Reviewed by Cedric Mayson

Twenty five years of what? Frank Chikane has said that "the task of theology ... is to discern a lesson within the experiences of life, so that we can cope and rise above them."⁽¹⁾ What has God been saying in this quarter century? If Christ has been proclaiming God's ruling power amongst us, what emerged in the struggle against apartheid to guide us in the struggle to establish a new South Africa?

The SACC is not a divine dogma producing organisatlon with an open line to heaven, but a council of churches which includes people who do theology from many different backgrounds. Our people take the insights of scripture and the past and seek to apply them to the present-future, linking the Word of the Gospel to the Word of the ghetto, but they do not do it tidily. The songs we sing erupt across the whole repertoire of human belief, here the sound of whiteness and then of black, sometimes poor and sometimes affluent, a strong denominational chorus followed by a solo voice, fumbling or fortissimo, but out of them all certain themes have emerged to provide the tunes to which the SACC has danced. Can the sounds of the past assist us to score the future?

The switch from a counci! of Christians to a council of Churches in 1968 was one sign of a major shift taking place throughout Christian South Africa. The theological focus was a document called the MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA. ⁽²⁾

In those days most clergymen (there were hardly any clergywomen) had their necks confined in high clerical collars and their heads confined to high doctrinal theology which assumed God had had little fresh to say for centurles. Theology came from above and the past: no one had heard of liberation theology, black theology, African theology, feminist theology or contextual theology.

During 1967, under pressure from Bishop Burnett and Beyers Naude, the Christian Council set up a Theological Commission to examine South Africa which in turn appointed a drafting committee of the Revs Calvin Cook, Ben Englebrecht, and John Davies. Early in 1968 a Conference on Pseudo-Gospels was held in which it was clear that the Gospel was being misrepresented and obstructed by the assumptions underlying the culture of apartheid: "Pseudo-gospels tell us that we must share our commitment between Christ and a whole range of Church traditions, political viewpoints and ancestral groupings".

Official Christianity was still a mainly white business, and Bishop Stanley Mogoba recalls that many thought the Message was really a message for white Christians. Bishop Davies agrees:

"It started off as a group of eleven white men nearly all academic theologians based in universities. There was a proper sense in which the task was a task for white people; the institutions and the theological stances which needed to be addressed were themselves white; apartheid was a white community's creation and needed to be exposed from within the white community as theologically unsustainable and heretical" ⁽³⁾

In June 1968 the Message was published In full in the Sunday Times, issued as a booklet, and read from many pulpits. There was a deluge of demands for its scriptural authority which John Davies prepared and the Christian Institute published within four days.

"The English complained it was too long, the Afrikaners complained it was too short and the blacks complained it was too theoretical." ⁽⁴⁾ Many in the church today have never heard of it.

Seed Bed

The Message was a unique attempt by the SACC to make a theological input to the South African situation, the only time it has done so in such a fundamental and united manner. It was the seed bed of many later propositions. In stating the Christian vision of the world and declaring that apartheid was a barrier to it, it committed the church to the struggle against apartheid which has taken another quarter of a century. Only now are we free to tackle the positive Gospel which the Message enshrines.

The Message to the People of South Afmica begins with the assertion that "In the name of Jesus Christ, we are under an obligation to confess anew our commitment to the universal faith of Christians, the eternal gospel of salvation, and security in Christ alone." It is divided into five sections:

1. What the Gospel says. This is a series of positive declarations about the Gospel of the God of this world whose purpose alone shapes history and to whom - and not to any subsection of humanity - we owe our primary obedience and commitment.

2. Our Concern. The Gospel offers hope and security for the whole life of humanity, not just in spiritual and eclesiastical relationships but for human existence in its entirety. Consequently we are called to witness to the meaning of the Gospel in the particular circumstances of time and place in which we find oursleves. The doctrine of racial separation is being promoted as the will of God, and as such is hostile to Christianity and keeps people away from the true knowledge of Christ. Separate developmert is presented as a way in which people can save themselves and this is a false novel gospel.

3. The Gospel's claim. Salvation is found through Christ, and the early Jews and Gentiles found that Christ was creating a new community in which differences of race, nation, culture, language and tradition no longer had power to separate people. We must assert and live by this claim. The insistence on the priority of racial identity denies the central statements of the Gospel about man and community. Pentecost heals the disunity of Babel.

God's gospel is for the whole human race. A life of separation is a denial of the Gospel. The Gospel says we find our identity in association with one another, but the apartheid view of life insists we find our identity in distinction from one another, which is denial of the Gospel. Apartheid reinforces divisions we are called to overcome. It calls good evil.

4. Our Task. The Church ought to show this unity and the completeness of Christ in its own life, here and now, not in a distant "heaven", and our task is to live by it.

5. We must obey God rather than Man. We cannot give our highest loyalty to one group instead of to the God of all. He is the judge of the Church also, and we cannot allow an idol of the "South African way of life" to take the place of Christ. The demand for our faithfulness to be judged by our loyalty to a group, tradition, or political doctrine, is a direct threat to the salvation of many people. God judges us by our willingness to be made new in the community of Christ. We must ask what features of our social order must pass away if the lordship of Christ is to be acknowledged and the peace of God be revealed.

We believe that God's kingdom has power to cast out all that opposes his purposes and keeps men in darkness, and that it will move with power whether men hear or refuse to hear. So to whom do we give our loyalty? A sub-section of humanity, an ethnic group, a human tradition, a political idea: or to Christ?

The Influences Behind The Message

The Message called the People of South Africa to a Christian crusade to remove apartheid because that doctrine was preventing us from following God's Way for our land in 1968. In 1993 apartheid is being demolished and it is necess-ary for us to reclaim the fundamental truths which the Message articulated, and the theological influences which lay behind it.

Christianity had arrived in Africa as part of the colonial package which provided churches to organise religious activities for the colonists. The main denominations in Europe established outposts and sent out ministers as required. In the growing conflict of Boer and Briton, the churches usually provided the political priorities of their people with theological justification. James Cochrane writes that "missionary enterprise, remaining always beyond radical self-criticism, could normally do no other than transmit the values and structures embodied in the British imperial colonial expansion." ⁽⁵⁾

Godly Patriarch

The English, like Livingstone, believed it was their godly duty to "spread Christianity and commerce" to Africa as part of the imperial empires. Afrikaners, oppressed on every side, developed a deep sense of their dependence on a godly patriarch who would save their people from the corruption of the British and the barbarities of the "kaffirs" and lead them to prosperity in the land of Canaan.

"Missionary work" in the 19th century was not considered the responsibility of the churches but a separate voluntary task for the few who felt such a call.

Many pioneer evangelists were themselves products of the evangelistic thrust and the anti-slavery campaign in Britain, and they moved the small English speaking churches into mission work. Revival movements in the Dutch Reformed Churches inspired other missionary activities.

The main growth appeared when African people responded to the Gospel and themselves became agents of evangelism in the mainline churches or through indigenous development. Christianity spread swiftly. Churches became deeply involved in social change, building churches, schools and hospitals wherever they went.

