13. Ambiguïtés du calvinisme en Afrique du Sud - Ambiguities of Calvinism in South Africa

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En provenance du cours de University of Geneva

Calvin - Histoire et réception d'une Réforme

61 notes

University of Geneva

Calvin - Histoire et réception d'une Réforme

61 notes

Course in French with English subtitles -- Ce cours introduit à la vie et à la pensée du réformateur Jean Calvin (1509-1564) ainsi qu’à son influence sur le monde moderne et contemporain. La démarche proposée se veut critique, il ne s’agit ni de canoniser ni de condamner Calvin, mais de comprendre sa pensée avec toute la distance requise et d’en analyser les enjeux. Au cours de la première semaine, nous explorerons les principales étapes de la vie de Calvin. Les semaines 2 et 3 seront consacrées à l’étude de sa pensée théologique et de son éthique. Enfin, lors des semaines 4 et 5, nous nous interrogerons sur la diffusion du calvinisme dans le monde et la pertinence actuelle de la pensée de Calvin. -- This course is an introduction to the life and thought of the reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) and to his influence on the modern and contemporary world. The approach we develop is critical: we intend neither to canonize nor to condemn Calvin or his thought. Our goal, rather, is to avoid any rash evaluation in order to understand his thought and analyze the issues at stake in it. During five weeks, we will explore together the life and work of the Reformer. During the first week, we will study the main aspects of Calvin’s life. Weeks 2 and 3 will focus on his theology and his ethics. During the last two weeks (weeks 4 and 5), we will ponder how Calvinism became a worldwide phenomenon and ask ourselves what kind of relevance Calvin’s thought may still have today.

À partir de la leçon

La diffusion du calvinisme - The spread of calvinism

Le calvinisme a connu une diffusion internationale très rapide et très variée, d’abord en Europe puis, au fil des siècles, sur tous les continents. Il faut distinguer deux plans de cette diffusion et réception du calvinisme : l’impact des idées de Calvin sur les Églises, sur le christianisme, et l’influence, plus difficile à étudier car plus diffuse, des idées de Calvin ou des idées qui se réclament de Calvin, dans toutes sortes de champs de la réalité humaine (arts, philosophie, culture). L’objectif principal de ce troisième module est d’offrir une large vision de l’héritage calvinien et calviniste à partir de 1564, en Europe et au-delà.</p> <p>Calvinism spread internationally very rapidly and in quite diverse ways, first in Europe and then, in the course of time, on all continents. It is important to distinguish two aspects of this spread: the impact of Calvin's ideas on the Churches, on Christianity, on the one hand, and on the other the more diffuse influence of Calvin's ideas (or of ideas which claim to come from him) in all kinds of areas of our world (the arts, philosophy, culture, and so forth). The main objective of module 3 is to present a broad spectrum of the Calvinist (or Calvinian) legacy, from 1564 onwards, in Europe and beyond.

12. Karl Barth héritier critique de Calvin - Karl Barth as critical heir of Calvin15:00

13. Ambiguïtés du calvinisme en Afrique du Sud - Ambiguities of Calvinism in South Africa12:40

Rencontrer les enseignants

Christophe Chalamet
Professeur de théologie systématique
Faculté de théologie
François Dermange
Professeur d'éthique
Faculté de théologie
Michel Grandjean
Professeur d'histoire du christianisme
Faculté de théologie
Sarah Nicolet
Collaboratrice scientifique
Faculté de théologie

Calvin. History and Reception of a Reformation

Week 4. The Spread of Calvinism Sequence 10. The Ambiguities of Calvinism in South Africa

My name is Henry Mottu. I am emeritus professor at the University of Geneva's Theological Faculty.

My main area of focus is Practical Theology.

Today's sequence is devoted to the ambiguities of Calvinism in South Africa, a a topic both broad and sensitive.

Calvinism in South Africa can be viewed as a paradox: on the one hand, it was used to legitimize apartheid, yet, in the 20th century especially, it also produced a powerful critique of apartheid.

This is the paradox we'll be exploring today. Much of what I'll say is based on the work of the South African theologian John W. de Gruchy, who has studied this question extensively (and is himself a member of the Reformed Church of South Africa).

First, we'll explore the justification of apartheid by the Calvinist Church, the famous Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa.

We will then discuss the Calvinist critique of apartheid that arose mainly in the 20th century.

The term "Afrikaner" refers to the white minority in South Africa whose native tongue is Afrikaans and which has forged an identity over the course of several centuries.

Its history is well-known; I won't go over it in detail.

Everything started with the arrival of Dutch settlers in the Cape, in 1652, whereupon numerous Reformed churches were established.

Among the settlers were also French Huguenots who had fled France following the revoking of the Edict of Nantes.

Sociologically and historically, the important thing is that there were two distinct groups: an urban, more liberal group that remained in and around the Cape, and a second group made up of farmers who moved northward, into the mainland of South Africa to cultivate the land.

