The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences

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dc.contributor.advisorVilla-Vicencio, Charlesen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKretzschmar, Louiseen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-29T12:04:52Z
dc.date.available2016-02-29T12:04:52Z
dc.date.issued1992en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 309-347.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, privatization means the restriction of the Christian Gospel to the private, spiritual concerns of the individual. A privatised Gospel is a dualistic, individualistic, spiritualised, and a-contextual distortion of the Christian faith. It either deliberately avoids the public sphere or responds to it in an uncritical and ineffective manner, thus, it is vulnerable to manipulation by group interests. The term the "South African Baptists" includes the 19th century pioneers who formed the Baptist Union (BU) in 1877 and those Baptists who have since been either full members of the BU or Associations of it. It also includes those groups who have since broken away from the BU such as the Transkei Baptist Union and the Baptist Convention of Southern Africa. For reasons of space, this thesis concentrates on the white and African components of the South African Baptists. Chapter one provides an explanation of what is meant by privatization and who the South African Baptists are. Chapter two outlines and defends the sociological, historical and theological methodologies employed in the thesis. Chapter three elucidates the Reformation roots of the Baptist tradition and, in particular, the importance of the influence of the Anabaptist tradition. Chapter four shows that only certain of the more privatised English Baptist traditions have been stressed by South African Baptist writers, whilst the important elements of social involvement and radicalism have been ignored or neglected. The fifth chapter of the thesis argues that the 19th century South African Baptists perpetuated a Eurocentric and privatised form of the Christian faith and conformed to colonialism. Chapter six deals with the period between 1892-1977 and shows that despite their verbal censure of the government, the BU propagated segregation and white domination within its own structures. Chapter seven, reveals that whilst many within the BU have exhibited reactionary or reformist approaches, the Fellowship of Concerned Baptists and the Baptist Convention, in particular, have resisted the privatised theological praxis that has dominated the BU for so long. Chapter eight, finally, proposes that the Baptists learn from their past and develop a more holistic theological praxis.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationKretzschmar, L. (1992). <i>The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17356en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKretzschmar, Louise. <i>"The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17356en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKretzschmar, L. 1992. The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Kretzschmar, Louise AB - In this thesis, privatization means the restriction of the Christian Gospel to the private, spiritual concerns of the individual. A privatised Gospel is a dualistic, individualistic, spiritualised, and a-contextual distortion of the Christian faith. It either deliberately avoids the public sphere or responds to it in an uncritical and ineffective manner, thus, it is vulnerable to manipulation by group interests. The term the "South African Baptists" includes the 19th century pioneers who formed the Baptist Union (BU) in 1877 and those Baptists who have since been either full members of the BU or Associations of it. It also includes those groups who have since broken away from the BU such as the Transkei Baptist Union and the Baptist Convention of Southern Africa. For reasons of space, this thesis concentrates on the white and African components of the South African Baptists. Chapter one provides an explanation of what is meant by privatization and who the South African Baptists are. Chapter two outlines and defends the sociological, historical and theological methodologies employed in the thesis. Chapter three elucidates the Reformation roots of the Baptist tradition and, in particular, the importance of the influence of the Anabaptist tradition. Chapter four shows that only certain of the more privatised English Baptist traditions have been stressed by South African Baptist writers, whilst the important elements of social involvement and radicalism have been ignored or neglected. The fifth chapter of the thesis argues that the 19th century South African Baptists perpetuated a Eurocentric and privatised form of the Christian faith and conformed to colonialism. Chapter six deals with the period between 1892-1977 and shows that despite their verbal censure of the government, the BU propagated segregation and white domination within its own structures. Chapter seven, reveals that whilst many within the BU have exhibited reactionary or reformist approaches, the Fellowship of Concerned Baptists and the Baptist Convention, in particular, have resisted the privatised theological praxis that has dominated the BU for so long. Chapter eight, finally, proposes that the Baptists learn from their past and develop a more holistic theological praxis. DA - 1992 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1992 T1 - The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences TI - The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17356 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/17356
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKretzschmar L. The privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequences. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies, 1992 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17356en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Religious Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherReligious Studiesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBaptists - South Africaen_ZA
dc.titleThe privatization of the Christian faith amongst South African Baptists : with particular reference to its nature, extent, causes and consequencesen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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