"It brought about a real upheaval in African norms and customs, a disintegration of families and tribes and the cancerous money economy," ⁽⁶⁾ but despite the missionaries' insistence that they accept western cultural appendages from shoes to monarchs which were nothing to do with the gospel, the indigenous African people carried into Christianity hidden resources which are still crucial, but which many missionaries never even saw.

Institutional Symbols

Firstly, most Africans had a concept of the universality of one Supreme Being which never sat easily with the imposition by Christians of a religion which divided people into different denominations. Indigenous "religion lacked institutional symbols that marked it off from daily life. There was no separate community of religious people, because everyone who participated in the life of the community also participated in its religion." ⁽⁷⁾ Christians brought a focus for universality in Christ, but their methods broke African society into divisions they did not know before.

Secondly, the experience of human awareness and solidarity verbalised in the phrase ubuntu expressed a fundamental unity embracing both sacred and secular, and friends and enemies, which the gospel confirmed and transformed. Thirdly, Africans had an acute sense of the commitment of God to Iiberation.

The truths which received attention in the Message had been present in "the vitality of the religious and cultural heritage of the Africans" ⁽⁸⁾ for over a century. More than fifty years before the Message, whilst white-on-white violence dominated South Africa, Africans from many backgrounds had come together to turn their backs on division and unite in the search for national unity. All the leaders of the African National Congress in 1912 had been educated in mission schools: four were clergymen.

Although African Christians had not articulated the theology of the Message in western terms, they had long taken the substance of it in their stride. It was a reflection of that period in the New Testament when Jews could not believe that Gentiles had really been converted, and Gentiles could not accept that in order to become Christians they must accept the culture of Judaism. ⁽⁹⁾

Dr Kistner of the SACC has summarised the position: "Today there is a strong awareness among African Christians in South Africa of a God of all nations, a God Creator who is close and present in our midst. This awareness of the closeness of the God of all nations appears to be one of the characteristics of African Christianity in today's South Africa: it can be experienced very vividly if one participates in worship services of black people. Perhaps one can say that in a way the opposite development took place among the white people who penetrated into the interior.

There they formed small-scale com-munities and moved from one area to the other in small clans. To them God was the God of their group, a God who was with them, a tribal God ... Throughout the history of the Dutch Reformed churches there have been tensions between a tribalistic and a universal concept of God, and these tensions still exist." ⁽¹⁰⁾

Although racial discrimination had been established under British Rule, its intensification by apartheid legislation after the Nationalist Government came to power in 1948 aroused major religious concern. The growing oppression of blacks, the suppression of non-violent opposition, the silencing of black leadership after the Treason Trial and Rivonia, the books with religious themes by Paton and Huddleston, Sharpeville, Cottesloe, and the emergence of the Christian Institute all forced the Dutch Reformed Church to produce theological arguments in support of their position and accuse their opponents of being merely liberal humanists.

Political Questions

English speaking churches had a marked reluctance to involve themselves in political questions derived from their earlier secure position within imperial protection, but had been forced to make pragmatic decisions about their own racial practices. Some formed separate churches for blacks and whites. The Anglicans had had a major confrontation with Bishop Colenso in the previous century, but a succession of liberal British Archbishops had incurred the wrath of many Afrikaners. In 1958, Methodists had defeated a major attempt by whites to divide the church on racial grounds. Catholics were not members of the Council, but they too had been forced to distance themselves from apartheid. "Pro Veritate", the journal of the Christian Institute (CI), was steeped in scriptural and theological arguments, but the English-speaking Churches themselves had never spelt out a theological rationale for their position.

This was the background to the Message. It closed the gap between Church and Mission by accepting that the purpose of the Church is to be involved in God's Mission. The pragmatic church was being forced to become a theological church, and thus forge a new pragmatism.

The Message was an overture which introduced many themes to be developed at greater length in subsequent years: the heretical nature of apartheid; the challenge to racial, ethnic, denominational and religious divisions; the obligation for Christians to struggle against an oppressive regime; the change in attitude to the Liberation Movements; conscientious objection; the role of an illegitimate regime and investment to maintain it in power; violence; the relation of church to secular authority including obedience; confrontation and reconciliation; the liberation of theology from an understanding of God by affluent people, to a God understood by impoverished and rejected people; the replacement of historical colonial religion by a theology from the context in which people actually lived; and the clash of an ecumenical movement focused on the Church and an ecumenism seeking to respond to God's mission in society.

This development was latent in 1968, but hidden. It was concealed because God was revealed through the poor and oppressed but those who wrote the Message were neither. The wordy theological phrases, ingrained with the caution of church liberalism, needed incarnating in the social reality of politics and economics; academic churchmen were struggling to express what God was working in students and workers and displaced persons; they were pleading for people to hear God speak in sermons, unaware that the Word would come through crucifixions in Soweto and John Vorster Square; presuming that persuasion would bring change, when in fact it would come through struggle.

Yet already in the Message we sense the truth that Beyers Naude was to articulate nearly twenty years later:

"Something new is groaning to emerge which will challenge the whole Church in South Africa to the depths of its being." ⁽¹¹⁾

A little theological cameo was also painted at Fort Hare University in 1968. Police poured in with dogs and guns and tear gas to break up a protest, and one of the students was impressed when their young chaplain, despite being shaken by his first experience of police savagery, elbowed his way though the cordon to support and encourage the students. The student was called Pityana and the chaplain Tutu. ⁽¹²⁾

SPROCAS

The immediate result of the Message was SPROCAS. The "Study Project on Christianity in Apartheid Society" was a joint endeavour by the SACC and the CI to turn the theology of the Message into practical politics. The reports of the six commissions were entitled: Education beyond apartheid; Towards Social Change; Power, Privilege and Poverty; Apartheid and the Church; Law, Justice and Society; and South Africa's Political Alternatives. Other titles followed. About 150 people from different walks of life contributed to the debates, mostly white men, though more women and blacks took part than in previous Church activities. Not all of the authors were Christian, and some of these displayed more courage than many Christians in tackling economics and politics from a theological base, like Dr Rick Turner in "The Eye of the Needle." ⁽¹³⁾ Some, like him, became victims of the system.

A significant feature of SPROCAS was that so many people - including its financial backers from Churches in Europe - believed that this type of enquiry was a direct result of the theological quest for truth.

The Director, Peter Randall, has written: 'The intention behind the setting up of SPROCAS was clear enough: to examine the economic, educational, legal, political and social implications, and the implications for the church itself, of the Message to the People of South Africa a theological critique of apartheid." ⁽¹⁴⁾

The Spirit of the Lord meant anointing people to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, and to proclaim the Lord's year of favour. ⁽¹⁵⁾ An incarnate God required an incarnate theology, a theology given credence and life in the personal and social experience of the people.

"It was ... a venture of faith on the part of a small group of Christians who were convinced that such a project was both desirable and necessary in order to help the church move from mere denunciation of apartheid ... to a more meaningful and concrete involvement in the hard issues facing those church members who opposed the policy." ⁽¹⁶⁾

But for all its value - and after apartheid is truly defeated there is much unfinished business for us to review in the SPROCAS documents - it was essentially a liberal approach which hoped to persuade the apartheid regime to bring about some reforms.

