Faith
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Thinking the Faith, Praying the Faith, Living the Faith is written by the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship.
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Belhar, Absolutization, and Sin
Over on the PCUSA's Discussion page on the Confession of Belhar, there has been a discussion on the use of the terms "absolutizes" and "absolutization" in the confession. They are not common words for use in church documents, raising the question of the agenda of the translators. It turns out that these terms are cognates with the original language ("verabsoluteer" and "verabsolutering").
As I did some research today, I have developed a deeper appreciation for this language.
The theological/biblical argument in the Dutch Reformed Church for apartheid in the 1940s flowed out of reading the great Dutch Theologian Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper believed that , in creation, God had ordained spheres of sovereignty where there were different authorities. So, for instance, there is a distinction between church and state because they each have authority over separate spheres in human life. In the theology that developed in South Africa, there was the belief that the brotherhood of all races was a spiritual ideal that would be realized in heaven, that the natural diversity of races was a divine ordinance of God. This natural, and God-given, diversity should be honored and maintained, with each race living up to its nature, character, and gifts: “the division of the human species into races, peoples, and tongues was a conscious deed of God.” (G.B.A Groenewald) Citations: Genesis 10-11, 15:8, Deuteronomy 32:8, Amos 9:7, and Acts 2:8ff. He also cited Calvin saying that every people or nation is rightly enclosed within its own boundaries. See section on Biblical Hermeneutics and the Apartheid Bible, pp. 54ff, especially pp. 59ff).
What I find interesting is that many today might resonate with much that was argued--valuing peoples for their particular gifts, etc. The problem was when this celebration of natural diversity was absolutized into an ideology, an idolatry. So the valuing of different gifts ended up becoming a tool of oppression. I'm inclined to think that absolutizing is the right term.
What an interesting and horrible example of how something good can be twisted into evil. But then again, that sounds like a pretty basic definition of sin.
There are a number of articles in the Outlook on Belhar as well:
Momentous decision on confessional question (Charles Wiley
My Perspective on Belhar (Tom Hobson)
News Article on Belhar (Leslie Scanlon)
Charles
- Posted at 6:35 p.m.
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