This book is an impassioned apology for the Belhar Confession (BC). The BC was drafted by the so-called Dutch Reformed Missionary Church (DRMC, ‘Coloured Church’) in 1982. The DRMC is a daughter church of the (mainly ‘white’) Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa, and the BC was a confessional reaction to the policy of Apartheid. This ideology formed a master narrative according to which South Africa was organised politically by the Nationalist Party. The DRC also shaped itself according to this doctrine, establishing separate daughter churches along racial lines. In the Apartheid era, the DRC was facetiously referred to as ‘The National Party in Prayer’, because it supplied a theological rationale for Apartheid.
Belhar is a suburb of Cape Town which was earmarked according to the Native Urban Areas Act of 1955 for ‘coloureds’. This is where the DRMC held its synod in 1982. In 1986 the BC was adopted as a fourth confession (in addition to the Heidelberg Catechism, the Dutch Confession of Faith and the Canons of Dordt).
The title of the book is derived from Karl Barth's KD, III/4, where it is stated ‘Confession is bound to neither calendar nor clock. When its hour comes, it may and must occur.’ The major portion of the book is based upon articles published by the author in various theological journals between 1997 and 2008. In addition, it contains the full text of the BC, as well as a commentary.
The BC is defended along four lines: that it is a reaction against heresy; that it stands in the tradition of Christian confessions; that it has been accepted as such by churches outside of South Africa; and that it is currently still referred to with regard to contemporary issues of unity, reconciliation and justice.
The first part (chapters 1–2) sets the BC in its historical situation. It explains the theological background of Apartheid theology as situated in the Neo-Calvinism of Abraham Kuyper, the missionary thinking of Gustav Warneck, and Scottish Pietism. From these three intellectual streams a theological vision developed which placed inordinate emphasis on the differences between people as God-given, whilst undervaluing the similarities. Mission was viewed as being directed to nations and not individuals. The upliftment and development of people was regarded as functioning optimally in the context of homogeneous groups. This supplied the theological basis for Apartheid in church and society.
The second part (chapters 3–4) argues that Belhar is a ‘true’ confession, measured against the criteria set by Karl Barth, as well as against its links to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 ce. The DRC itself has, to date, failed to adopt this confession. This fact is the main hindrance to organisational unity between the mother and daughter churches. The suspicion exists that the BC is based upon liberation theology, in the sense that a Marxist interpretation of society is clothed in biblical terminology. Article 4 of the BC asserts that God ‘is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor, and the wronged’. This formulation is too sweeping for the taste of many conservatives. They feel that God does not side with the poor if they oppress others, are corrupt, or do not work if they are able. Others argue that the tendency of Belhar to declare organisational unity to be the will of God is, again, an unbalanced viewpoint. Finally, it is maintained by conservatives that the BC is more a ‘declaration’ (like that of Barmen in 1934) than a true confession. All these issues are addressed in the second part of the book.
The third part (chapters 5–6) traces the reception and acceptance of Belhar in churches outside of the DRC, for example the Evangelical Reformed Church in Africa, the United Protestant Church in Belgium, and the Reformed Church of America.
That Belhar has contemporary significance is argued fervidly in the fourth part of the book. Issues of gender, the full acceptance of gays, marginalisation of people living with HIV/AIDS, the interfaith movement, colonialism, globalisation and global warming can be fruitfully addressed. In a balanced way, the book also refers to nepotism, corruption, human rights’ abuses and black racism not only in South Africa, or in Africa, but globally. The author makes a case in principle for what he calls ‘restorative and distributive justice’ (financial reparation to the victims of Apartheid) in South Africa. However, he falls short of proposing a practical implementation of such a policy.
The book has a wealth of information in its footnotes and bibliography for anyone interested in how Apartheid came about, how it was legitimised by some churches, and eventually its demise, and the development of a new vision of unity, reconciliation and justice. It challenges all Christians to explore how diversity can be utilised as a strength and not as an excuse for institutionalised exclusion.