When SPROCAS began few people realised that by the time it ended a new gentle revolutionary phenomena would have turned South Africa upside down, and would have its own theology as well The Word was made flesh - black flesh. Black people became conscious of claiming their own humanity and in the process discovered black theology. This originated outside the SACC, but had greater influence on the theology of the SACC and its member churches than anything else.

Black Theology

In 1967 two young clergymen, Methodist Basil Moore and Catholic Colin Collins, had reacted against the conservative attitudes of churches in the midst of the swinging sixties, and formed the University Christian Movement (UCM). Almost immediately this became a focus for radical Christians of all races and churches or none, whose liturgies, theology and acivities many in the churches found outrageously unconventional, whilst others, like John Davies, discovered "the deep privilege of being able to experience the inclusive fellowship of the Holy Spirit in gatherings of bodies like the UCM." ⁽¹⁷⁾

A year later, in the same epoch making 1968 when the SACC coined its name, Steve Biko was instrumental in the formation of the South African Student Organisation (SASO), the black student organisation which soon spread widely, using the slogan devised by Nyameko Barney Pityana: "Black man you are on your own!" ⁽¹⁸⁾ They withdrew from white society in order to discover themselves, much as Jesus, at one stage, withdrew his disciples from the hurly burly of his mission in order to find their own feet.

SASO and UCM flashed round the country and within months those hidden resources of African Christians noted before had found their outlet. With every scriptural warrant, poor and oppressed people began to display the liberating power of God and bring to South Africa a renewed understanding of Gospel. The Christ who had always been a fried of outcasts and sinners had found groups of disciples who heard what God was saying and had the courage to think it, proclaim it, and act on it. They were young; they loved parties; they sang the freedom songs of the sixties: "There but for fortune"; "Blowing in the wind"; "A long and a dusty road"; "The times they are a changing"; "Rambling Boy"; "This land Is your land"; "Lord of the Dance;" "Friday morning." They were inspirited people.

UCM sent a group of three to the USA to meet James Cone and other black theologians there: but one proved to be planted by the Special Branch, Manana Kgware was tragically killed in a car accident and Basil Moore was left to report on the insights of oppressed Christians in the US. The political writings of Steve Bike and others in SASO were soon accompanied by the UCM book of Essays on Black Theology ⁽¹⁹⁾ compiled by Basil Moore, edited by Stan Sabelo Ntwasa and written by Mokgethi Motholabi, Manas Buthelezi, Adam Small, Steve Biko, James Cone, Nyameko Barney Pityana, Bonganjalo Goba, Mangameli Mabona, Lawrence Zulu, Ananias Mpunzi, and DEH Nxumalo. The book and some of its writers were banned but nothing could restrict the theology.

Frank Chikane met SASO as a student at Turfloop University of the North and with it the great theological debate about the legitimate relation of blacks to God.

He says: "Black Theology as far as I was concerned, provided the answer to all my questions and I still regard the black theology debate as the most important theological debate ever to have taken place in South Africa." ⁽²⁰⁾

Allan Boesak wrote: "The situation of blackness, of being oppressed, was never taken seriously by western theologians. The tendency to spiritualise the biblical message is still dominant ... which not only compartmentalises life but is a distortion of the Gospel message which then serves to sanction unjust and oppressive structures and relations. It forces Jesus and his message into a Western white mould, degrades him to a servant of mere self-interest, identifies him with oppression." ⁽²¹⁾ "History as such is being re- evaluated by black people ... Theologically speaking, blacks must take this responsibility and formulate in their own words their belief in God. They can no longer hide behind theological formulas created by someone else." ⁽²²⁾

Speaking at a Missiology Conference, Desmond Tutu responded to doubts that liberation theology was either biblical or Christian.

Evangelical Task

"I count Black Theology In the category of liberation theologies ... it is an evangelical task that is laid on me to ensure that the Black consciousness movement should succeed and I will not be deterred by governmental disapproval or action. Because, for me, it is a crucial matter that Black consciousness succeed as a theological and evangelical factor because I believe fervently that no reconciliation is possible in South Africa, except reconciliation between real persons. Black consciousness merely seeks to awaken the Black person to a realisation of his worth as a child of God, with the privileges and responsibilities that are the concomitants of that exalted position." ⁽²³⁾

Bishop Stanley Mogoba believes that Black Theology saved Christian South Africa, for it came at a time when many young people were "furiously angry with the church for being in cahoots with the system and wished to reject Christianity altogether." Black theology prevented that by its rediscovery of the strong liberatory message in the Bible and the Church. He believes it was also a major factor in preventing black consciousness from becoming an apartheid type structure. ⁽²⁴⁾ Black theologians had strong personal links with whites who stood on the same ground, like Albert Nolan: "What matters is not the name we give to our theology but that it remains a genuine reflection upon what God is doing in our country today." ⁽²⁵⁾

Slowly, stumbling and rising again, a new theology arose as "the people appropriated the theological territory," ⁽²⁶⁾ and "produced a confession of faith which expresses an interpretation of the Gospel by the people of Africa." ⁽²⁷⁾ The black rediscovery of God in South Africa was as fundamental as the revelations given to Augustine, Luther, Calvin, or Wesley, but this time it did not form a new denomination. It affected them all.

Black theology did not originate in the official structures of the SACC. Perhaps it was still too western to espouse black initiative, too sincere in its reformist liberalism to heed a revolutionary God, too committed to its traditions and structures to permit them to be threatened by fundamental change. Some blacks were too dumb, and some whites too deaf, to the Word.

But once the new spirit had been proclaimed, it swept through the SACC and the churches with the power of Pentecost and everyone, whatever their inherited ecclesiastical language, heard the message of black theology in their own religious vernacular. Whites who had "given their whole lives for the African people" were shaken to be pushed aside whilst they learnt to repent and believe all over again. Those who did, discovered there was nothing racist in black theology: this was the living God speaking, for as Metz has said: "The God of the Christian gospel is, after all, not a God of conquerors but a God of slaves." ⁽²⁸⁾

Blacks who had been frustrated and submissive discovered why, and proclaimed the good news from the house-tops. Exodus and Liberation became constant themes for sermons. Intense black groups in every church changed the agenda, and what John De Gruchy wrote of the Christian Institute was true for the member churches and the SACC itself which was "rapidly moving away from an organisation aimed primarily at changing white attitudes and the white church, to one which understood its role as that of support for the black struggle for justice and liberation." ⁽²⁹⁾

The emergence of black theology amongst its members changed the theological approach of the SACC. Reflection from the black experience, voting from a black awareness, agendas set by black perceptions, all enabled the divine mission embodied in the poor and oppressed to become dominant.

The Congress on Mission and Evangelism ⁽³⁰⁾

This Congress held in Durban in 1973 was a significant watershed in the theological life of the SACC. It was a joint initiative by the SACC and the evangelical group African Enterprise, under the Chairmanship of John Rees, and Bishop Peter Storey believes it was one of the few times when the SACC pulled all the churches together.

