Grant Swart
On 16 December 1949, the majority of Afrikaners and a few others in South Africa inaugurated the Voortrekker Monument on a hill overlooking the city of Pretoria. A group of these South Africans continue to gather there annually, in a large constructed amphitheatre, to hold a secular ceremony in celebration of a day of remembrance, which they call the Day of the Covenant or Day of the Vow. They hold the belief that, years before, on 16 December 1838, a group of Voortrekkers had made an Old Testamental type of covenant with Almighty God. They believe that this covenant had moved God to empower them to defeat a large army of black Zulu warriors at the Battle of Blood River, in what is today, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
To the contrary, man does not have the ability to influence God’s plan for history. The Voortrekkers won the battle against the odds, not as a result of the covenant they thought they had made with God, but according to the eternal will of God. God was not taken by surprise by the events of that day, He was not waiting to see what the Boers or the Zulu Impi would do, He caused the events to happen exactly as they played out, from eternity.
The 40m wide, 40m long and 40m high construction of the Voortrekker monument, which is modeled on and resembles an Egyptian monument, has a cenotaph as central focal point. Through an opening in the domed roof, a ray of sunlight shines at midday on 16 December annually, falling onto the centre of the Cenotaph. The ritual surrounding this certainly seems to have deep-seated pagan undertones and is Biblically contradicted in many ways. Although this group of Afrikaners have long laid claim to being of the Christian faith, their man-made idols, attitudes and practices certainly pose questions as to the authenticity of those claims. Even in my own family, there are some who hold to these same beliefs.
On 16 December 2013, now known as Reconciliation Day and 64 years later to the day, a 9m high statue of the late former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was unveiled at the Union Buildings in the same city, Pretoria. Nelson Mandela was best known for his lifelong struggle against racism, against the Apartheid system and for the equality of all people. The racist apartheid laws were devised, implemented and imposed on all South Africans, including my white skinned self, by the very same group of Afrikaners who gather to celebrate what they regard as their unique superiority, on the very same day, 16th of December, at the Voortrekker Monument.
The Voortrekker Monument is clearly visible from the Union Buildings where the statue of Nelson Mandela has been erected in an amphitheatre, not unlike the amphitheatre at the Voortrekker Monument. The press has dubbed the statue as one which will likely become the focus of future annual secular pilgrimages of those who wish to celebrate the life and remember the passing of Nelson Mandela. There are many people in this group who also profess to be Christians.
The Voortrekker Monument and the rituals surrounding that idol, which take place annually on the 16th of December, is an attempt to immortalize and glorify the men and events of a particular era in South African history. It is not Biblical. The statue of Nelson Mandela is an attempt to immortalize and glorify the man and the events of another era in South African history. It may give rise to the very same idolatry and type of ritual being practised by the other group of South African people, on the opposite hill. It will not be Biblical.
On the very same day in the future, in clear view of each other and separated only by the skyline of Pretoria, two groups of people will be religiously and enthusiastically embroiled in what they might believe, brings glory to themselves, their forefathers, their race, their efforts, values, or their nation. While they might even believe that cultural or racial differences have set each group firmly apart, in fact, they will be united in their efforts at the glorification of evil and in their opposition to God.
Statues and monuments are acceptable and even necessary art forms, and can be beautiful instruments in preserving history. Statues and monuments are not idols in and of themselves, idolatry is what people practice around those things. People make them into idols by particular association. Even the slightest form of idolatry, or the willful glorification of man, is an abomination before Almighty God.
I love South Africa and its people very, very deeply. I am filled with awe and gratitude when I consider how fortunate I have been to be able to share this wondrous place, with all its people, for the entire duration of my life. I truly believe it has been the greatest country to live in on planet earth, for many different reasons. I would not exchange this Africa for any other place on earth.
At the same time, I hate the lies which continue to force so many of my people’s lives into bondage, fear and loathing. Lies we have told our children, lies which destroy faith and friendship, lies which destroy lives, lies which glorify evil. Irrespective of those who prefer to live in self-inflicted bondage to their ill-begotten pride and historical ideologies, God has caused the efforts of South Africans such as Nelson Mandela and millions of like-minded others, to achieve a small sense of freedom for South Africans. But, that freedom is not spiritual, and it is not eternal.
We need Jesus Christ, we need the only the Son of God to make our freedom real and eternal, we cannot bring about true freedom without His presence. As long as we continue to worship idols such as our monuments, our cultures, our own will, our history, our pride, our wealth, our skins and our false religious beliefs, the spiritual bondage will continue for many of my beloved people. I pray it will not be so.
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
For the Love of His Truth 
I live in the U. S. and Mandela has been praised by our media, both news and entertainment. I am, as a rule, suspicious of anyone to which this segment of our population praises. I attend a church that has many refugee Africans. They love this man, Mandela, also. But many of them also love President Obama who is, as you may know, very anti-Christ in his ideology and governance. So, what do you say? If Mandela’s ending of apartheid is set aside for a moment, what is there left of his accomplishments, or, in your view, was that enough to overcome other shortcomings, as it is with the Africans in my midst.