The distinction between these groups is very important, because this dichotomy -- urbanized, liberal settlers on the one hand; fundamentalist Calvinist farmers on the other -- continued to shape South African society over the course of many centuries.

The Afrikaans word for farmer is "boer," and the population of free Afrikaner farmers who migrated north from the Cape came to be known as the "free Boers."

And it is this group that fought tooth and nail for segregation over the course of almost four centuries: from 1652 (roughly) to the 1980s and 90s, when apartheid was finally abolished.

Why did the Boers, with the support of the Dutch Reformed Church, want to separate whites and blacks?

For three main reasons.

When the British came to South Africa, towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, conflict broke out between the British and the Boers.

The Boers positioned themselves in opposition to this influx of liberal, English-speaking settlers and defended their unique group identity, which they defined on a threefold basis: a) their language, Afrikaans, which served as a unifying factor;

b) a largely mythical interpretation of their own history, in which they likened their "great trek" towards the north to the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt;

and c) a religious identity articulated around the notions of "chosen people" and "divine mission."

The Boer's Afrikaner identity, their "Afrikanerdom," was thus built on a common language, a mythical history and a religion based essentially on the Old Testament. Afrikanerdom, broadly speaking, can be described as a combination of two parallel identities: Afrikaner and Boer.

The Boers' hermeneutics -- that is, their interpretation of Scripture -- was quite fundamentalist.

Over the course of the centuries, they used a certain number of Biblical passages, such as Genesis 9 (the story of Shem, which they misunderstood or misrepresented), Genesis 10 (the descendance of Noah and the dissemination of the nations), among others,

-- all of which they interpreted literally -- to support their ideology.

Thus they elaborated a hermeneutics to serve their purpose, based on the notion of predestination and on defining themselves as a chosen people -- which implies, of course, that all others are not. This hermeneutics is best described, ultimately, as fraudulently Calvinistic.

This ideology, unfortunately, enjoyed the support of many separatist (at times even racist) theologians, such as the Dutchman Abraham Kuyper (end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th), who was particularly concerned with the geographical distribution of different peoples all over the earth.

For Kuyper, God is sovereign over all peoples, and God assigns to each certain rights and duties. This leads to a specific geographical dissemination of various peoples across the earth.

At the outset, apartheid was not so much an oppressive ideology as one that focused on the distribution, or partitioning, of peoples so as to properly separate them.

Of course, this could only be an illusion. It remains that the Boers based themselves to no small extent on Kuyper's theology.

A quick word on predestination: the Boer ideology rested on an erroneous understanding of predestination.

Indeed, they believed the world to be divided into two groups: whites and blacks, i.e., the elect and the reprobate.

Yet this is a gross oversimplification, a caricature even, of Calvin's doctrine.

Calvin's doctrine is based first and foremost on God's call, on God's election -- on God's summoning of each person to believe and to serve his fellow man.

Calvin's theory of predestination reflects a very active, even activist, interpretation of the Bible and of life, as opposed to the rigid, fixed beliefs of the Afrikaners, for whom everyone's place in society is predetermined and unchangeable.

So that's an overview of the ideology that arose in the mid-17th century and endured until the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century.

Now, let's take a look at the role played by what I would call an "authentic Calvinism" in the abolition of apartheid.

First, a quick history of apartheid. Apartheid was instituted in 1948, with the election of the main Afrikaner nationalist party, and this regime maintained itself, largely unchallenged and increasingly self-isolated, into the 1960s and 70s.

It was not until the 1970s and 80s that a meaningful reaction took shape, including from Calvinist theologians and communities, in favor of its abolition.

What was this reaction based on? A rediscovery of the social, egalitarian aspects of Calvinism.

Certain long-forgotten texts were brought back to the forefront; parallels were drawn between the refugees welcomed by Geneva in the 16th century and modern-day South African blacks.

Certain passages in the Gospel were invoked ("God shows no partiality," "One God and father of all," etc.).

This newly-found conscience led to the creation, in 1982, of a new confession of faith: the Confession of Belhar (near Capetown), which, for the first time, declared in no uncertain terms that the notion of separate churches is incompatible with the Gospel.

It also asserted that "the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged."

Thus, for the first time, apartheid was condemned as contrary to the Gospel in the 1970s and 80s. The God described in the Belhar Confession of Faith is a God who wants all people, all humans, to live together as brothers and sisters -- as a single family.

This notion of "one family" is very important in terms of segregation: it denies that the world is made up of separate, distinct peoples, pointing instead to the "human family" as a whole.

In 1982, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, meeting in Ottawa, officially condemned, for the first time, those of its churches -- particularly the Dutch churches -- that continued to defend apartheid.

This long story -- from the middle of the 17th century to the second half of the 20th -- finally came to an end with the unequivocal condemnation of apartheid and the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Bishop Desmond Tutu, followed in 1994 by the holding of free general elections and the presidency of Nelson Mandela.

So that's an quick overview of this very complex page in history, which I've tried to summarize for you as best I can. Thank you.

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