"Never in the history of this country has a comparable quantity and range of South African Christian leadership gathered in one place for such an endeavour" said Dr Calvin Ccok. ⁽³¹⁾

A major contingent of world evangelists faced the question of the Mission of the Church, and despite their historical grounding in individual evangelism, nearly all were beginning to put personal salvation in the context of God's mission in society.

Citing John's Gospel as an example, Hans-Ruedi Weber said that "the theologian must be able to restate the Gospel for a new time and environment." ⁽³²⁾

Michael Cassidy believed that "in this country we desperately need to discover a truly Biblical balance between the personal and social gospel ... unless we do this the Christian Church in South Africa will lack all credibility." ⁽³³⁾

Dr Alex Boraine pleaded with the congress "not to relax the tensions between the freedom and the costliness of the gospel, between the personal and the social, between the general and the particular, and the eternal and the contemporary. If we really believe God is alive now, we will not be surprised by change but welcome and expect it. We can only be faithful in the now." ⁽³⁴⁾

This was the last full scale "evangelistic mission" in the old sense upon which the SACC embarked.

Other concerns were undertaken by the Mission and Evangelism Department from time to time, ⁽³⁵⁾ but it was already clear that like theology itself, evangelism was contextual, and the context was changing.

Releasing the Alternative Church

The theological concerns of the SACC were now explorations of the conviction that the Mission of God was focused in the liberation struggle of the oppressed. That theology immediately affected ecclesiastical politics. Some blacks (like Methodist Seth Mokitimi and Anglican Alpheus Zulu) had been appointed to leadership positions in the churches in the early sixties and the dead weight of white conservatism and black temerity had broken their hearts. But the seventies saw blacks appointed to leadership with the weight of solid support behind them, and this leadership by people who had personal experience of being oppressed was of crucial importance in the emergence of a church with the courage to confront authority in the belief that even death could not defeat it.

Charles Villa-Vicenclo has written of the presence of "an alternative church, a church in resistance which has throughout history existed adjacent to the dominant church - suppressed but neither silenced nor defeated. It is this church that offers life to both the dominant church and society itself. Fired by the memory of a community of people gathered around the poor man of Nazareth who was crucified on the cross of an occupying power, it occupies the margins of the institutional churches." ⁽³⁶⁾

In the conditions of South Africa those marginalised groups and individuals became centred on the SACC, and churches frequently passed the consequences of this contentious theology to the SACC for attention, asserting that it was better to deal with such matters together. Frank Chikane reflected:

"It is interesting to see how the resolutions changed between 1971 and 1976 as the shade of the committee changed with more Black leaders being appointed. It is a shattering realisation; what the Church formerly said was from the Word of God, now did not come from the Word of God. As the committee's faces changed, the SACC became more critical about apartheid. Also, the World Council of Churches' theology has changed over the years since 1910. We are reading the same Bible. It has not changed, but the theology has changed because of the different contexts." ⁽³⁷⁾

Thus the SACC became a major focus for Christian thought and action, but the struggle was full of pain. Even as black leaders emerged to take over the leadership positions of the churches, it became apparent that many institutional structures were still constrained by the legacy of white colonialism, and there was a comfort about it that some blacks began to enjoy. The problem was power: the seduction of control could so easily lead to sin. Black consciousness meant the rediscovery of humanness but could be twisted into black racism. Liberation meant freedom but could lead people to enjoy elitism. Whatever their pigment, people needed saving, and often the only hope of personal or social victory was through a Cross.

WCC and PCR

Theologically, there is only one church of Christ, and the influence of world Christianity has been of critical importance to the spread of the Gospel in South Africa. The WCC was deeply involved in the Cottesloe Conference of December 1960 which had examined the Churches' role in response to the Sharpeville massacre, and this continued throughout the years. Many doubt if the church in South Africa would have moved as far as it did without the constant experience, support and challenge of the world church.

For a decade after Sharpeville the Churchs had been putting racism under the spotlight and could find no theological rationale for this world wide evil. In l97O the WCC decided to establish a Special Fund under the Programme to Combat Racism from which financial support would be given to struggles against racism in the world, including the South African Liberation Movements. The SACC knew nothing of it beforehand, but Prime Minister BJ Vorster thought them responsible and immediately told the churches to 'cut it out.' It was a crucial event in church history forcing churches to consider their attitude towards the State, and towards evil institutions. The WCC was adamant that its contribution to liberation organisations was for humanitarian purposes within its constitutional aims and policies on the basis of the Gospel. But, whether it was spent on bombs or bandages, these organisations were fighting to overthrow their governments and this was the crux of the matter.

It forced churches to hear oppressed people say that the system could not be changed by reforming itself, and challenged them to become involved in the struggle for justice and reconciliation. Speaking of the God who liberated the Israelite slaves from Egypt, Tutu said:

"This God did not just talk - he acted. He showed himself to be a doing God. Perhaps we might add another point about God - He takes sides. He is not a neutral God. He took the side of the slaves, the oppressed, the victims. He is still the ssame even today, he sides with the poor, the hungry, the oppressed, the victims of injustice." ⁽³⁸⁾

People were appreciating that If God really spoke through the oppressed, the Church had often not been on God's wavelength. SACC General Secretary John Rees commented: "If the only positive result of the WCC decision has been to make us acutely aware of the discrlminatory society in which we live and to challenge the church as to where it stands, it has achieved a great deal." ⁽³⁹⁾

A New Era

The structural result for the SACC was the establishment of a Division of Justice and Reconciliation, under the guidance of Dr Brian Johanson, to be followed later in a full time capacity by Dr W Kistner which introduced a new era of profound theological reflection. ⁽⁴⁰⁾

• The struggle: violence and its alternatives. When SACC representatives attended the All African Conference of Churches in Lusaka in 1974, they also met exiled leaders of the liberation movements, the "terrorist communist organisations" of South African terminology. None of them appeared to be terrorists, and many were Christians whose struggle against Pretoria arose from their faith. These discussions deeply affected the SACC, particularly on the question of conscientious objection by white youths to service in the SA Defence Force.

Two traditional theological attitudes to war had been cited. The first was that of the holy war used by the Crusaders and many since, which obliged Christians to fight because the war was being fought against evil in order to further the cause of God. This attitude prompted government to call Christians to fight the "communist terrorists" who were seeking to "destroy Chdstian civilisation" in Southern Africa. The second position was the just war theory which originated in the Reformation, and stated that when all else had failed a defensive war against evil was justified provided it stood a strong chance of success. Government proclaimed the struggle to defend South Affica against "terrorism" was just and thus all young men should share it.

