South Africa is the focus of world attention because of its racial and political upheavals. However, few people are aware of the crucial role South African Protestantism has played. Awake! therefore now takes a hard look at the intriguing religious issues that lurk behind the headlines.

South Africa’s Religious Dilemma

By Awake! correspondent in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA is an eminently religious country. Church attendances are high. The Bible is available in all of South Africa’s major languages and is read in many homes. Yet, the land has become the scene of racial conflict and violence. You may wonder: ‘Why have the churches been unable to foster Christian love and unity?’

The dilemma grows if you examine recent history. This is because it becomes distressingly clear that religion actually shares a great responsibility for this country’s conflicts. In order to understand why, consider how South Africa’s religious situation developed.

In 1652 Dutch Protestants first established a permanent settlement on the southern tip of Africa. Their descendants today speak Afrikaans, a language developed from Dutch. In time, the Dutch churches split into a number of reformed churches, the largest of which is the Dutch Reformed, or DR, Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk). Over a third of the nation’s white population are members of the DR Church.

English settlers also streamed to South Africa. Many were Anglicans, who later split into the so-called High Church and Low Church. Others were Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. Similarly, German settlers introduced the Lutheran Church. South Africa thus became a Protestant stronghold, resulting in the conversion of millions of blacks. Today, 77 percent of South Africans claim to be Christian​—less than 10 percent of whom are Catholics.

South African Protestantism, though, continues to splinter. Many whites have left mainstream churches and have joined born-again movements. Likewise, many blacks have established an African brand of professed Christianity. “There may be as many as 4000 such independent churches in South Africa alone,” reports the magazine Leadership.

The traditional Protestant churches face another dilemma. As their flocks dwindle, so does financial support. To make matters worse, those who remain are deeply divided over their church’s preoccupation with racial issues. While some members demand that their church support radical measures to end apartheid, others demand that their church sanction apartheid. Between these extremes, members are divided as to the extent to which their church should go in promoting integration and racial equality.

“I resent being told that I must go and hold hands with people I don’t know and pretend to feel brotherly love for people who are not my kind,” said one Anglican regarding arrangements for an interracial service. Many white Anglicans also resent the political meddling of their black archbishop, Desmond Tutu.

A report by South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council thus warned that religion “often plays a divisive and destructive role” with “the unthinkable prospect of followers of the same religious tradition facing one another from opposing camps.” Indeed, as we will see, South African Protestantism has played a strong role in igniting racial animosities.

Protestantism and Apartheid

AN ARTICLE in the South African Digest reported that DR (Dutch Reformed) Church “buildings, church services, and membership have been declared open to all, regardless of race or colour.”

For decades the DR Church stood for total segregation of races. What brought about this historic change adopted at an October 1986 meeting of church leaders?

Perhaps it would surprise many people to know that in the last century whites, black slaves, and those of mixed European and African ancestry all belonged to one DR Church. In 1857, however, a church synod bowed to mounting racial animosities and stated that services for people of mixed race could be held in separate buildings. The Bible did not encourage such a decision, admitted the synod, but the decision was made “as a result of the weakness of some.” This led, in 1881, to the establishment of a separate denomination for people of mixed race, which was called the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk, or DR Mission Church.

Little did those church leaders realize what they had started. Soon separate denominations were also established for blacks and Indians. Attendance in many DR churches was reserved for whites only. What had once been viewed as a “weakness” became rigid church policy. Blacks were sometimes turned away from the funeral services of their own white employers. Such humiliation stirred resentment among black church members.

“Apartheid . . . a Church Policy”

In 1937 the FC (Federal Council of DR Churches) requested the government to pass a law forbidding whites to marry people of mixed race. The government refused. In 1939 the FC repeated this request, at the same time also asking that whites be given separate residential areas, schools, and universities. Several delegations of clergymen approached the government about this. In 1942 the Federal Mission Council of DR Churches wrote the government: “The Church wants to see that this principle of racial apartheid is strictly enforced in the future.”

Then, in 1948 the white National Party was elected to power, promising to work for the legislation of apartheid policies. New apartheid laws soon followed. After the election, Die Kerkbode, the official DR Church magazine, proudly stated: “As [a] Church we have . . . always deliberately aimed at the separation of these two population groups. In this regard apartheid can rightfully be called a church policy.”

A Bible Teaching?

Until then, church appeals for apartheid were based mainly on tradition. In 1948 the Transvaal Synod even admitted they had not made a “conscious claim to being bound by Bible principles.” A new approach, though, now gathered momentum​—the presentation of apartheid as a Bible teaching.

