Dealing with division: Some responses to World War II within the Dutch Reformed Church on synodical and congregational level (1936-1944)

Abstract

This article investigates the way in which the Dutch Reformed Church dealt with the challenge of divisions amongst its members after the outbreak of World War II, and how the responses on synodical and congregational level were arti-culated in theological language. Drawing on some existing studies in this regard, the article seeks to add further texture by looking at certain important official synodical documents from 1936 until 1944, as well as some sermons preached in Dutch Reformed congregations during these years – sermons in which pastors specifically referred to the war and to the conflict and divisions within Afrikaner circles. With regard to the sermons, I draw on some sermons preached by Rev. Beyers Naudé and Rev. CR. Kotzé. These sermons represent different responses to the crisis that the war caused within Afrikaner (church) circles, and as such indicate the way in which the broader viewpoints and emotional debates in society and on synodical level also resonated in congregational life.