Johan Heyns
Johan Heyns | |
---|---|
Born | Johan Adam Heyns 27 May 1928 Tweeling, South Africa |
Died | 5 November 1994 Pretoria, South Africa | (aged 66)
Cause of death | Assassination |
Children | Christof Heyns |
Ecclesiastical career | |
Church | Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) |
Ordained | 1954 |
Offices held | Moderator of the General Assembly (1986–1990) |
Academic background | |
Calvinism | |
Institutions | |
Influenced | Conrad J. Wethmar |
Johan Adam Heyns (1928–1994) was an
Early life and education
Heyns was born on 27 May 1928 on the farm Bloemkraal at Tweeling in the Orange Free State, South Africa.
His father, Flip Heyns, wanted to become a
Being an
During his high school years the family moved to Potchefstroom and operated a boarding house. His love for the Bible and his faith in God was noted by several theology students who were lodging at the Heyns' residence. At school Heyns was an average student, and showed little interest in the subjects at hand. He did however display a flair for debate and independent thinking on complex topics – after one such discussion (regarding Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory) one theology student voiced his concern to Heyns' parents that the young man might be losing his mind.[3]
Higher education
Heyns completed his undergraduate studies at the
Heyns completed his training as a minister at the
In 1961 he obtained a second PhD (in philosophy) under the supervision of Stoker. His thesis was titled Die Teologiese Antropologie van Karl Barth vanuit Wysgerig-Antropologiese Oriëntering (The Theological Anthropology of Karl Barth from a Philosophical-Anthropological Orientation).[6]
Career
In 1954, after completion of his theological studies in Amsterdam, Heyns became an
Heyns' academic career started in 1966 when he was appointed as
During the more than 20 years that Heyns served the NGK as a professor, he exerted an enormous influence on the church. He was distinguished by a large number of publications[7] and he filled many public positions in the church, causing him to be regarded as one of the best known theologians in the NGK.[8]
Heyns's confrontation with Jurie le Roux
Upon Heyns's retirement, a special edition of Skrif en Kerk, the NGK's journal at the University of Pretoria, was dedicated to his influential theology.[9] In this edition friends and colleagues of Heyns engaged in dialogue, appraising his work on different premisses. Theologians Conrad Wethmar, Willie Jonker and Jurie le Roux were among the contributors. The latter's contribution initiated a controversial discourse, the effects of which became increasingly evident in the subsequent "liberal" viewpoints which gained traction in the NGK since Heyns's death. Jurie le Roux, NGK Old Testament biblical scholar from Pretoria at the time (described as politically conservative[10][11] but theologically more "liberal"[12]), accused Heyns of not engaging with the "unchallengeable" results of historical criticism (Afrikaans: onaanvegbare resultate van die historiese kritiek).
Le Roux argued that if Heyns had done so, he would likely have agreed that it was a) impossible to speak of the unity of Scripture's message; b) imperative to completely discard settled patterns of reasoning (Afrikaans: gevestigde denkpatrone) in Christianity; c) to be accepted that the church can no longer relay its message authoritatively; 4) to be acknowledged that the cosmos in its entirety did not require elucidation by the "light" of Revelation.
Views on apartheid
In the 1980s and the early 1990s, Heyns became a central figure in the struggle to change the NGK's stance on apartheid, leading to the church's eventual rejection of that policy.[15] In 1982 Heyns publicly rejected the notion that apartheid was the will of God, and caused a furore at that year's synod by openly supporting multiracial marriages. For a year he stayed out of favour with the church hierarchy, but reemerged in 1986 to become moderator – the highest position in the church. He immediately tried to persuade the church that there was no biblical foundation for apartheid.
Following the NGK Synod of 1986 (at which Heyns presided), tens of thousands of church members and many congregations broke away to form the Afrikaans Protestant Church.[16] In September 1989, at a time when the government indiscriminately crushed all protest marches, mediation by NGK leadership under Heyns convinced the government to allow peaceful protests.[17] This concession heralded the first swing away from the armed struggle to a strategy of non-violent confrontation.
