Systematic Theology
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Browsing Systematic Theology by Subject "Calvinism -- South Africa"
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Item Open Access Teen die hele wereld vry: J.D. Vorster as 'n neo-calvinis in die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk 1935-1980(University of the Free State, 2004-05) Langner, Daniël Johannes; Strauss, P. J.English: The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) was in the twentieth century a key player in South Africa. Not only on ecclesiastical grounds, but in the South African society the DRC has exercised great influence. During this time J.D. Vorster was as a neo-calvinist and Boere-nasionalist, a prominent church leader in the DRC. He was for 26 years a member of the moderamen of the Cape synod. From it he was 22 years Actuarius and 4 years Moderator. He served 16 years on the moderamen of the General assembly from the DRC. In 1962 and 1966 he was elected as Actuarius, in 1970 as moderator and in 1974 as deputy chairman of the General assembly. J.D. Vorster played a key role in the writing of a new church order for the DRC in 1962. The same church order is being used today. From today’s perspective, yesterday is in many ways a diffrent and unknown land. To understand the new paradigmshift in the DRC and South African society in full one must study the old paradigm. The ministry of J.D. Vorster as an angle of incidence give a new perspective on already known history. The hypothesis in this study is that J.D. Vorster has been playing an important role to establish a distinctive neo-calvinism as an extensive school of thought in the DRC and Afrikaner community. The interaction of calvinism, neo-calvinism an Afrikanernationalism with the threatening of black nationalism and Britsh imperialism for the Afrikaner identity, language, economical well being, safety and freedom has lead to a distictive neo-calvinism in the DRC, which can be characterise as Boere-calvinism. J.D. Vorster called it Boere-nationalism, distictive calvinsm, South African calvinism. According to J.D. Vorster the biggest characteristic of Boere-calvinism is that God has planted the Boer nation as Christians in South Africa with an own unique identity. On the surface calvinism, neo-calvinism and Boere-calvinism are the same. The big diffrence between neo-calvism an Boere-calvinism is the role of Afrikanernationalism in the futher development of the kuyperian antithesis between right and wrong, Christian and non-Christian in the society. As exponents of the the kuyperian neo-calvinism, the members of the Afrikaans reformed churches intpreted Kuyper’s antithesis on such a way that all the (good) Afrikaners stood on the same side of the antithesis. Church leaders as J.S. Gericke, A.P Treurnicht, J.D. Vorster and F.J.M. Potgieter have take the lead after the Cottesloe-churchcouncil to defend and justify apartheid in an abstract dogmatical language as a Biblical principle. The defenders of apartheid were blind for the social injustice and immorality of the system. In time apartheid has embraced the whole Afrikaner community with social, geographical and also religious apartheid. Warning voices were ignored and discredited as liberal and disloyal Afrikaners. The consequence was that the Boere-calvinism developed in time in an ideological school of thought.