The Belhar Confession in its historical context

Authors

  • Mary-Anne Plaatjies-van Huffel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5952/55-1-2-527

Keywords:

Apartheid, Belhar Confession, Belydende Kring (BK), Holy Communion, Status confessionis

Abstract

In this article I work with the presupposition that the time has arrived that the Belhar Confession should be detached from being a document utilized for advocacy perusal only. The Belhar Confession should rather be interrogated as a historical document in the true sense of the word. This will be helpful in construing the Belhar Confession as a discursive instrument in the discourse on social justice issues both local and global. The article is divided into four parts. In the first part the focus is largely on the socio political context of SA during 1960-1990. In the second part the influence of the ecumenical movement on the discourse on social justice is being attended to. Thirdly I attend to the drafting of the Belhar Confession and lastly attention will be given to the reception of the Belhar Confession (1982-1990).

Downloads

Published

2014-09-26

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 1&2 (2014)

Section

Articles | Artikels

License

Copyright of all NGTT material belongs to the Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust (PDWN Trust). The PDWN Trust is a trust fund established in 1932 with the aim of promoting quality theological research and publications.

The PDWN Trust pledges to maintain a legitimate scholarly record of the author's work and to defend the author's article against plagiarism and copyright infringement.

The PDWN Trust is committed to full Open Source publishing. This means that all articles published in NGTT will gradually be made freely available online. Authors maintain the right to:

  • Share and self-archive their work.
  • Make printed copies of their article for educational use.
  • Present their article at a meeting or conference and distribute printed copies of the article
  • Adapt and expand their published journal article to make it suitable for their thesis or dissertation.
  • Republish the article (ensuring that the original article is cited as published in NGTT).

For any questions or queries in this regard, please contact the Editor.