Johannes Du Plessis

Johannes Du Plessis (born July 25, 1868 in Cradock , † February 16, 1935 in Stellenbosch ), later popularly called Pienk Piet , was a South African theologian and missionary whose ancestors immigrated to the Cape as Huguenots . In his role as professor of theology, he campaigned for social equality between the population groups in South Africa.

Life

Du Plessis received his academic training at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch University and later at Edinburgh University . He completed his studies with a doctorate. He then went on extensive hikes in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 1894 Du Plessis received ordination in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and in 1903 became general secretary for missionary work. Between 1913 and 1930 he taught missionary work and New Testament theology at the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch University .

In 1921, together with ten leading representatives of the South African Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), he wrote a manifesto ( The Dutch Reformed Church and the Native Problem ), in which the position of his church was defended against the accusation of Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu that it was Took positions against the native black population.

At an inter-church conference on missionary work in 1923, African church representatives, English-oriented missionaries and leading black religious figures agreed on common positions. Du Plessis headed this group, which, with its central criticism, publicly named the unjust social conditions in what was then South Africa and submitted a catalog of demands in this regard to the South African government. In the course of this process Du Plessis increasingly lost his ecumenically oriented influence in the DRC. Members of his church accused him of heresy . Influential black personalities turned away from the previous leadership course of the missionaries. Since 1929 a new ideology called " apartheid " began to spread within the DRC .

In 1929 Du Plessis took part in the founding of the South African Institute of Race Relations , which in the future established itself as an institution committed to understanding between the population groups in South Africa.

His liberal attitudes, especially towards Genesis , which he did not want to be understood literally, led him to a long controversy with the Calvinist -influenced representatives of the DRC. His controversial remarks as a liberal theologian generated critical backlash in the DRC Synod. The DRC's Western Cape Synod finally declared evolution to be heresy . As a result of this conflict he was suspended and he later lost his job as a professor at Stellenbosch University. Du Plessis sued this decision and won the process. After that, however, he could no longer take up teaching duties and died bitterly in 1935.

Honors

• In Stellenbosch in 1936 (according to other information in 1944) a life-size statue made of pink marble by the Spanish sculptor Quairan was erected. Originally it was set up in the public street space in front of a granite wall with the inscription “God Verdedig die Reg” (German: “God defends the righteous”). After vandalism, the statue was re-erected in the area of ​​the Bloemhof School .
• The circle of friends, "Vriende van Du Plessis", looks after the historical legacy of the theologian Johannes Du Plessis.

Works

• A thousand miles in the heart of Africa; a record of a visit to the mission-field of the Boer Church in Central Africa. Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, Edinburgh 1905
• A history of Christian missions in South Africa. Longmans, Green and Co., London, New York [etc.] 1911
• Thrice through the dark continent. A record of journeyings across Africa during the years 1913-1916. Longmans, Green and Co., London 1917
• Origin and Meaning of the Name "Hottentot". SA Association for the Advancement of Science, Cape Town 1917
• The life of Andrew Murray of South Africa. Marshall, London 1919
• Het leven van Andrew Murray. Zuid Afrikaanse Bijbelvereniging, Cape Town 1920
• The evangelization of pagan Africa. a history of Christian missions to the pagan tribes of central Africa. JC Juta, Cape Town and Johannesburg 1930
• The Kerksaak tussen Prof. J. Du Plessis en the Ned. Geref. Kerk in South Africa. Cape Town 1932

literature

• Ulrich van der Heyden, Holger Stoecker: Mission and power in the change of political orientations. European Mission Societies in Political Tensions in Africa and Asia between 1800 and 1945 . Steiner. Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-515-08423-1 , p. 574

Further sources

• Gideon De Wit: 'n Biografiese oorsig oor die lewe van Johannes Du Plessis, 1868-1935 met special verwysing na sy sendingbydrae . (Dissertation) Stellenbosch 1998

Web links

• Willem Saayman: Johannes Du Plessis, 1868 to 1935, Dutch Reformed Church, South Africa. In: Gerald H. Anderson: Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998. online at www.dacb.org (English)
• A New Spiritual Force Missionaries And Social Activism ( October 15, 2013 memento in the Internet Archive ) In: Gerald H. Anderson: Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998. originally on www.newhistory.co.za (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Pieter Coertzen: The Huguenots of South Africa in history and religious identity . In: Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, Vol. 52 (2011), No. 1 and 2. online at www.ojs.reformedjournals.co.za (English)
2. ↑ Pienk Piet se ontslag lei dead interpretasie-vakuum ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Article in Die Burger from April 11, 2002 (Afrikaans)  
3. ↑ Pistorius Harris: Plein Street frontage: Du Plessis monument  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . online at www.stellenboschheritage.co.za (PDF document p. 6, English)  
4. ^ University of Stellenbosch, Faculty of Theolog: News and Events. The Statue of Prof. Johannes du Plessis moves . on www.academic.sun.ac.za (text afrikaans)
5. ↑ Bibliographic entry at Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.