Abstract:
In honouring Etienne de Villiers, this article discusses the
latter’s contribution to a deepening of the notions of church and ethics, as well as the
mutual relationship between these notions in the South African context. De Villiers’ work
in this regard is compared with that which has been done by the World Council of Churches
(WCC). The article therefore highlights the manner in which De Villiers, in line with the
WCC, analysed the moral deformation, but also the transformation and formation in which
especially the Dutch Reformed Church was involved in in South Africa since the middle of the
20th century. Although De Villiers mainly works in the field of Christian ethics, it is clear that
the latent ecclesiological views to which his ethical contributions are related, would also, to a
considerable extent, be in line with those that have been and are being developed by the WCC.
