scholarly journals Politieke mag, die Ou Testament en kerkeenheid

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-372
Author(s):  
J.H. Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The Past ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The Family ◽  
Reformed Churches

Political power, the Old Testament and church unity The  family  of Dutch  Reformed  Churches  in  South  Africa  are  involved  in tense  discussions  on  church  unity.  One  aspect  which  must  be  discussed thoroughly  is  the  legitimation  of  political  "power.  Not  only  in  the past but also  the present Mandela government  is  religiously supported.  It  is argued that  this a dangerous  venture.  Some  examples from  the Old Testament are used to  illustrate  this point.  It  is  stated that Israel became disillusioned  in political power and therefore reformulated royal theology.

scholarly journals Is there any hope for church unity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sipho Mahokoto
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The Past ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Context ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Split ◽  
The Church

his article gives some perspectives on the causes of the Reformed Churches split since the time of reformation and how these divisions impacts on church unity discussions today. Since reformation, church divisions took place in various forms and discussions about church reunification became a focal point in the reformed world. These splits amongst reformed churches seem to have caused traumatic stress and inflicted deep wounds that are very difficult to heal in full, especially in the context of South Africa. This article briefly looks at some causes of split in the reformed world by paying attention to the work of Lukas Vischer and also by sketching some few causes of church split within the Dutch Reformed family of churches in the South African context. This article does not really pay attention to an in-depth discussion on church unity, rather, it places the interest on issues of church divisions which impact negatively on the true unity of the church. A question can be asked: can we really hope for a genuine unity of the church given the history of these splits? Put it differently: Is there any hope for an authentic church unity amongst reformed churches locally and globally? The article argues that the history of these divisions makes it very hard if not impossible to hope for an authentic church unity, given the currently lived experiences of divisions, the irreconcilability of people and the unhealed wounds inflicted in the past. For an authentic church unity to be achieved and lived positively, the article suggests that injustices of the past needs to be addressed, especially between the Dutch Reformed family of churches.

scholarly journals Raakpunte in die ontwikkeling van ekumene in die wêreld met ekumeniese ontwikkelinge in die gereformeerde kerke in Suid-Afrika (1990–2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolph Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
The Past ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The World ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Minimal Importance

Points of communality in the development of ecumenism worldwide with reformed churches in South Africa (1990–2020)This historic-critical study analyses the development of ecumenism from 1990 to 2020 within the traditional Afrikaans speaking reformed churches in South Africa. The study attempts to determine whether the so-called change or shift in ecumenism within reformed churches and ecumenical bodies worldwide, influenced the theology and practice of ecumenism in Afrikaans-speaking churches in South Africa (1990 to 2020). Afrikaans-speaking reformed churches not only face political and social challenges in South Africa, but also face other major challenges brought about by a postmodern society and theological developments from 1990 to 2020. The development of ecumenism in reformed churches in the world, as described by Plaatjies-Van Huffel (2011:1–11) consists of a shift from conciliar ecumenism to transformative receptive ecumenism. In the past 30 years conciliar ecumenism took its stance in absolute certainties derived from a specific viewpoint on Scripture. Conciliar ecumenism partially failed because some reformed churches excluded other reformed churches from church unity, based on a particular interpretation of Scripture. These exclusions were claimed to be based upon the “authority” derived from Scripture. This ecumenical practice did not lead to significant church unity. The transformative receptive ecumenism, on the other hand, tends to reach out to the marginalised people of God, and not only try to transform the unrighteousness in the lives of people, but also tends to learn from and accommodate the needy in the understanding of ecumenism. If the developments in worldwide ecumenism influenced ecumenical thought among reformed Afrikaans-speaking churches, the question arises: to what extent was transformative receptive ecumenism able to contribute to a better understanding of ecumenism and church unity – especially in the development of an African transformative receptive ecumenism. Also, if a shift in ecumenical practise took place, does that mean that the conciliar ecumenism of the past was of minimal importance? Is a new understanding of ecumenism (as in transformative receptive ecumenism) the alpha and omega of ecumenism in theory and practice? Shouldn’t transformative receptive ecumenism be further discussed by all churches in South Africa and the world to bring forth an ecumenical model that suits the South African situation as part of worldwide ecumenism?This chapter attempts to understand recent developments and issues within the reformed ecumenical societies and agencies in the world, after which the Afrikaans-speaking historic-reformed churches will be viewed in terms of the understanding of their calling to ecumenism. The developments and issues in the reformed world will be compared with the latest developments and issues within the Afrikaans-speaking reformed churches. A conclusion based on a comparison between ecumenism in the world and in South Africa will be drawn before some remarks on the future of ecumenical understanding concludes this study.

scholarly journals Kerkhistoriese oorsig van die diskoers oor rasseverhoudinge en versoening in die Afrikaanse gereformeerde kerke (1990–2017)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Race Relations ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The World ◽  
Reformed Churches