Now the SACC stood that argument on its head. ⁽⁴¹⁾ It asked Chrlstians to examine whether in good conscience they could believe that a war to defend the oppressive structures of South African apartheid society could ever be called holy or just. The space for whites and a few privileged blacks to debate about violence was in fact secured by the violence of the regime

War Zones

"There comes a point where serious moral debate about violence and non-violence is simply not possible for the oppressed masses ... where townships are turned into war zones … selfdefence and counter attack is sometimes the only realistic option available to people. You either run or fight back. There is no time or space for moral debate when you are confronted with a rifle or a panga," said Frank Chikane. ⁽⁴²⁾

Informed by this view from the victims, the SACC asked its members to consider conscientious objection to military support for the regime. This placed the onus of action against the State on young men, many of whom accepted the challenge, but a far larger matter was involved and by 1979 that issue emerged in another SACC resolution.

"Recognising the great suffering resuIting from the policy of separate development and confessing that this suffering has been greatly increased by the Churches failure to act in the past, this Conference believes that the South African Churches are under an obligation to withdraw as far as that is possible from cooperation with the State in all those areas in the ordering of our society where the law violates the justice of God." ⁽⁴³⁾

The conviction was stronger; the theology was working its way out; but "positive non-cooperation' was vague on action. If resistance to an evil regime was justified on a personal level, was it not obligatory for Christians and the Church?

• The struggle: the response to violence. The inherent church abhorrence of violence brought three emphases within the SACC. One was the recognition of State violence when the regime, in order to effect its policies, imposed them by force on a population which had no possible way of expressing its opinion. The constant increase in the use of violence to impose the policies of the State (excused by false claims of resisting a total onslaught from Russia and its allies) built up an awareness in the SACC that stoppIng State violence was an inescapable Christian duty. The second was a pastoral problem "as more and more victims of this system resorted to the use of force as the only option left to stop this racist, inhuman, brutal and violent system." ⁽⁴⁴⁾

The third attitude was set out clearly by Malusi Mpumlwana:

"The church must take the lead and demonstrate the power of non-violence in South Africa. The oppressed must be left with no doubt as to where the church stands. Such witness may occasion the violent death of the church as we have come to know it." ⁽⁴⁵⁾

If the Church could not support the armed struggle for either theological or pragmatic military reasons, it was duty bound to devise and pursue alternative non-violent methods of resistance.

The SACC accordingly moved at its 1988 Conference: "To express our belief that disinvestment and similar economic pressures are now called for as a peaceful and effective means of putting pressure on the South African government to bring about those fundamental changes this county needs." ⁽⁴⁶⁾

This meant sanctions.

There was surprIsingly little debate about the morality of usIng economic pressure to enforce change. The SACC had accepted that it was right to join the struggle against the regime, and that sanctions was the major non-killing method of exerting pressure. If the force of moral persuasion was not enough to overcome evil, financial persuasion seemed permissible. Some doubted whether sanctions could be made effective, a reflection of the "reasonable chance of success" argument used in the Just War theory, but the usual objection was that economic actIon against the regime would hurt blacks first, more, and in vain. The argument was false because the whites with their large monthly expenses felt sanctions first and most, and sanctions were ultimately a crucial factor in forcing the Nationalist government to depose Botha and deny apartheid.

Almost without exception black church leaders and representatives supported sanctions even though with reluctance. "There is no guarantee that sanctions will topple apartheid, but it is the last non-violent option left", said Bishop Tutu. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ Black opinion agreed, overwhelmingly. So did the SACC. But several churches either refused to commit themselves or opposed sanctions. They liked to claim their churches were non-racial, they sought to identify with the oppressed, but when they reached the crucial economic chasm they could not cross that bridge. They thought they knew better than the God-who- spoke-to-them-through-the-poor.

• The struggle: confrontation wIth the State. During the late seventies and early eighties the conflict with the State reached a crucial stage. In 1977 the ChrIstian Institute and its staff had been banned, together with many Black Consciousness organisatlons and the "World" newspaper. A government which claimed to be Christian and reformist could not ban churches so it attempted to undermine the legitimacy of the SACC, ultimately appointing the Eloff Commission of Enquiry in 198l-4. ⁽⁴⁸⁾ It failed.

The response of the SACC, notably by Dr W Kistner and Bishop D Tutu, Includes a profound theological justification of the SACC position on every point which the State brought into contention. Dr Kistner set the central SACC position clearly in his response to the memorandum submitted by the SAP.

"It regards the policy of the present government and more particularly the political and socio-economic exploitation and oppression of people in this country on the grounds of their colour or for any other ideological or indiscrIminate reason as contrary to the declared purpose of God. As such, it has made known that it will use all constitutIonal means available to it in working for constructive and meanIngful change in this country. Above all, it has shown on the basis of theological analysis why this government is not furthering thIs declared purpose of God. As such it must be accepted that the allegation made in the police memorandum that the SACC is purposefully in opposition to the South African government's political ideology is correct. It needs to be stated further that the member churches have expressed support at least at the level of principle with this general position of the SACC in relation to the government" ⁽⁴⁹⁾

Dr Alex Boraine, former President of the Methodist Church and a member of Parliament argued that if the main charge of the commission against the Council were its involvement in the socio- political and economic issues of the day "then I must agree that the SACC must plead guilty as charged. It is in fact my judgment that if they are not guilty of this charge, they would be found guilty in a higher court. In other words the essence of the Sacc's defence is that they must obey God rather than man. In this instance they are faithfully reflecting the central message of both the Old and New Testaments." ⁽⁵⁰⁾

Personal Salvation

The Police and Commission maintained that the Church should focus its concern on personal salvation and conversion and leave political matters alone. To this Dr David Bosch replied:

"The church and its spokesmen cannot provide detailed blueprints about how to solve these problems, but it may - indeed should - in fulfilling its prophetic role ceaselessly identify those anomalies in the body politic and help prepare a climate in which solutions become possible." ⁽⁵¹⁾

Bishop Tutu, now General Secretary of the SACC, set a similar line: "If we are to say that religion cannot be concerned with politics, then we are really saying that there is a substantial part of human life in which God's reach does not run." ⁽⁵²⁾

There was nothing new about the SACC arguments; holiness and justice were inseparable; everything had been said before in pulpits but now it was stated in a public court that the SACC stood by its theological positions and the official commission could not fault them. The opposition to the apartheid regime was sound Christian teaching. The weight of the Church had been thrown behind the struggle of the oppressed people and was authenticated. Tutu commented:

"If they are taking on the SACC then they must know that they are taking on the Church of God and other tyrants before them have tried to destroy the Church - Nero, Amin, Hitler, Bokassa -where are they today? They have bitten the dust ignominiously." ⁽⁵³⁾

• The struggle: heresy. ⁽⁵⁴⁾ Whilst the Eloff Commission was still in session, the World Alliance of Re-formed Churches and many other churches throughout the world and within the membership of the SACC declared that apartheid was sinful and its theological and moral justification was a heresy. The WARC therefore refused further recognition to the Dutch Reformed Churches until they distanced themselves from apartheid. For the SACC this was spelling out in blunt terms and ecclesIastical action the statement in the Message, years before, that apartheid was a false gospel, and the SACC endorsed the heresy pronouncement at its meeting in 1982. ⁽⁵⁵⁾

Churches were often reluctant to comment on issues which also concerned political parties, citing historical positions which asserted the wisdom of this position. But the initial Christian proclamation is of the ruling power of God, and failure to present the theological insights of this faith in social, political and economic terms meant that the Church neglected its duty. Throughout scripture and history the people of God have been called to love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly with their God, whatever the prevailing attitudes of rulers or ruled. When an established society embraces political or economic injustice, or permits an ungodly ideology to take root within it, or pursues an unmerciful culture (as happened in the time of slavery) the Church must denounce this without fear or favour, and if it fails to do so becomes an accessory to evil.

