"Leefstyl-Bybel vir vroue" : Afrikaans-speaking women amidst paradigm shift

Abstract

Dutch-Afrikaans women in South Africa have inherited the worst and the best from Dutch piety. On the negative side they have become heir to the guilt-ridden, self-humiliating piety of the Dutch pietists from the seventeenth century, and the patriarchal politics of Abraham Kuyper from the early twentieth century. However, lately Afrikaans-speaking women theologians in South Africa have been positively influenced by the work of Dutch feminist theologians, such as Catharina Halkes and Riet Bons-Storm. This work led to the publication of the Leefstyl-Bybel vir vroue (2003). This commentary on the Bible, written from a woman’s point of view, was written by six Afrikaans-speaking women theologians; their aim was to heal, empower and, indeed, surprise Afrikaans-speaking women with information on the roles played by women in the Bible. It is hoped that this publication is affecting a paradigm shift amongst Afrikaansspeaking women that will stimulate their public agency as women of faith.