Deeply concerned with the exist­ing political situation, a group of theo­logians, lay and professional, decided in September 1985 to publish their views on the crisis that besets South Africa, together with recommendations to break the vicious circle of violence.

This publication was read by many, enjoyed great popularity, and was sub­jected to severe criticism.

The first edition was reprinted several times and was followed by a second (revised) edition published in September 1986, a sure sign that the document attracted the attention its authors were hoping for. The subtitles of the booklet, "Challenge to the Church" and "A Theological Comment on the Political Crisis in South Africa," whet the appetite of all who are con­cerned with the wellbeing of this coun­try and the role of the church in this respect

In just over thirty pages it analyzes the cause of the political "crisis," sketches the viewpoint of the church, and calls for the application of the Bibli­cal message to the present-day situation. The title of the document is inferred from Luke 19:44 — the moment of truth: "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (KJV).

Its contents is grouped under the headings: a Critique of State Theology, a Critique of Church Theology, Towards a Prophetic Theology, a Challenge to Action, and ends with the usual conclusion.

State Theology⤒🔗

State Theology is simply the theo­logical justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totali­tarianism. It blesses injustice, canonises the will of the powerful, and reduces the poor to passivity, obedience and apa­thy, reads the introduction to chapter two.

Church leaders are being misled, it is alleged, by a wrong interpretation of Romans 13:1-7.

This text should be interpreted in a narrow context, a context not defined by preceding or succeeding chapters and verses, nor by the Bible itself, but by the circumstances in which Paul's mes­sage was made. Paul wrote his letter to the antinomians who believed that they were exonerated from obeying any state at all. He was telling the church in Rome that some form of secular govern­ment would always be there. "The State is there to serve God for your benefit," a State to be obeyed only if and when it serves God. Consequently, they say, if the State does not serve God, Romans 13 does not shed light on the situation; one turns then to the 13th chapter of Revelation for enlightenment.

Also the concept of Law and Order does not stand up to scrutiny. The law "is the unjust and discrimina­tory laws of apartheid," while the order is "the organized and institutionalized disorder of oppression." This order is forced upon society by the barrel of a gun, by security police and regular army patrolling townships, by locking up people who fight for a just society. This is State violence that has nothing to do with the sword of Romans 13:4. The document proceeds: "In this way people are sacrificed for the sake of laws, rather than laws for the sake of people." All too often opponents of the State are branded as Communists while "no ac­count is taken of what communism really means and no thought is given to why some people have indeed opted for communism or some form of social­ism." Communism becomes a symbol of evil and atheism, and anyone who opposes the State automatically be­comes an atheist like the Christians in Rome who rejected the gods of the Roman Empire and were considered to be atheists.

As the Roman empire had its gods, so does the South African State. Mili­tary chaplains use the name of God to encourage the South African Defence Force, police chaplains use it to strength­en policemen, and cabinet ministers use it in their propaganda speeches. The preamble to South Africa's constitution also witnesses the blasphemous use of God's holy name where it reads, 'In humble submission to Almighty God, who controls the destinies of nations and the history of peoples who gathered our forebears together from many lands and gave them this their own; who has guided them from generation to genera­tion; who has wondrously delivered them from the dangers that beset them.' Isn't this God an idol? A god who is on the side of the white settlers, dispossesses black people of their land and who gives the major part of the land to his chosen people? It is the god of superior weapons who conquered those who were armed with nothing but spears. It is the god of the casspirs and hippos (armed person­nel carriers and riot control vehicles), the god of teargas, rubber bullets, sjam­boks, prison cells and death sentences. Here is a god who exalts the proud and humbles the poor — the very opposite of the God of the Bible who scatters the proud of heart, pulls down the mighty from their thrones and exalts the humble (Luke 1:51-23).

Church Theology←⤒🔗

The theology of the establishment churches is best characterized as a sys­tem of interrelated theological assump­tions affecting a number of "stock items" such as reconciliation, justice, and nonviolence.

Reconciliation and peace are not possible without justice. Injustice means allowing evil structures, like apartheid, to continue. Under these circumstances, reconciliation becomes a fallacy, a counterfeit, a pseudo-peace.

A reconciliation without repentance is in fact a reconcili­ation that betrays all that Christian faith has ever meant. Nowhere in the Bible or in Christian tradition has it ever been suggested that we ought to try to reconcile good and evil, God and the devil. We are supposed to do away with evil, injustice, oppression, and sin — not come to terms with it. We are supposed to oppose, confront and reject the devil and not try to sup with the devil.

Justice! But what kind of justice?

