SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.31 número1It only matters how it is obtained and how it is employed - the dangers and chances of money in the New Testament'The Word of Yahweh is right': Psalm 33 as a Torah-psalm índice de autoresíndice de assuntospesquisa de artigos
Home Pagelista alfabética de periódicos  

Serviços Personalizados

Artigo

Indicadores

Links relacionados

  • Em processo de indexaçãoCitado por Google
  • Em processo de indexaçãoSimilares em Google

Compartilhar


Verbum et Ecclesia

versão On-line ISSN 2074-7705
versão impressa ISSN 1609-9982

Verbum Eccles. (Online) vol.31 no.1 Pretoria  2010

http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v31i1.426 

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

 

'The hastening that waits': A critical assessment of the tangebility of unity within the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

 

 

Rothney S. TshakaI; Peter M. MarupingII

IDepartment of Philosophy and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, South Africa
IIDepartment of Church History, Missiology and Christian Spirituality, University of South Africa

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

The tale of the Reformed Church tradition in South Africa remains conspicuous with challenges also within the current democratic context. Whilst the political past of South Africa contributed towards a Reformed church divided along racial lines, a struggle continues for a genuinely unified Reformed church today. Conceding to the present discussions about the possibility of uniting all Reformed congregations that were divided along racial categories of Black, Coloured, Indian and White, this article aspires to delve into the intricacies pertaining to the already achieved unity between the 'Coloured' and a huge portion of the 'Black' Reformed congregations, that is to say, the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. This article will argue that although it is fundamental that the church of Christ must be united, it is equally imperative that the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) waits and assesses whether it has already achieved tangible unity.

Keywords: tangible unity; justice; reconciliation; URCSA; Reformed Church


 

 

Full text available only in PDF format.

 

 

References

Barth, K., 1956a, Church Dogmatics, vol. I/2, transl. G.T. Thomson & H. Knight, T&T Clark, Edinburgh.         [ Links ]

Barth, K., 1962, Theology and Church, SCM Press, Great Britain.         [ Links ]

Barth, K., 1981, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV,4. Lecture fragments, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids.         [ Links ]

Biggar, N., 1995, The Hastening that Waits: Karl Barth's ethics, Oxford University Press, New York.         [ Links ]

Harinck, G., 2003, 'Tussen Barmen en Amsterdam' [Between Barmen and Amsterdam],         [ Links ] Rede uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar, Theologische Universiteit van de Gereformeerde Kerken, Amstelveen, Juni 06, 2003, p. 9.

Horn, N., 1984, ''n Vergelykende studie van die Barmenverklaring en die van die konsepbelydenis van die N.G Sendingkerk', MA thesis, Universiteit van Port Elizabeth, Suid-Afrika.         [ Links ]

Loff, C., 1998, 'Bevryding tot Eenwording: Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk in Suid-Afrika 1881-1994', Doctoral dissertation, University of Kampen, The Netherlands.         [ Links ]

Smit, D. & Cloete, D. (eds.), 1984, A moment of truth: The confession of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church 1982, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids.         [ Links ]

Smit, D., 2000, 'Versoening en Belhar?'[Reconsiliation and Belhar], Gereformeerd Theologisch Tijdschrift 4, 159-173.

Tshaka, R.S., 2007, 'African you are on your own! - The need for African Reformed Christians to seriously engage their Africanity in their Reformed theological reflections', Scriptura 3, 533-548.         [ Links ]

 

 

Correspondence:
Rothney Tshaka
Department of Philosophy and Systematic Theology
PO Box 392
UNISA 0003
South Africa
Email: tshakrs@unisa.ac.za

Received: 17 Aug. 2010
Accepted: 27 Oct. 2010
Published: 07 Dec. 2010

Creative Commons License Todo o conteúdo deste periódico, exceto onde está identificado, está licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons