Mission driven by fear and despair: The case of Kranspoort - the first Dutch Reformed Church mission station outside the Cape Colony

This article surveys the Dutch Reformed Church Mission Policy and the close collaboration of mission and politics. The 1948 Nationalist Party election victory brought about a host of laws designed to bring total control and dominance over black people’s lives and their destiny. The Dutch Reformed Ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kgatla, Selaelo Thias ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Stellenbosch University [2016]
In: Stellenbosch theological journal
Year: 2015, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 471-490
IxTheo Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
KDD Protestant Church
Further subjects:B Apartheid
B Resistance
B Separateness
B Squatters
B Military Force
B mission policy
B forced removals
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Description
Summary:This article surveys the Dutch Reformed Church Mission Policy and the close collaboration of mission and politics. The 1948 Nationalist Party election victory brought about a host of laws designed to bring total control and dominance over black people’s lives and their destiny. The Dutch Reformed Church was drawn into the government agenda to the extent that they lost their prophetic voice. The use of government instruments such as the forced removal of ‘excess’ and unwanted people from white farms was employed by the church. Black Christians that held a different political view were declared “no longer Christians” and forcefully removed from the mission stations. The pious outlook of mission did not help the church to realise that its social and political interests were against the love of Christ and thus the love of the neighbour.
ISSN:2413-9467
Contains:Enthalten in: Stellenbosch theological journal
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.17570/stj.2015.v1n2.a22