1989 Issue 2 - Introduction to Special South Africa Issue - Counsel of Chalcedon

5/21/2018 1989 Issue 2 - Introduction to Special South Africa Issue - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Introduction

to Special

South frica

ssue

by Joe Morecraft,

Ill

This is a special edition of The Counsel

of

Chalcedon. Its primary focus is on the

history and strength

of

the Reformed Faith in South Mrica.

It

is addressed to our

distinctively Christian readership. We pray that you take time to read every word of

this issue. The future of the United States of America is inseparably entwined with

the, future

of

the Republic of South Africa. Both our nations have the same roots--in

the Biblical Calvinism of the Protestant Reformation of the Sixteenth Century; and

the worldview

of

the heart

of

South Africans is

s t l ~

in large part, shaped by the

foundational principles of that Calvinism, in a manner that the heart of Americans is

not.

The purpose of this edition is two-fold:

1).

To look at the crises in South Africa

from the perspective of the Reformed Faith; and (2). To give American Christians a

taste of the flavor of South African Calvif).ism, which is a blend

of

Scottish, French,

Dutch, and American Calvinism, with unique contributions by South Mricans

themselves. The reason we are doing this is also two-fold:

1).

Whereas there are

several reliable newsletters that deal primarily with the geopolitical situation in

South Africa from a Conservative position, there are no other popular periodicals

that report on the South African situation from a distinctively Reformed perspective.

In fact, I know of only two others, beside The Counsel of Chalcedon that have done

so: Rushdoony's Chalcedon Report and Dick Knodel's Journey magazine. (2). There

is a treasure-house

of

creative and fascinating Reformed publications in South Africa, ,

but almost all of them are written in Afrikaans, although there are some excellent

books and papers by Afrikaans-speaking Calvinists in English, viz. Nigel Lee, and

authors connected with the Potchefstroom University for Higher Christian Educa

tion.

This February-March issue of The Counsel of Chalcedon has three components:

1). Articles by South African Calvinists; (2). Articles by American Calvinists who

are familiar with South Africa; and (3). Advertisements on South African

Reformed/Christian organizations.

The most helpful newsletters on South Africa include: 1). THE

McALVANY

INTELliGENCE ADVISOR P.O. Box

39810,

Phoenix, Ariz.;

2). THE

HOWARD P IWPS ISSUES AND

STRATEGY

BULLETIN

9520

Bent Creek

Lane, Vienna, VA.;

3). SIGNPOSTS

P.O. Box

26148,

Arcadia,

0007,

Republic of

South Africa; (4).

THE AIDA PARKER

NEWSLETTER

P.O. Box

91059,

Auckland Park, 2006, Republic of South Africa; 5).

FAMILY PROTECTION

SCOREBOARD

P.O. Box 10459, Costa Mesa, Calif.

The best books on the crises in South Africa include:

1). RED STAR OVER

SOUTHERN AFRICA by Morgan Norval, 1988, Selous Foundation, Washington,

D.C.; 2).

THE OTHER END OF

THE

LIFEBOAT

by Otto Scott, 1985, Regnery

Books, Chicago; (3). RED

LOCUSTS: SOVIET SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM

IN

SOUTHERN

AFRICA by Larry McDonald,

1981,

Western Goals Foundation,

Alexandria, VA.

For

a helpful video on Christianity and Marxism in Southern

Mrica, entitled, In the Name of God, contact National Citizens Action Network,

714-850-0349.

My understanding of the history of the Reformed Faith in South Africa is greatly

influenced by a series

of

ten cassettes

on

''The Eschatology of Victory in South

Africa by F. Nigel Lee. I t is an informative and spiritually stimulating series, that I

highly recommend to anybody. For information as to how these may be obtained

call my office: 1-404-396-0965.

THE EN OF VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Hope for South Africa

What will end

t e

bloody violence and the escalating terrorism in South Africa?

.......

~ H r

'

.

The Counsel of Chalcedon, February-March, 1989

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The release of Nelson Mandela won't do

it. Negotiations with the African Na

tional Congress won't do it. Capitula

ti6n to the pressures

of

the anti-Chris

tian West won't do it. National reform

ahd new dispensations won't do it. With

drawing from N amibia/SW Africa and

succumbing to United Nations' Resolu

tion 435 won't do it. Lifting or rein

stating

a

state

of

emergency won't do it.

The Nkomati and Lusaka Accords won't

do it. A return to 1948 and the mere

refurbishing of apartheid won't

do

it.

The only hope for South Africa is

the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Chris

tian Reconstruction of every aspect of

South African society and civilization

by the written word

of

the sovereign

God in the power

of

the Holy Spirit;

of

politics, economics, social and racial

relations, culture, church life, family

life, jurisprudence, and especially

of

the

inner life and world-view of individuals.