In 1990, speaking for the NGK, Heyns declared apartheid a sin. His theological contributions had a large impact on changing the thinking of the Afrikaner government.[16]
Assassination
On Saturday evening, 5 November 1994, Heyns was playing cards with his wife and three grandchildren (then aged 2, 8 and 11) at his home in Pretoria. He died instantly when an unidentified attacker using a .303 caliber rifle delivered a single gunshot through a window. The bullet entered at the back of his neck and left near his eye, leaving a wound as big as a man's fist.[18]
Although the police would not speculate on a motive, many were convinced that Heyns was killed by white extremists.
See also
- List of people assassinated in Africa
- List of unsolved murders
References
- ^ JA Heyns en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en Apartheid Archived 12 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine D.Th. dissertation by Henry Hofmeyr Williams, page 1
- ^ JA Heyns en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en Apartheid Archived 12 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine DTh dissertation by Henry Hofmeyr Williams, page 3
- ^ JA Heyns en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en Apartheid Archived 12 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine D.Th. dissertation by Henry Hofmeyr Williams, page 4–6
- ^ Theological Development In the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Archived 30 August 2006 at archive.today, by S.A. Strauss. Published in the Theological Forum[permanent dead link] of the Reformed Ecumenical Council, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, December 1995
- ^ The Christian Afrikaners Archived 14 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine A Brief History of Calvinistic Afrikanerdom from 1652–1980 by Rev. Prof. Dr. Francis Nigel Lee, page 84
- ^ JA Heyns en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en Apartheid Archived 12 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine D.Th. dissertation by Henry Hofmeyr Williams, page 75
- ^ "Bibliografie: J.A. Heyns", by R. Venter, 1988. Published in "'n Woord op sy Tyd", Wethmar & Vos (ed.) pages 238–245
- ^ "Prof. dr. Johan Adam Heyns - anno sexagesimo", by P.B. Van der Watt, 1988. Published in "'n Woord op sy Tyd", Wethmar & Vos (ed.) pages 1–8
- ^ Skrif en Kerk Jrg 15 (1), 1994
- ^ "Beeld JOHANNESBURG FINAAL Woensdag 13 April 1994 Bl. 10: Afrikaanse intellektuele lewe: Toekoms duister". 152.111.1.88. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Beeld Johannesburg Finaal Dinsdag 27 Junie 2000 Bl. 14: Tot dood toe siek Anti-apartheidsteologie die virus". 152.111.1.88. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "Beeld Johannesburg Finaal Vrydag 28 Mei 1999 Bl. 4: 'Bybel nie geskryf vir twintigste EEU' 'Mense moet eerder in God glo'". 152.111.1.88. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Skrif en Kerk Jrg 15 (1), 1994, p162-163.
- ^ HTS, 58 (no. 1), p77-99.
- ^ Heyns was Strategies op Regte Tyd om N.G. Kerk te laat Beweeg, article in Bult, June 2006, page 30. In Afrikaans.
- ^ a b The Apartheid Bible Revisited Archived 8 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine by Prof. Bobby Loubser, University of Zululand
- ^ Article in The Natal Mercury, 14 September 1989
- ^ a b 1995 Threat: Madiba's Next Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, news article in Die Burger, 16 March 2004.
- ^ Anti-Apartheid Minister Shot Dead in Pretoria, The New York Times, 7 November 1994
External links
- Parts of this Article were translated from additional information available in the Afrikaans Wikipedia-article "Johan Heyns"
- "Theological Development in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa" from Theological Forum, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, December 1995, with a description of Heyns's contributions
- J A Heyns en die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en Apartheid – D.Th. thesis by Henry Hofmeyr Williams at the University of the Free State. It contains an extensive analysis of Heyns' Theological viewpoints and accomplishments, and includes significant information on his background as Afrikaner and the role he had played in the eventual declaration of the Dutch Reformed Church that Apartheid was sin in Afrikaans.