SOUTH AFRICAN Archbishop Desmond Tutu Registered at the GPO as a newspaper OUTLOOK OCTOBER 1986 R1,50 SOUTH AFRICAN Outlook on the Month ounooKISSN 0038 2523 ARCHBISHOP Vol117 No 1384 Editor Francis Wilson Assistant Editors Glyn Hewson DESMOND TUTU Michael King Jeanelle de Gruchy Together with thousands of his friends in this country and around the world, we wel­ Sarah-Anne Raynham come with joy and anticipation the appointment of Desmond Tutu as Archbishop of Review Editor Peter Moll Cape Town. Secretary Ruth Samuels At the same time we are saddened by the dismay, nay anger, with which his ap­ pointment has been greeted by some business leaders, by the government and by SATV which gave derisory coverage to his enthronement. It is worth noting in this regard that TV viewers in Australia were regaled with full coverage of the event; probably South African Anglicans saw less on TV of their own Archbishop than did Christians in most of the Western world. Why then the rancour from business and government? One possibility is that he is black, filling a post held hitherto only by whites. We should not forget that iust a OCTOBER 1986 century ago the Anglican Church was the official church of the Cape Colony (much i like the Church of England whose bishops are still appointed by Margaret Thatcher) until this legislation was removed from the statute books in the 1870s. Yet this alone OUTLOOK ON THE MONTH 106 fails to explain the brouhaha. The Methodist Church, the Congregational Church, the Bantu Presbyterian Church and other churches had black leaders years ago. ENTHRONEMENT CHARGE 107 Desmond Mpilo Tutu We believe that the real reason for the stir runs deeper. Desmond Tutu’s under­ standing of the Gospel and of the Church’s mission is fundamentally different to that THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE of his critics. The Gospel to him has a prophetic ring. He preaches a God who KAIROS DOCUMENT 110 breaks the fetters of injustice, who sets the downtrodden free (Luke 4:17), who says Jim Cochrane have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given SUMMARY heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings” THE KAIROS DOCUMENT (Exodus 3:7). To Archbishop Tutu, justice precedes “reconciliation” . To at least EVANGELICAL WITNESS 112 some of his critics it appears to be the reverse: they would like to see some kind of “peace”, some kind of “reconciliation”, but not necessarily with the justice that BOOK REVIEWS makes it possible and undergirds it. It is the difference between wanting pacification within an unjust status quo and wanting genuine peace by removing the injustice. CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS UNDER RENEWED ATTACK 113 It is therefore appropriate that in this issue of SA Outlook we publish both selec­ tions from the Archbishop’s Enthronement Charge and a fine essay by Jim Cochrane TOWARDS A PEOPLES CULTURE 116 on the significance of the Kairos Document. The Kairos signatories insist that “in our situation in South Africa today it would be totally unchristian to plead for recon­ ciliation and peace before the present injustices have been removed. Any such plea South African Outlook is an Independent plays into the hands of the oppressor by trying to persuade those of us who are op­ Journal dealing with ecumenical and racial af­ pressed to accept our oppression and to become reconciled to the intolerable fairs which, un-interruptedly since 1870, has crimes that are committed against us. That is not Christian reconciliation, it is sin. It sought to place its readers in possession of is asking us to become accomplices in our own oppression.” facts and opinion which bear upon the lives of all the people of the sub-continent. Without Just because Archbishop Tutu is a Nobel Peace Prize winner does not mean that allegiance to any political party, but according he is obliged to seek peace at any price. That would imply acquiescence in the gov­ to what it believes to be Christian standards, it ernment’s definition of peace which amounts to “law and order" — unjust law and seeks to give information and comment on oppressive order. measures suggested either for the regulation or the advancement of any section of the popu­ Accordingly Archbishop Tutu prods South Africans, especially white South Afri­ lation, by whomsoever proposed. cans, to penitence. It is because of the Gospel that he calls for the dismantling of apartheid. It is because he is inspired by Christ the Prince of Peace that he disturbs The editorial board welcomes articles, letters, people by pressing for justice — knowing that the way to arrive at