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    A history of christianity in South Africa: volume 1
    (HAUM Tertiary, 1994) Hofmeyr, J.W. (Hoffie); Pillay, Gerald J.
    Foreword: For a long time now, there has been a need for a new book on the history of Christianity in South Africa. Du Plessis's History of Christian Missions in South Africa written in 1911 and Gerdener's Recent Developments in the South African Mission Field (1958) have served us well and remain useful source books. Peter Hinchliff's little book The Church in South Africa (1968) is one of the few available on the subject. Du Plessis and Gerdener focused on the missionary expansion of the churches and their work obviously needed updating; Hinchliff aimed only to provide a brief overview of the main Christian denominations. In this book, instead of describing the rise and development of the divergent Christian denominations or their missions, the different church traditions are placed as they emerged alongside each other within certain key periods of South African history. This approach obviously raises the thorny problem of periodisation. Were the periods to be marked out using the key sociopolitical epochs in the country as a whole, or are strictly ecclesiastical epochs or trends to be used? Should the vantagepoint of reading this history be changed from that of the emergent church traditions to that of the laity or those people who have been marginalised? While changes on perspective would no doubt elicit new and interesting information on the past, any deliberate choice of one perspective would limit others. Indeed, it is not difficult to contrive a frame of reference for the whole project in which a contemporary issue becomes a Procrustean bed for all of South African church history. Would it not be better to integrate the insights of these different perspectives on the past into the one story? As work on the book progressed, it became increasingly clear that South African Christianity and the concomitant ecclesiastical developments and counterdevelopments (of mainline and indigenous churches) were directly influenced by the changing sociopolitical circumstances. For example, the present cleavages within South African Christianity were to a large extent determined by the proclivities of the colonial governments, the tension between British and Dutch, the course of the subjugation of black South Africans, the rivalry between the two white factions that led to the South African war, the postwar settlement that determined the union of the four colonies into what is "South Africa" today and the political manoeuvres that led to apartheid, one of the most daring attempts at social engineering. The social implications of the prevailing sociopolitical order often determined when, where and how even the most indigenous forms of Christianity emerged (e.g., Tile's attempt at establishing a Thembu national church, the emergence of Unzondelelo in Natal and then its transference to Swaziland, and the rise of the Ethiopian churches and several of the Zionist churches). Placing church history within periods determined by key political events does not necessarily limit the discussion on the inner life of the church, its worship, liturgy, doctrine and mission; nor does it exclude other factors that may have influenced ecclesiastical developments; for example, the rise of the African initiated churches, in which factors such as culture, cosmology, ethos, ethnicity and economic circumstances also played a role. The writers of this book have been mindful of these themes. A more detailed analysis of these and other themes which may have been limited by the periodisation chosen here, will appear in volume 2. Following a chronological order in which the different church traditions are discussed alongside each other, posed the difficulty of how to complete the description of individual denominations and how to follow, to the end, themes in the periods outside those in which they emerged. Authors of later chapters have in many cases returned to a discussion of these themes. However, in order to offer a picture of the development of South African Christianity as a whole, continuity of some of the parts had to be sacrificed. It is hoped that at least the origin of key church historical developments and their contexts are adequately covered. Extended reading lists after each chapter and at the end of the book offer guidelines to more information on specific themes. Revisionist historical writings have cast some new light on the role and influence of the churches on South African society. These studies have, in the main, been critical of Christian mission; even its humanitarian work has not received unqualified approval. While these critical insights have been incorporated into the book, the aim in volume 1 is to provide a narrative covering more than 300 years (a feature conspicuous by its absence in revisionist writings on South Africa). A study of particular themes would have allowed for more multiperspective aņalyses (e.g., liberal versus revisionist), but the primary purpose was not to produce a social history of Christianity. These and other themes will also receive attention in the next volume. The eleven historians from seven South African universities who have collaborated to produce this work hope that their efforts will assist in the ongoing interpretation of Christianity in South Africa and that this book will stimulate further research. If this volume helps in awakening church historical interest, it would have served its modest purpose. JW (Hoffie) Hofmeyr Gerald J Pillay