We read: An examination of Church statements and pronouncements gives the distinct impression that the justice that is envisaged is the justice of reform; that is to say, a justice that is determined by the oppressor, by the white minority, and that is offered to the people as a kind of concession. It does not appear to be the more radical justice that comes from below and is determined by the people of South Africa.

True justice, real justice, God's justice demands a radical change of structures. This can only come from below, from the oppressed themselves. God will bring about change through the oppressed as he did through the oppressed Hebrew slaves in Egypt. God does not bring his justice through re­forms introduced by the pharaohs of this world.

The theology of the establishment churches considers God to be on the side of the oppressors, the whites, the plutocrats. God has chosen sides with people who are "on top." But is He not the god of the "underdog" in particu­lar? Isn't He the god of the poor? Does the Sermon on the Mount not clearly indicate that God is the god of the poor, the hungry and the meek?

Why then condemn violence when it comes from below, from young peo­ple who defend themselves against op­pression and struggle for liberation? Why then condone State violence against people who throw stones, burn cars and buildings, and occasionally kill collaborators? The State uses violence to perpetuate an unjust society. Why does that have the blessing of the churches?

According to the KAIROS theo­logians, the fundamental problem of church theology is the lack of a social analysis.

We have seen how Church Theology tends to make use of absolute principles like reconciliation, negotia­tion, non-violence and peaceful solu­tions and applies them indiscriminately and uncritically to all situations. Very little attempt is made to analyse what is actually happening in our society and why it is happening. It is not possible to make valid moral judgments about a society without first understanding that society. The analysis that underpins Church Theology is simply inadequate. The present crisis has now made it very clear that the efforts of Church leaders to promote effective and practical ways of changing our society have failed. This failure is due in no small measure to the fact that Church Theology has not developed a social analysis that would enable it to understand the mechanics of injustice and oppression.

Prophetic Theology←⤒🔗

Kairos calls for a response that is biblical, spiritual, pastoral and prophetic... It impels us to return to the Bible and to search the Word of God for a message that is relevant to what we are experiencing in South Africa today.

From the standpoint of these theologians, prophetic response and a prophetic the­ology would include a reading of the signs of the time. Did Jesus not tell the Pharisees and Sadducees, when they asked for a sign from heaven, to read the signs of the time (Matthew 16:3)? In other words, what is called for is a social analysis. The starting point for prophetic theology is the experience of conflict, struggle and crisis. With this in mind one must begin to search the Scrip­tures for direction. It forces one as a Christian to answer the call to action and confrontation. The evils of the time must be confronted and addressed in no uncertain terms.

The Scriptures indeed speak of much suffering and oppression, both within Israel and the church and out­side.

For most of their history from Exodus to Revelation, the people of the Bible suffered under some kind of op­pression or another. Clearly, the Bible makes use of two social categories: the oppressor and the oppressed. It goes beyond racial differences and apartheid; we are dealing in the Bible and South Africa with social structures. Prophetic theology therefore faces us with this fundamental choice that admits of no compromises. Jesus did the same. He faced the people with the fundamental choice between God and money: 'You cannot serve two masters' (Matthew 6:24). Once we have made our choice, once we have taken sides, then we can begin to discuss the morality and effec­tiveness of means and strategies. It is therefore not primarily a matter of try­ing to reconcile individual people but a matter of trying to change unjust struc­tures so that people will not be pitted against one another as oppressor and oppressed.

In addition, they argue, a tyranni­cal regime has no moral legitimacy. It may be the de facto government and it may even be recognized by other gov­ernments and therefore be the de jure or legal government. But if it is a tyrannical regime, it is, from a moral and theologi­cal viewpoint, illegitimate. A tyrant is per definition a hostis boni communis, an enemy of the common good, an enemy of people, and irreformable. This means that the apartheid white minority regime is irreformable.

We cannot expect the apartheid regime to experience a conversion or change of heart and totally abandon the policy of apartheid. It has no mandate from its electorate to do so. Any reforms or ad­justments it might make would have to be done in the interests of those who elected it. Individual members of the government could experience a real conversion and repent but, if they did, they would simply have to follow this through by leaving a regime that was elected and put into power precisely because of its policy of apartheid.

And that is why we have reached the present impasse. As the oppressed majority becomes more insistent and puts more and more pressure on the tyrant by means of boycotts, strikes, uprisings, burnings and even armed struggle, the more tyrannical will this regime become. On the other hand, it will use repressive measures: detentions, trials, killings, torture, bannings, propa­ganda, states of emergency and other desperate and tyrannical methods. And on the other hand it will introduce re­forms that will always be unacceptable to the majority because all its reforms must ensure that the white minority remains on top.

