Johan Heyns Research Articles

Johan Heyns en Beyers Naudé as profete teen die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk se steun aan apartheid: Heyns van binne, en Naudé van buite die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk

Johan Heyns and Beyers Naudé as prophets against the Dutch Reformed Church supporting apartheid: Heyns prophesising from within and Naudé from without. Both Johan Heyns and Beyers Naudé came from a strong Dutch Reformed and Afrikaans background. Both supported and motivated a policy of apartheid in the Dutch Reformed Church and South Africa in their earlier years. As for Naudé, this conviction changed in December 1960 at the Cottesloe consultation of the World Council of Churches in South Africa’s member churches. Heyns changed in the early 1980s on the matter. In October–November 1980, Heyns initiated a public witness linked to Reformation Day in which the apartheid of the time was strongly criticised. This witness made an appeal on churches in South Africa to preach the gospel aimed at the full development of all citizens as people created in the image of God – be it in an inclusive society. In promoting his viewpoint, Heyns remained in the Dutch Reformed Church. Besides being an occasional controversial participant, he had a measured influence on the two documents, ‘Church and Society 1986’ and ‘Church and Society 1990’. In these documents, the Dutch Reformed Church, for the first time, spoke out against the way in which apartheid was implemented. As moderator from 1986–1990, Heyns was at the centre of events when the Dutch Reformed Church was welcomed back into Protestant ecumenic circles after apartheid. In these years, Heyns was a strong and visible force in the Dutch Reformed Church to change its stance on apartheid. He used reform from within to achieve this goal. Unlike Heyns, Naudé opted for critique on the Dutch Reformed Church and apartheid from the outside. As a vehicle for this, he founded his Christian Institute in 1963 and eventually left his church, with the effect that he was excluded from assemblies in the Dutch Reformed Church that decided on matters such as apartheid. It became impossible to find any sign of Naudé’s influence on decisions and declarations of assemblies such as presbyteries and synods against apartheid in the Dutch Reformed Church. Heyns used the norm in Reformed churches that a Reformed church should be reformed from within. In this article, the influence of both Heyns and Naudé on the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church to change its stance on apartheid is analysed by means of a study of literature. The purpose is to determine the more effective method of the two for ecclesiastical change. Heyns operated from within and Naudé from without. Heyns became the chairman of the General Synod which spoke out against apartheid in practice, but the church closed its ranks against the critique of Naudé.Contribution: Considering that both Johan Heyns and Beyers Naudé were members of a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church as a Reformed church, the question is what the influence of reform was on their stance against apartheid. Both were regarded as prophets against the support of their church during apartheid. In this process, Heyns worked from within his church and Naudé from without. The method of both in this matter is investigated and evaluated. This article fills a gap in theological-historical scientific studies in this regard and adds an own interpretation to the issue.

A celebratory turning alone to Wentzel van Huyssteen: An academic appreciation

In appreciative celebration of Van Huyssteen’s contribution as international pattern-setter for the theology-science dialogue and especially on the nature of theological reflection and rationality, the article focuses specifically on the South African context and three contributions that Van Huyssteen made in engagement with Johan Heyns over a period of almost four decades. From his critical commentary on the Heyns/Jonker (1977) book publication Op weg met die Teologie through his Teologie as Kritiese Geloofsverantwoording (Van Huyssteen 1986) to his delivering of the Johan Heyns Memorial Lecture (2016), the two key theological-methodological issues that he consistently addressed were truth and progress. Van Huyssteen’s basic concern throughout his academic career was on why the theologian would try to speak publicly, and the ever accompanying question on who would care to hear his voice. In critical engagement from a South African context with Van Huyssteen’s answer to the question that he poses, it is argued that Van Huyssteen in his very sophisticated post-foundational approach, characterised by contextuality and transversality, ultimately does not methodologically take care of the constitutive interdisciplinary significance of affectivity of embodied persons in our publicly cognitive sensemaking of our respective lifeworlds, deeply characterised by pluriversality.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article explores and critically discusses the initial Critical-Realistic approach that later developed into a post-foundational approach by Wentzel van Huyssteen. The discussion is consciously restricted to his South African publications and covers the fields of the philosophy of science, systematic theology, philosophy and evolutionary theology within contemporary science-theology discourses.

Lifestyle advice, processes of care and glycaemic control amongst patients with type 2 diabetes in a South African primary care facility.

