Kairos Document
Encyclopedia
The Kairos Document is a theological
statement issued in 1985 by a group of black South African theologians based predominantly in the black townships of Soweto
, South Africa
. The statement challenged the churches' response to what the authors saw as the vicious policies of the Apartheid state under the State of Emergency
declared on 21 July 1985. The KD evoked strong reactions and furious debates not only in South Africa, but world-wide.
The KD is a prime example of contextual theology and liberation theology
in South Africa, and has served as an example for attempted, similarly critical writing at decisive moments in several other countries and contexts (Latin America, Europe, Zimbabwe, India, etc.).
, a black pentecostal pastor and theologian, and Albert Nolan
, a white Roman Catholic priest
and member of the Dominican Order
, belonged to this group. John de Gruchy
writes decidedly that Frank Chikane, then General Secretary of the Institute for Contextual Theology (ICT) in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, initiated the process.
When this fairly short, 11,000-word document was first published in September 1985, it included over 150 signatures; it was subsequently signed by many more church leaders and theologians in South Africa, though the amended list was never published. A substantially revised, second edition appeared in 1986.
is presenting us with the absolute and definitive Christian doctrine about the State ... and absolute and universal principle ... The falseness of this assumption has been pointed out by many biblical scholars" (p. 4). Reference is made to Käsemann
's Commentary on Romans, as well as Cullmann
's The State in the New Testament.
The KD authors insist that texts must be understood in their context: within a particular writing (here: Romans); within the Bible as a whole; and within the particular historical context (here: Paul and the community in Rome). Note that, "In the rest of the Bible, God does not demand obedience to oppressive rulers ... Rom 13:1-7 cannot contradict all of this" (p. 4).
The letter known as the Biblical book Romans was sent to an early Christian community in Rome that could be characterized as 'antinomian' or 'enthusiast.' Roman Christians thought that "because Jesus ... was their Lord and King," every authority should be obeyed. Paul was arguing against such an understanding; that is, he is "not addressing the issue of a just or unjust State." Attention is drawn to Rom 13:4 ("the State is there for your benefit"): "That is the kind of State that must be obeyed." The question of an unjust government is not addressed in Rom 13 but, for example, in Revelation
13 (p. 5).
State theology further justifies the State's use of violence to maintain the status quo. Thus "state security becomes a more important concern that justice ... The State often admonishes church leaders ... not to 'meddle in politics' while at the same time it indulges in its own political theology which claims God's approval for its use of violence in maintaining an unjust system of 'law and order'" (p. 6).
'... No account is taken of what communism really means ... Even people who have not rejected capitalism are called 'communists' when they reject 'State Theology.' The State uses the label ... as its symbol of evil". The State uses "threats and warnings about the horrors of a tyrannical, totalitarian, atheistic and terrorist communist regime" simply to scare people.
The KD theologians reject this categorically: "This god [of the State] is an idol ... [it is] the god of teargas, rubber bullets, sjambok
s, prison cells and death sentences." In other words, "the very opposite of the God of the Bible", which is, theologically speaking "the devil disguised as Almighty God." Therefore, "State Theology is not only heretical, it is blasphemous ... What is particularly tragic for a Christian is to see the number of people who are fooled and confused by these false prophets and their heretical theology."
Such false reconciliation relies on the notion that the church must stand between 'both sides' and 'get them to reconcile,' as if all conflicts were the same: some struggles are about justice and injustice, where blindly calling for reconciliation is "unChristian." Therefore, "no reconciliation, no forgiveness and no negotiations are possible without forgiveness" (p. 10). Yet, the imposition of the brutal State of Emergency in July 1985 shows that there is no repentance (p. 11).
At the heart of this approach, the KD sees the reliance on individual conversion as a moralizing approach directed at the individual Christian. Yet "the problem ... in South Africa is not merely a problem of personal guilt, it is a problem of structural injustice." The question one has to ask is: "Why does this [Church] theology not demand that the oppressed stand up for their rights and wage a struggle against their oppressors? Why does it not tell them that it is 'their' duty to work for justice and to change the unjust structures" (p. 12)?