But there is hope, because Yah­weh, the God of the Bible, will liberate the oppressed from their suffering and misery. 'He will redeem their lives from exploitation and outrage' (Psalm 74:14). 'I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heard their ap­peal to be free of their slave-drivers. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians' (Exodus 3:7) ... There is hope. There is hope for all of us. But the road to that hope is going to be very hard and very painful. The con­flict and the struggle will intensify in the months and years ahead. That is now inevitable — because of the intransigence of the oppressor. But God is with us. We can only learn to become the instru­ments of his peace even unto death. We must participate in the cross of Christ if we are to have the hope of participating in his resurrection.

Challenge to Action←⤒🔗

The Document goes on to say that where God sides with the oppressed, Christians should participate in the struggle for liberation and a just society.

The campaigns of the people, from consumer boycotts to stayaways, need to be supported and encouraged by the Church. Criticism will sometimes be necessary but encouragement and sup­port will also be necessary. In other words the present crisis challenges the whole Church to move beyond a mere 'ambulance ministry' to a ministry of involvement and participation.

Church activities like Sunday ser­vices, communion services, baptisms, Sunday school, funerals, and so forth should be reshaped to be more fully consistent with a prophetic faith related to the KAIROS that God is offering us today.

Avoid the risk of becoming a "Third Force," that is, a force between the oppressor and the oppressed, the Church would need to have special pro­grammes, projects, and campaigns be­cause of the special needs of the struggle for liberation in South Africa today. Such programmes should include civil disobedience as well.

In the first place the Church cannot collaborate with tyranny. It cannot and should not do anything that appears to give legitimacy to a morally illegitimate regime.

Sec­ondly, the Church should not only pray for a change of government, it should also mobilize its members in every parish to begin to think and work and plan for a change of government in South Africa. We must begin to look ahead and begin working now with firm hope and faith for a better future. And finally the moral illegitimacy of the apartheid regime means that the Church will have to be involved at times in civil disobedience. A Church that takes its responsibilities seriously in these circumstances will sometimes have to confront and to dis­obey the State in order to obey God.

Caveat Emptor — Buyer Beware!←⤒🔗

We have quoted extensively from the KAIROS Document to let the reader taste the true flavor of this pub­lication. It is undoubtedly a product of anger, of frustration, and, more impor­tantly, of a warped understanding of the Bible.

It should not require much to con­vince us not to "buy" the views expressed in this document. It degenerates the Bible into a social gospel, advocating that one social structure be replaced by another by force if necessary. It misuses the Bible and loses sight of the fact that the Bible is the book of the Covenant, that from Exodus to Revelation our Lord speaks to His children, rich and poor, warning them to believe His mes­sage of hope, of deliverance from evil. Our Lord Jesus Christ has paid for our sins — and our unjust social structures — on the cross of Golgotha. His Word cuts right through social structures to separate the children of light from the children of darkness.

This document denies that also tyrannical rulers are ordained by our Lord. We know of our forefathers who offered their backs to the whips, their tongues to the knives, and their bodies to the fire, not to rectify social injustice, but to serve the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings in a country where they were made to live under the tyrant, Philip II. We know of Israel being op­pressed because they turned their backs on God and His commandments. They could have know what was coming if they had only remembered what the Lord said at Sinai.

Of course, God's justice includes social justice, but it cuts deeper than that. It starts with "vertical" reconcilia­tion with God which is missing in this KAIROS Document. It starts from the "top" and permeates to "grass roots" level. It starts from the pulpit, the minis­try of reconciliation, where people are moved to a new obedience. That is the way to change social structures, not the other way around. "Seek the Lord and you shall live" is the message of Amos. Change the social order and you shall live is the message of this KAIROS Document.

Yet it would be unwise to ignore the KAIROS message. It appeals in its own way to the conscience of thousands of people, black; brown and white. It calls for reflection and response, but it is not really relevant whether people are indeed being oppressed. How people perceive their position in society carries more weight.

The document has met with stiff opposition from all layers of South Africa's population. At the same time it has been hailed by thousands as a mes­sage of hope, as a program for action, and is as such not without consequences. There is reason for concern. Is this the tip of an iceberg? If this is the message in print, what is the verbal message being preached from the pulpits? What is being taught in high schools and uni­versities, at faculties of theology, sociol­ogy and economics? Soothing messages for seething masses, or seething mes­sages to stir up the masses? It is certainly not a firm message of deliverance, hope, repentance, mercy, and justice for all.