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Danny Wright
Thank you for commenting.
It would be wrong of us to generalize regarding those who are praised by the media. There have been many saved believers and true followers of Jesus Christ who have been praised by the media for a myriad of reasons, sometimes even unknowingly and likewise, even more have been disregarded. Biblical truth, Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are not popular subjects in the world or in world media, especially in these times where the evils of religious tolerance, humanism and ecumenicism are exalted terms. However, you are quite correct in that it certainly does raise ones suspicions, for these very same reasons.
We should never downplay or sweep aside the atrocities and evils of Apartheid. Most of that which took place on the ground in Southern Africa under the Afrikaner regime remains unknown and largely unpublicized in the West. I experienced living under that oppressive and murderous system, regime and ideology for 40 years of my life. However, as a white-skinned person, the extent of my suffering was not even remotely as severe as those of my darker skinned country-men. It was unavoidable that, as a white person, I was to share in some of the fruits of the racist policies of the government. I make no apologies for that, I simply state is as fact.
Although Mandela was the recognizable face and became the figure-head for the anti-apartheid movement, he certainly did not act alone. All the millions who fought against the apartheid forces and survived to see the demise of one of the most evil regimes the world has known, played great roles in dismantling apartheid. Mandela certainly played the greatest role in avoiding all out civil war by calling for calm and continued dialogue.
Many of those heroes were not black people, and many of them were not, by necessity, great fans of Mandela. I never voted for him or his political party, and neither did my extended circle of friends and family, although we did stand alongside him, voting and praying for the same fragile freedom which we partake in today. It would be utterly ludicrous to expect the millions of African people who have been given back their humanity, not to love this man whom God used to make an untold amount of difference to so many lives, and whose legacy continues to do so.
This is a very real practicality which has been recognized by billions of people from all over the world today, where what Mandela did, and what was achieved in South Africa, stands as testimony to what change can be brought about by largely peaceful means. You ask what would remain if these things were set aside for a moment. Firstly, the question is flawed and pointless in as much as it cannot be set aside, it all took place according to God’s perfect plan. The ending of Apartheid was but one of many contributions which Mandela and his legacy has made to, in particular, the African continent and its 900 000 000 inhabitants. Secondly, why would one wish to have that aspect of his life set aside, what purpose could that possibly serve? It was a part of God’s plan, just as much as the World Wars and the recent tsunami’s in Asia were.
As far as Mandela’s Christian faith is concerned, what we have to keep foremost in our thoughts, is whether we are capable of knowing what the relationship was which he had with our Saviour Lord Jesus. Is it our right to know? How would we know? What would we need the information for? Would it add value to our own justification before God? His life certainly spoke a great deal of the fruit by which we could recognize a brother in Christ. No one is justified by works, but by grace alone. We know this to be a Biblical fact, so how could we use his works to pronounce judgement on Mandela’s eternal position?
What we do know is that Mandela’s birth name was not Nelson. That name was given to him by the Christian tutors who were responsible for his early schooling, and that he chose to keep that name throughout his life. He was buried as Nelson. We do know that he had a Christian burial and that all of the fifteen religious leaders who were invited to the graveside at his burial, represented the Christian faith. There were none from any other false religion present.
As far as shortcomings are concerned, the story of my own life represents far more shortcomings than the lives of Mandela or Barrack Obama ever could. My shortcomings far outweigh Mandela’s or Obama’s at this point. Nevertheless, I am follower of Jesus Christ saved by the grace of God alone. Who am I to judge whether Mandela or Obama could possibly be saved by that very same Perfect Grace?
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Thank you for your frankness. I find it refreshing.
Someone sent me a link to your blog on Biblical womanhood. There were two videos that I liked very much. Thank you for posting them.
Those videos are not the work of liberals, and feminists. Generally, with a response like the one you gave, I would usually write you off as a liberal who interprets scripture to suit yourself. But this blog is a far cry from such a mindset. So, for what it’s worth, you have earned my attention and respect.
I am an American, immersed in an American culture. I don’t doubt one bit that I have not escaped its influences. I know very little of your culture or what you and your countrymen have endured. I try to keep an open mind, in the right sense of that word, in order that I might not reject the very voices that God would use to point out things that will renew my mind.
All that to answer your question, not in an argumentative sense, but rather in as truthful a sense as I can. And then perhaps you can help me, if you are willing, to understand a few things.
I could compare my shortcomings to Obama I suppose. And I, like you, could easily make the case that I am a worse sinner than Obama. But I’m not sure how that advances anything. Hitler too claimed Christianity as a religion, and I could easily make the case that I am more evil than him using scripture. But are we left in this life blind? Are we to ignore 50 million unborn children ripped apart in their mother’s wombs with our “king’s” approval?
