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University of Cape Town The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University CHRISTENDOM AT THE CAPE A Critical Examination of the Early Formation of the Dutch Reformed Church Town Jan Hendrik Nieder-Heitmann Cape Thesis presentedof for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Religious Studies, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN UniversityJuly 2007 Supervisor: Professor John W de Gruchy Acknowledgements At the completion ofthis thesis I wish to express my gratitude to: • My dear wife Esther and our three lovely children: Nonnan, Marietjie and Johann, for support, encouragement and sacrifice over an extended period of time; • Professor John de Gruchy, for being willing to take me as one of his last doctoral students; for inspiration and guidance regarding this thesis as well as general theological fonnation as I participated in his group of graduate students; • Friends that have sustained me during trying times to complete this charge; • My sister in law, Allyson, for editing my manuscript painstakingly and untiringly; • My colleagues at the Dutch Reformed Church Vredelust who created the space for me to complete this work by voluntarily taking some of my tasks upon themselves; Town and, above all, • To God, whose providence is undeniably clear behind the story and the diverse parts played by the characters that influencedCape the writing of this thesis. of University CONTENTS Abstract Introduction Part One. Christendom: post-Christian evaluations 10 Chapter 1. Christendom in the context of 20th century Protestant Europe 11 and its colonies: Lesslie Newbigin (with references to Dietrich Bonhoeffer) Chapter 2. Christendom and the New World: North America: 45 Douglas John Hall and the authors of Missional Church Chapter 3. Christendom in the New World: Latin America: 69 Enrique Dussel and Pablo Richard Part Two: The planting of Christendom at the TownCape 103 Chapter 4. Church Privilege 111 Chapter 5. Patronage and Control of CompanyCape and Culture 154 Chapter 6. Church Freedom of 195 Part Three. Conclusion 211 Chapter 7. A proposed model of Christendom 212 Chapter 8. A profile of Christendom at the Cape in retrospect 215 Appendix A. "Rest an peace" and "the extension of the kingdom of God" 235 Appendix B. HarvestingUniversity souls: Approaches to various categories of people 240 Appendix C. The Theron case at Drakensteyn 248 Bibliography 255 List of archival documents from Spoelstra 261 ABSTRACT The pnmary research question of this dissertation is: What \vas the particular form that Christendom took on at the Cape during the formative period of the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) rule and how did it shape the Dutch Reformed Church as established church in this locale? This question was prompted by my hunch that the Dutch Reformed Church at the Capel and in the later South Africa has since VOC rule displayed signs of regarding itself as an important ecclesiastical partner in a Christian establishment. This was evidenced in the development of the Church2 into a quasi-established position (during British rule and thereafter), and the Volkskerk of the Afrikaner people and nationalism. In post-VOC times Christendom at the Cape Colony and in South Africa has also undergone various transformations. The answer to the primary research question can therefore contribute to our understanding of the contemporary character of Christendom in South Africa and the Church. A secondaryTown research question is how the development of Christendom at the Cape can help us understand the phenomenon of Christendom itself. In order to answer these questions I embarkedCape on a critical and comparative study of the concept of Christendom in various contexts andof the position of the church within them - post­ Christian Europe, post-Vatican II Latin America, and post-1960's North America. In the light of this study an archival and theologically critical analysis \\'as made of Christendom at the Cape, mainly from the vantage point of the Dutch Reformed Church. The findings were categorised under three headings: Church privilege; the control of state and culture over Church and gospel; and, the freedom of the Church. The primary researchUniversity question yielded a picture of the Church as inheritor of, and involuntary partner in a Christendom that was the result of a colonial venture of capitalist upper middle class Dutch Reformed merchants. The Church imbibed the habit of being co-opted by the pmvers that be for the sake of material and social benefit and for the sake of promoting its evangelistic, diaconal, and educational charges. In the process it grew accustomed to compromise the integrity of its own faith and order and ultimately its public witness. I The "Cape" refers to the expanding colony at the Cape of Good Hope which was started by the VOC as a replenishment station in 1652. 2 The capitalised "Church" refers to the Dutch Reformed Church, whether in the Netherlands or in the domain of the VOc. such as at the Cape of Good Hope. The secondary research question has led to Christendom being defined as the intricate, dynamic netw·ork of power relationships between the gospeL church, political society, civil society and culture. The question is always: which aspect(s) of Christendom wield(s) power over which other aspects(s). Which bestow(s) privilege on which other(s), \\hich control(s) which other(s), and which aspect(s) struggle(s) to be free from which other(s). It belongs to the nature of Christendom that these power relations can and indeed do change over time - as the form and content of the respective constitutive elements also change. Employing the concept of Christendom is therefore not simply a matter of understanding the elements of Christendom and the ways in which they interrelate, but indeed of understanding the metamorphosis of both elements and the relationships between them. Town Cape of University INTRODUCTION RESEARCH QUESTION The primary research question of this dissertation is: What was the particular form that Christendom took on at the Cape during the formative period of the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) rule and how did it shape the Dutch Reformed Church as established church in this locale? This question was prompted by my hunch that the Dutch Reformed Church at the Capel and in the later South Africa has since VOC rule displayed signs of regarding itself as an important ecclesiastical partner in a Christian establishment. This was evidenced in the development of the Church2 into a quasi-established position (during British rule and thereafter), and the Volkskerk of the Afrikaner people and nationalism. In post-VOC times Christendom at the Cape Colony and in South Africa has also undergone various transformations. Answering the primary research question can contribute to our understandingTown of the historical trajectory of the character of Christendom in South Africa and the Church. A secondary research question is how the development of Christendom at the Cape can help us understand the phenomenon of ChristendomCape theologically. In order to answer these questionsof I have embarked on a critical and comparative study of the concept of Christendom in various contexts and the position of the church within them. In the process I have endeavoured to identify the theological tools that enable us to critically evaluate the character and significance of Christendom at different times and in various localities. This comprises Part One of the dissertation. My methodology is both historical/archival and theological. University CHRISTENDOM Christendom comprises the intricate mutual relations between political society, church, gospel, culture and civil society. From an ecclesiastical perspective, it entails the establishment of the reign of Christ in public life through the use of the coercive power of the state as well as non-coercive cultural and societal powers. Understanding Christendom and the processes of its transformation, as well as the implications thereof for church and society are important theological tasks. To these I The "Cape" refers to the expanding colony at the Cape of Good Hope which was started by the VOC as a replenishment station in 1652. 2 The capitalised "Church" refers to the Dutch Reformed Church, whether in the Netherlands or in the domain of the VOC, such as at the Cape of Good Hope. ends theological and social scientific tools are employed. A fuller definition of Christendom will be given in Chapter 8. FORMING PRESUPPOSITIONS, TOOLS AND QUESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING MY RESEARCH QUESTION Choosing my conversation partners My reading of some of the works of the Gospel and Our Culture Network (GOCN) in North America has convinced me that the legacy of Christendom plays a cardinal role in the present position of the churches and the challenges they are faced with in that part of the world. It is especially Craig Van Gelder who develops the story of the church in the US and Canada in terms of its chequered Christendom heritage. This heritage originated in Europe, was transferred to the New England and French colonies and went through different phases of establishmentTown and disestablishment in the US and Canada respectively. This story of establishment and disestablishment has many obvious parallels
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