The Christian Institute of Southern Africa was an ecumenical progressive organisation founded by English and Afrikaans clergy in December 1963 to unite South African Christians against apartheid. The CI became deeply involved with black activists such as
Steve Biko
Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
, and was banned by the state in 1977.
History
The Christian Institute of Southern Africa was founded in 1963 by 280 Christians (Hexham 1980) that included
Albert Geyser,
Ben Marais,
D. C. S. Oosthuizen
Daniel Charl Stephanus Oosthuizen (also known as Daantjie Oosthuizen; 15 January 1926 – 4 April 1969) was a South African philosopher, and an early Afrikaner voice against Apartheid. The main direction of his philosophical work lay in the f ...
, and
John de Gruchy
John W. de Gruchy (born 18 March 1939) is a Christian theologian known for his work resisting apartheid. He is presently Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch.
Biography ...
. Factors that contributed to the founding was the need to continue dialogue after the disastrous conclusion of the 1960
Cottesloe Consultation, the last time that all South African churches met until 1990. Reformed members of the CI could also critique official Dutch Reformed policies, which included support for apartheid. The 1963 South Transvaal Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church had forbidden unofficial comments that were not submitted through official channels (Maritz 2003:56).
The first national director of the Christian Institute (CI) was Dr C F
Beyers Naudé
Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé (10 May 1915 – 7 September 2004) was a South African Afrikaner Calvinist Dominee, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist. He was known simply as Beyers Naudé, or more colloquially, ...
.
John de Gruchy
John W. de Gruchy (born 18 March 1939) is a Christian theologian known for his work resisting apartheid. He is presently Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch.
Biography ...
, a Congregationalist minister and later an academic at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
, was a founder member. CI's constitution was drawn up by two Johannesburg advocates, Colin Kinghorn and
Johann Kriegler (later a founding justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa). ''
Pro Veritate
''Pro Veritate'' was a Christian independent monthly journal published in South Africa by the Christian Institute of Southern Africa from 1962 to 1977.
Articles reflected a theological and Christian point of view on a wide range of topics during ...
'', a newsletter produced by Naudé, was adopted as the mouthpiece of the CI.
Brian Brown was CI's Administrative Director,
Cedric Mayson
Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanator ...
edited ''Pro Veritate'', while
Theo Kotze
Theo is a given name and a hypocorism.
Greek origin
Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example:
*Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
(1920-July 4, 200
directed the work of the CI in Cape Town. (De Gruchy 2005:104,109
Peter Ralph Randall, Peter Randall led the '
Study Project on Christianity in an Apartheid Society
Study or studies may refer to:
General
* Education
**Higher education
* Clinical trial
* Experiment
* Observational study
* Research
* Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning
Other
* Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...
' that was jointly sponsored by the CI and the South African Council of Churches
See also
*
Beyers Naudé
Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé (10 May 1915 – 7 September 2004) was a South African Afrikaner Calvinist Dominee, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist. He was known simply as Beyers Naudé, or more colloquially, ...
Bibliography
* Brown, Robert McAfee. 1974. "Christian institute of Southern Africa vs the state of South Africa." ''Journal of Ecumenical Studies'' 11:99-102.
*
John W. de Gruchy, de Gruchy, John W. with Steve de Gruchy. 2005. ''The Church Struggle in South Africa'' Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
* Knighton-Fitt, Jean (2003) ''Beyond Fear'', Published by Pretext, Cape Tow
* Heaney, M J. 2004. "Onderhoud met Dr Beyers Naudé."
nterview with Dr Beyers Naudé
* Walshe, Peter. 1983. ''Church versus State in South Africa. The Case of the Christian Institute.'' London: Christian Hurst and New-York: Orbis.
External links
* "Detention and Detente." CI pamphlet, May 197
Hexham,Irving. 1980. ''The Christian Institute of Southern African and Spro_Cas''. In ''Christianity and Apartheid: An Introductory Bibliography''.* Maritz, Petrus Jacobus. 2003. ''Ben Marais (1909–1999): The influences on and heritage of a South African Prophet during two periods of transformation'.' Doctoral dissertation, Dept. of Church History and Church Policy, University of Pretoria.'
* ''Pro Veritate'', 1962-197
* "Torture in South Africa." CI pamphlet, April 1977
{{Political history of South Africa
Religious organisations based in South Africa
1963 establishments in South Africa
Christianity in South Africa