I’ve heard a lot of negative things about Nelson Mandela, and I’ve heard a lot of positive things. I’ve withheld judgement on the man… and I do mean judgement because I don’t think scripture tells us to close our eyes, especially to those who call themselves brothers. Does not love require this? Did Paul, the Church persecuter, close his eyes to those whom he “handed over to Satan”?
In America, with the help and approval of the likes of Obama, millions and millions of children are indoctrinated into a humanistic, man centered, anti-Christ mindset. Is that loving? How are we to respond to such things? By asking ourselves questions like “who am I to judge”? Did we not receive a mind from Christ? Are we to simply say that it was God’s will, or else it wouldn’t have happened? (something that I believe is true by the way)
I am as reformed in my theology as I think anyone could be. I have found nothing on your blog that I disagree with, but with which I would guess that the vast majority of the American church would absolutely take issue with. But I don’t live my life that way… I can’t live my life that way because I don’t know the details of God’s plan. I don’t know who he is going to save, and who he is not going to save. I don’t know who he will allow to come to us in sheep’s clothing, and who he won’t. He warns up to look out! however, that they are surely coming.
So this is the tension that we all live with, the very tensions that Paul addresses in Roman’s 9. I could ponder them, but then again, who am I to question God?
So, when a “Christian king” promotes and endorses abominations, murder, and all sorts of other sins, not only do I think a little judgement is in order, I also think his evil ways ought to be resisted by at least pointing out that his deeds are evil. Do you not?
If it is true what I have heard, that Mandela promoted abortion and homosexuality, is his positions on apartheid suppose to offset such things. Is is better for South African black men not to be oppressed in this temporal life even if it means than millions of innocent babies won’t saved from the abortionist’s knife?
Feel free to educate me on the scriptures that point to my errors of thought. Considering the rest of your writings, I will take them to heart and meditate on them. As I said earlier, I know I have my shortcomings and that there is much I don’t understand.
I am glad to have discovered this blog. I am not the writer you are, so please look past my deficiencies.
Thank you
Your Brother in Christ.
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Danny
Thank you for your considered response. I will try to address, as briefly as possible, a few of the points you have made. Quite “frankly”, I am pleasantly surprised that you find my straightforwardness to be refreshing, as most Americans find it offensive.
As you have truthfully indicated, your perspective on what life in Africa would entail, is largely predetermined by the American culture you are accustomed to. It is near impossible for one to sufficiently understand the African mindset, without a far more personal experience. A grasp of the vast differences which exist between Western and African culture, is imperative and it is unfortunately a stumbling block which I cannot shift, irrespective of how carefully I choose the words.
Of course, the Western, and in particular the American media, dare I say, are clueless on matters of African nature. The American readers are more than likely, the most misinformed, fickle and over-protected in the Western world. I hope that this intended generalization does not offend you personally, as that would never be my intention. If I cannot be forthright and direct, I would rather simply remain silent on these matters. I regard diplomacy for the sake of political correctness, rather than plain truth which matters, to be either camouflaged dishonesty or plain incompetence.
Inversely and equally, the same could be said of my understanding of the regard Americans have for their choice of political or social leaders. I’m quite sure that not one of the American presidents of the last 200 years, would have enjoyed support, or had much governmental success, in Africa. Similarly, all African leaders would have been dismal failures, had they come to power in modern Europe or America. And that is how it goes, on, and on…
No matter how hard I may try, there will always be people who disagree with what I write. I welcome that, even though I do not always publish disagreements which are not Biblically supported. In the light of the intended purpose of the blog, it would be pointless and fruitless to allow those who oppose God’s word, to advertise their false beliefs. In addition, no matter how hard I may try to be correct in what I write, due to my human inadequacies and sinful fallibilities, I am bound to be in error at times. In those instances I welcome Biblical correction. In all “frankness”, however, the vast majority of the American church (and the “church” in my own country for that matter), is not the church at all, which is why they would most certainly take issue with what I write, which is also the reason for my general disregard for their criticism.
Only unbelievers and the insane would be able to ignore such atrocities. If it was according to the will of the Almighty omnipotent Father God to have prohibited those murders, He would not have failed.
Historical accounts put the figure of those who died in World War 2 at around 80 000 000, the majority of which were with the approval of their respective “kings”. Looking back, were those deaths justified? Survivors and their descendants would say that they were. Under Mao-Tse-Tung, over 70 000 000 men, women and children were murdered while the Western world for the most part, remained silent. The number of people killed by Stalin in Russia, could be even higher.
We should be concerned about each of our own 50 million sins which we commit daily, for which we ourselves can bring no reparation. The greater the iniquity, the greater God’s grace in salvation (Rom 5:20) Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,… Soli Deo Gloria!
I agree.
Abortion and homosexuality are issues quite apart from apartheid. The one cannot be “offset” by the other. We are not justified by our deeds, attitudes, values or works. For example, if one is guilty of stealing a computer, that sin cannot be paid for by helping widows and orphans, by performing a sacrament, by doing penance, or by confession. You would agree that such justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Rom 11:6) But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. The same blood shed by Jesus pays for the sins of abortion, homosexuality, hatred, murder, homosexuality and lies.
