Abstract:
In this study it is noted that after the Battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899 and
the Battle of Nooitgedacht on 13 December 1900, the Boer commandos held special
meetings to commemorate the Voortrekker Vow of 1838 and the victory at Blood River. The question is asked what the theological background can be.
When the Voortrekker Vow of 1838 is studied it becomes clear that the taking of
the Vow was possible in the context of the Calvinist orthodoxy, influenced by the
Nadere Reformatie of the 17th Century. This was more or less the accepted theology
of the Voortrekkers sustained by the Statenbijbel and the books of the
Nadere Reformatie theologians.