BackgroundThe influence of processes of diabetes care on glycaemic control is understudied in primary health care (PHC).AimTo explore the influence of lifestyle advice, drug regimen and other processes of care on glycaemic control.SettingJohan Heyns Community Health Centre, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study involving 200 participants with type-2 diabetes, we collected information on sociodemography, comorbidity, processes of diabetes care, drug regimen and receipt of lifestyle advice. Anthropometric measures and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) were also determined.ResultsParticipants’ mean age was 57.8 years and most were black people (88%), females (63%), overweight or obese (94.5%), had diabetes for < 10 years (67.9%) and hypertension as comorbidity (98%). Most participants received lifestyle advice on one of diet, exercise and weight control (67%) and had their blood pressure (BP) checked (93%) in the preceding 12 months. However, < 2% had any of HbA1c, weight, waist circumference or body mass index checked. Glycaemic control (HbA1c < 7%) was achieved in only 24.5% of participants. Exclusive insulin or oral drug was prescribed in 5% and 62% of participants, respectively. Compared to insulin monotherapy, participants on combined metformin and insulin or metformin, sulphonylurea and insulin were less likely to have glycaemic control. Comorbid congestive cardiac failure (CCF) significantly increased the likelihood of glycaemic control.ConclusionThere is substantial shortcomings in the implementation of key processes of diabetes care and glycaemic control. Strategies are needed to prompt and compel healthcare providers to implement evidence-based diabetes guidelines during clinic visits in South African PHC.

Blood pressure control and burden of treatment in South African primary healthcare: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundPoor blood pressure (BP) control has been associated with high burden of treatment (BOT) in several settings. It is not known whether this relationship holds true for South African primary care.AimThe aim of this study was to assess BOT and determine its relationship with BP control amongst patients with hypertension in a large community health centre, south of Johannesburg.SettingThe setting of this study was carried out in the OPD of Johan Heyns Community Health Center.MethodsA cross-sectional study involving 239 patients with hypertension was carried out. Information on sociodemography and BP readings in the last 3 months were extracted from patient medical records. A researcher-administered treatment burden questionnaire was also used to collect information on participants’ perceptions of BOT relating to medication regimen, navigating the healthcare system and life style changes and/or social and/or financial issues. Total BOT (TBOT) was determined as the sum of the scores in the three components and categorised as 1–45 = low, 46–90 = moderate and 91–140 = high. Analysis included descriptive statistics and test of association.ResultsMost participants were white (54.2%), > 55 years (52.9%), female (60.1%), married (56.3%), had grade 12 or more education (71.9%) and had no comorbidity (56.7%). The mean duration of hypertension treatment was 113.8 months and most participants were uncontrolled (60.1%). Most participants (75%) reported a low TBOT score, with a mean of 19.7. Amongst participants with clinical comorbidities, most (66.3%) did not consider hypertension to be more burdensome than other comorbid illnesses. There was no significant association between TBOT and BP control (p = 0.53). However, participants with a high BOT relating to medication regimen were significantly more likely to be uncontrolled (p = 0.04).ConclusionTotal BOT is low amongst study participants and has no significant influence on BP control. However, improvements in BP control in South African primary healthcare may be hinged on interventions that address problems associated with hypertension medication regimen.

Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of cardiovascular risk factors among patients with hypertension in South African primary care.

To determine the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of cardiovascular risk factors among patients with hypertension at Johan Heyns Community Health Centre, Sedibeng district, South Africa. A total of 328 participants were systematically sampled. A researcher-administered questionnaire collected information on: socio-demography, presence of diabetes, family history of hypercholesterolaemia, family history of fatal cardiovascular (CV) events, and engagement in physical activities. Other measurements included: blood pressure (BP), weight, height, abdominal circumference and electrocardiography (ECG). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-squared test and regression analysis. Main outcome measures included the proportions of participants with each CV risk and their significant sociodemographic determinants. Participants' mean age was 57.7 years. Most participants were black (86.0%), female (79%) and pensioners (43.6%). The mean BP was 139/84 mmHg, and 60.7% had their BP controlled to targets. There was an average of 3.7 CV risk factors per participant and the prevalence of CV risk factors was: abdominal obesity (80.8%), physical inactivity (73.2%), diabetes (30.2%), alcohol use (28.0%), hypercholesterolaemia (26.5%), smoking (11.9%), past family history of fatal CV event (14.9%), and left ventricular hypertrophy (5.2%). Sociodemographic factors significantly associated with each CV risk factor were: obesity and being female (p = 0.00); alcohol use and young age (p = 0.00); smoking, being male and race other than black (p = 0.00 and p = 0.00, respectively); physical inactivity, being a pensioner and male (p = 0.02 and p = 0.02, respectively); diabetes and being male (p = 0.03); hypercholesterolaemia and race other than black (p = 0.03); family history of hypercholesterolaemia and race other than black (p = 0.00); and family history of fatal CV event and race other than black (p = 0.00). There is a high burden of CV risk factors among patients with hypertension in South African primary care, signifying a substantial risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in this setting. Interventions aimed at CVD risk reduction need to take cognisance of the sociodemographic correlates of CV risk factors.