Once again, the two issues are completely unrelated. It is not good that anyone be oppressed by another. It is not good that black, coloured and white men, women and their unborn children were murdered under apartheid. I fail to see how the non-oppression of black men has relevance to the incidence of abortion.
Let us not forget that no person is innocent in and of themselves (1Jn 3:9) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
All are born in sin (Rom 5:12) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Only by the grace of God will anyone be saved, whether the unborn baby, or the abortionist wielding the knife.
Let us not forget that all our best deeds are filthy before Holy God. (Isa 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Outside of Christ, even the most self-righteous, moral, religious and pious person will burn in hell. In Christ, even the worst murderer and abortionist will be with our Saviour in heaven. Jesus Christ is all.
God Bless
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The Voortrekkers were a God fearing people. Their prayers before Blood river were, I have no doubt, genuine. Not long before, their leader Piet Retief and about 50 others had been brutally murdered as they went on a peace mission. A nearby settlement of theirs had been ravaged by a raiding band of Zulu men. The town today is called Weenen, place of weeping. The many killed were mostly women and children, the men being out hunting.
The Voortrekkers won the battle of Blood River and did indeed give the glory to God. How Grant Swart can deny these things is beyond me.
Mandela, on the other hand was never a believer, never a Christian. Yes, the Trekkers did see themselves as a pioneering people looking for a promised land; yes they did make mistakes – but they settled the land. Every town and drop is centered by a church building; the Bible is read and God is feared and worshipped. Sadly, as things change dramatically in South Africa these days, there is a shift back to paganism or communism.
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Colin Tomlinson
Thank you for commenting.
You seem to have a high regard for the religious legalism of the Voortrekker people. While I do not doubt that there were Christian believers among them, religious practices such as constructing church buildings, religious rituals and ceremonies and a public outward display of righteousness are certainly not indicative of a Christian. Rather, these things are religious idolatry and attempts to glorify men.
In addition to the Voortrekkers having seen themselves as a pioneering people, they regarded themselves as a “chosen” or superior people, and that belief was fundamental to much of their religion and their sense of entitlement to a “promised” land. The murderous events surrounding Piet Retief and others at the time, were atrocities committed against the Voortrekkers by unbelieving savages. I have never denied those things, but neither can I lose sight of the fact that nothing happens without God’s foreknowledge or explicit permission.
You say: “Mandela, on the other hand was never a believer, never a Christian.” It is impossible for you to know this. It is, however, your opinion based on presumption and your perception, therefore you should state it as such. Unless you have divine power, which you do not, you cannot know this for a fact about any person, as that remains God’s prerogative alone to possess this knowledge.
I do agree with you that there is an on-going and dramatic shift away from Christ in the world today.While it is sad, once again, believers know that God remains in control of all these changes, to His ultimate Glory. We rejoice in the life of all whom God saves through His Son.
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Again I am left speechless, Both you Grant and Danny have shown recognition of our Fathers role in this world, nothing occurs without His knowing, and I do believe hat everything has a reason. I most certainly cannot see how the many deaths that have occurred and are occurring can be God’s purpose but I am not God and I trust that the above has a purpose.
As an aside. Danny mentioned videos, where can I obtain copies and are they free?
Regards
Andrew
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Andrew
Thank you for commenting. I’m not quite sure which videos Danny was referring to, as there are many embedded on the blog. I have asked Elmarie to assist in identifying the possible links or videos. Most often, it is Elmarie who makes videos and clips available on the blog. She will be able to point you to the links if she finds them, so please check back here.
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Danny
Could you possibly assist Andrew in pointing out the videos you referred to?
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Hello Grant,
I left you also with 2 questions.
1) Regarding the elect
2) Regarding Hell
I would appreciate your answers.
Thanks in advance
Andrew
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Andrew
Thank you for commenting again. Your comment certainly contains many aspects and many questions. I am not quite sure I understand all your questions clearly. To address them all sufficiently, would require more than a simple reply here. In most instances, our attempting to summarize answers to more complex questions in hasty words, does not do the truth of the Gospel, or even the question, any justice.
My apologies for the slight delay in my response, I have been dealing with a few very pressing issues of late. In general, I do not have much time to devote to the virtual world on the internet. I will address some of your statements / questions very briefly.
If you were once part of a group who were truly God’s elect, you are still a part of that same group today. We cannot move in and out of being a part of God’s elect. God does not save a person for a while and then forsake them at another stage. Christ was crucified once for our sins, we cannot re-crucify Christ to pay for our sins again and again. See verses such as 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
There are certainly many who refer to themselves as the ‘elect’, who are quite obviously not God’s people. Among those are the groups you refer to such as the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, will-worshippers, J.W’s and SDA’s, among many others. There are many who are self-appointed and self-righteous Christians, who are believers only by name, but not by the Spirit of God. Of course, this does not mean that God cannot or will not save a member of any of those groups, according to His Sovereign will.
