Die "kritiese stem" teen apartheidsteologie in die Ned Geref Kerk (1905-1974): 'n Analise van die bydraes van Ben Marais en Beyers Naud�
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Date
2010
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The problem investigated in this study centres around two theological trends in the Dutch Reformed
Church (henceforth DRC) during the period 1905-1974, namely, on the one hand, the theology of
apartheid (resulting in Ras, volk en nasie en volkereverhoudinge in die lig van die Skrif(1974)), and
on the other, the so-called "critical voice" in the DRC represented in the work of Ben J Marais and
CF Beyers Naud�.
The emphasis is on this period because it was during this period when the theological train of
thought - which was initially dominant in the DRC - was repressed by a theological trend that
played a significant role in die development and establishment of the theology of apartheid.
In order to identify the different points of difference between the two trends, the emphasis is
initially on the development and establishment of a philosophy of apartheid on the one hand and the critical voices against a theology of apartheid as represented by Marais and Naud�. The first part deals with the development in the theology of apartheid. In this first part the emphasis is on the role played by the DRC in the development of the theology of apartheid. The research will show how pragmatic / contextual factors initially played a role in the development of apartheidrelated thinking and how this thinking became theologically and ideologically legitimised in the next phase. The emphasis will fall on the role played by socio-economic and cultural political circumstances at the onset of the development of pragmatic thinking pertaining to apartheid. Subsequently the emphasis is on the next phase in the development of the theology of apartheid when apartheid was justified dogmatically/ ideologically and from the Scriptures. In this part of the thesis the emphasis is on the roles played by particular theological trends played within the DRC resulting in a shift in theological thought. The reception of these theological trends in the 1920s and 1930s within the DRC will also be examined and will show how they were eventually merged into a reformed orthodoxy, which would replace the evangelical reformed trend as the dominant one in the church. The role played by this reformed orthodoxy in the development of a theology of apartheid in the DRC will also be analysed. In the latter part of this chapter the merging ofthe pragmatic and dogmatic thinking within the DRC will be discussed. The result of this merger is set out in the DRC's Ras, volk en nasie en volkereverhoudinge in die lig van die Skrif published in 1974. Since this policy document provides a systematic summation of the theology of apartheid as it developed between 1905 and 1974, this document will form the basis of an investigation into the development and establishment of a theology of apartheid. This part of the study is essential because it provides the specific context in which the critical voice against apartheid could function. This research deals in particular with the major points of difference between apartheid thinking in the DRC on the one hand and the critical voice against it. A complete analysis of the critical voice against the theology of apartheid within the DRC is undertaken and since this research focuses on a specific form of criticism, it is necessary to look at the origin and development of that voice. The researcher will indicate to what extent this critical voice had its origin in the Old and New Testament and how it continued throughout the history of the church and was later identified in several sectors of South African society - namely in the political, economical and church sectors. The critical voice within the ecumenical movements in South Africa, the voices within the DRC
family and in particular the critical voice against apartheid within the DRC will form the gist of this investigation. Other researchers have identified critical voices within the ranks of the DRC, but the emphasis in this doctoral thesis is on the criticism already expressed earlier on by Ben Marais and Beyers Naud�. The question that arises from this relates to the differences and similarities in the thinking of the
apartheid theologians and the critical voices of Marais and Naud�. What makes this problematic is the fact that the parties have so much in common. During their childhoods they grew up with the same Afrikaner values of religion, culture and politics; they receive their primary and secondary education in Afrikaner schools that affirmed these values. They studied at the same university (the University of Stellenbosch) where their theological thinking was shaped in the same cultural, political and religious climate. In the School of Theology they were exposed to the same teachers and theological trends. This issue will be examined in Chapters 4 and 5 where these mutual influences will be examined
respectively in the case of Marais (Chapter 4) and Naud� (Chapter 5). Their years of serving in the DRC will also be analysed. In the final instance Marais' position as professor will also be scrutinised, whereas Naud�'s role in the ecumenical movement will also be looked at. The question that needs to be clarified is: How did these two figures, who represent the critical voice of reason, consciously or unconsciously, comprehend the differences in opinion between them and that of the theology of apartheid within the DRC? In the next chapter the major difference between the critical voice of Marais and Naud� respectively and that of the apartheid theologians will be identified and analysed. The documented analysis regarding the pragmaticI contextual and theological/ideological legitimising of apartheid in the DRC, the critical voice against apartheid, as well as the criticism of Marais and Naud� against apartheid thinking in the DRC will be examined in order to identify and describe such difference. A hermeneutic approach will be used to identify and analyse the differences between the two groups
and to be in conjunction with theologians in the DRC. In this part of the investigation the following differences of opinion between the apartheid theologians and the critical voices of Marais and Naud� will be discussed: � The presence or absence of a historical and hermeneutic awareness; � The presence or absence of a hermeneutics of suspicion; � The different ways in which an analysis of the changing social context was made; � The differences in the selection of texts from the Scriptures used to contemplate the Christian message within their specific contexts; � The influence of the different theological traditions and the views of those concerned on the different stances taken; � The role of "interpretation" as the integration of all these variables. To summarise: Firstly, an analysis of the development of pragmatic and dogmatic ideas and practices of racial apartheid (Chapter 2). Secondly, an analysis of the critical voice - its origin, the role played by it within the Christian tradition and in particular that of Ben J Marais and C F Beyers Naud� within the DRC (Chapters 3-5). Thirdly, the results of this analysis are used to identify and describe hermeneutically the differences between the apartheid thinkers and the critical voices of the anti-apartheid thinkers exemplified by the criticism of Marais and Naud�.
Description
Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Keywords
Apartheid, Ben Marais, Beyers Naud�, Critique, Dutch Reformed Church, Ecumenism, Neo-Calvinism, Ras, Volk en Nasie (1974), Social justice, Theology of apartheid