Apartheid was accepted within the structures and practices of South African society, the society of which the Church was a part, and thus the tentacles of apartheid ideology had taken root in the Church. To give this moral and theological justification, to assert that such ungodly activity was godly, was heretical and misrepresented the Gospel. It was this which prompted the Church to take such a stand.

Dilemmas

Both State and Church now faced dilemmas. If the State pursued its policy of the violent imposition of apartheid as a Christian duty, it would have to do so in defiance of the will of the people and the judgment of the church throughout the world. Government reacted by declaring itself committed to a reform process to establish the Tricameral Parliament, but this opened the door for the establishment of the United Democratic Front (UDF). By advocating the reform of apartheid but not the removal of apartheid, the State was committed to a course that could only be enforced by unprecedented repression. Those without moral or political power resort to violent power.

If the Church believed that its stand before Eloff was justified and that apartheid was heretical it must decide what action to take. Was it to follow its history and rely on the gentle theology of nudging towards reform, or was it to align itself behind a theology of fundamental change, which some called revolution?

The Churches and the SACC dithered, and once more God - exhibiting little respect for ecclesiastical protocol -produced a theological explosion from outside the main structures of the church

The Christian Challenge: The Call to Prayer

Early in 1985, as countrywide disturbances developed and States of Emergency were declared, an ecumenical group whose members came from different Christian communities throughout the country produced a 'Theological Ra-tionale and a Call to Prayer for the end to unjust rule'⁽⁵⁶⁾ which was produced for use on 16 June, the anniversary of the Soweto massacre. Unlike the Message of seventeen years before, the Call to Prayer did not originate in the SACC, but it was issued with the authority of the SACC and in a sense carried the Message to its natural conclusion.

"It is right that we as Christians reassess our response to a system which all right-thinking people identify as unjust. We have prayed for our rulers, as is demanded of us in the Scriptures. We have entered into consultation with them as is required by our faith. We have taken the reluctant and drastic step of declaring apartheid to be contrary to the declared will of God, and some churches have declared its theological justification to be a heresy.

"We now pray that God will replace the present structures of oppression with ones that are just, and remove from power those who persist in defying his laws, installing in their place leaders who will govern with justice and mercy." ⁽⁵⁷⁾

The statement then set out the "firm theological tradition" which showed that if civil law is not the source of justice it is tyranny, and that such authority has no right to exist. This it asserted with reference to Christian teaching throughout history, and the church today.

People were used to calls for the apartheid regime to change its policies, but a call to pray for a change of government was a new development.

From Above

Its assumption that God was involved in political and social events in a directly effective way reflected the conviction of the prophets of Israel, and Jesus' assertion to Pilate that "you would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above." ⁽⁵⁸⁾

It was a replay of the threat to Ephesus that "if you will not repent I shall come and take your lampstand from its place" ⁽⁵⁹⁾

It was a call to Christians to stop talk of reforming an evil govemment and align themselves with those seeking the replacement of the govemment.

It was being seen with more clarity that obedience to the State depended upon the legitimacy of the State, and that a tyranny imposed against the will of the people was not legitimate. Such a tyranny could not be "instituted of God," ⁽⁶⁰⁾ nor claim the allegiance of Christian people.

The Christian Challenge: The Kairos Document

The Call to Prayer had hardly been assimilated when, in September 1985, another document appeared which had no authority from the SACC or its member churches at all. It was called "Challenge to the Church", subtitled the "Kairos Document",⁽⁶¹⁾ and can be summarised as follows:

The moment of truth had come for apartheid and for the Church. Christians were killing one another, and the church had to make up its mind on the theological stance it would take in the struggle for liberation in South Africa.

Was it to look to State Theology which justified the status quo? Or to Church Theology, which uses traditional notions of reconciliation, justice and non-violence to avoid an adequate social analysis, and promotes a type of individualistic faith and spirituality which leaves many Christians and Church Leaders in a state of near paralysis?

Or can it move towards a Prophetic Theology which speaks to the particular circumstances of the crisis in South Africa and clearly takes a stand?

Prophetic theology analyses the conflict in society clearly, examines oppression and tyranny in the Christian tradition, and contains a message of hope.

It states unequivocally that God sides with the oppressed and calls for participation in the struggle for liberation and a just society, which means transforming church activities, may mean civil disobedience, and calls the leaders and members of church to renewal and action. The present Kairos was a divine visitation, a challenge to the Church.

The Christian Challenge : The Evangelical Witness

On it's heels, another document appeared. In "Evangelical Witness in South Africa" ⁽⁶²⁾ evangelicals critiqued their own theology and practice, recognising that their theology was influenced by American and European missionaries with political, social and class interests which were contrary or hostile to both the spiritual and social needs of our people in this country.

"To these groups and Churches what is called western ChrIstian civilisation or the western capitalistic culture is seen as identical with the christian faith or the demands of the Gospel. Any other system (especially economic) which is not necessarily capitalist is taken as being atheistic and therefore anti-Christian." ⁽⁶³⁾

"The problem Is that Jesus was a radical and we are moderates. He was committed to radical change and we are committed to moderation, to reformist liberal tendencies which leave the system intact. Jesus talked about losing life to gain life and giving one's life for others like he did for us, whilst we are concerned about our interests and the preservation of our lives." ⁽⁶⁴⁾

Like the Kairos Document, the Evangelical Document concluded with a very long list of names of those who subscribed to its views but these came from a broad range of Christians who belonged to charismatic and pentecostal churches and groups.

Church Reaction

Perhaps, like Black Theology, these documents could not have first appeared within the SACC because ecclesiastical organisations, with their traditions and structures, are not geared for such innovations. There is nothing reprehensible about this: it is simply a statement of religious reality whIch has been clear since the Acts of the Apostles. The Spirit of Cod can achieve some things within the competence of smaller groups, and some in larger. Different views have a different emphasis in different contexts, whether being discussed in Antioch or in the CouncIl of Jerusalem in Acts 15.

The SACC and its member churches, many of whose members were involved in the production of these three documents, quickly brought them into their understanding and approach. Reactions amongst the SACC churches varied between those who endorsed the insights and those who felt they went too far. The fact that the churches had to change their own attitudes as part of the struggle to change the country was widely accepted but there were very real problems. If the Churches were to accept the necessity of praying for a change of government, some of them would need to alter their liturgies. The documents were not approved and recommended, but accepted as study documents and referred to the Churches for consideration.