God has predestinated or predetermined in his eternal purpose that all whom He saves shall one day be just like his Son, Jesus Christ , that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Under the Old Testament law, the firstborn was the Lord’s choice, who had authority over all the sons, and acted as the Lord’s priest. Christ is the firstborn of the Father with regard to all creatures. Christ is the firstborn of all God’s sons. All of God’s people are they are chosen in Jesus Christ. Christ is the firstborn from the dead to die no more.
I’m not quite sure what you mean here. If you are referring to universal atonement, general atonement or common grace, then that inclusiveness is not Biblical. In brief, the following applies:
Jesus Christ died to pay for all the sins of those whom He called to believe in Him. All people who are enabled by the Holy Spirit to truly believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, who acknowledge that He is the Son of God, are included among the saved.
All people who are not enabled by the Holy Spirit, who deny that Jesus Christ is Lord, Saviour and the Son of God, are excluded from those who will be saved.
To believe that all people will be saved and that Jesus Christ died to save all men, is to say that those who are in Hell, those who deserve Hell through their unbelief, those who deny His Lordship and those who oppose God, will also be saved.
If all men will be saved, then all men might as well sin freely and without fear of consequence. To believe that all men will be saved, is to deny the truth that God hates sin. If all men are equally beloved of God, what do we do with Romans 9:13 which states clearly that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau?
I am glad you termed it as “Christian” trends, in inverted commas. I am also glad you distinguish the trends as current, as these popular and deceitful trends do tend to change continually, as the false churches and preachers need to keep their audiences interested by providing them with fresh and exciting promises and lies. True Christianity is eternal, timeless, unchanging. There is nothing new under the sun. Test everything by the Word, compare the words of every man to what the Bible tells us. Also test everything I say, by checking it against the Word of God.
The true Gospel has never been popular. True Christians have always been, and will always be an isolated group. If it is, that by the Grace of God you are part of that isolated group, you are in the best place you could ever possibly be.
We are not called to seek out any group. Christians are called to faith in Jesus Christ and are, by the grace of God, all placed into the universal church in Jesus Christ. Any group who shuns sharing the Word, is by its nature, not Christian. To the unbeliever the Word of God is foolishness. To the believer, the Word of God is eternal truth, nourishment and comfort.
It is wonderful to hear from Vancouver Island.
Grace to you.
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Andrew,
I hope this is the videos you are mentioning, let me know if not please. The BIBLICAL Role Of A Woman found here https://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2011/07/12/the-biblical-role-of-a-woman/
Blessings
Elmarie
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Thanks elmarie,
The videos were interesting, nothing new though, I do not know which videos Danny was referring to.
Not sure what the comment about Kay Arthur was about.
I thought she only directed her stuff to women anyway.
Regards
Andrew
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Hi Grant,
The article about the Voortrekker Monument was informative. I agree the monument looks Egyptian, even Masonic which is disturbing. I have recently been studying South African history and the religious persuasion of the soldiers who fought against the Zulu’s. They appear to be Reformed and Covenantal. They mixed Old Testament theology with the New Testament which is really like the Galatian heresy. Instead of believing in New Covenant Theology they applied Old Testament laws and vows to the church age.
I don’t agree with the worship of Mandela either since he was a murderer and terrorist. The Western media has been too keen to deify him but if you check newspaper reports of the 1960’s on the internet they tell a different story. He and Winnie encouraged the blacks to put automobile tyres around the head of anyone who opposed the ANC (black or white) and set them alight. They laid land mines on the roadways, there were massacres and tortures and even the so called Christian churches were singing his praises as though he was saint Mandela.
I realise everything that happens in the world is permitted by God. He makes nations rise and fall but God’s will is not the same as His Providence. God’s will is His moral laws in the Old and New Testaments. Every law and statute that God commands is His will. He permits people to break His laws and sometimes these lawbreakers bring in a judgement on someone else who is guilty of a particular sin. Sometimes people suffer (not because they are more sinful than anyone else) but because it shows God’s coming judgement. The abortion of babies is an example of God permitting people to do something which goes against His laws. This doesn’t mean that God is the author of sin but that He permits them to do these things. It all falls in with His plan for world history.
I would like to bring to your attention Grant, the suffering of the Boer farmers who are not permitted to work and are refused food aid by the South African Government and even by the United Nations. Blacks are allowed to pull down white squatter camps and torture and kill farmers on their properties. Google: Genocide Watch: South Africa. Also, Afrikaner genocide archives on starvation and genocide. You could also google Mandela singing ‘Kill the Boers’ on Youtube.
I am concerned for you and your family as you live in Gauteng Province where many of these atrocities occur.
Sincerely,
Lesley
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Hi Lesley
Thank you for your comment.
