Browsing by Author "Van Zijl, Willem Jacobus"

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    'n Kerkhistoriese bibliografiese studie van die boek as draer van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde belydenis in Suid-Afrika, 1652-c.1814
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1991-08) Van Zijl, Willem Jacobus; Brown, E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.
    In the history of books bearing the Dutch Reformed confessions in South Africa, four broad phases can be distinguished, i.e.: - An initial phase of importing and distributing according to regulation and demand (1652-1814). - A second phase when books were made available by book societies and enterprises (1814-1903). - A third phase of synodal-ecclesiastical ministering through books (1903-1974). - The current phase of utility companies without gain to publish books. This pioneer exploration focuses on the initial phase and aims at researching and recording the history of Dutch Reformed books in South Africa up to 1814. The relevant sources, several of which were discovered for the first time in this investigation, were systematised into bibliographies. As study objects were selected those books, published during the review period, which primarily aimed at the average church member and which were frequently found in several sources. These books were classified into categories, with the aid of which bibliographical-chronological dissections were made for the entire period under review. A coherent hypothesis was corroborated by the research findings. The following became evident. The history of Dutch Reformed books in South Africa began in 1652 when the founders brought with them at least those Reformed books essential to the practice of the Reformed religion. Circumstantial evidence suggests that these were the Statenbybel as well as a few religious books from each of the different categories. The survey findings reveal that, as the settlement at the Cape became established and expanded, a greater number and variety of Dutch Reformed books came into ever wider circulation. It was further evident that more than any other book the Statenbybel as the Dutch Reformed book par excellence, remained in constant demand during the period under review and was circulated amongst church members even in the remotest of areas. It also became apparent that, unlike the Statenbybel, the relevant books in the other categories were bearers of theological accents unique to the 17th and 18th century ecclesiastical movements and schools of thought, the emphasis of which deviated from the Reformed confession. While some books do touch on the rationalism and humanism of the day, nearly every category is dominated by the pietistic-orientated accents of exponents of the Nearer Reformation. It varied from a narrow demonstration of piety - with apparent appeal principally in Cape Town and environs - to an archconservatism found particularly among church members in the far-off interior. Both these life-styles deviated from the Reformed conviction as framed in the Dutch Reformed confessions. Irrelevant and barren intellectual preaching did not reach the hearts of church members. Under the pioneering conditions regular pastoral counselling was also impossible. It was therefore essentially the printed word, as expressed in the Statenbybel and concomitantly in other Dutch Reformed books - especially those of the popular "oude schrijvers" – which framed and gave meaning to the reformed creeds in the daily walk of church members during the period under survey.