Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Acknowledgments / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Introduction / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter One Covenantal Holiness and the Dutch Reformed Confessions / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Two The Impact of the Reformed Confessions on Colonial South Africa / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Three The Dutch Reformed Liturgy / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Four The Netherlands in the Post-Confessional Period / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Five The South African Response to Post-Confessional Netherlands / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Six Theology for the Average Person / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Seven The Reformed Church and the Dutch Merchant Empire / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Eight Sacramental Practice in the Netherlands / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Nine Sacramental Practice in South Africa / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Ten The French Reformed Factor / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Eleven Application / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Chapter Twelve Conclusion / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Bibliography / Jonathan Neil Gerstner -- Index / 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.

Description based on print version record.