The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism

Throughout history, and especially after the Reformation, Christians increasingly divided into groups and denominations while all Christians confessed their continued belief in "one church". Using South Africa in general and the ecumenical activities (both past and present) of the traditional Afrikaans speaking churches as source, an evaluation is made regarding the function of words like "ecumenism" and "unity" in the organisational structures and lives of members of these denominations. The firm belief of each denomination that it is the only true church is only one of several red lights flashing, all indicating that ecumenism is used to cover a vast array of malpractices and that unity is defined not in terms of what the Bible prescribes but according to what people want it to mean. Ecumenical relations are formed according to prescribed rules, providing the practice with a false air of legitimacy. Ecumenism provides a human detour around the Biblical commands to make disciples and practise love.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Oliver,Erna
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: The Church History Society of Southern Africa 2011
Online Access:http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992011000100003
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spelling oai:scielo:S1017-049920110001000032015-03-06The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenismOliver,ErnaThroughout history, and especially after the Reformation, Christians increasingly divided into groups and denominations while all Christians confessed their continued belief in "one church". Using South Africa in general and the ecumenical activities (both past and present) of the traditional Afrikaans speaking churches as source, an evaluation is made regarding the function of words like "ecumenism" and "unity" in the organisational structures and lives of members of these denominations. The firm belief of each denomination that it is the only true church is only one of several red lights flashing, all indicating that ecumenism is used to cover a vast array of malpractices and that unity is defined not in terms of what the Bible prescribes but according to what people want it to mean. Ecumenical relations are formed according to prescribed rules, providing the practice with a false air of legitimacy. Ecumenism provides a human detour around the Biblical commands to make disciples and practise love.The Church History Society of Southern Africa Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae v.37 n.1 20112011-05-01journal articletext/htmlhttp://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992011000100003en
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country Sudáfrica
countrycode ZA
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databasecode rev-scielo-za
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region África del Sur
libraryname SciELO
language English
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author Oliver,Erna
spellingShingle Oliver,Erna
The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
author_facet Oliver,Erna
author_sort Oliver,Erna
title The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
title_short The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
title_full The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
title_fullStr The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
title_full_unstemmed The history of Afrikaans speaking churches in South Africa and the option of ecumenism
title_sort history of afrikaans speaking churches in south africa and the option of ecumenism
description Throughout history, and especially after the Reformation, Christians increasingly divided into groups and denominations while all Christians confessed their continued belief in "one church". Using South Africa in general and the ecumenical activities (both past and present) of the traditional Afrikaans speaking churches as source, an evaluation is made regarding the function of words like "ecumenism" and "unity" in the organisational structures and lives of members of these denominations. The firm belief of each denomination that it is the only true church is only one of several red lights flashing, all indicating that ecumenism is used to cover a vast array of malpractices and that unity is defined not in terms of what the Bible prescribes but according to what people want it to mean. Ecumenical relations are formed according to prescribed rules, providing the practice with a false air of legitimacy. Ecumenism provides a human detour around the Biblical commands to make disciples and practise love.
publisher The Church History Society of Southern Africa
publishDate 2011
url http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992011000100003
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