A church-historical analysis of the discourse on race relations and reconciliation in the Afrikaans reformed churches (1990–2017)The Afrikaans Reformed Churches, namely the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk of Africa (NHKA) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA) made choices regarding the theological justification of apartheid and/or the denouncement thereof. in the past three decades. This chapter offers a close reading of synodical decisions of the Afrikaans Reformed churches with regard to the theological justification of apartheid and related issues as well as the resolutions of the General Assembly of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1992. The decisions of the said churches led to the re-admission of the NHKA and DRC in national and international ecumenical organisations, but eventually resulted in some schisms in the denominations. The chapter highlights the reluctance of the Afrikaans reformed churches to expedite a response to the World Alliance of Reformed Churches’ resolutions connected to the biblical justification of apartheid and to attend to reconciliation. In this chapter, attention will be paid to the following sub-themes: the struggle against the theological justification of apartheid and its legacy; from the theological justification of apartheid to a season of human dignity (DRC); from “volkskerk” to identity determined by God (NHKA); the protection of the identity of the “volk” as a God-given call to demographic unity (GKSA); jointly together towards a theology of inclusivity.

scholarly journals De kerk slopen of renoveren? De vrijmaking van de plaatselijke kerken bij de oprichting (1906) en de doorstart (1909) van de Gereformeerde Bond

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
H. Van den Belt
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Local Congregations ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Deep Crisis ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Soon after the start in 1906 the ‘The Reformed League for the Liberation of the Dutch Reformed Churches,’ experienced a deep crisis. By 1909 the League, however, remade itself under the name ‘The Reformed League for the Promotion and Defence of Truth in the Dutch Reformed Church,’ a change often interpreted as a conscious shift away from the Doleantie and Abraham Kuyper’s ecclesiology. This article argues that in 1909 the Reformed League only renounced the appeal to political power for the liberation of the churches, an appeal that Kuyper was unhappy with. During its formative period the ecclesiology of the Reformed League emphasized the local congregations as the true confessional church, an emphasis that made its position within the Dutch Reformed Church vulnerable

scholarly journals Die bydrae en relevansie van die Ou-Testamentiese wetenskapsbeoefening in die Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (1869-1994)

1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. F. Van Rooy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Theological Seminary ◽  
Teaching Programme ◽  
Reformed Churches

Since the inception of the Theological Seminary at Burgersdorp in 1869 the study of the Old Testament was part of the teaching programme in the Seminary. It was also one of the areas in which professors at the seminary, ministers and other members of these churches did postgraduate work and published books and scholarly articles. One of the first ministers of these churches who received a doctorate at the Free University of Amsterdam, was dr. P.C. Snyman, an Old Testament scholar who wrote a thesis on the prophecies of Zephaniah. This article focuses on the teaching of the Old Testament at the Seminary, theses on the Old Testament and related disciplines, and research as reflected in books and articles written by lecturers and students at the Seminar}’. The teaching programme at the Semi­nary of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) was initially greatly influenced by developments in this regard in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. The theses and research of Old Testa­ment scholarship in the GKSA reflect a conservative, reformed tra­dition in general.

scholarly journals From three congregations to one autonomous church: The Swaziland Reformed Church

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnau Van Wyngaard
Keyword(s):  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
First Time ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article covers the time from 1985 to 1992 in the history of the Swaziland Reformed Church (SRC). In 1985, for the first time in its existence, the SRC had four missionaries working in the four districts of the country. At this stage the SRC formed a presbytery within the synodical region of the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA) of Northern Transvaal. In 1989 – at its own request – this church became a regional synod within the DRCA. However, not long thereafter, in 1992, it was forced to become an independent Reformed church, even though it still remained part of the family of Dutch Reformed churches. Making use of original documents, this article records this history of the SRC.

Religion or Culture? Change among the Papuans in the Upper-Digul Area, 1956–1967

Itinerario ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-90
Author(s):  
Gerrit R. de Graaf
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
One Year ◽  
Religious Landscape

In August 1958, Meeuwis Drost (1923-86) was the first missionary for the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (Vrijgemaakt), or Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) to start proselytising among the Papuans of the Upper-Digul area in Netherlands New Guinea. He later recalled how that day: “I simply started with Genesis one. And they listened!” Drost finished teaching the entire Old Testament within one year. To start at the beginning seems logical and is in fact the approach used by most missionaries of the Liberated churches. Transfer of religious and cultural knowledge was seen as an important aspect of their work, especially with an illiterate audience. The Protestant religious landscape in the Netherlands had fragmented heavily during the nineteenth century. Two secessions from the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834 and 1886 led to the formation of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in 1892. Its tendency to depose those who refused to adhere to its theological views resulted in the Vrijmaking (Liberation) in 1944. Although the Liberated churches were one of many Protestant branches, they were very secure in their own theological views. Consisting of exclusive political, religious, educational and even recreational organisations they formed a mini-pillar in Dutch society.

New species and new records of Nycteribiidae from the Ethiopian, Oriental and Pacific Regions

Parasitology ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oskar Theodor
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
East Africa ◽  
New Records ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Family ◽  
Bismarck Archipelago

The present paper deals with material examined since the revision of the family (Theodor, 1967) was sent to the press. Material was sent by Mr F. R. Allison from Ghana, by Dr D. Minter, Mr T, S Jones and Mr J. C. Cunningham from East Africa and by Dr F. Zumpt from South Africa and other localities in Africa. The material collected by the Noona Dan Expedition to the Bismarck Archipelago and the Philippines (1961, 1962) was examined. The collection of Nycteribiidae in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Genoa was examined and several new species were found among the material. The types of Stylidia euxesta Speiser in the collection proved different from the species considered as 8. euxesta in the past and to consist of two species. The types of S. euxesta are redescribed.

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