Conférence - Louis Jonker : Socio-Political Transformation and Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Post-Apartheid South Africa

Thomas RömerMilieux bibliquesCollège de FranceAnnée 2025-2026Changing Biblical Interpretation?Conférence - Louis Jonker : Socio-Political Transformation and Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Post-Apartheid South AfricaLouis JonkerFaculté de théologie de l'université de Stellenbosch, Afrique du SudRésuméIn the first lecture the issue of changing biblical interpretation in the South African context since the 1990s when Nelson Mandela was released and the ANC party unbanned, and since 1994 when the first democratic post-apartheid elections were held, will be scrutinised. The starting point will be how the Bible was interpreted by South Africans from different political persuasions in the apartheid era. It will further expound the question that came up since the 1990s in particularly white Afrikaans environments (such as in the Dutch Reformed Church): "Why did pastors tell us a few decades ago, with the Bible in their hands, that apartheid was the will of God? And why do they tell us now, with the same Bible in their hands, that apartheid is a sin?"