Sphere sovereignty and irreducibility: The ambiguous use of Abraham Kuyper’s ideas during the time of apartheid in South Africa.
The purpose of this article is to highlight the notion that the concept of sphere sovereignty as postulated by Abraham Kuyper was used in an ambiguous if not invidious manner in the history of South Africa, specifically during the time of apartheid. On the one hand, it is associated with the justifi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
South African Publ.
2015
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| In: |
Koers
Year: 2015, Volume: 80, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-8 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CG Christianity and Politics KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBN Sub-Saharan Africa KDD Protestant Church NBE Anthropology |
| Further subjects: | B
Apartheid
B Irreducibility B sphere sovereignty B Sfeersoewereiniteit B Abraham Kuyper B Swart Teologie B Black Theology B Onreduseerbaarheid |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The purpose of this article is to highlight the notion that the concept of sphere sovereignty as postulated by Abraham Kuyper was used in an ambiguous if not invidious manner in the history of South Africa, specifically during the time of apartheid. On the one hand, it is associated with the justification of apartheid, which is particularly evident in the document Human relations and the South African scene in the light of Scripture (1976). On the other hand, it is also associated with Black Liberation Theology, specifically by Alan Boesak, who resisted apartheid. The problem is that both these perspectives reduce the complexity of reality to race. According to Kuyper sphere sovereignty meant that no aspect of reality could be an absolute point of departure to structure the whole and each aspect is sovereign in its own domain. Thus, race or any other aspect cannot be the norm to structure reality. The unity and the structure of creation are located in God as creator of all reality. It is precisely this irreducible perspective of Kuyper that can be beneficial for post-apartheid South Africa because it views reality as a complex connectivity. |
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| ISSN: | 2304-8557 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Koers
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.19108/KOERS.80.1.2208 |