The KD observes that the term violence is used in the Bible to denote the violence of the oppressor (eg. Psalm
72, Isaiah
59 etc.). "When Jesus
says that we should turn the other cheek he is telling us that we must not take revenge; he is not saying that we should never defend ourselves or others" (p. 14).
"This is not to say that any use of force at any time by people who are oppressed is permissible..."; the problem with such acts of "killing and maiming" is, however, "based upon a concern for genuine liberation" (p. 14). While Church Theology tends to decry violent resistance, it tends to accept the militarization of the Apartheid State, which implies a tacit acceptance of the racist regime as legitimate authority.
Neutrality, in this context, is not possible: "Neutrality enables the status quo of oppression (and therefore violence) to continue" (p. 15).
was often oppressed by both external and internal forces. "Their oppressors were their enemies. The people of Israel were in no doubt about that" (p. 19). Indeed, "people of the townships can identify fully with these descriptions of suffering" (p. 20). Nor is the concern about oppression only found in the Old Testament
, even though the New Testament
tends to focus on internal repression rather than the Roman
occupying forces. "Throughout his life Jesus associated himself with the poor and the oppressed and as the suffering (or oppressed) servant of Yahweh he suffered and died for us. 'Ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried.' (Is
. 53:4) He continues to do so, even today" (p. 20).
Of course this social structure is more complex, but the KD authors come to this distinction: "Either we have full and equal justice for all or we don't" (p. 21). Prophetic theology, like Jesus', addresses this situation (eg. ). "It is therefore not primarily a matter of trying to reconcile individual people but a matter of trying to change unjust structures so that people will not be pitted against one another as oppressor and oppressed" (p. 22).
The Apartheid State is not capable of true reform; any reforms will have to be facile only since they are designed to ensure the survival of the white minority government (p. 24). "A regime that has made itself the enemy of the people has thereby also made itself the enemy of God," even though at the level of the individual, people in government are not aware of this. This is, however, "no excuse for hatred. As Christians we are called upon to love our enemies" (Mt 5:44). However, "the most loving thing we can do for both the oppressed and for our enemies who are oppressors is to eliminate the oppression, remove the tyrants from power, and establish a just government for the common good for all the people" (pp. 24f).
will liberate the people (eg. Ps
74, Ex 3, Ps 12). "Throughout the Bible, God appears as the liberator ... God is not neutral. He does not attempt to reconcile Moses and Pharaoh ..." (p. 25). Neither is Jesus "unconcerned about the rich ... These he calls to repentance ... We believe that God is at work in our world turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that God's Kingdom may come and God's Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven" (p. 26).
Church unity is a matter of joining in the struggle. "For those Christians who find themselves on the side of the oppressor or sitting on the fence, [the way forward is] to cross over to the other side to be united in faith and action" (p. 28).
). However, to the surprise of many observers at the time, the KD was never banned by the Apartheid government.
Within the churches in South Africa, and indeed worldwide, the KD led to intense and often heated debates. The unpolished nature of this radical document allowed many critics to disengage from real debate. For example, Markus Barth and Helmut Blanke make a rather brief, disparaging remark, which seems to be based on a reading of the KD that is significantly at variance with its substance. In the KD, Barth and Blanke claim, "it is the starved, exploited, oppressed people whose cause, as it were, by definition is righteous, while all political, economical, and ecclesiastical wielders of institutionalized power are depicted as instruments of the devil."
A crucial part of the debate was the distinction made between state, church, and prophetic theology. The distinction between 'church' and 'prophetic' theology, where the former was explicitly rejected by the KD, caused furious debates. Many argued the KD's qualified criticism of central theological concepts like reconciliation.
Another aspect of this debate, especially in South Africa, was the question of violence: not the violence of the state, but the supposed use of violence to resist and indeed overthrow the state. As the summary above shows, this was not a central part of the KD, but it nevertheless became a focus for the debate. This focus on violence soon came to eclipse much of the rest of the KD. The publication of the book Theology & Violence is testimony to that debate; it attempted both to ground it in biblical, historical, ethical and theological reflections, and to 'move on', as Frank Chikane in his contribution to that book called it.
