scholarly journals Five hundred years on: Some traces of the Reformation in the Church Orders of two South African Reformed Churches – Seen as temporary expressions of the Church Order of the Reformed Synod of Dordrecht in 1619

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet Strauss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
African Churches ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article examines the influence of the Reformation of the 16th century on the Church Orders of two South African Reformed Churches, namely the Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The five so-called solas, namely sola gratia [by grace alone], sola scriptura [by Scripture alone], sola fidei [by faith alone], solus christus [Christ alone] and soli Deo gloria [glory to God alone], are widely accepted as key expressions of the convictions of the Reformation. Although not necessarily in the same terms, the content of the solas are also found in the thought of Calvin. These matters influenced the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) in its acceptance of the Three Formulas of Unity as reformed confessions of faith and its affirmation of the Dordt Church Order. The said South African churches accept the Three Formulas of Unity as confessions of faith and view their church orders as a modern version of the Dordt Church Order – adapted to the demands of the time. This article mainly examines the consequences of sola scriptura and sola fidei on the church orders of the two churches. In terms of these two solas, both have traces of the Reformation after 500 years.

scholarly journals Justice and the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Botha ◽  
Dion A. Forster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
African Society ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Missional Theology ◽  
Framework Document ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article engages with the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) from the perspectives of solidarity with the poor and justice for South African society. The democratic South Africa continues to face significant socio-economic problems and an increasingly dissatisfied population. In the light of this, the article presents an introductory conversation with the Missional Framework Document in order to ask whether it offers an adequate response to South Africa�s current contextual challenges. The lens through which this article will engage the Framework Document is the theological paradigm of justice, specifically the theory of justice presented by Nicholas Wolterstorff as well as some important contributions from contemporary South African scholars who advocate for a theology from the margins of society. It is contended that the DRC remains a predominantly white middle-class church. This social, economic and political location has an impact on the missional theology of the church as expressed in the Framework Document. Hence, we engage with the Missional Theology of the DRC by means of a paradigm that operates from the �underside� or the economic, political and social �margins� of South African society. We argue that any missional theology aimed at furthering God�s Kingdom in South Africa at present must develop in community with the marginalised majority of the nation. The critical engagement with the Framework Document will be done by sketching a theological landscape where current contextual realities are brought into relief against a kairos moment on which the efficacy of this church�s mission, indeed its public work and witness, is being called into question.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This interdisciplinary study in Systematic Theology and Ethics engages the missional theology found in the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church. Methodologically, the research advocates for a contextual engagement with the missional theology proposed by this important document. The outcome of this contextual theological consideration is an invitation for the Church to consider the ethics of justice as an important aspect of their approach to faithful Christian mission in the South African social, economic and political context.

scholarly journals Armoede

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Church Education ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Poverty: A challenge for the Afrikaans reformed churches, 1994-2019This contribution gives an overview of how four of the important reformed churches in South Africa responded to the challenge of poverty from 1994 to 2019. Following an introduction, the first part of the chapter defines poverty and describes the extent of the crisis. It then gives an overview of how the Dutch Reformed Church responded by imbedding compassion into the missional calling of the church. It also describes how early childhood development became the focus of the church in the struggle against poverty. The chapter then describes how the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa was guided in her action by the Belhar Confession. The church integrated the struggle against poverty with the struggle of justice and reconciliation in a post-apartheid South Africa. The focus of the reformed churches in South Africa in addressing poverty was the role of the deacons in the local church. Education is also an important part of their fight against poverty. The Dutch Reformed Church of Africa rose to the challenge by making important structural changes in the church after 1995. This led to the empowerment of deacons in local churches through which the church addressed the poverty of members. The research shows in conclusion how the four churches used different routes to respond to the challenge of poverty in South Africa over the past 25 years.

scholarly journals Die herlewing van sekulêre spiritualiteit in Europa en die implikasie daarvan vir die NG Kerk in Suid-Afrika

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Kok
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
The Church ◽  
Secular Spirituality ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

The revival of secular spirituality in Europe and its implication for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. This article critically reflected on the insights of David Tacey in which he notes that there is currently a revival in post-secular spirituality in the West, but that its deep religious roots are lacking. What would be the implication of these trends for the South African religious landscape where traditional mainstream churches such as the Dutch Reformed Church are shrinking significantly? People often say yes to God, but no to the church. Some in the church may totally renounce God. What lessons could be learned by the South African mainstream churches and theology if these trends in the West were taken into account? In this article a critical literature review (desk research) was done and the study was structured as follows: In the first place, the implication of superdiversity, supermobility and the reality of a post-COVID-19 consciousness was discussed. Next we engaged in research by scholars in which it was shown that our time, at least in the West, is characterised by existential anxiety and uncertainty. Thirdly, we engaged in the insights of David Tacey in which he also argued the fact that the uncertainty of the time in which we live, often causes people to return to spirituality. Finally, the implication of these trends for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa was reflected on.Contribution: This research makes a contribution to the nature and scope of the journal, in that it finds that the rise in secular spirituality, in the context of anxiety and uncertainty in a post-COVID-19 world, provides an opportunity for the Dutch Reformed Church to find meaning and significance.

scholarly journals Ouderlinge met preekvergunning: ‘n Herlewing van Dordtse Kerkorde artikel 8?

