The thousand generation covenant : : Dutch Reformed covenant theology and group identity in colonial South Africa, 1652-1814 / / Jonathan Neil Gerstner.

• Superior document: Studies in the History of Christian Traditions ; 44
• VerfasserIn: Gerstner, Jonathan Neil, 1957-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, New York, New York : : E.J. Brill,, [1991]; ©1991
• Year of Publication: 1991
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in the History of Christian Traditions ; 44.; Studies in the History of Christian Traditions Online.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (292 pages)
• Notes: Revision of thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1985.
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; Acknowledgments /; Introduction /; Chapter One Covenantal Holiness and the Dutch Reformed Confessions /; Chapter Two The Impact of the Reformed Confessions on Colonial South Africa /; Chapter Three The Dutch Reformed Liturgy /; Chapter Four The Netherlands in the Post-Confessional Period /; Chapter Five The South African Response to Post-Confessional Netherlands /; Chapter Six Theology for the Average Person /; Chapter Seven The Reformed Church and the Dutch Merchant Empire /; Chapter Eight Sacramental Practice in the Netherlands /; Chapter Nine Sacramental Practice in South Africa /; Chapter Ten The French Reformed Factor /; Chapter Eleven Application /; Chapter Twelve Conclusion /; Bibliography /; Index /; 1,000 generation covenant.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-273) and index.
• ISBN: 9789004477087; 9789004093614
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Jonathan Neil Gerstner.

This study presents the religious factor in the development of a separatistic group identity among the forebears of the Afrikaners during the Dutch colonial period of South African history. Dutch Reformed covenant theology and baptism practice rooted in the thousand generation covenant theory helped to shape this self-understanding. It traces the basic developments of covenant theology in the Netherlands during the period and demonstrates how these concepts were conveyed to colonial South Africa. The dominant strain of covenantal thought treated the entire community as redeemed and called to be separate. It was presented through a variety of means through which virtually every colonist was exposed. This study offers a balanced historical approach to the role of theological concepts in the colonial roots of Afrikaner group identity. It answers traditional scholarship in the field which either directly identify the concepts behind the development of apartheid with Calvinist theology or, more recently, deny that the Reformed faith had any role in the development of apartheid ideology until the twentieth century.