The significance of eschatology in the reception of the Belhar confession

Abstract

This article offers a constructive thesis on how the continued relevance of an ecclesial document such as the Belhar Confession can be maintained, given the need to recognise a particular casus confessionis. The Belhar Confession must indeed be understood as ‘a moment of truth’. While the themes of unity, reconciliation and justice have lost none of their relevance, the critique of heresy as expressed in the Confession cannot be reiterated given ideological shifts. Contribution: It is argued that the key to its continued relevance lies in its eschatology, in the tension between the already of the gospel and the not yet of its eschatological vision. On this basis, a brief account of the underlying and often implicit eschatology of the Belhar Confession is offered. It is argued that to endorse the Belhar Confession means to place oneself in a trajectory where this Confession is regarded as a moment where the gospel was at stake and where an appropriate response was expressed in and for that moment. The continuity in this trajectory is not provided by the precise formulations, the context or even the selected themes. It is provided by the gospel itself. It is the tension between the already of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ and through the Spirit and the not yet of the eschatological vision that keeps the trajectory on track and sustains its momentum.