I will try to keep my response as brief as possible as, in reality, the subject constitutes many intricacies and is too involved for us to discuss effectively, on a forum of this type. I will try to answer factually and pose a few supporting questions which bear specific relevance to your comment.
I agree with your summary of the belief system and theology of the Afrikaners of the time, in particular of those who constituted the Voortrekkers, who were mostly Reformed and Covenantal. Although their version of Covenantal theology was not necessarily Biblical in every way, to suggest NCT as the correct Biblical alternative, is altogether a subject for a different thread.
Only from the viewpoint of a small minority of South Africans, is Mandela regarded as a murderer and terrorist. According to the overwhelming majority of South Africans and the rest of the world, his actions were lauded as those of a representative leader of millions, in a just war against the murderous and evil apartheid regime, and for the freedom of all South African people. In the eyes of the majority of South Africans, the illegitimate and grossly evil political leaders of the apartheid regime and their puppet armed forces, were the real murderers and terrorists. You might see Mandela as a murderer and terrorist, because you might agree with the filth which is presented as fact by right wing racists.
It is idolatrous and an abomination before God to deify or worship any man, irrespective of whether that man was a murderer or a saint. The Lord God Almighty alone is worthy of the worship of men.
You mention the “neck-lacing” of people with burning tyres, the laying of landmines on the roadways, massacres and tortures. These things certainly took place, they are inexcusable. However, to lay the blame for these at the door of Mandela, is simply ludicrous and it undermines the intelligence of millions of people to do so. Simplistic and unfounded statements of that nature are not based on any fact other than the propaganda of the apartheid regime of the time and racist sympathizers who continue to oppose the truth even today. People who have propagated lies such as these are among the narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant, arrogant people who dragged South Africa into the depths of human humiliation and oppression.
The truth is that the neck-lacing was not instigated or motivated by the Mandela’s, but by secret armed forces from within the white Afrikaner apartheid regime. They had valid political reasons which served their evil cause, for doing this. These facts and others related have been well documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and are available to all for posterity. It will take but a few minutes to ascertain the facts from the records of those prolonged and extensive proceedings, and from the multiple admissions and testimonies of those who were implicated in committing these and other atrocities.
The newspapers at the time were controlled by the apartheid government and the reports were mostly propagandist lies. The international community has declared the ideology of white Afrikaner apartheid, a crime against humanity. Mandela was arguably the person who played the greatest individual role in dismantling the evil of apartheid and ending the untold suffering of millions which it produced. Myself included. May I suggest you research accurate historical material by independent and reliable sources in which the truth of these matters is told. You are offering opinion based on hearsay and it does not benefit the cause of truth.
I apologize in advance if I appear to have taken a very harsh stance on your comment, but it is a subject which is very close to my heart – the corpses of the children of my beloved people litter the blood-drenched plains of my beloved country because of the lies of racist idiots such as those who run filth ridden sites such as Genocide Watch.
Lesley, I am a white South African male. I was born in South Africa, I was raised in South Africa. I live in a richly blessed South Africa, and God willing, my dead body will be laid to rest in South African soil. I have Boer farmers in my ancestry and in my family. I live, travel and often work amongst Boer farmers. I worship with Boer farmers and I count Boer farmers amongst my closest friends and among my worst enemies. I have an intimate knowledge of Boer people and culture. I love them and I hate them, I am a part of them in blood. My children are partially of Boer ancestry and therefore, are of mixed European, African and Asian blood, like me.
I served in a prolonged war for the freedom of my beloved South Africa, alongside Boer farmers, black people and people of colour. I have fought against the evil of racism brought about against my people by predominantly Boer farmers. I love my country deeply and intimately; all our people and every blessed portion of land and water expanse within our borders. I would give my life for my country willingly, because many of my black, white and coloured countrymen have done so for my sake. I will defend my country and its people against lies at all costs, in order to ensure the freedom of my children and the children of all my fellow South Africans.
One of those demonic lies would be that Boer farmers are not permitted to work. Another would be that they are refused food aid by our government and the United Nations. Those are lies from the pit of hell, told by those who are demonically motivated. If either of those lies were true, I would be one of the first men in this country to take up arms to put an end to such oppression. Boer farmers are amongst the most affluent and well-fed groups of people in my country and the entire world. Boer farmers are among the most privileged of peoples in the world. I know this because I am one of them.
Lesley, I must ask a few questions which I hope you will, at the very least, consider, if not answer…
1) Your stance seems to be that of a white supremacist sympathizing with white South African racists. Considering what you have said in your comment, would you admit to that possibility?
2) Do you believe that we are entitled by Scripture to adopt a racist stance against others? If so, which Scriptures?
3) Do you believe that the vile and evil acts of the apartheid authorities who now cry “white genocide”, to which black and white South Africans were subjected and to which Mandela responded in sympathy with us, can be supported from Scripture?
