scholarly journals Wie was Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in werklikheid?

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-384
Author(s):  
T.G. Mahne

Murray (1828-1917) was an emissary of God. In the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, where he served as a full time minister for fifty eight years, he was elected Moderator six times. His influence, however, was not limited to the Dutch Reformed Church. Of the two hundred and fifty books (more than 20 000 pages) he wrote, some were translated into more than twenty languages. In spite of his intention not to write theological works, Murray was granted a doctorate degree in Theology by the University of Aberdeen in 1898. He was a man of prayer who published approximately thirty books about prayer. Murray, a mystic and peifectionist, was reared in an extremely legalistic home. As a student he joined the Secor Dabar association which was an offspring of the legalistic Reveil movement in the first half of the nineteenth century. At the age of roundabout 65, Murray was impressed by the writings of William Law (1686-1761), which fitted his mindset like a glove. But who was Andrew Murray actually? Other similar questions concerning his influence in the Dutch Reformed Church are equally important. First and foremost however: Who was this man? Was he possibly a "tossed salad" theologian? Still today we find traces of Murrayism in the Dutch Reformed Church. Fortunately his full-time service of fifty eight years has left behind a positive heritage of Scottish Calvinism.

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsje P. B�chner ◽  
Julian C. M�ller

This article tells the story of the development of the Department of Practical Theology of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria. The story goes back to the start of the Faculty in 1938, although the Department of Practical Theology was only established in 1966 when Professor H.D.A. du Toit applied himself fully to the subject and Professor C.W.H. Boshoff became the first full-time lecturer for Missiology. The article is written mainly from the perspective of the Dutch Reformed Church, but with the acknowledgement of the appointments of Professor Yolanda Dreyer from the Nederduitsch Reformed Church of Africa and Professor Maake Masango from the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippus R. Du Toit

The focus of this article is on the fundamental and practical reasons that led to the establishment of theological training by the Dutch Reformed Church in the northern part of South Africa. The Faculty of Theology (Division B) was eventually established in 1938 at the University of Pretoria - nearly 80 years since the opening of the Theological Seminary in Stellenbosch. Attention is given both to the major role players in Church and Faculty as well as to the developments that inf uenced both Church and Faculty: the Dutch Reformed Church of Transvaal eventually dissolved into four synods; the Faculty of Theology on the other hand united the two Divisions to become one multi-denominational faculty in 2000. Cognisance is taken of the major tensions between faculty and Church during the course of time. Special attention is given to certain accusations regarding theological heresy during the last decade.�


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Johan M. Van der Merwe

The Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria chose oikodome as a Faculty Research Theme (FRT) in 2014. This term refers to life in its fullness. The Dutch Reformed Church, as one of the partners of the Faculty, contributed to life in its fullness through the important role it played in the reconciliation in South Africa since 1986. One of the beacons on this road of reconciliation was the General Synod of 1994. It became known as the ‘Synod of reconciliation’ as a result of the visits of Mr Nelson Mandela, Prof. B.J. Marais and Dr Beyers Naudé, and the important decisions that the meeting took. It was however, not only the visits of these important roleplayers in history which made the meeting a beacon on the road to reconciliation. This chapter shows that it was imbedded in a much larger context of reconciliation in South Africa in which the Dutch Reformed Church played an important role. By participating in the process of reconcilation in the country, the Dutch Reformed Church contributed to oikodome – life in its fullness for all.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Retief Müller

During the first few decades of the 20th century, the Nkhoma mission of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa became involved in an ecumenical venture that was initiated by the Church of Scotland’s Blantyre mission, and the Free Church of Scotland’s Livingstonia mission in central Africa. Geographically sandwiched between these two Scots missions in Nyasaland (presently Malawi) was Nkhoma in the central region of the country. During a period of history when the DRC in South Africa had begun to regressively disengage from ecumenical entanglements in order to focus on its developing discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism, this venture in ecumenism by one of its foreign missions was a remarkable anomaly. Yet, as this article illustrates, the ecumenical project as finalized at a conference in 1924 was characterized by controversy and nearly became derailed as a result of the intransigence of white DRC missionaries on the subject of eating together with black colleagues at a communal table. Negotiations proceeded and somehow ended in church unity despite the DRC’s missionaries’ objection to communal eating. After the merger of the synods of Blantyre, Nkhoma and Livingstonia into the unified CCAP, distinct regional differences remained, long after the colonial missionaries departed. In terms of its theological predisposition, especially on the hierarchy of social relations, the Nkhoma synod remains much more conservative than both of its neighboring synods in the CCAP to the south and north. Race is no longer a matter of division. More recently, it has been gender, and especially the issue of women’s ordination to ministry, which has been affirmed by both Blantyre and Livingstonia, but resisted by the Nkhoma synod. Back in South Africa, these events similarly had an impact on church history and theological debate, but in a completely different direction. As the theology of Afrikaner Christian nationalism and eventually apartheid came into positions of power in the 1940s, the DRC’s Nkhoma mission in Malawi found itself in a position of vulnerability and suspicion. The very fact of its participation in an ecumenical project involving ‘liberal’ Scots in the formation of an indigenous black church was an intolerable digression from the normative separatism that was the hallmark of the DRC under apartheid. Hence, this article focuses on the variegated entanglements of Reformed Church history, mission history, theology and politics in two different 20th-century African contexts, Malawi and South Africa.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Fourie Rossouw

This article dealt with racial diversity in homogenous white Afrikaans faith communities such as the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). This study was partially an account of the researcher’s own discontent with being a minister in the DRC against the backdrop of his own journey of finding a racially integrated identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. It focused on the question of how a church like the DRC can play an intentional role in the formation of racially inclusive communities. The study brought together shifts in missional theology, personal reflections from DRC ministers and contemporary studies on whiteness. The researcher looked towards a missional imaginary as a field map for racial diversity in the church. This was mirrored against contemporary studies on white identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. From this conversation the researcher argued for a creative discovery of hybrid identities within white faith communities. Missional exercises such as listening to the stories of strangers, cross cultural pilgrimages and eating together in strange places can assist congregations on this journey.


1984 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Du Toit

This article discusses the relationship of missionaries and anthropologists in South Africa. Due to such important factors as ethnicity, linguistic group membership, denominationalism, and party political affiliation, it is essential to present historical perspectives on these and related matters. The vocation of missionary is almost exclusively a white enterprise as is that of professional anthropologist. Blacks have however had significant influences in both realms and are today entering these vocations.


Author(s):  
H. G. Van der Westhuizen

Christian national education in the new South Africa The Dutch Reformed Church of Africa (Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika), as a People’s Church, according to Scripture takes an intense interest in the education of the nation’s youth. According to educational principles, the best school is one in own cultural milieu. The negative reports on multicultural education received from various countries are disquieting for the Church. Consequently, it is necessary to contemplate different options for maintaining Christian national education in a new era.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document