Talk:Belhar Confession

Notes regarding original article
I've written this article to replace the original stub. The paraphrase of the confession is my own, based on the Afrikaans version. The rest of the text has been researched on web sites doing searches for "belhar belydenis" and "belhar confession". I don't have time to add references, but the factual content is accurate and verifiable, for they have been gleaned from web sites speaking out in favour of the confession. Unfortunately there is no indication that either the Afrikaans or the English full text of the confession is public domain or GPL, so we can't use it here unless we paragphrase it (as I have done). leuce 17:17, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Churches that adopted it
Someone added this:


 * The Uniting Reformed Churches in Southern Africa


 * The United Protestant Church in Belgium Verenigde Protestantse Kerk in België and in French l'Église Protestante Unie de Belgique.


 * The Dominican Reformed Church Iglesia Reformada Dominicana


 * The Reformed Church in America took the penultimate step toward adopting the Confession at its General Synod on 9 June 2009. Final adoption will depend on ratification by 2/3 of the classes (local assemblies) in the denomination.  Results will be announced June, 2010.
 * The Christian Reformed Church in North America


 * The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

...but with no references. I think a section on which churches had accepted it (and when) is useful. -- 77.168.195.155 (talk) 08:25, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I did some research. The URCSA's press release is here: http://www.kerkweb.org/node/1339. The URCSA claims that the following churches had adopted the Belhar Confession or were close to doing so, but... the truth is:


 * Reformed_Church_in_America: not adopted yet: http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=2552
 * Evangelical_Church_in_Germany: no evidence of adoption: http://www.ekd.de/english/faith.html
 * United_Protestant_Church_in_Belgium: adoption confirmed: http://vpkb.be/site/terminologie/
 * Reformed Church in the Dominican Republic: This is a rather new denomination that was formed through the instigation of the RCA.  Adoption of Belhar Confession is not confirmed, but it did play a role in helping to convince local churches to form the new denomination: http://www.iglesiard.org/1b.html
 * Christian_Reformed_Church_in_North_America: no evidence of adoption: http://www.crcna.org/pages/beliefs.cfm and further pages
 * Presbyterian_Church_(U.S.A.): no evidence of adoption: http://www.pcusa.org/navigation/whoweare.htm

-- leuce (talk) 19:47, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I am most familiar with the churches in the USA, and it's not quite correct to say there's "no evidence of adoption". Especially in Reformed churches, one may not find all of the confessions listed on a "Who We Are" page designed for the general public. "Adoption" is a problematic term, particularly in churches with a presbyterian form of government, since confessions have constitutional status and have a ratification process with multiple steps. Flycandler (talk) 19:05, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The CRCNA's 2009 Synod approved Belhar for consideration, and approval will be voted upon by the 2012 Synod. http://www.crcna.org/pages/belhar.cfm
 * The PC(USA)'s 219th General Assembly approved Belhar in 2010, and now presbyteries across the country are voting on whether to add it to the Book of Confessions (Part I of the church Constitution). If 2/3 of presbyeries approve, the 2012 GA will hold a final vote to enact it.  http://oga.pcusa.org/pdf/proposed_amendments2.pdf

Critique and Controversy
This can't be serious. The article has been around a couple of years now, but there is no section for criticism of this document? This is somehow suspect in the light of the fact that the document is considered highly controversial in South Africa itself. The criticism moving ranging from seeing the document as theologically dubious towards being a piece of cryptomarxist propaganda, while some will point out the dishonesty and bias of what is written in between. --41.151.79.237 (talk) 20:37, 7 March 2012 (UTC)


 * What are you waiting for? Add it if you have reliable sources. Roger (talk) 13:41, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Removed text copied from unknown source I
This section was copied almost directly from another source (unknown) not cited. I move it here so that it can be mined for information.


 * The DRMC Synod 1982 appointed a committee, consisting of  two ministers  delegated to the Synod i.e. dr. AA Boesak, and rev.  I Mentor,   and three lectures also from UWC namely, proff. D Smith, J Durand, G Bam, to draft a concept confession of faith, known today as the Confession of Belhar.  The name Belhar in the Confession refers to the Suburb of Belhar (in the Cape) where the Synod met.   Within days the committee presented the synod with the draft. Prof D Smith played a pivotal role in the drafting of the Belhar Confession.     The confession was originally written by Professor Dirkie Smit of the Theological Faculty of the University of the Western Cape, with inputs from Professor Jaap Durand of the same faculty, Rev Gustav Bam of the DRMC and Doctor Allan Boesak, who was president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at that time.  The confession was named after Belhar, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, where a general synod of the DRMC was held in 1982. The synod accepted the draft Confession of Belhar.  The word accepted used for the reception of report of the commission does not imply adoption.  A long process of discernment   by the local congregations which took four years followed. The Confession of Belhar was a response of the church in faith at a time of tremendous challenge and adversity.


