The significance of articles 1 and 5 of the Belhar Confession for Reformed theology

Abstract

The Belhar Confession evolved during a moment of political and social crisis in the 1980s in South Africa. The 1980s in South Africa were marked by a deepening crisis of apartheid, fuelled by mass action, escalating violence, and the government’s increasingly repressive measures. This decade saw the ‘roaring’ of resistance, marked by a surge of protests, youth and workers’ boycotts, and strikes, as well as the declaration of a state of emergency and the deployment of troops to black townships. Despite the Christian anti-apartheid struggle that played a significant role in the adoption of the Belhar Confession, its reception among the victims of apartheid is still low. The research explores the theological imperatives of two paragraphs (the first and the last) of the Belhar Confession, as well as their logical development, since they are built upon one another, forming a coherent theological framework.
Contribution: The study concludes with the call to reimagine the message of the Belhar Confession in present-day South Africa. The promotion of the confession’s reception in the church could be enhanced by engaging communities through meaningful readings, exploring the interplay between self-reflection and self-action.