Johan Heyns and critique in the Dutch Reformed Church against apartheid: The moderator a prophet?

Johan Heyns was the moderator of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1986 to 1990. This church was known as a moral and theological supporter of apartheid until the 1980s. In 1980 Heyns was, for the first time, involved in public critique against the pro-apartheid stance of his church. He took an influential part in writing a new document that criticised apartheid and was accepted by the General Synod of 1986. Heyns was elected as moderator or chairman of this synod. The years from 1986 to 1990 became the busiest of his life. He became the leader in his church’s defence of the new document Church and Society in and beyond South Africa. In order to get back into the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and to stay on in the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, the Dutch Reformed Church decided to depart from its apartheid ways. Heyns’ message on apartheid was shaped by his Reformed approach to life, in which he chose reform as the method for change.

Christian ethics and secularisation: Business as usual?

It is now 49 years since Johan Heyns’s Sterwende Christendom? [Dying Christendom] was published (1969) in which he traced the history of secularisation and its impact on the theology of his time and 36 years since the publication (1982) of the first volume of his Teologiese etiek [Theological ethics] in which he discussed the impact of secularisation on ethics. In this article, the topic of the impact of secularisation on Christian ethics is revisited. Account is taken of research conducted on the secularising impact of modernisation since then. Although empirical research points to the fact that it is not true that modernisation inevitably leads to the complete demise of religious faith and ethics, and also not that there is today absolutely no room for religious influences in the different social orders, it does not mean that it is a case of business as usual for Christian ethics. It cannot be denied that modernisation has a significant effect on the shape of Christian ethics in the contemporary world. And it can also not be denied that in most contemporary liberal democratic societies, including South Africa, the public role of Christian ethics is restricted. Some of the challenges – and opportunities – present-day realities pose to South African churches and their members are identified and discussed.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: On account of the pluralising and fragilising impact of modernisation on Christian faith, the discipline of Christian ethics should today criticise the absolutising of Christian ethical beliefs and encourage Christians to actively support consensus seeking on moral values in the workplace and in society.

Is there any hope for ‘truth’ and ‘progress’ in theological thinking today?

To provide the historical-theological background to his own intellectual pursuit of interdisciplinary theology, Wentzel van Huyssteen tells his story that was prompted in his student days at Stellenbosch by the then young, newly appointed lecturer Johan Heyns. It sprung from the basic understanding and confrontation with the question: How is theology to be understood as a science? The very question became Van Huyssteen’s most basic research question for his academic career, guided by the deep conviction that Heyns adamantly proclaimed, namely that the content and methodology of theology could never be deduced from ‘the truth of revelation’ itself, but would in fact always be shaped by ‘a general theory of science’. For Van Huyssteen, this conviction pointed directly to the tentative and hypothetical nature of all theology. It helped him to put into words what would eventually become the defining character of his own theology, namely seeing the intellectual context of theology as a deeply cultural and contextual venture in which the sciences, politics and philosophy would play a defining role. This role is explicated in the article by focusing firstly on the structure of theological solutions, secondly on interdisciplinarity as challenge, subsequently on continuity and change, and lastly on problem-solving within a post-foundationalist theology.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: A post-foundational approach argues for the interdisciplinary character of theology as science. The approach transcends traditional boundaries of theological, philosophical and social reflection, establishing an intellectual context of theology as a deeply cultural and contextual venture.

What has Lapland to do with Tshwane? Ethics as the bridge between dogmatics and historical contexts

This article explores the question: what does it mean to do theology in South Africa today? It does so in three parts based on a narrative account of the author’s relationship with Johan Heyns from 1972–1990. In the first, the focus is on the reasons for and the significance of the transition of the Dogmatologiese Werkgemeenskap, in which Heyns played an influential role to the Theological Society of South Africa, of which the author was president from 1987–1992. In the second, the author examines the reason for this transition by comparing the role of Beyers Naudé with that of Heyns in doing theology, the one working outside the white enclave of the DRC, and the other from within. He then examines the criticism of Heyns’s theology which was expressed by J.J.F. Durand and which gave rise to the title of the article. In the final part of the article, the author reflects on the narrative in responding to the initial question on doing theology in context today. He highlights the importance of social location, of the willingness to transcend boundaries, and the need to regard the task of dogmatics and ethics as an integrated whole in responding prophetically to historical contexts.