The influence and effect of the KD was such that attempts were made in a number of contexts to create similarly 'revolutionary' documents to challenge the churches' attitude to particular issues. None of these were remotely as successful as the KD. For example, in South Africa again, a group in the ICT attempted to address the sharply rising and complex violence in 1990 with a 'new Kairos document'. Several years later, some theologians in Europe tried to address global economics as 'the new Kairos'. Perhaps the most successful attempt to follow in the footsteps of the KD was the 'Latin American KD', called The Road to Damascus, written by Central American theologians and published in April 1988. However, the KD was successful in influencing black evangelicals and Pentecostals to come up with their own declarations in the context of Apartheid.
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
statement issued in 1985 by a group of black South African theologians based predominantly in the black townships of Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The statement challenged the churches' response to what the authors saw as the vicious policies of the Apartheid state under the State of Emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
declared on 21 July 1985. The KD evoked strong reactions and furious debates not only in South Africa, but world-wide.
The KD is a prime example of contextual theology and liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
in South Africa, and has served as an example for attempted, similarly critical writing at decisive moments in several other countries and contexts (Latin America, Europe, Zimbabwe, India, etc.).
Context
The KD was written by an ecumenical group of pastors in Soweto, whose names have never (officially) been released to the public. Many believe it was a conscious decision to make the document anonymous, perhaps for security reasons since the Apartheid regime frequently harassed, detained, or tortured clergy who opposed the government. It is widely thought though that Frank ChikaneFrank Chikane
Frank Chikane is a South African civil servant, writer and cleric. He is a member of the African National Congress.-Biography:...
, a black pentecostal pastor and theologian, and Albert Nolan
Albert Nolan
Albert Nolan, O.P. is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Dominican order in South Africa.- Life :Nolan was born in Cape Town, South Africa, as a fourth-generation South African of English descent. Reading the works of Thomas Merton, Nolan became attracted to the idea of religious life...
, a white Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and member of the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, belonged to this group. John de Gruchy
John De Gruchy
John De Gruchy is a Canadian motorcycle racer. De Gruchy was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2005.-References:...
writes decidedly that Frank Chikane, then General Secretary of the Institute for Contextual Theology (ICT) in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, initiated the process.
When this fairly short, 11,000-word document was first published in September 1985, it included over 150 signatures; it was subsequently signed by many more church leaders and theologians in South Africa, though the amended list was never published. A substantially revised, second edition appeared in 1986.
Summary
The document is structured in five short chapters (the second edition comes to less than 40 pages): (1) The Moment of Truth; (2) Critique of 'State Theology'; (3) Critique of 'Church Theology'; (4) Towards a Prophetic Theology; (5) Challenge to Action; and a short conclusion. The following summary is based on the revised edition, and is designed to focus on the most important aspects of the KD, without comment.Chapter One: The Moment of Truth
This chapter sets the context in which the KD is written. The time has come (September 1985) to act on the situation. The Greek term kairos / καιρος (meaning 'special moment' in this context) was chosen as a key term to describe the highly situational nature of this document. It was addressed to the churches in the context of South Africa at that very moment, and was meant to be understood as a process rather than a definitive statement, "... this was an open-ended document which will never be said to be final" (KD, Preface). The document is primarily addressed to the divided churches; divided, that is, due to the roles that Christians within the churches play in the conflict between the racist minority government and the black majority population. "Both oppressor and oppressed claim loyalty to the same church" (p. 2). The KD theologians see three broad theological positions within the church, which are discussed in turn in the next three chapters.Chapter Two: Critique of State Theology
'State theology' is defined as, "the theological justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totalitarianism... It does [this] by misusing theological concepts and biblical texts for its own political purposes" (p. 3). The government, as well as parts of the church, are accused of using state theology. Four examples are discussed.Romans 13:1-7
"'State Theology' assumes that in this text PaulPaul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
is presenting us with the absolute and definitive Christian doctrine about the State ... and absolute and universal principle ... The falseness of this assumption has been pointed out by many biblical scholars" (p. 4). Reference is made to Käsemann
Ernst Käsemann
Ernst Käsemann, , was a Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz , Göttingen and Tübingen .-Study and work:...
's Commentary on Romans, as well as Cullmann
Oscar Cullmann
Oscar Cullmann was a Christian theologian in the Lutheran tradition. He is best known for his work in the ecumenical movement, being in part responsible for the establishment of dialogue between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions...