The crux of the matter was that whilst some supported, others fudged the issue. They recognIsed its validity but failed to make an unequivocal response to the challenge of the Gospel from the reality of the rejected people. That difference in attitude to the Gospel and society has continued, and was spelt out clearly by Louise Kretzschmar at the Awareness Campaign of the Baptist Convention:

"The basic divisions … in South Africa are no longer racial, but theological: between those who remain tied to a quietistic or even right-wing view of Christianity and those who seek to relate the Gospel not only to the souls of individuals, but also to the total needs of persons." ⁽⁶⁵⁾

Some Christians were still committed to the type of western society which apartheid sought to preserve. The affluent and elite in the leadership of the churches saw apartheid as a disgusting and ungodly threat to the preservation of western society which was fundamentally reformable. The poor and oppressed saw apartheId as the epitome of western society which revealed its true oppressive nature, and thus the basis of society had to be totally changed. Both sections wanted apartheid removed but for opposite reasons. "The liberal critics of the Kairos Document perceive the present order differently from its authors who wrote from the heat of the struggle in Soweto." ⁽⁶⁶⁾

Within the SACC family the essential divide between the vision of the poor and oppressed who perceived the good news of a kingdom which totally changed human society, was still contrasted with the vision of the liberals who accepted the legitimacy of the present order of political, economic and social life, but wanted it apartheid free. It was a difference of theological perception of which Jesus had warned, that "the affluent cannot see the ruling power of God".⁽⁶⁷⁾

A Valid Role

As a result of this fundamental divide, some people pulled out. Some conservatives withdrew, aided by the government's propaganda and agencies like the government funded "Christian League". Some radicals withdrew, feeling that the Church no longer had a valid role in the struggle. Within that struggle the theological insights of the SACC were constantly challenged and strengthened, and both sides were far clearer that apatheid was evil, apartheid had to go, and the church had to join the struggle again it They did not know that the struggle was soon to be intensified and once more their theological perceptions would be at the heart of it.

WCC and the Liberation Movements

During May1987 the WCC convened a conference in Lusaka on "The Churches search for Justice and Peace in South Africa." It was attended by Churches from southern Africa and overseas, and also by the Liberation Movements, and the personal relationships forged or renewed made a profound impression on all present including the delegates from the SACC. The central paragraph of the Lusaka Statement concerned the liberation struggle and read as follows:

"We affirm the unquestionable right of the people of Namibia and South Africa to secure justice and peace through the liberation movements. While remaining committed to peaceful change we recognise that the nature of the South African regime which wages war on its own inhabitants and neighbours compels the movements to the use of force along with other means to end oppression. We call upon the churches and the international community to seek ways to give this affirmation practical effect in the struggle for liberation in the region and to strengthen their contacts with the liberation movements." ⁽⁶⁸⁾

Nothing could be more explicitly opposed to the machinations of PW Botha than this endorsement of the liberation movements and the call on the churches to strengthen their contact wIth them. Neither the SACC nor its member churches endorsed the armed struggle – they were explicitly committed to peaceful methods - but in the continuing debate between the advocates of "reform" and "fundamental change" at the SACC National Conference the Lusaka Statement waa accepted, a counter resolution that it be merely received and referred to the churches for study being defeated.

This commitment by the SACC to maintain contact with the liberation movements was followed in January 1988 by a call from the SACBC for open unconditional negotiations between Pretoria and the liberation movements. Both these decisions arose from theological convictions that the struggle was godly in principle, that it was a commitment to the kingdom, and must be continued until negotiations could facilitate a peacful solution.

Total Confrontation

When Botha struck again in 1988, banning 17 more organisations committed to non-violent and peaceful change including the United Democratic Front (UDF), itwas the last straw. Churches now had no difficulty in interpreting this as an attempt by the regime to destroy all non-violent peaceful actions for change. Older members recalled similar actions against the ANC and PAC which were totally committed to peaceful change when they were banned in 1960. and the BC organisations and Cl banned in 1977.

Armed by the theological debates of the previous decade which rejected the legitimacy of a militrty option for the regime, Church Leaders first produced a remarkable statement. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ After placing the blame for violence squarely on the shoulder. of government who had chosen that course, they stated that since the majority of people in the banned organisations belonged to churches the bannings affected the Churches directly; and since the activities of the organisations were "central to the proclamation of the Gospel" the Churches would endeavour to take over and continue the work of thee organisations, in so far as they were mandated by the Gospel. Their mandate came from God, no man or government would stop them. If the State wished to act against the Church for proclaiming the Gospel, then so be it.

"We urge the oppressed to intensify the struggle for justice and peace in accordance with the Gospel and we encourage them not to lose hope for victory against evil in this world is guaranteed by our Lord. For our part, we commit ourselves to exploring every possible avenue for continuing to carry out the activities which have been banned in so far as we believe they are mandated by the Gospel." ⁽⁷⁰⁾

This was taking theology into the struggle beyond any doubt and it was capped by the decision not to talk to the Government behind closed doors - an exercise which had already proved fruitless - but to march on Parliament in the full glare of publicity to protest against the brutal action taken against peaceful opposition and present a petition to the State President making clear their demands "to witness effectively and clearly to the value of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." ⁽⁷¹⁾

They were arrested, imprisoned, released, and castigated by the government who called theIr peaceful march "a violent act". The photograph of these Christian leaders, together with Muslims and Jews, kneeling in the street in prayer went round the world, and with it the theological explication by Frank Chikane, now General Secretary of the SACC:

"What is threatening the struggle on behalf of Christianity, the Christian faith, and freedom of faith and worship against the forces of godlessness is in fact the present apartheid government which oppresses and brutalises the black majority in this country inthe name of God. It is the Nationalist government which treats black people in this country as Iess than human, and thus makes blacks to doubt whether or not they were created in the same image of God, making them doubt whether this God is a God of oppressors or a God of justice. The attack on those who witness against the evils of the apartheid system is what threatens the freedom of faith and worship in this country. The urgent and primary concern at present therefore is not atheistic marxism, but it is the heretical system of apartheid that is threatening our faith and creating a crisis of faith and mission in our country." ⁽⁷²⁾

Chikane saw a deeper truth here about the nature of the Church in South Africa.

Faith, Spirituality

"Christians need to restate that they are called to carry out their mission as a church in the world and to people affected by this world. They are called to witness against sin in society as a whole, including the sphere of economics and polltics, all of which affects faith and the spiritualIty of people. Christians are called to witness against evil and injustice in this world, and in our particular case the heretical apartheid system." ⁽⁷³⁾

Blistering letters of accusation passed between the SACC, its member churches and the SACBC on one hand, and Government and the DRC on the other hand. but little new was added to the debate.

The SACC and its members were now solidily committed to the theological position, not only that apartheid was against the will of God, but that it must be totally removed through the pressure of international sanctions, and the pressure of the oppressed people.

