Masters Degrees (History)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (History) by Subject "Apartheid policy"

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    Historiese perspektiewe op die verhouding tussen die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk van Suid-Afrika en apartheid, 1980-1990
    (University of the Free State, 2012-10-19) Van der Merwe, Barend Jacobus; Oelofse, M. M.
    English: The human faith in God is an influential practice which also influences the material and political choices of humans. Religion provides large numbers of people with a basic justification for their lives and can also have a determining influence on the way in which communities put themselves in order as a whole. Believers, and for the purpose of this study specifically Christians, want to experience that their faith practically influence the world in which they live and that it brings hope to mankind. For this reason differences in political views bring along divergent interpretations of the will of God for mankind. The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC, i.e. the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, NGK) of South Africa is a very old and influential church. Although the DRC historically has a special tie with the white Afrikaans-speaking people of South Africa, it was especially during the 20th century that the DRC developed into a national church which provided a theological justification for the apartheid policy of the National Party (NP) and which also maintained the process of apartheid by the development of separate churches for separate races. Especially during the 1980s the DRC experienced enormous pressure from overseas, as well as nationally, to reform. Activism against the apartheid policy took on various forms. Criticism against the theology of the DRC was an important way in which to force the DRC, as well as the government to review the apartheid policy. Although the process took a long time, the 1980s was characterised by the extensive transformation of the apartheid policy in the political arena which caused division among white Afrikaners and the schism of the NP with the establishment of the Conservative Party (CP). In 1986 the DRC, by accepting the policy document Church and Society, decided that the apartheid policy did not rest with any worthy theological appeal. The Church however refused to declare the apartheid policy to be a sin, and therefore contrary to the will of God. Large numbers of Christians across the world did however view the apartheid policy in that light. The refusal of the DRC to take similar steps caused it to still be regarded by numerous observers as a reactionary force in the South African society. The decision of the DRC to abolish the theological justification of the apartheid policy was directly responsible for the establishment of the Afrikaans Protestant Church (APC, i.e. the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk, APK) in 1987. The division in the DRC regarding the resolutions of 1986 however continued as these resolutions paved the way for white and black South Africans to associate with each other in a radical way which for many years had not been possible in South Africa. Consequently the social and political sovereignty of the white Afrikaners, as well as the power balance in South Africa, were threatened. This caused important leaders in the DRC to challenge the 1986 resolutions of the Church. Although die DRC gradually adapted to the changes in the country, several theologians and enlightened leaders within the DRC took the lead in the debate. On synodal level influential decisions were taken by the DRC during the 1980s, but the fact that the DRC church family in general and the DRC in particular could not succeed in becoming one church as had been the case historically, reflects negatively on the Church and restrains the Church in becoming a real force for reconciliation and integration in South Africa. A study of the above-mentioned not only provides insights into the transition from a minority government in South Africa to a democracy, but also into the complex interaction between the DRC and the former NP government.