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The Legacy of Abraham Kuyper and Its Impact on the Theology and Ecclesial Identity of the Urcsa: a Church Historical Overview

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The Legacy of Abraham Kuyper and Its Impact on the Theology and Ecclesial Identity of the Urcsa: a Church Historical Overview THE LEGACY OF ABRAHAM KUYPER AND ITS IMPACT ON THE THEOLOGY AND ECCLESIAL IDENTITY OF THE URCSA: A CHURCH HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Leslie van Rooi Introduction: Kuyper and URCSA The influence of the work of Abraham Kuyper on the South Afri- can branch of the reformed churches and specifically on the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) is well known and indeed well documented.1 This is clearly indicated in this volume by Ernst Conradie. The different spheres of impact of Kuyperianism on theology in South(ern) Africa should, in my view, not be underestimated. As the title of this contri- bution indicates, I will focus on the impact of Kuyper on the theology and ecclesial identity of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). In this regard, special attention will be given to the histories of the former Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA), specifically mention- ing the impact on the anti-apartheid struggle as it played out in these churches in relation to Kuyper’s understanding of justice. In my view, Kuyper’s influence is not only limited to the church struggle against the theological sanctioning of apartheid; his influence is evident on a much broader theological scale—also in the post-apartheid con- text. Even with respect to the post-apartheid context in South Africa, Botman relates the apparent longing for “the fleshpots of Egypt” of “some of us” to a sermon by Kuyper “about the golden calf and its meaning to the postexodus community.”2 With this, Botman points out that a comparison between the theology of Kuyper and the current South African theological ethos can indeed be made. 1 See in this regard J. Kinghorn, “Vormende faktore,” in Die NG Kerk en apartheid, ed. J. Kinghorn (Johannesburg: Macmillan, 1986), 47–68 and H. S. Heyns, “Die in- vloed van Abraham Kuyper se kerkbegrip op die ekklesiologiese denke binne die NG Kerk—’n Dogmatiese studie” (doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch University, 1990). 2 H. R. Botman, “Is Blood Thicker Than Justice? The Legacy of Abraham Kuyper for Southern Africa,” in Religion, Pluralism and Public Life: Abraham Kuyper’s Legacy for the Twenty-First Century, ed. L. E. Lugo (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 342. 236 leslie van rooi The impact of Kuyper’s thinking is documented especially in rela- tion to the racial issues as it played out in South Africa and specifi- cally in relation to the theological sanctioning of apartheid. So direct was Kuyper’s influence on the theology and theo logical thinking of the DRC that Adonis notes that “[i]n the course of time, two ‘Cal- vinist’ tendencies arose in the DRC, namely the evangelical group led by Andrew Murray, and the neo-Calvinist followers of Abraham Kuyper.”3 Theological debates in South Africa still rage until this very day over the question whether Kuyper’s work was correctly inter preted or not. Be that as it may, it is clear that, as Johann Kinghorn notes, his influence on apartheid thinking is definite.4 In this regard, Bot- man points out that Kuyper’s main influence was in the provision of a theological foundation “that undergirded the core value of Afrikaner Calvinists.”5 It is in this regard that his relation to apartheid theology is usually discussed. By contrast, the impact of Kuyper’s views on the theology and eccle- sial identity of the churches that today constitute the URCSA is not that well documented. This does not mean that Kuyper’s influence was not felt in the ranks of the DRMC and the DRCA—the churches that today constitute the URCSA—or that his influence is not apparent in the theology of the URCSA. This essay will investigate the impact of Kuyper’s theology on the former DRMC and the DRCA. I will focus on the major tenets of Kuyper’s influence on the theology of these churches. This will be explored through the work of two historical South African theological movements, namely the Alliance of Black Reformed Christians in South Africa (ABRECSA) and the Confessing Circle (Belydende Kring). To this will be added the contributions of 3 See J. C. Adonis: “During this period a ‘struggle’ developed between these two groups within the DRC. .” “The Role of Abraham Kuyper in South Africa: A Criti- cal Historical Evaluation,” in Kuyper Reconsidered: Aspects of his Life and Work, ed. C. van der Kooi and J. de Bruijn (Amsterdam: VU Uitgeverij, 1999), 266. 4 Kinghorn, “Vormende faktore,” 62. 5 Botman, “Is Blood Thicker Than Justice?” 348. See also his comment on p. 354: “The real Kuyper was both these things: a praiseworthy Reformed theologian who, regrettably, held to the potentially oppressive core value of separateness. When Kuyper’s ideas gained ground in South Africa, his thinking had a formative influ- ence on the racial influence of the Dutch Reformed Church. Though he was not the root cause of apartheid, once he became involved, the core value of separateness that undergirds apartheid somehow fed on his theological constructs. Subsequently, the coexistence of the dominant Afrikaner value of separateness with Kuyperianism took the DRC beyond a mere missiological justification of racial separation to a theological defence of the value of racial separateness.”.
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