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God and the Covenant in the South African Wilderness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

J. Alton Templin
J. Alton Templin
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Historical Theology, The Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado
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Extract

When South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was assassinated on September 6, 1966, a writer in the Cape Town Afrikaans newspaper, Die Burger, included an instructive comment. He said, “May the God in whom we believe make clear to us in His own good time what this terrible event is to signify to our country and her people.” This statement reminds us of a dimension in South African nationalism which goes beyond the normal interests of a nation. A theological motif is introduced which remains dominant in the South African mind. In the eyes of Afrikaners this theological concern lifts their problems out of the area of purely political and economic discussion for their whole cultural effort involves fulfilling a divine mission.2 Therefore, the death of Hendrik Verwoerd was more than a tragedy for the nation—it was a tragedy with divine implications.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , September 1968 , pp. 281 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1968

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References

1. Die Burger, September 6, 1966.

2. van Jaarsveld, F. A., The Afrikaner's Interpretation of South African History (Cape Town: Simondium, 1964), Chapter 1.Google Scholar

3. Quoted in Bunting, Brian, The Rise of the South African Reich (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1964), p. 88.Google Scholar

4. The various interpretations of the Great Trek in Afrikaner historiography are well analyzed in van Jaarsveld, F. A., Die Beeld van die Groot Trek in die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedskrywing (Pretoria: Mededelings van die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 1963)Google Scholar.

5. Quoted in van Jaarsveld, F. A., Die Afrikaner en sy Geskiedenis (Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandl, 1959), p. 98.Google Scholar

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8. The term “myth” in the sense of God's direct actions in the affairs of man was used in reference to South Africa by Thompson, Leonard, “Afrikaner Nationalist Historiography and the Policy of Apartheid”, Journal of African History, III (1962), 125–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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21. Ibid.

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26. Retief was sworn in on June 1, 1837. The Rev. Erasmus Smit administered the oath. Preller, , Piet Retief, pp. 62f.Google Scholar, Nathan, Ibid., p. 166.

27. Nathan, Ibid., p. 168. This Bible is preserved in the Voortrekker Museum in Pretoria.

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39. Ibid.

40. Report of Mr. J. G. Bantjes, in Bird, Ibid., I, 442.

41. Report of J. G. Bantjes, Ibid., I, 442.

42. Celliers, Journal, in Bird, op. cit., I, 244.

43. Celliers, Journal, in Bird, Ibid., I, 244.

44. Pretorius“wanted to make a vow to God Almighty if they were all willing, that should the Lord be pleased to grant us the victory, we would raise a house to the memory of His great name … and that we would note the day of the victory in a book, to make it known even to our latest posterity, in order that it might be celebrated to the honor of God.” MacKeurtan, Graham, The Cradle Days of Natal (London: Lougmans, Green and Co., 1930), pp. 246f.Google Scholar

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47. Ibid.

48. Andries Pretorius, December 22, 1838, in Bird, op. cit., p. 454.

49. Hattingh to Pretorius, March 30, 1839; in Voortrekker-Argiefstukke, pp. 60f.

50. Hattingh from Agter Sneeuwberg to Pretorius, Ibid., p. 64.

51. Carstens at Cape Town to Pretorius, May 29, 1839, Ibid., p. 71.

52. Brand to friend, June 13, 1839, in Voortrekker-Argiefstukke, p. 82f.

53. September 11, 1839, Voortrekker-Argiefstukke, p. 91.

54. A. Carstens from Capetown to Pretorius, September 11, 1839, Voortrekker-Argiefstukke, pp. 92f.

55. Carstens to Pretorius, October 4, 1839, Vortrekker-Argiefstukke, p. 95f.

56. Engelbrecht, S. P., Die Nederduitsch Hervormde Gemeente Rustenberg, 1850–1950 (Published by the Kerkraad of the South African Republic, n.d.), p. 2.Google Scholar

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58. Eybers, , Select Documents, pp. 151fGoogle Scholar. The proclamation was issued November 14, 1838, but was effective from December 4, the date of their landing in Natal.

59. Bird, op. cit., I, 236. The first Trekker constitution was written at Winburg in 1837.

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61. This was published in the Grahamstown Journal, October 31, 1839, in Bird, op. cit., I, 544–556.

62. Ibid., p. 546.

63. Ibid., p. 605.

64. M. W. Vorster, November 4, 1847, Voortrekker-Argiefstukke, p. 281.

65. Quoted in Carter, Gwendolen M., The Politics of Inequality: South Africa since 1948 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1962), p. 252.Google Scholar

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67. Quoted in Bunting, Brian, The Rise of the South African Reich (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1964), p. 7.Google Scholar