Can we still be Reformed? A reflection on the Reformed tradition and South Africa’s modernity

Abstract

This article reflects on the potential of the Reformed tradition in the context ofmodernity in South Africa. This is of course a courageous venture: the meaning of theconcepts “Reformed†and “modernity†are intensely debated and in some quarterseven their usefulness is questioned. This is exactly why the argument presented inthis article will not be much more than a tentative consideration. It will be donein three parts. The first part will examine challenges to being Reformed in SouthAfrica. The second part investigates South Africa’s modernity as a central challengein more detail. The article concludes with a consideration of three impulses from theReformed tradition that may prove helpful in the context of South Africa’s modernity.