THE CHRISTIAN AFRIKANERS - The Works of F. N. Lee

Victoria West. It is very interesting to see the way the General Assembly of the Reformed Churchhandled these maverick congregations. They urged the seceding congregations to come back totheir Church, and to participate in the processes of Presbytery and General Assembly. But they usedno force against the seceding congregations to try and attach their property, nor to prevent themfrom seceding.The General Assembly finally got around to disciplining the five liberal Preachers to whom Ireferred. They were men who felt it nonsensical to pray that God would send rain (because they feltGod has predestinated before the foundation of the world whether it will rain or not). That was theessence of the liberalism of these men. When these Ministers had finally been disciplined, all ofthese secessionist congregations returned to the General Assembly. But those who had establishedthe tiny new denomination in 1857, did not.The only other movement into liberalism I am aware of in the Reformed Church, took place in the1930's. The world famous Missiologist and great New Testamentician Professor J.J. du Plessis wasthen quite the most "evangelical" man in the Reformed Church of South Africa -- a real soulwinnerand missionary-minded individual. He wrote the standard work at that time on theevangelisation of Africa in the English language. He also started his own newspaper called "TheSearchlight" -- in which he drew attention to the fact that not so much the written word in theBible, but rather the living Christ was where the emphasis should rest. Indeed, he correctlyprotested against a certain amount of dead orthodoxism in the Church.But unfortunately, he also drew attention -- as a Professor at the Stellenbosch TheologicalSeminary! -- to four or five Bible texts which he felt were not fully infallible. A couple of themwere in the books of Samuel and Chronicles, involving dates.More seriously, however, he also took the position that Christ had become so much bone of ourbone and flesh of our flesh at His incarnation, that -- though God before His incarnation and thoughagain God after His ascension into heaven -- our Saviour had not only decided not to exercise Hisdivine attributes during His earthly incarnation, but had in fact then laid aside His divine nature.Christ did, however -- asserted Du Plessis -- assume it again, after the completion of His fullyhuman work in keeping the covenant of works as the second Adam to the end of His earthly life.Well, this marks a very interesting chapter in the history of the Reformed Church. The brother ofthe previous Prime Minister of South Africa whom I knew very well, Rev. Dr. Koot Vorster -- apersonal friend of mine -- himself told me of the amazing things that happened in the StellenboschSeminary and at the University while this particular furore was taking place in the l930's.Dr. Vorster said a group of very conservative students were very grieved about this heresy in theirSeminary. So they went out one night, and put their hands round an enormous oak growing in theseminary garden. It was a massive tree that looked like it could live for another couple of hundredyears. They linked hands around this oak tree, touched it, and prayed an imprecatory prayer. Theyprayed that if heresy, in the eyes of Jehovah, was indeed ever being taught in the TheologicalSeminary -- that Almighty God would shrivel up that oak tree till nothing was left of it! From thenext day or so onward, that sturdy oak tree began to shrivel up from the root!Yet the wrangling continued. I think you would agree with me that although heresy was indeedinvolved, it was not the worst kind of heresy in which one could possibly have been embroiled.Indeed, it was evangelically motivated by a man whose dedication to the Kingdom of Christ wasbeyond reproach. Nevertheless the matter went up for adjudication by the highest court of theChurch. Du Plessis was found guilty on five points of heresy by the General Assembly.Consequently, he was removed from his teaching office at the Seminary.