Abstract:
After investigating researches and publications on the ethical direction
taken by Dutch theology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, J A Loader came to the conclusion that this direction is an important - if not the most important - background to the theology of the
Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika. and of its theological training
at the University of Pretoria, especially during the earlier years and at
the time of its inception. In this article the outcome of the research
undertaken by Loader is critically reviewed and seriously questioned. It
is maintained that his evaluation of ethical theology is too rigid and its
influence on the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk overemphasised. It
seems that the prominent influence of Hoedemaker and confessional
theology is overlooked by Loader.
