Afrikaner Calvinism - Radical Changes

Radical Changes

The reversal of apartheid has cast the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) into a period of change. While remaining confessionally Calvinist, the religious character of the church is now less cohesive and more difficult to assess. Having been thoroughly conflated with apartheid, historic Calvinism appears to have fallen out of favour. Liberation theology, which embraces the Enlightenment idea of Revolution, has gained a foothold in some quarters, and appears to have advocates both the left and right ends of the political spectrum. American-style evangelicalism and Arminianism also appear to have made inroads, which with its more individualistic emphasis has less potential for a full-scale civil religion. Certainly the old synthesis of revealed and natural theology is largely repudiated; officially at least. But, the folk religion of the Afrikaners is not dead. Some scholars and revisionist historians are attempting to draw lines of distinction between Calvinism per se, the history of the Afrikaners, and the civil religion of the apartheid regime in particular.

In 1985, 92% of Afrikaners were members of Reformed Churches. By late 2012, this figure had dropped to 42%, while actual weekly church attendance of Reformed Churches is estimated to be just over 25%.