The Convocation of Churches⁽⁷⁴⁾

During 1988 the SACC called a Convocation to enable churches in South Africa to develop effective non-violent actions in the face of the deepening crisis in the country. "The aim of developing effective non- violent actions was to bring an end to the apartheid system by putting pressure on the South African regime to abandon apartheid and participate in a negotiated settlement to establish a just, non-racial and democratic society where all will be treated equally before the law." ⁽⁷⁵⁾

It had become clear to all churches that whilst the liberation movements were open to discussIon about a negotiated settlement, the apartheid regime would entertain nothing that could tamper with white domination and privilege. Month after month there was evidence of the regime's support for violent acts designed to detabilise the liberation struggle. This was the context of the Convocations decision to set up the Standing for the Truth Campaign.

"Called to proclaim and witness to truth in living, and even by dying, we now commit ourselves with solemn resolve in prayer and action to end unjust rule in our country and to see the advent of the democratic society of peace and justice ... The awakening of social conscience and a knowledge of truth are central to evangelisation, and essential element for preaching, liturgy, chatechetics, and Christian formation – indeed, for church work and witness as a whole. This implies a pastoral task of the first order."⁽⁷⁶⁾

Nevertheless, there were problems. Some church leaders felt they were being pushed too far too quickly, and some activists felt the churches were not sufficiently concerned and left the church, which Chikane sees as tragic: "Politically concerned people must remain within the structures of the church and force these structures to face up to the practical implications of the gospel."⁽⁷⁷⁾

And Then...

The years had given a deeper meaning to the Message of 1968:

"We believe that we are under an obligation to state that our country and Church are under God's judgement and that Christ is inevitably a threat to much that is called "the South African way of Iife." We must ask ourselves what features of our social order will have to pass away if the lordship of Christ is to be fully acknowledged and if the peace of God is to be revealed as the destroyer of our fear." ⁽⁷⁸⁾

And then: Botha was out and De Klerk was in; the prisoners were out and the Liberation Movements were in; apartheid was out ... but what new order was coming in?

NOTES

1. F Chikane, Interview with C Villa Vicencio, April 1993. [back]

2. Message to the People of South Africa, SACC June 1968. Reprinted as an appendix to this volume. [back]

3. J Davies, Letter to the author, 4 March 1993. [back]

4. Ibid. J Davies, Pseudo-Gospels in the Church, SA Institute of Race Relations, May 1968. [back]

5. J Cochrane, Servants of Power, p26. [back]

6. N B Pityana, Essays on Black Theology, University Christian Movement 1972, p38. [back]

7. M Buthelezi, Church Action in the South African Crisis, SACC 1988 p15. [back]

8. F Meli, South Africa belongs to us, Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1988 p14. [back]

9. Acts 15: 5ff. [back]

10. W Kistner, Outside the Camp, SACC 1988, p21. [back]

11. CFB Naude, Hope in Crisis, SACC 1986 p123. [back]

12. Shirley Du Boulay, Tutu, 1988 p79. [back]

13. R Turner, The Eye of the Needle, SPROCAS 2, 1972. See Ravan Press Edition 1980. [back]

14. P Randall, Resistance and Hope, David Philip/Eerdmans, 1985 p165. [back]

15. Luke 4: 18. [back]

16. Randall, Ibid p 166. [back]

17. Davies, Letter, Ibid. [back]

18. NB Pityana, see Gail M Gerhart, Black Power in South Africa, University of California 1978 p274.[back]

19. Essays on Black Theology. See also Basil Moore, The Challenge of Black Theology in South Africa, John Knox Press 1973. [back]

20. F Chikane, Interview. Ibid. [back]

21. A A Boesak, Farewell to Innocence, Kampen University 1976, p23. [back]

22. Ibid, p24. [back]

23. D Tutu in Missionalia, August 1977, p115. [back]

24. S Mogoba, Interview with author, March 1993. [back]

25. A Nolan, God in South Africa, David Philip 1988, p4. [back]

26. M Buthelezi, Church Action in the South African Crisis, ibid, p15. [back]

27. A W Habelgaarn, Kairos, August 1972, SACC. [back]

28. J Metz, Faith in History and Society, Burnes and Oates 1980, p71. [back]

29. J de Gruchy, Resistance and Hope, p22. [back]

30. M Cassidy, I will heal their land. SA Congress on Mission and Evangelism 1973, SACC/Africa Enterprise, 1974. [back]

31. C Cook, ibid, p31. [back]

32. H R Weber, ibid, p32. [back]

33. M Cassidy quoting J Burns, ibid, p33. [back]

34. A Boraine, ibid, p344/5. [back]

35. Mission in Unity Together, SACC Faith and Mission Unit, 1993. [back]

36. C Villa Vicencio, Trapped in Apartheid, Orbis 1988, p5. [back]

37. F Chikane in The Barkly West National Awareness Workshop, Baptist Convention of SA, 1990, p36. [back]

38. Tutu, Ibid, p86. [back]

39. At a meeting in Durban 1971, quoted in paper by W. Kistner: Response of SACC to WCC PCR, Feb 1980, p6. [back]

40. Several of Dr W Kistner's papers are included in Outside the Camp, SACC 1988. Other J&R papers are in the SACC library and annual reports. [back]

41. See Resolution on Conscientious Objection in this volume. [back]

42. F Chikane interview, ibid. [back]

43. SACC Conference 1979. [back]

44. F Chikane address to Convocation of Churches, Church Action in SA Crisis, 1988 p163.[back]

45. M Mpumplwana in C Villa Vicencio Theology and Violence, Skotaville Publishers, 1987 p99. [back]

46. Church Action in SA Crisis, ibid, p213/4. [back]

47. In Trapped in Apartheid, ibid, p118. [back]

48. For W Kistner on Eloff Commission see Outside the Camp, ibid p89ff. For D Tutu see On Trial, John Paul the Preachers Press, 1982. [back]

49. Kistner, ibid. [back]

50. Resistance and Hope, ibid, p115/6. [back]

51. Ibid 119. [back]

52. Ibid 123. [back]

53. Tutu, ibid p179. [back]

54. Apartheid is a Heresy, Ed J de Gruchy and C Villa-Vicencio, David Philip 1983. [back]

55. SACC Conference 1982. [back]

56. See appendix to this volume. [back]

57. Ibid. [back]

58. John 19:11. [back]

59. Revelations 2:5. [back]

60. Romans 13:1. [back]

61. Challenge to the Church: The Kairos Document, Institute of Contextual Theology, 1986. [back]

62. Evangelical Witness in South Africa, Concerned Evangelicals, 1986. [back]

63. Ibid, p2. [back]

64. Ibid, p8. [back]

65. Barkly West National Awareness Workshop, ibid, p31. [back]

66. C Villa-Vicencio, Trapped in Apartheid, ibid, p167. [back]

67. Mark 10:23. [back]

68. Lusaka Statement. [back]

69. F Chikane, The Church's Prophetic Witness against the Apartheid System in South Africa, Feb-April 1988, SACC, 1988 p33. [back]

70. ibid, p35. [back]

71. ibid, p40. [back]

72. ibid, p17/18. [back]

73. ibid, p19. [back]

74. Church Action in the South African Crisis, ibid, p157. [back]

75. Ibid. [back]

76. Ibid. [back]

77. F Chikane interview, ibid. [back]

78. A Message, ibid. [back]