 * The DRMC rejected the claims of an unjust or oppressive government and denounce Christians who back theological justification of the system of apartheid. The DRMC committed themselves to a common witness to injustice and equality in society and to unity at the table of the Lord.  It was a moment of kairos for the church to obedience.  On the 26th September 1986, after four years of discernment of the local congregation on the inclusion of the Belhar Confession in the standard of faith, the DRMC formally adopted the Belhar Confession as the fourth confession of the church. Prof. Gustav Bam recited the proposals of the ad hoc commission on the Belhar Confession. He said retention of the confession will not hinder or accelerate the unification process between the DRC and the DRMC. “A confession lives in the heart of a church. We cannot for the sake of unity hold it back. If we do, these words are like fire that burns in our hearts. `` What is at stake is the reality of different religious understanding between us and the DRC. ``These differences will not disappear if we redeem the confession.”( Die Burger 29 September 1986),  Under silence on Friday, 26 September 1986  in the synod hall  in Belhar  399 of the 470 delegates of the Church's 267 churches solemnly rose to express their endorsement of the Belhar Confession. Altogether 71 delegates voted against the adoption of the Belhar Confession, including rev. Isak Mentor, Assessor of the Synod, and ironically one of the   co-drafters of the Belhar Confession.  Rev  Isak Mentor's proposal  on the synod that the Belhar Confession  should  not be accepted, but  should rather be referred for the greatest possible unity to all other DR churches in order  to reach consensus with the other Reformed churches  was rejected with an overwhelming majority. The acceptance of the Belhar Confession held profound judicial implications for all clergy of the DRMC. Eventually it was expected of all ministers   to sign the Belhar confession.  The Synod, however decided to accompany with pastoral sensitivity those who were not ready to accept the Belhar Confession in order not to lose them in the process.


 * --leuce (talk) 20:00, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Removed text copied from unknown source II
Section block of text copied mostly unedited from an unknown source. This could be reformatted as an "Adoption of" section for the URCSA.


 * The confession was a catalyst in the formation of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in 1994, which was formed by the union of the DRMC (the DRCSA's division for coloured people) and the DRCA (Dutch Reformed Church in Africa, the DRCSA division for black people). On the 14th April 1994 the DRMC and the DRCA unified in order to constitute the URCSA.   During the past decade the DRCA claimed that they never made a formal evaluation of the Belhar Confession or decided to accept the Confession of Belhar to be part of the united church. History shows in an opposite direction. The sixth General Synod of the DRCA constitute in Barkly West in 1983. At the said Synod a study document of the DRMC on the Church and Apartheid was tabled.  It was a petition of the DRMC to the DRCA to assist the DRMC in the status confesionnis and to subscribe to the draft confession of Belhar. The Synod of the DRCA were not willing to take this step, but  took note of the petition of the DRMC and  referred it with his existing decisions about church unity to a commission for further study. The DRCA Synod 1987 referred  the Confession of Belhar NGSK to the  Commission for Scripture  and Confession in order to investigate the desirability of  the acceptance of the confession by DRCA, to what extent the acceptance thereof by the DRCA may promote or delay the unification of the DRC family.  The commission  was tasked  to report their findings during  the recess to  the Federal Council of the Reformed Churches in South Africa and to serve the next synod  of the DRCA  with proposals in this regard. On 1 October  1990 the extraordinary session of the General Synod of the DRCA constituted  in Cape Town with representatives from the six regional synods i.e.  Orange Free State, Phororo, Southern Transvaal, Northern Transvaal, Cape Province and Natal, adopted the Belhar confession.  At the Synod the DRCA 1991 article 36.1 of the church order of the DRCA  was  amended  in order  to make the Confession of Belhar  part of the confessional  basis  a the DRCA.  In 1998 this decision was ruled ultra vires by the Supreme Court.  According to appeal judge Harmse the confession of faith of the DRCA  could only be amended in compliance with the three formal requirements  in article 36.1  of the church order of the DRCA, namely (i) consultation of all churches of the DRC family, (II) a two-thirds majority vote in favor of the change by each Regional Synod separately and only then (iii) a two-thirds majority vote of the General Synod. The involvement of the regional synods  in this regard  means in effect that two thirds of all congregations  should  vote in  advance  in favor of  the proposed amendment.  The DRCA repeated claimed especially  after  1998 that they cannot accept Belhar Confession as part of the confessional basis of the united church.


 * --leuce (talk) 20:05, 13 March 2012 (UTC)


 * If the source is "unknown" how do you know it is a copyvio? You can't make such allegations without evidence. Roger (talk) 20:15, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
 * OK I've taken a look at the edit history, it's clear this stuff was copied from a book or similar source. Roger (talk) 20:24, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
 * It appears to have come from this document, with slight changes: http://hdl.handle.net/10500/9977 . It's an article published in the academic journal Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae -- leuce (talk) 07:54, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

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