modise, Leepo J. "Language as a barrier to ministry of the Word with special reference to sign language in ministry: Human dignity perspective." Verbum et Ecclesia 37, no. 1 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v37i1.1596.
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This article is born out of my participation in the General Synod Ministerial Formation for theological training of Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), when a decision was taken to license a student with a disability to be a minister of the Word in URCSA. Furthermore, my experience and observation of the licensing of the two candidates with hearing impairments to the ministry of the Word and Sacrament in URCSA and Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRCSA) has encouraged me to conduct this research. This article is made up of four important parts: Firstly, the researcher will discuss Belhar Confession as the confession that emphasises unity (inclusivity), reconciliation and justice. Secondly, Belhar Confession and disability from the human dignity perspective will be discussed. Thirdly, the ecclesiological practices and shortcomings from the human dignity perspective will be highlighted. Fourthly, pastoral care as the affirmation of human dignity will be discussed.Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The fields involved in this article are Systematic Theology, Sociology and Psychology. The author challenges classification of people with a disability under the category of limited competence by the Dutch Reformed Church when they license the ministerial candidates. The future results will reveal the inclusivity in terms of licensing and calling of ministers in the Dutch Reformed Church Family. This research calls for the change in the traditional discourse within ecclesiological, sociological and psychological fields, which exclude the people with a disability from the ministry of the Word and Sacraments.
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Mlambo, Ntandoyenkosi. "Church Land Reform through a Combination of Examples and Theology of Spatial Justice." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 46, no. 2 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/6817.
Full textAbstract:
Land was one of the ways the colonialist venture as well as the apartheid regime used to divide people, as well as being a catalyst for superiority. Over hundreds of years, from the beginning of colonial rule until the end of apartheid in 1994, the indigenous people of South Africa were dispossessed from the land. With the end of the Truth and Reconciliation proceedings, it was clear from suggested actions that there should be restitution in South Africa to begin to correct the spatial and resultant economic imbalances. Churches in South Africa embarked on setting declarations on land reform ecumenically and within their own walls. However, little information is available on final reform measures that churches have taken after several ecumenical meetings in the 1990s. Additionally, there is little development in South African theology circles on a theology of land justice. Moreover, a praxis on land justice for churches has not been openly developed or discussed post-1994. This study aims to look at the history of the land issue in South Africa, particularly from 1948–1994, and will include the history of land ownership in the Roman Catholic tradition. In addition, it will look at examples of land reform in the Roman Catholic Church from 1999 until the present in the Diocese of Mariannhill. Furthermore, the article will consider the emerging praxis of spatial justice based on a hermeneutic view taken from black liberation and contextual theology. The article concludes with a look at how these examples and new praxis can develop the ecumenical church’s quest for a prophetic voice and actions in land South African land reform.