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet Strauss
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Elders ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Elders with consent to preach: A revival of Church order of Dordt (DCO) art 8? There seems to be a need for members other than trained ministers to preach in Reformed Churches. This need comes to the fore especially during periods in which traditional academically trained ministers are lacking. The well-known Synod of Dordt (1618–1619) made provision for members with extraordinary (singular) gifts to become ministers of the Word. In this it was continuing a practice in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands of the 16th century. Other reformed churches followed. In the Dutch Reformed Church elders with the necessary abilities who are trained in short spells are nowadays also used to preach the Word. This article investigates the latter in the light of the former and the content of article 8 of the Church order of Dordt (DCO).

scholarly journals 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 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Retief Müller
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Church History ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Christian Nationalism ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

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.

scholarly journals Inclusive Communities: A missional approach to racial inclusivity within the Dutch Reformed Church

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Fourie Rossouw
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Racial Diversity ◽  
White Identity ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Hybrid Identities ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

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.

scholarly journals Christelik-nasionale onderwys in die nuwe Suid-Afrika

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Van der Westhuizen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
New South ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
New Era ◽  
National Education ◽  
Cultural Milieu ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Christian national education in the new South Africa The Dutch Reformed Church of Africa (Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika), as a People’s Church, according to Scripture takes an intense interest in the education of the nation’s youth. According to educational principles, the best school is one in own cultural milieu. The negative reports on multicultural education received from various countries are disquieting for the Church. Consequently, it is necessary to contemplate different options for maintaining Christian national education in a new era.

scholarly journals The Dutch Reformed Church as a prominent established South African church: In transition towards the 21st century

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Kruger ◽  
Johan M. Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Denominational Identity ◽  
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Religious Constructs ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk) is in transition because of the influences of the more recent South African epochs of democratisation, Africanisation and globalisation. The histories of these epochs extend over more than 20 years and have had a significant influence on the church. The Dutch Reformed (DR) Church changed institutionally because its place and influence within society changed considerably as a result of political and social transformation since 1994. The ongoing process of Africanisation that accompanies these transformations brings certain reactions to the bosom of the church via the experiences of its members. Most are Afrikaners being more inclined to westernised social frames of reference. Ironically, these people are more susceptible to the effects of globalisation, especially secularisation, which transposes the religious set-up of the DR Church into an open and individuated system. These developments pose major challenges to the DR Church in the sense that it has to reconsider how it approaches society, what it can contribute to the ecumenical church, why it is necessary to reflect on its denominational identity and what its academic, theological endeavours in these regards entail.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article has an interdisciplinary scope because the multiplicity of the present-day calls for interdisciplinary academic reflection. For the purpose of this article, Church Historiography helps to systemise recent ecclesiastical developments within the DR Church. To clarify the influences of these developments on the DR Church, sociological premises are incorporated to describe them within a broader social context. References to the conducted empirical study serve to explain respondents’ (members of the DR Church) social and religious constructs regarding these ecclesiastical and sociological phenomena.

scholarly journals Verkondiging deur musiek: 'n Aspek van kreatiewe geloofskommunikasie

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsabé Kloppers
Keyword(s):  
Focal Point ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
God's Word ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Music Ministry ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Communicating faith creatively through musicThe question of music ministry has become a focal point in the Dutch Reformed Church. The debate arises primarily from discontent about rigid and uninspired musical practices in the church. These practices are promoted and affirmed by one-sided theological views, according to which the spoken word as God's Word, is over-emphasized, and proclamation through music and other means is denied. In some Reformed churches this one-sidedness led to responses in the form of a music ministry with new one-sided approaches. In this article it is argued that music, singing and other forms of art need to be recognized and promoted as ways of communicating the Gospel on various levels. An encompassing strategy for creative communication of the faith within a more active liturgy needs to be developed. Liturgists need to be well-trained for such an encompassing task.

scholarly journals Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en die Afrikanervolk kerkordelik verwoord

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 447-465
Author(s):  
Piet Strauss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Active Part ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
National Party ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk ◽  
Church And Society ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

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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