A historical-critical analysis of the Church of England in South Africa’s historiographical claim of apoliticism during apartheid (1948-1994)

Abstract

This study investigates the role of the Church of England in South Africa during the apartheid years from 1948 to 1994. It examines its Truth and Reconciliation Commission claim of political disengagement, which resulted in it being classified as a victim, not an agent, of oppression. It traces the history of Evangelical Anglicans in the Cape Colony and argues that its Erastian and Reformed theology made it a natural receptor of apartheid political ideology. This study also demonstrates that CESA aligned itself with the government from 1954 when it was used by the state to discredit prophetic voices from the Church of the Province of South Africa. It argues that CESA should be viewed as a historically Right-Wing Christian Group which advocated for State Theology. It questions the claim that its 1985 Synod resolution against violence and discrimination indicated a departure from its historical position. It argues that CESA did not condemn apartheid until the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and thus proves that it obfuscated the truth before the commission. Last, this study demonstrates that the commission failed to investigate CESA and recommends the retraction of CESA’s TRC statement because of its historical inaccuracy.