The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRC) played a key role in developing apartheid theology, syncretizing Reformed theology with race-based ideology. This paradigm changed rapidly between 1986 and 1990 with the General Synod decision, Church and Society. The result not only purged racist ideas from General Synod decisions supporting apartheid, but also brought a covert reception of the World Council of Churches’ ideologybased theological syncretism. The DRC thus rejected classic Reformational theology, opening the door to a strong movement away from biblical faith.
This volume analyzes this paradigm shift and idenitifies a way forward for a post-New South African social order based on sound covenant theology, to which the DRC once adhered. It proposes an effort to remove the obsolete syncretism with apartheid ideology and to restore a sound Trinitarian, covenantal, and sola scriptura theological foundation for a truly renewed Southern Africa.
Professor Kreitzer brilliantly amplifies the significance of the theological errors which underlie the paradigm shift in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa towards the end of the twentieth century. This work is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand that shift’s devastating consequences for Southern African society as a whole. Kreitzer convincingly shows how a return to a biblical understanding of justice and love is absolutely essential for the peoples of Southern Africa moving forward.
—Adi Schlebusch, PhD, Director of the Pactum Institute and Research Associate at the University of Pretoria
This book makes an original and significant contribution to our insight in the way radical change can happen in a challenging environment when the Christian church adopts different views. The example used is the biggest church denomination among the Afrikaners in South Africa, which altered its stance significantly on apartheid but also on other socialethical concepts. This book is a must read for those who are interested in the interplay of church and society, including the role of the Christian church in shaping society grounded on Biblical presuppositions.
—Henk Stoker, PhD, Professor of Apologetics and Ethics, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
By:
Mark R. Kreitzer
Imprint: Peter Lang Publishing Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 589g
ISBN: 9781433197338
ISBN 10: 1433197332
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 27 September 2024
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword – List of Tables – Acknowledgments – List of Abbreviations – A Bird’s Eye Overview of the Paradigm Shift – A Ground-Level View of the Historical Background – The Trinitarian Principle as Key – The Trinitarian Principle Applied: Reformers and C&S Differ on Ethno-Churches – The Scripture Alone Principle and the DRC – Applying the Scripture Alone Principle to C&S – The Creation Restoration Principle and C&S – The Creation Restoration Principle Applied to C&S – The Covenant Principle and Peopleness in Scripture – Covenant and Peopleness Applied to C&S – Whole Bible Principle: Moses, Law, and Culture – Applying the Whole Bible Principle to C&S – The Whole Bible Principle: C&S and Social Antinomian Tendencies – Summary and a New Way Forward – Bibliography – Index.
Mark R. Kreitzer (BA, MDiv, D Missiology and PhD in Theology of Mission/ICS) was previously Associate Professor at GCU School of Theology in Arizona. He is the author of The Concept of Ethnicity in the Bible: A Theological Analysis (2009).