In 1974 the General Synod of the DR Church published a report entitled Ras, Volk en Nasie en Volkereverhoudinge in die lig van die Skrif (Human Relations and the South African Scene in the Light of Scripture). “In [it] the theology of apartheid found its classical expression,” states Dr. Johann Kinghorn, editor of the book Die NG Kerk en Apartheid (The DR Church and Apartheid). Dwelling at length upon the account of the division of mankind at Babel, the report stated: “A political system based on the . . . separate development of various population groups can be justified from the Bible.” The report also commented on Jesus’ request that his followers “be perfected into one.” (John 17:23) Such unity, the report claimed, “need not be revealed in one institution.”

A “Credibility Crisis”

South African Protestantism has become the target of much criticism. In 1982 the World Alliance of Reformed Churches met in Ottawa, Canada, and declared apartheid theology a “heresy.” South Africa’s DR Church was suspended from membership. In addition, the South African government itself placed pressure on the churches by scrapping some apartheid laws, including the one forbidding so-called mixed marriages.

How have the churches responded? Some DR Church ministers have also become openly critical of apartheid. In the book Apartheid Is a Heresy, DR Church theologian Professor David Bosch states: “The Afrikaans Reformed Churches have only to return to their roots to discover that what they now cherish is nothing but a heresy.”

But what effect has such backtracking had on church members? Observes DR Church theologian Professor Bernard Combrink: “Some members do not hesitate to speak about the credibility crisis in the church, in the light of the fact that a certain standpoint or policy has been advanced as Scriptural for many years, and now ‘suddenly’ other standpoints are being advanced as in agreement with Scripture.”

Indeed, the “credibility crisis” in the DR Church reached a climax in October 1986 when its general synod accepted a resolution about apartheid that stated in part: “The conviction has grown that enforced segregation and the separation of peoples cannot be deduced as a prescription of the Bible. The attempt to justify such a prescription from the Bible must be acknowledged as erroneous and repudiated.”

This rejection of apartheid theology has caused mixed reactions among whites. Many feel that the DR Church synod has not gone far enough, since it is unwilling to unite as one body with its black reformed churches. Yet, others feel that the church has gone too far and so are withholding financial support from it. On Saturday, June 27, 1987, 2,000 DR Church dissidents met in Pretoria. By a majority vote, they formed a new church for whites only called the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk (Afrikaans Protestant Church).

While Dutch Protestantism took the lead in establishing apartheid, the English-speaking South African churches have publicly condemned the controversial policy. Yet, two white ministers, Methodist and Congregationalist, admit that life in the English-speaking churches still “reflects racial division and discrimination which is sometimes as consistent and intense as that which is to be found in the Afrikaans Reformed Churches.”​—Apartheid Is a Heresy.

What has been the reaction of black church members? While white theologians have hotly debated apartheid, prominent black theologians have been forming some views of their own.

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Catholics Also Divided

In September 1986 a meeting of Catholic clergymen in South Africa passed a resolution concerning ending apartheid. Reports The Cape Times: “Roman Catholic priests countrywide formally gave their support to the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference for its stand supporting economic pressure on South Africa.”

When such views were aired earlier in the year at Masses held in Johannesburg, however, a number of Catholics walked out of church. As one man left with his family, he shouted objections to the priest and was applauded by most of the congregation. Significantly, a number of South African Catholics have formed an organization opposed to political involvement by the Catholic clergy.

The Rise of Black Theology

“Christianity has become identified by many blacks with apartheid.”​—From The Church Struggle in South Africa, by Congregationalist minister J. de Gruchy

DISILLUSIONED by the South African brand of Protestantism, many blacks have turned to something new​—black theology, which attempts to relate the Bible to their situation.

“The term ‘black,’” explains Louise Kretzschmar in The Voice of Black Theology in South Africa, “can be understood in two ways. Firstly, it refers to all those previously called ‘non-whites’ or ‘non-Europeans,’ i.e. Africans, Coloureds and Indians. . . . Secondly, ‘blackness’ is taken to be synonymous with ‘the oppressed people in South Africa.’”

Black theology thus stresses that blacks should be treated with the same dignity as whites because blacks too were created in God’s image. Among its prominent themes are the liberation of Israel from Egypt and the sufferings of Jesus. ‘God is on the side of the oppressed’ is its rallying cry.

A United Approach?

Exponents of black theology are scattered among South Africa’s many churches, and debates rage among them. Some, for example, admire communistic ideology and analyze it in their writings. Others reject Marxism. Nor do all agree as to the extent to which the white community should share in this new style of “Christianity.”

When critics of black theology argue that it promotes black nationalism in the same way that apartheid theology promotes white nationalism, Dr. Allan Boesak, a leading exponent of black theology, replies: “Christian faith transcends all ideologies and all nationalistic ideals.”

However, a minister of the Congregational Church, Bonganjalo Goba, retorts: “I disagree with Allan Boesak.” It is inescapable, Goba claims, that black theology “will reflect the ideological interests of the black community. If it doesn’t it ceases to be Black Theology.” Adds the Lutheran bishop Dr. Buthelezi: “It is the same message of the Bible which inspired the spirit of the Afrikaner . . . which is motivating us to sing the song of Black Theology.”