4) I continue to travel extensively throughout South Africa, every month as I have done for over 20 years. I visit the extent of all nine provinces over the entire South Africa every month. I am politically well informed and, by necessity, I have to maintain a open-minded approach. I have the welfare of my countrymen at heart. I am not aware of these blacks, or the destroyed legal white squatter camps. I am aware of extreme poverty and suffering amongst people of all colour in my country.
a) Who are those blacks who are pulling down white squatter camps?
b) Why is this only a topic of discussion amongst white racists and religious extremists?
5) Where do you access the majority of your political information and what has this to do with your faith?
6) What action have you taken to remedy this perceived situation? Is there something I can do to assist you in your efforts?
7) I live on a farm in South Africa. Whites are not allowed to kill me or torture me. Blacks are not allowed to kill me or torture me. It is mostly black policemen who assist me and my neighbours. All my staff are black, as are the majority of my neighbours. The laws of the country make no allowance for racial murder, or murder of any kind for that matter. You say that blacks are allowed to kill farmers? Allowed by whom? Where do those unofficial idiotic lies come from?
That is a filth ridden sensationalist website run by racists and unbelieving religious idiots who are narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant, arrogant and Godless people who dragged, and continue to try to drag, South Africa into the depths of human humiliation and depravity.
There are also videos of Boers murdering Mandela’s people and videos of Boers promoting the killing of Mandela. I served in the Defense Forces who were tasked with fulfilling those deeds.
South Africa is a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world. There are many factors which have led to this situation having developed over centuries. Only thirty years ago, the statistics were completely reversed, where the vast majority of murders were those committed by Boer farmers on black people. The fact is that today, the percentage of black on black murders is far higher than murders of Boer farmers. Farm attacks are an inexcusable reality, and the brutality involved in those murders is truly evil, but it is no different to the brutality portrayed in murders in “black” townships and settlements, or murders which take place in other parts of the world.
I appreciate your concern, however it is an unfounded concern based on twisted information. I have chosen to live in Gauteng Province, South Africa and I do not feel unduly threatened. It seems I run a greater risk of being shot by an over-privileged white double amputee, than by a black terrorist. We apply common sense and live with an awareness of the true situation in our country. God takes care of His people and our lives are firmly in His hands.
There is no such thing as a white genocide taking place in South Africa. That story is a figment of the imagination of a self-alienated racist fringe group, their false religious beliefs, phony religious and evil political leaders, and massive guilt complexes due to their own past, for which they cannot forgive themselves.
Grace to you.
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Lesley
You say : “I am concerned for you and your family as you live in Gauteng Province where many of these atrocities occur.”
You have absolutely no reason to be concerned for us. Instead of lending your ears out to conspiracy theorists, like the websites you seem to frequent, I URGE you to listen to both these sermons and keep your Bible close by and ask the Lord to give you wisdom and understanding.
1) Are There Many Races or One?
2) Evil Came Down From The Lord
Believers place all their trust on the Sovereign God of the universe and have nothing to fear. A good pastor once wrote these true words ….
“The sun rose this morning and the Son of God just turned another page in the Book of God’s purpose. In all that came to pass, throughout this universe this day, He just fulfilled another page in God’s purpose. Both, in that which appears to be horribly evil and in that which appears to be blessedly good. In all, He is doing good to his people, and bringing judgement upon His enemies. In all the things that we look at as calamities, things that we look at as terrible disasters, what we look at as accidents, freaks of nature, things that should not have happened, but did. In all these things, the Lord God warns His enemies of judgement to come. Did you see how God swept away the thousands in the Tsunami, soon He’s going to sweep the whole earth clean of His enemies, and that is what He says to you and me too. Did you see how thousands were slain by the hand of God, as those Arabs flew those planes into the Trade Centres? So He will slay all the world by the hand of His Judgement.
God Almighty declares by all these things, so too He will rid the world of His adversaries, and at the same time declares His tokens of mercy upon His people, giving a word of comfort that these things shall in no way harm His own, not in any way whatsoever. God speaks in judgement as He speaks in acts of judgement, and He speaks in mercy as He speaks in acts of both judgement and mercy. There is a distinct parallel between the ten plagues that God brought upon the Egyptians and the opening of the seals portrayed by John in the vision God gave him in Revelation chapters 5 through 19. “
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Elmarie,
I always have my bibles close by and ask the Lord for wisdom and understanding. Most of the websites I frequent are mainline newspapers or Christian websites. There are some that show graphic photographs but I don’t consider them conspiracy theorists.
I’ve heard the sermons and I agree with them. I am a creationist and I know what the term ‘race’ means. I realise that everyone belongs to the human race. I learned that years ago at a creationist seminar.
I also know about God’s judgement on the world, now and at the Second Coming. I know His own will be spared when He returns at the end of the age.
Christians die all the time through war and the ravages of nature but the people of God are permitted to escape from persecution and other dangers. Christians fled to Pella from Jerusalem during the destruction of Jerusalem. No doubt some died in the siege and in the flight from Jerusalem. Christians hid in the catacombs in Rome to avoid the Romans and are now persecuted in Korea and the Middle East. There is nothing wrong in escaping danger. It doesn’t mean that you are not trusting in the Lord.
