Freedom of religion: From the Church Order of Dordt (1619) to South Africa (2018)

Pieter Coertzen

doi:10.4102/ids.v52i2.2353

Abstract

This article is about freedom of religion as an integral part of the Reformation of the 16th century and how it was expressed in the Church Order of Dordt (1619) and later at the Cape of Good Hope under the rule of the Political Council. The article also traces the route of freedom of religion under the rule of the English and after 1910, under the rule of various political parties until the current situation (2018) with a Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion for every person in South Africa, and The South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms.

Highlights

Without fear of contradiction, it can be said that the Reformation of the 16th century was about freedom of religion – the right of Christian believers to differ from and to criticise the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, to express their views and to form a new church, and to express their new faith identity
In terms of the development of religious freedom through the ages up until now, it would entail that any religious institution and church have the right to determine its own confessions, doctrines and ordinances
Apart from this, religious freedom means that churches and religious institutions are recognised and protected as an institution that have authority over their own affairs and towards which the state, through its governing institutions, is responsible for just, constructive and impartial government in the interest of everybody

Summary

Introduction

It can be said that the Reformation of the 16th century was about freedom of religion – the right of Christian believers to differ from and to criticise the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, to express their views and to form a new church, and to express their new faith identity. At the meeting, they formulated, in accord with the Ordonnances Ecclésiastiques of Geneva, certain stipulations for a Calvinistic Church Order (Bakhuizen van den Brink & Dankbaar 1967:273). The second part of the article introduced a new emphasis into a Reformed Church order whereby the vocation of the church in relation to the government was http://www.indieskriflig.org.za described as consisting of two matters It was the duty of all ministers, elders and deacons to zealously and faithfully inculcate in the entire congregation obedience, love and honour owed to the magistrates (rulers). The ministers, elders and deacons with becoming respect (and correspondence) had to seek to waken and maintain the favour of the government towards the churches so that all second-guessing and mistrust could be avoided and concord be maintained for the well-being of the churches (Blei 2006:33–36)

Preliminary conclusion

11 February 1859

Conclusion