As Owen Fourie has written: "A na

tion's obedience

or

disobedience to the

law of God will determine the nature of

its divinely appointed destiny whether

it

be one of blessing or one of cursing,

and that applies equally to each ethno

linguistic group." Or, as

the Bible

states it: "Righteousness (i.e., conformi

ty to the biblical standard) exalts a na

tion, but sin (i.e., disobedience to

or

dis

regard

of

the biblical standard) is a re

proach to any people."1

Fourie continues: "With due repent

ance of his sins and with renewed obedi

ence

to

God's laws, the Afrikaaner

should proceed without guilt. In today's

post petty-apartheid South Africa, the

Afrikaaner must build true Reformed

C}1ristianity with its implications for

every area

of

life, and pursue a policy

of

retaining the God-given, God-created

diversity

of

ethno-cultural groups,

while making every zealous effort to

convert these groups

to

the Christian

Faith. It is the destruction of this faith

as expressed

by

the Afrikaaner, not the

apartheid system, that is the target of

the worldwide forces of ungodliness and

unrighteousness.

"In the providence

of

God and by the

obedience of the Christian evangelizing

the unconverted and applying the law

word of God to every area of life,

Southern Africa can become a common

wealth

of

diverse Christian nations each

with its own God-given character--a

microcosm of what must become of the

world before 4istory culminates in the

return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It must

be stated unequivocally that Christian

Reconstruction is the way ahead for.

South Africa.

"What is needed in South Africa

above all is a return

to

the foundations

of its heritage, not to mere tradition but

to a vital application of the basic tenets

b ~ i n g

expressed in Christian Reconstruc-

tod

n

non ay ....

The Position of South Africa

The Republic

of

South is in a better

position than any other nation on earth

to apply distinctively biblical solutions

to her complex problems. As a matter

of fact,. it

is

only the courageous appli

cation of distinctively biblical solutions

that will solve her problems and guaran

tee a future

of

liberty and justice for all

her children.

Just as the United States

of

America,

the Republic of Sol.lth Africa must

repent of her gradual departure from her

Christian roots and Christian calling as

a nation. Just as Soli Deo Gloria

has faded on rands ten or fifteen

years

old, so that mind-set and world-view

and heart-fire that gives all glory to God

alone, which seeks to live by faith in

Christ alone, governed by his Word

alone, in the power

of the Holy Spirit,

has begun to fade in the hearts of many

of her people. Just as the once-great

Presbyterian and Reformed churches

in

America, the Reformed Churches of

South Africa are not the bright, clear

lights of truth and grace they should be.

Their trumpets often give an uncertain

sound.

Almighty God has already begun rais

ing and gathering the Assyrian, Baby

lonian, and Roman armies of today to

bring his righteous and terrible judg

ment upon those nations who have

neglected their Christian heritages, and

who refuse to repent of that neglect.

The Soviet Union has targeted six

states from the Atlantic

to

the Indian

Ocean to dominate in order to surround

and isolate South Africa, the Com-

munists' ultimate target, next

to

the

United States. Those states are

Angola,

SW Africa/Namibia, Zambia, Bots

wana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. As

Donald McAlvl Ily points out: "The

Soviets do not believe they can conquer

South Africa militarily. Their plan

instead is to surround and isolate Soutl

Africa, precipitating economic sanc

tions and disinvestment in the West

harass South Africa along her

four"

country, 1500 mile border and fomen

internal revolution among her

16-plus

million blacks."3

Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26

guarantee that without a national return

to Christ and his covenant, and with

that return

the

Christian Reconstruction

of

her hearts and culture, the enemies o

South Africa will win, and rape. he

civilization, no matter how she tries to

stop them. On the other .hand, Prais

God , if South Africa does undergo

genuine, thorough-going S p i r i t p ~ o

ducexevival-reformation-renewal-recon

struction

by

the word of God, Deutero

nomy 28 and Leviticus 26 promise tha

her enemies will fail in their efforts

t

keep her and her children from a glori

ous destiny under God's blessing.

Professor Von Rooy, in his excellen

lecture, "Revolution or Revival?"

gives us a good description of revival

as

we mean

it

"There are times in his

tory when the Almighty in his

sove

reign grace decrees to work through

hi

Holy Spirit in an especially powerfu

manner, in such a way that many peo

ple are deeply affected and transforme

by the power of the gospel.

This

i

what we call"Revival." In times of re

vival the same Spirit does the sam

work of renewing and transforming me

as at other times, but he does it muc

more extensively and intensively.

"The first and foremost sign of gen

uine revival--for there are many counter

feits which do not deserve this gloriou

name--is a real and overwhelming en

counter with the living God, whic

reveals people to themselves in such

way that they are powerfully convicte

that they cannot bear the thought o

living a single day without Christ

an

longer. They must have Christ the

Savior, or perish."4

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The Counsel of Chalcedon, February-Marchj 989


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Gary North has well-spoken --We

must be more than anti-communists.

