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When A Theological Shift Changed a Nation

A Kuyperian Analysis of Church and Society 1990, and a Way Forward for South Africa

by Mark R. Kreitzer (Author)
©2024 Monographs XVIII, 336 Pages

Summary

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

Table Of Contents


Details

Pages
XVIII, 336
Publication Year
2024
ISBN (PDF)
9781433197345
ISBN (ePUB)
9781433197352
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433197338
DOI
10.3726/b22212
Language
English
Publication date
2024 (October)
Keywords
Apartheid Theology Reformed Theology Kuyperian Theology Neo-Kuyperian Theology World Council of Churches Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa Niederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk Reformed social theology covenant theology paradigm shift in theology New South Africa Post-New South Africa
Published
New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2024. XVIII, 336 pp., 2 b/w tables.

Biographical notes

Mark R. Kreitzer (Author)

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).

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Title: When A Theological Shift Changed a Nation