peace is to work and criticism. All correspondence, including orders for subscriptions, should be addressed for justice. to the Editor, South African Outlook, PO Box The government and sections of the business community have been scandalized 245 Rondebosch 7700. by his politics, especially by his call for sanctions. These disagreements flow directly, Political comment in this issue is written to we believe, from the divergent understandings of the Gospel, peace, and reconcilia­ express the views of South African Outlook by tion mentioned above. As he stresses in his Charge, neither he nor the people and F Wilson, G Hewson, M King, S-A Raynham, J organizations that call for sanctions want them; they want an end to apartheid. If de Gruchy and P Moll, PO Box 245, Ronde­ there were any other viable nonviolent strategy to overcome apartheid he would cer­ bosch 7700. tainly use it. Therefore the onus to end sanctions lies not with the international com­ All Subscriptions include General Sales Tax. munity but with those who practise injustice. Published by Outlook Publications (Pty) Ltd., Archbishop Tutu is a person of great wisdom, prayer, experience and love. The PO Box 245, Rondebosch 7700, Cape and 247 Anglican Church is indeed blessed to have someone like him at the helm at this Lower Main Road, Observatory 7700. Printed by Lovedale Press, PO Lovedaie 5702. time. We wish him and his wife Leah Godspeed in their ministry. Enthronement Charge Desmond Mphilo Tutu Archbishop of Cape Town St. George’s Cathedral Cape Town September 1986 I have recently been reading the book of The Universal rhythm terms, love incarnated in the harsh real­ the Prophet Ezekiel. It struck me how This rhythm is repeated in the New Tes­ ity that forms the normal Sitz in Leben, the prophet starts by describing that ex­ tament. Our Lord having spent nearly the ordinary life setting of so many of traordinary vision of the glory of God thirty years in a hidden life preparing for God’s children. Jesus commands His and then he is overwhelmed by the tran­ His Messianic mission waits until He is disciples to wait in Jeruslem for the gift scendent numinous — following the par­ from on high before they can embark on adigm described so well by Rudolf Otto their mission to be His witnesses in Je­ in his “ Idea of the Holy” — how it is rusalem and unto the ends of the earth. the “mysterium tremendum et fas- cinans” which overwhelms and awes “Our maturity will be No false dichotomies us. It draws us and yet repels us at the For our God, everybody is a somebody. same time. Having been vouchsafed this judged by how well we All life belongs to Him. Because of Him theophany, the prophet falls prostrate. all life is religious. There are no false di­ But God raises him to his feet because are able to agree to chotomies so greatly loved by those es­ He wants to send him to this recalcitrant pecially who are comfortable in this life. house of Israel. He is given the scroll disagree and yet to Consequently if you say you love God written on both sides. He receives the continue to love one whom you have not seen and hate your Word or is imbued with the Spirit, im­ brother whom you had, the Bible does bued with the Spirit not for his self-culti­ another. You are not use delicate language; it does not vation, but for service. say you are guilty of a terminological in­ not expected to agree exactitude. It says bluntly you are a liar. The Spirit is given, the divine is en­ For he who would love God must love countered, for the sake of others. I am with your Archbishop His brother also. And so the divine sure you have noted before that this judgment about our fitness for heaven seemed to be the almost universal on every issue.” will be based not on whether we went to rhythm. Moses encounters the divine at church, whether we prayed or did other the burning bush and he receives his in­ equally important religious things. No, structions to go tell Pharah to “let my Jesus says it will be based on whether people go” . The seventy elders receive anointed by the Holy Spirit at His bap­ we fed the hungry, clothed the naked, a share in the Spirit given to Moses in tism. Mark says this Spirit virtually pro­ etc. because in doing these things to order to assist him in judging the people; pelled Him into the desert to enter the those whom He called the least of His Saul is spirit-filled so that he can be­ fray against the Evil One. Again the Spirit brethren we would have done them as to come king and the Spirit is snatched is not given so that the individual person Himself. Our God, this hidden God is back when he proves disobedient.