We must be able to offer a comprehen

sive, workable alternative to commun

ism. Nothing less than this will be suc

cessful. Marxism is the most consistent

and powerful secular religion of all

time;

t

can only be successfully chal

lenged by an even more consistent and

more powerful biblical religion. -- This

Christianity presents a comprehen

sive challenge to the modem world,

and it also offers comprehensive

solutions

to

the complex problems of

our day. Is the West (and South Africa

JCMIII) still walking the wrong way

down the road to serfdom? Yes. Even

the various national conservative and

'libertarian' revivals have not reversed

the overall trend, nor can they. The rea

son

is

simple: only through faith

in Jesus Christ can any society

discover, develop

and

maintain

the legal institutions that make

freedom possible."5

The Time for Christian

Reconstruction: Now

In many ways we have more working

against us in our American culture,

than Christians do in South African

culture. Our culture

is

deliberately and

self-consciously secular, humanistic,

and anti-Christian. At least, South Afri

cans want a Christian civilization, al

though some are not clear as to what

that means anymore. Our highest lead

ers would never say what the state

president of South Africa, President

Botha, said: " .

1

believe that the majori

ty of South Africans, as well

as

the

citizens of the independent states have

much in common .. We believe in the

same Almighty God and the redeeming

grace

of

his

Son, Jesus Christ.''6

Neither would they say what Chief

Buthelezi wrote: "We hereby declare

our commitment to serve God in obedi

ence to his divine will for our country

and together."? Whether they mean the

same thing is

yet

to

be seen. But the

point I am making

is

that South Africa

still has a Christian base from which to

work. Many in places of political, so

cial, economic, media and ecclesiastical

influence have abandoned that base; but

The man in the right foreground in the photo to the left

and

in the center of the

photo to the right

is

His Majesty, King Goodwill Zwetilini, king

of

the Zulus.

The

picture to the right was taken

in

Kwazulu when the Morecrafts visited in Aug., '88.

in the hearts and minds of the people,

black and white,

t

is still there.

South Africa, and America, must call

her people back to the God

of

the Bible.

We

must communicate to them by

every means available--"Behold your

God "--because in South Africa, as in

America, many leaders and people have

changed gods. And now, having

changed gods, they find that their new

gods are failing them. The time is ripe

to preach, teach, and apply more vigor

ously than ever before the glory and

majesty

of

the triune God. Christian

Reconstruction's goal is to help people

believe in the true God again, and then

to act like they believe in him.

The Reality of Violence

in South Africa

Whereas the country

of

South Africa

is not in flames, as the leftist media and

politicians try to get us to believe,

there is much violence there. The cause

of

this violence

is

humanism, and the

violence will not stop until the human

ism is uprooted and destroyed from the

minds and institutions of South Afri

cans. This will happen It will happen

either by the judgment

of

God or by the

success of the gospel, but it will hap

pen. Jesus Christ will "vindicate the

orphan and the oppressed, that man who

is

of

the earth may cause terror

no

more," Psalm 10:18.

In order

to

present the Bible's gospel

effectively in a culture to solve its prob

lems, those problems must be carefully

understood by the Christians. In South

Africa, Christians must understand the

.nature of violence, and be able

t

identi

fy and criticize its dominant forms, i f

they are to end violence in their land by

the Dominion Mandate

of

Genesis 1:28

and the Great Commission

of

Matthew

28:18ff.

f

violence and terrorism in

South Africa, and the world, are to end,

we must understand three fundamental

points:

1.

Violence is at root spiritual.

It is not

caused by one's environment,

but by the rebellion

of

fallen man

against God. It is an expression of fal

len man's desire to be God. Therefore

the solutions to violence and terrorism

are

not

ultimately political, but spiri

tual.

2. The two primary expressions

of

violence in South Africa are -- the

terrorism and Liberation Theology of

the Marxists, and the statism of the non

communists.

3.

The ultimate solution to vio

lence

is

the Lord Jesus Christ, and the

transformation of human hearts by His

word and Spirit, which leads to the

transformation of human cultures, as

the Kingdom of God advances trium

phantly in the earth.

Endnotes

1. 0

Fourie, "The Afrikaaner To

day,"

Chalcedon Report,

No. 276, July,

1988, p. 10f.

2. Ibid., pg. 10f.

3. D. McAlvany,

The McAlvany

Intelligence Advisor,

Jan. 1985, p. 3

4. Prof. Von Rooy,

Revolution

r

Revival?,

unpublished lecture given at

Kwasizabantu, Aug. 1988.

5. G. North,

Liberating Planet Earth,

Texas: Dominion Press, 1987, p. 1-9.

6

P. W. Botha,

Manifesto For the

Future,

Aug. 15, 1985, Dept. .of

Foreign Affairs, Pretoria

7. M.G. Buthelezi, "The Real

Challenges Black South Africans Face,"

Policy Forum,

Vol. 11, No. 12, Sept.

D

' f.he Counsel of Chalcedon, February-March, 1989

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1989 Issue 2 - Introduction to Special South Africa Issue - Counsel of Chalcedon