's The State in the New Testament.
The KD authors insist that texts must be understood in their context: within a particular writing (here: Romans); within the Bible as a whole; and within the particular historical context (here: Paul and the community in Rome). Note that, "In the rest of the Bible, God does not demand obedience to oppressive rulers ... Rom 13:1-7 cannot contradict all of this" (p. 4).
The letter known as the Biblical book Romans was sent to an early Christian community in Rome that could be characterized as 'antinomian' or 'enthusiast.' Roman Christians thought that "because Jesus ... was their Lord and King," every authority should be obeyed. Paul was arguing against such an understanding; that is, he is "not addressing the issue of a just or unjust State." Attention is drawn to Rom 13:4 ("the State is there for your benefit"): "That is the kind of State that must be obeyed." The question of an unjust government is not addressed in Rom 13 but, for example, in Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
13 (p. 5).
Law and Order
State theology implies that law and order must be upheld, but in the Apartheid State, the KD authors contend, this is an unjust law and order. "Anyone who wishes to change this law ... is made ... to feel guilty of sin" (p. 5). The KD theologians argue that the State has no divine authority to maintain any sort of law and order. The appeal to law and order is misplaced. Ultimately, it is God who must be obeyed (Acts 5:29).State theology further justifies the State's use of violence to maintain the status quo. Thus "state security becomes a more important concern that justice ... The State often admonishes church leaders ... not to 'meddle in politics' while at the same time it indulges in its own political theology which claims God's approval for its use of violence in maintaining an unjust system of 'law and order'" (p. 6).
The Threat of Communism
"Anything that threatens the status quo is labeled 'communistCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
'... No account is taken of what communism really means ... Even people who have not rejected capitalism are called 'communists' when they reject 'State Theology.' The State uses the label ... as its symbol of evil". The State uses "threats and warnings about the horrors of a tyrannical, totalitarian, atheistic and terrorist communist regime" simply to scare people.
The God of the State
The Apartheid State often makes explicit use of the name of God to justify its own existence, most explicitly in the preamble to the (1983) Constitution of South Africa: "In humble submission to almighty God ... who gathered our forebears together from many lands and gave them this their own; who has guided them from generation to generation ..."The KD theologians reject this categorically: "This god [of the State] is an idol ... [it is] the god of teargas, rubber bullets, sjambok
Sjambok
The sjambok or litupa is the official heavy leather whip of South Africa, sometimes seen as synonymous with apartheid but actually much older and still used outside the official judiciary....
s, prison cells and death sentences." In other words, "the very opposite of the God of the Bible", which is, theologically speaking "the devil disguised as Almighty God." Therefore, "State Theology is not only heretical, it is blasphemous ... What is particularly tragic for a Christian is to see the number of people who are fooled and confused by these false prophets and their heretical theology."
Chapter Three: Critique of 'Church Theology'
'Church Theology' is defined as the kind of theology shown by public pronouncements of many church leaders in the so-called English speaking churches of South Africa, such as Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans. While such a theology tends to reject apartheid in principle, the KD theologians regard it as counter-productive and superficial as they do not analyze "the signs of our times [but rather rely] upon a few stock ideas derived from Christian tradition," which is uncritically 'applied' to the then South African context (p. 9).Reconciliation
While true reconciliation and peace are the core of the Christian tradition, true reconciliation, the KD authors argue, is not possible without justice. Calls for reconciliation without justice are calls for "counterfeit reconciliation" (p. 9).Such false reconciliation relies on the notion that the church must stand between 'both sides' and 'get them to reconcile,' as if all conflicts were the same: some struggles are about justice and injustice, where blindly calling for reconciliation is "unChristian." Therefore, "no reconciliation, no forgiveness and no negotiations are possible without forgiveness" (p. 10). Yet, the imposition of the brutal State of Emergency in July 1985 shows that there is no repentance (p. 11).