Remarks by Johan Heyns

Remarks by Johan Heyns

Remarks by Johan Heyns

Remarks by Johan Heyns

Diep snydende vrae, met antwoorde gebore uit weerloosheid: Nav Jurie le Roux se 'spirituele empatie'

Deep probing questions but answers conceived in vulnerability: On Jurie le Roux�s �spiritual empathy�. Taking the conversation between the Old Testament scholar Jurie le Roux and the dogmatician Johan Heyns as point of departure, it is argued that his well-founded criticism of Heyns has to be taken seriously, as well as his proposition in favour of spiritual empathy to enhance the understanding of historical texts. However, his recommendation for spiritual emphaty is subsequently constructively valued and criticised from a theological-experiential perspective. It is especially noted that, on the one hand, Le Roux�s reactionary historical point of view regarding, amongst others, the retrieval of the orginal intention of the author/text is convincing. On the other hand, it is argued that his perspective is predisposed toward an unproblematical self in the present. As a result, the act of historical interpretation is reduced to dependence on �the seams of the heart� in the individual quester. It is after all argued and substantiated from systematic-theological, postmodern, philosophical and theological-scientific perspectives that historicity does not consist solely of historical �seeing� in the sense of retaining the original intention of the author. Historical understanding also entails historical �hearing� (that is, a surplus of meaning) which broadens and enriches historical understanding.

Die verhouding tussen dogmatiek en etiek in die teologie van J.A. Heyns

The relationship between dogmatics and ethics in the theology of J.A. Heyns The relationship between Amie van Wyk and Johan Heyns was characterized by congeniality. To honour Van Wyk, a central theme from the theology of Heyns is examined. The investigation covers both the aspects of Heyns’ theoretical reflection on, as well as the practical application of the relationship between dogmatics and ethics. This investigation leads to the conclusion that Heyns’ theology needs to be supplemented in this regard. A few examples of the possibilities that could extend Heyns’ theology are suggested.

Johan Heyns and the class of '51 – prolegomena to a story of people who got hurt

Johan Heyns and the class of '51 - prolegomena to a story of people who got hurt This article consists of three parts. In the first part a story is told of Johan Heyns and some of the men who shared with him the final year of theologi-cal training at the University of Pretoria in 1951. In the second part prolegomena to the telling of a new story of Johan Heyns are explained. Finally this new story is told by using the voices of six people - students, colleagues andfamily - who interrupt each other's voice on Johan Heyns, thereby undermining the popular ideal amongst local church historians that religion biography can and should recreate a complete and consistent image of a person's (moral) reality.

’n Huldigingsartikel: Johan Heyns - Man van die kerk

Johan Heyns - Man of the church Johan Heyns’ ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church spans a period of forty years. During these years he left an indelible mark on the life and the work of the Church, in the congregations he served, at universities where he taught, as well as in synodical and ecumenical meetings.

Johan Heyns as apologeet

Johan Heyns as apologist It is well known that Johan Heyns developed not only the theological disciplines of Dogmatics and Ethics. He also published a number of important works in the field of Apologetics. In this article special attention is paid to these books. This investigation leads to the conclusion that Heyns most certainly made a valuable contribution to the way in which Apologetics should be practised. His evaluation of viewpoints which differ from his own is always balanced, although he does not hesitate to point out the dangers in the modernistic worldview that threaten the Christian faith. He impresses one with his knowledge of contemporary philosophy.

Johan Heyns as ekumeniese figuur

Johan Heyns as ecumenical figure The role that Heyns played in ecumenical developments within the Dutch Reformed Church since 1986 is described. He played a leading role in breaking the ecumenical isolation of the Church. In his theology Heyns strongly emphasized the unity and the ecumenical calling of the church. His theological insights in this connection is described and evaluated. Special attention is given to what he said about the pluriformity of the church and about the diversity of confessions and the unity of the church. In conclusion his views on the practice of ecumenism is discussed.

Analogiese eksistensie

Analogical existence. Comments on the ethics of J. A. Heyns Asked to write an essay on the ethics of Johan Heyns, the author claims that at the heart of this ethics lies the idea of analogical existence, derived from the fact that man is created in the image of God. In connection with this a few key features of this ethics are selected, analysed and evaluated. The author concludes by emphasizing the great and important contribution Heyns has made to Christian ethics.

In gesprek met Johan Heyns

In conversation with Johan Heyns The author commends Professor Heyns for his enormous contribution to the Reformed theology in South Africa. Heyns opted for a dynamic and inspiring theology of the Kingdom of God, which calls forth a response of obedience from all believers. However, the author is of the opinion that the philosophical character of the theology of Heyns, and especially his allegiance to the philosophy of Stoker in which the concept of the creation plays a dominant role, has hampered his possibility to develop a profound exegetical and Christological theology that could be critical enough of the kind of heresies which threatened the church during the apartheid era.