I presume you and Grant think that I am a white supremacist racist since he suggested that in a previous post. Because I am concerned about people being murdered and tortured in farms doesn’t mean I am racist, it means that I care about people dying.
Lesley
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Lesley
Thank you for your reply. Having lived in South Africa my whole life (almost a half a century by the grace of God), I can tell you 1st hand that there is NO Genocide of whites taking place on farms and should one look at statistics on murders in South Africa, there is a lot more violence and murders in the black townships daily (we can call it black on black violence) in townships like Soweto, Alexandria , Kayalitsha ect ect. The atrocities and murders committed by the apartheids regime, while we were cut off from the world by sanctions for many years far surpassed the farm murders since 1994. And these atrocities where based upon racism as most of the Afrikaner nation was raised with a huge influence of the British Israelism. If you want to read some good books and the truth about South Africa’s history from the 1800’s I would recommend you read
Pale Native: Memories of a Renegade Reporter – Max Du Preez
Dances with Devils: A Journalist’s Search for Truth – Jacques Pauw
I would further lovingly suggest you read these 2 books before we have any further discussion on this topic. Then you would have seen the other side of the truth that is never told by websites such as Genocide Watch or the biased press. Very few Christian websites wich claim to be Christian are Christian.
I did notice you said Grant is an ANC sympathizer or supporter and nothing could be further from the truth. He is as vehemently opposed to the ANC as he is opposed to the Boers and their atrocities.
We should be caring for people to be hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ before they die, when and how they die is in God’s hands. SDG !
In Christ
Elmarie
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Elmarie,
I have read about British Israelism and don’t approve of it either. I thought most of the Afrikaners were Dutch Reformed till they became more liberal in their theology. I didn’t realise that so many Afrikaners were under the influence of British Israelism. Many of the KKK in the United States have these beliefs. I realise there is black on black violence because I have seen photographs of black men with burning automobile tyres over their shoulders.
I will not be concerned for your safety as you have convinced me that you are not in any danger.
Glad to hear that Grant is opposed to the ANC as much as he is to the Boers.
I will look at the links that you posted. I really do not want to continue with this discussion as it started off with concern for you and your countrymen, not a political statement.
Sincerely,
Lesley
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Greetings from Venezuela!.
Very interesting article.
Although I don´t share your views on women, I share fully your standpoint on Idolatry, Racism, Apartheid Heresy, and crime/violence in society, and your Biblically based refusal to believe in political propaganda from every side in spectrum.
Many Conservative Presbyterian Reformed Pastors was strongly supporters from crime of Apartheid, while Liberation Theologians was blind on Soviet Union.
Thanks to God, there are many Christians who was/are against every way from politicization from Gospel.
I’m interested in making dialogue with south african believers.
Our Triune God bless your Church, country and family.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-safrica-farming-crime-idUSBRE8AS02120121129
You got angry when I mentioned farm murders in a previous post and accused me of being a white supremist but it isn’t just religious websites and right wing extremists who believe this. I doubt if many of the Boers have armed guards outside their farms otherwise they wouldn’t be killed. You said you were safe but a lot of people in South Africa aren’t. Especially in Gauteng Province.
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Lesley
First of all no one was angry with you never. Consider these words …………….“The sun rose this morning and the Son of God just turned another page in the Book of God’s purpose. In all that came to pass, throughout this universe this day, He just fulfilled another page in God’s purpose. Both, in that which appears to be horribly evil and in that which appears to be blessedly good. In all, He is doing good to his people, and bringing judgement upon His enemies. In all the things that we look at as calamities, things that we look at as terrible disasters, what we look at as accidents, freaks of nature, things that should not have happened, but did. In all these things, the Lord God warns His enemies of judgement to come. Did you see how God swept away the thousands in the Tsunami, soon He’s going to sweep the whole earth clean of His enemies, and that is what He says to you and me too. Did you see how thousands were slain by the hand of God, as those Arabs flew those planes into the Trade Centres? So He will slay all the world by the hand of His Judgement.
I know folks scream and they fight against that and say, “Oh, you think God did that! How could God kill innocent people?” Find me an innocent people and I will show you how. No such animal walks on this earth. No such animal, none at all.
God Almighty declares by all these things, so too He will rid the world of His adversaries, and at the same time declares His tokens of mercy upon His people, giving a word of comfort that these things shall in no way harm His own, not in any way whatsoever. God speaks in judgement as He speaks in acts of judgement, and He speaks in mercy as He speaks in acts of both judgement and mercy. There is a distinct parallel between the ten plagues that God brought upon the Egyptians and the opening of the seals portrayed by John in the vision God gave him in Revelation chapters 5 through 19. “
Rest in Christ Jesus all things takes place by His decree and will. But there is NO genocide in South Africa of whites. It is that simple.
Blessings
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Correction. I meant supremacist.
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