Justice
The KD theologians acknowledge that the concept of justice is not absent from much Church Theology. Yet the KD accuses Church Theology of advocating a "justice of reforms," a justice of concessions that is determined by the oppressor. Hence "almost all Church statements are made to the State or to the white community" (p. 11).At the heart of this approach, the KD sees the reliance on individual conversion as a moralizing approach directed at the individual Christian. Yet "the problem ... in South Africa is not merely a problem of personal guilt, it is a problem of structural injustice." The question one has to ask is: "Why does this [Church] theology not demand that the oppressed stand up for their rights and wage a struggle against their oppressors? Why does it not tell them that it is 'their' duty to work for justice and to change the unjust structures" (p. 12)?
Non-Violence
The KD questions the blanket condemnation of all "that is called violence," which "has been made into an absolute principle." This aspect of Church Theology tends to exclude state-organized, "structural, institutional and unrepentant violence of the State." Indeed, "is it legitimate ... to use the same word violence in a blanket condemnation to cover" the violence of the state and the "desperate attempts of the people to defend themselves" (p. 13)?The KD observes that the term violence is used in the Bible to denote the violence of the oppressor (eg. Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
72, Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
59 etc.). "When Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
says that we should turn the other cheek he is telling us that we must not take revenge; he is not saying that we should never defend ourselves or others" (p. 14).
"This is not to say that any use of force at any time by people who are oppressed is permissible..."; the problem with such acts of "killing and maiming" is, however, "based upon a concern for genuine liberation" (p. 14). While Church Theology tends to decry violent resistance, it tends to accept the militarization of the Apartheid State, which implies a tacit acceptance of the racist regime as legitimate authority.
Neutrality, in this context, is not possible: "Neutrality enables the status quo of oppression (and therefore violence) to continue" (p. 15).
The fundamental problem
According to the KD, Church Theology lacks appropriate social analysis: "It is not possible to make valid moral judgments about a society without first understanding that society" (p. 15). Secondly, it lacks "an adequate understanding of politics and political strategy," not because there is a "specifically Christian solution" as such, but because Christians need to make use of politics (p. 15). The reasons for this are seen in the "type of faith and spirituality that has dominated Church life for centuries," namely an approach that has regarded spirituality as an "other-worldly affair," wherein God was relied upon to intervene "in God's own good time." Yet such a faith has "no foundation" in the Bible, which shows how God redeems all of creation (Romans 8:18-24): "Biblical faith is prophetically relevant to everything that happens in the world" (p. 16).Chapter Four: Towards a Prophetic Theology
What would the alternative to State and Church Theology be? "What would be the characteristics of a prophetic theology" (p. 17)?Prophetic Theology
In the first place, prophetic theology will have to be biblical: "Our KAIROS impels us to return to the Bible, and to search the Word of God for a message that is relevant to what we are experiencing in South Africa today" (p. 17). It does not "pretend to be comprehensive and complete;" it is consciously devised for this situation, and therefore needs to take seriously the need to read the "signs of the times" . It is always a call to action, a call for "repentance, conversion and change" (p. 18). This will involve confrontation, taking a stand, and persecution. It is, nevertheless, fundamentally a "message of hope." It is spiritual: "Infused with a spirit of fearless[ness] ... courage ... love ... understanding ... joy and hope" (p. 18).Suffering and Oppression in the Bible
Reading the bible in this context "what stands out for us is (sic) the many, many vivid and concrete descriptions of suffering and oppression" from Exodus to Revelation (p. 19). IsraelHistory of ancient Israel and Judah
Israel and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of ancient Palestine. The earliest known reference to the name Israel in archaeological records is in the Merneptah stele, an Egyptian record of c. 1209 BCE. By the 9th century BCE the Kingdom of Israel had emerged as an important local power before...
was often oppressed by both external and internal forces. "Their oppressors were their enemies. The people of Israel were in no doubt about that" (p. 19). Indeed, "people of the townships can identify fully with these descriptions of suffering" (p. 20). Nor is the concern about oppression only found in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, even though the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
tends to focus on internal repression rather than the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
occupying forces. "Throughout his life Jesus associated himself with the poor and the oppressed and as the suffering (or oppressed) servant of Yahweh he suffered and died for us. 'Ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried.' (Is
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
. 53:4) He continues to do so, even today" (p. 20).
