"Good mission policy is good state policy in South Africa?" The influence of the Tomlinson Report on racial separation in church and state at the dawn of apartheid
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Authors
Saayman, W. A. (Willem A.)
Issue Date
2008
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Racial separation in church , Tomlinson report , Apartheid
Alternative Title
Abstract
The author studies the development of the single, multiracial
Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) into a “family” of 10 racially
separated churches, especially in the light of the findings of the
Tomlinson Report, published in 1955. The Commission wanted
to bring the relationship between mission policy and state
policy in South Africa (SA) into line with (and indeed under
control of) the apartheid policy of the National Party. The
author concludes that the DRC instituted the first racially
separated church in 1881 on the basis of the practical situation
whereby black and white members had grown into separate
congregations as a result of the 1857 decision. In the 1940s and
1950s an ideological-theological justification started developing
based on German missiological thinking as articulated
especially by Keysser and Gutmann. The author finds that the
Tomlinson Commission based their findings and recommendations
on a mistaken view of African Christianity in South
Africa at that time. The findings of the Tomlinson Report did,
however, seem to confirm the ideological development taking
place, thus strengthening the hand of those wishing to introduce
a theological justification for racially separated churches
ex post facto. As a result serious damage was done to the credibility
of the Church and Christian mission in South Africa.
Description
Peer reviewed
Citation
Saayman, W. 2008, "Good mission policy is good state policy in South Africa?" The influence of the Tomlinson Report on racial separation in church and state at the dawn of apartheid', Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, vol. XXXIV, no. 2, pp. 15-39.
Publisher
Church History Society of South Africa
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
1017-0499