Used as a Weapon

“Black theology,” states Itumeleng Mosala, a Methodist minister and lecturer in black theology, “has served its purpose well as a weapon of criticism against white theology and the white society.” By voicing such criticism, black theologians hope that young blacks will stay in their churches. Many have left to protest the way they see “Christianity” being practiced in the churches.

Others go further and use black theology as a weapon for political change. Admits Takatso Mofokeng, a minister of the black DR Church in Africa and lecturer in black theology: “Black Theology continues to be a useful instrument for the continuously evolving struggle for liberation.”

An example of this is The Kairos Document, signed by 156 South African theologians. It calls upon church members “to eliminate the oppression, remove the tyrants from power and establish a just government.” The theologians declare: “We believe that God is at work in our world, turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that his ‘Kingdom may come’ and his ‘Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ . . . The conflict and the struggle will have to intensify in the months and years ahead because there is no other way to remove the injustice and oppression.”

Is this, however, what the Bible teaches? Will God’s Kingdom come through political revolution? Does the fact that Protestantism has proved to be a source of dissension in South Africa mean that Christianity itself is a failure?

True Christianity Unites All Races!

IN 1982 a black South African prisoner named Mnguni was serving his fourth prison term for involvement in terrorist activities. The authorities had granted him permission to write home for some books. When these arrived, he found among them one that he had not requested. It was entitled The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

What Mnguni read had a powerful effect upon him. “I had believed my terrorist activities were a divinely inspired cause. ‘God is on the side of the oppressed’ was one of our slogans. I was a Lutheran, and not once did my church condemn or discourage me from my acts. Instead, they would attack the government for its actions against me. An organization of churches even helped me and my ‘comrades’ obtain legal representation.

“The Truth book made me realize that my actions were contrary to God’s Word. It used the Bible to show that no government exists without God’s permission and that all true Christians should submit to the authorities.” (Matthew 5:44; 1 John 3:10-12; Romans 13:1-7) Mnguni quit his terrorist activities and after his release from prison began serving as a minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Tens of thousands of South Africans​—black and white—​have similarly accepted the genuine Christianity taught in the Bible. Unlike Protestantism, which has proved to be a divisive force, true Christianity unites people of all races. How?

The Kingdom Message

“My kingdom,” explained Jesus Christ, “is no part of this world.” (John 18:36) Genuine Christianity centers upon the Kingdom that Christ taught. It is not connected with any political forces of this world, for it is a superhuman government that rules from heaven. Soon, according to the Bible, “it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms” of earthly political rule.​—Daniel 2:44; Luke 21:7-33.

No, this Kingdom is not, as one exponent of black theology recently alleged, an unrealistic pie-in-the-sky dream. The reality of this Kingdom can be seen in that over 3,400,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide​—over 40,000 in South Africa alone—​have declared themselves to be loyal subjects of it. They prove themselves loyal Kingdom subjects by carrying out Jesus’ command: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”​—Matthew 24:14.

The Bible-based Kingdom message proclaimed by Jehovah’s Witnesses has attracted thousands of South Africans. They have thus been able to rise above the racial and political turmoil and enjoy something unique in South Africa​—racial harmony. Gert, a former member of the DR Church, discovered this. He explains: “Among Jehovah’s Witnesses, there is no discrimination because of race or language​—hence, their worldwide unity. How wonderful to know that ‘God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.’”​—Acts 10:34, 35.

Recently, the South African government agreed to modify another apartheid law by opening some residential areas to people of all races. Meanwhile, existing regulations require that people of different races live apart, and Jehovah’s Witnesses comply with such laws. Nevertheless, the law does not prevent them from working together and doing good to one another. Thus, Witnesses of different races generously share their time and resources in the building of their places of worship, called Kingdom Halls.

During the past six years, thousands of Witnesses, blacks and whites, have also volunteered their labors in the construction of large new facilities on the outskirts of Krugersdorp, South Africa. After enjoying a lunch with this interracial work force, the manager of a firm that installed specialized equipment said: “They should bring the United Nations here to see how it is done.” Hundreds of Witnesses now use these facilities to translate and produce Bible literature.

Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Africa also worship together in large conventions. To see thousands of Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Afrikaans, English, and other South Africans streaming into one united organization is unique​—striking proof that Christianity is very much alive in South Africa today! (John 13:35; 17:23) It adds to the evidence that we are living in what the Bible terms “the final part of the days.”​—Isaiah 2:2-4.

Indeed, ours is a marked generation that will soon experience the end of all strife and conflict. And what will follow? An earthly paradise into which righteous ones of all nations will survive as citizens of one government​—the Kingdom of God.​—Psalm 37:10, 11; Revelation 7:9, 14.

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In South Africa, Jehovah’s Witnesses of all races often gather together in large conventions

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The racial harmony among Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Africa attracts many to the Kingdom message