Social Analysis
The KD offers "the broad outlines of an analysis of the conflict in which we find ourselves" (p. 20). This conflict is seen not so much as a 'racial war' but rather a situation "of tyranny and oppression" (p. 21). This is expressed in social structures which "will sooner or later bring the people involved into conflict." Those who benefit from this system will only make reform possible in order to maintain the essential status quo. On the other hand, those who do not benefit from the system have no say in it. The situation now is one where the oppressed are no longer prepared to accept this. "What they want is justice for all..." (p. 20).Of course this social structure is more complex, but the KD authors come to this distinction: "Either we have full and equal justice for all or we don't" (p. 21). Prophetic theology, like Jesus', addresses this situation (eg. ). "It is therefore not primarily a matter of trying to reconcile individual people but a matter of trying to change unjust structures so that people will not be pitted against one another as oppressor and oppressed" (p. 22).
Tyranny
In terms of the Christian tradition, the KD maintain, a tyrannical government has no moral right to govern, "and the people acquire the right to resist" (p. 22). The South African Apartheid government is tyrannical because it consistently demonstrates its hostility to the common good as a matter of principle (p. 23). As a tyrannical regime, it uses terror to maintain power. As a result, the oppressed refer to it as 'the enemy'.The Apartheid State is not capable of true reform; any reforms will have to be facile only since they are designed to ensure the survival of the white minority government (p. 24). "A regime that has made itself the enemy of the people has thereby also made itself the enemy of God," even though at the level of the individual, people in government are not aware of this. This is, however, "no excuse for hatred. As Christians we are called upon to love our enemies" (Mt 5:44). However, "the most loving thing we can do for both the oppressed and for our enemies who are oppressors is to eliminate the oppression, remove the tyrants from power, and establish a just government for the common good for all the people" (pp. 24f).
Liberation and hope in the Bible
The Bible is commonly understood as a message of hope in the face of oppression; YahwehTetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
will liberate the people (eg. Ps
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
74, Ex 3, Ps 12). "Throughout the Bible, God appears as the liberator ... God is not neutral. He does not attempt to reconcile Moses and Pharaoh ..." (p. 25). Neither is Jesus "unconcerned about the rich ... These he calls to repentance ... We believe that God is at work in our world turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that God's Kingdom may come and God's Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven" (p. 26).
A message of hope
"The people need to hear it said again and again that God is with them and that 'the hope of the poor is never brought to nothing'" (Ps 9:18). Also, while the oppressors must be called to repentance, "they must also be given something to hope for. At present they have false hopes ... Can the Christian message of hope not help them in this matter" (p. 26)?God sides with the oppressed
The Church's call to action must consider that the struggle against Apartheid is generally waged by the poor and oppressed, who are part of the church already.Church unity is a matter of joining in the struggle. "For those Christians who find themselves on the side of the oppressor or sitting on the fence, [the way forward is] to cross over to the other side to be united in faith and action" (p. 28).
Participation in the struggle
"Criticism [of the way the struggle is being waged] will sometimes be necessary but encouragement and support will be (sic) also be necessary. In other words, ... move beyond a mere 'ambulance ministry' to a ministry of involvement and participation" (pp. 28f).Transforming church action
The traditional life, ritual, and actions of the church must be re-envisaged in the light of the kairos. "The repentance we preach must be named. It is repentance for our share of the guilt for the suffering and oppression in our country" (p. 29).Special campaigns
Special church action and campaigns must be in "consultation, co-ordination and co-operation" with the people's political organization, rather than a 'new, third force' that duplicates what already exists.Civil disobedience
"In the first place, the Church cannot collaborate with tyranny... Secondly, the Church should not only pray for a change of government, it should also mobilize its members in every parish to begin to thing and work and plan for a change of government in South Africa" (p. 30). At times, the KD contends, this will mean getting involved in civil disobedience.Moral guidance
People look to the church for moral guidance, and this position of influence must be taken seriously. "There must be no misunderstanding about the moral duty of all who are oppressed to resist oppression and to struggle for liberation and justice. The Church will also find that at times it does need to curb excesses and to appeal to the consciences of those who act thoughtlessly and wildly" (p. 30).Conclusion
"As we said in the beginning, there is nothing final about this document nor even about this second edition. Our hope is that it will continue to stimulate discussion, debate, reflection and prayer, but, above all, that it will lead to action ... We pray that God will help all of us to translate the challenge of our times into action."Reactions
Although the Apartheid State was not directly addressed in the KD, the government reacted strongly against it. A government spokesperson rejected it in a speech in Parliament, denouncing it as a call for violence, and calling for its prohibition ('banning') by the government. An Inkatha political magazine, the Clarion Call, similarly attacked it as a theological document that supported the 'violence of the ANC' (African National CongressAfrican National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
). However, to the surprise of many observers at the time, the KD was never banned by the Apartheid government.
Within the churches in South Africa, and indeed worldwide, the KD led to intense and often heated debates. The unpolished nature of this radical document allowed many critics to disengage from real debate. For example, Markus Barth and Helmut Blanke make a rather brief, disparaging remark, which seems to be based on a reading of the KD that is significantly at variance with its substance. In the KD, Barth and Blanke claim, "it is the starved, exploited, oppressed people whose cause, as it were, by definition is righteous, while all political, economical, and ecclesiastical wielders of institutionalized power are depicted as instruments of the devil."
A crucial part of the debate was the distinction made between state, church, and prophetic theology. The distinction between 'church' and 'prophetic' theology, where the former was explicitly rejected by the KD, caused furious debates. Many argued the KD's qualified criticism of central theological concepts like reconciliation.
Another aspect of this debate, especially in South Africa, was the question of violence: not the violence of the state, but the supposed use of violence to resist and indeed overthrow the state. As the summary above shows, this was not a central part of the KD, but it nevertheless became a focus for the debate. This focus on violence soon came to eclipse much of the rest of the KD. The publication of the book Theology & Violence is testimony to that debate; it attempted both to ground it in biblical, historical, ethical and theological reflections, and to 'move on', as Frank Chikane in his contribution to that book called it.
The influence and effect of the KD was such that attempts were made in a number of contexts to create similarly 'revolutionary' documents to challenge the churches' attitude to particular issues. None of these were remotely as successful as the KD. For example, in South Africa again, a group in the ICT attempted to address the sharply rising and complex violence in 1990 with a 'new Kairos document'. Several years later, some theologians in Europe tried to address global economics as 'the new Kairos'. Perhaps the most successful attempt to follow in the footsteps of the KD was the 'Latin American KD', called The Road to Damascus, written by Central American theologians and published in April 1988. However, the KD was successful in influencing black evangelicals and Pentecostals to come up with their own declarations in the context of Apartheid.
Further Reading
- KAIROS '95: At the Threshold of Jubilee: conference report. Johannesburg: Institute for Contextual Theology, 1996. ISBN 0-620-20061-8.
- Biyela, M D 1994. Beyond the Kairos document: Christology for a post-apartheid South Africa. PhD thesis, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary.
- Logan, W H (ed) 1988. The KAIROS Covenant: standing with South African Christians. New York: Friendship. ISBN 0-940989-29-8 and ISBN 0-377-00189-9.
- Nolan, A 1994. Kairos Theology. In: Doing Theology in Context: South African Perspectives, ed. by John W. de Gruchy and Charles Villa-Vicencio, 212-18. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1994). ISBN 0-88344-989-7.
- Petersen, R M 1996. Time, resistance and reconstruction: rethinking Kairos theology. PhD thesis, University of Chicago.
- Speckman, M 1993. The Kairos Document and the development of a kairos theology in Luke-Acts, with particular reference to Luke 19:41-44. MTh thesis, University of Natal (South Africa).
- Van der Water, D P 1998. The legacy of a prophetic moment: a socio-theological study of the reception and response to the Kairos Document amongst churches faith-communities and individuals in South Africa and within the international ecumenical community focussing on the English-speaking churches in South Africa with special reference to the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. PhD thesis, University of Natal (South Africa).
External links
- Electronic version of the first edition of the KD
- Reflection on the KD in Crisis News in March 1986, a newsletter of the Western Province Council of Churches]
- Electronic version of an attempt to develop a short 'follow up' Kairos document in September 1990, at a time of heightened violence.
- European Kairos Document
- 'Zimbawean Kairos' (1998)
- Paper reflecting on the 'Indian Kairos Document'
- Kairos Palestine
- The Kairos Palestine Document (2009)