Synod Approves Belhar Proposal

After nearly three hours of discussion, Synod 2009 voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday night to propose the adoption of the Belhar Confession to Synod 2012 as a fourth confession of the church. It passed 127-40.

CRC congregations will now have an additional chance to thoroughly study the Belhar Confession, a statement of belief originally written as a reaction to church- and state-sanctioned apartheid in South Africa.

The Belhar was adopted by the synod of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa in 1986. A significant focus of the document is on unity, reconciliation and justice.

Although there has been a great deal of discussion already, all CRC congregations will now be encouraged to study and review the Belhar Confession before it goes before Synod 2012. Synod 2012 will have the responsibility to vote on whether to adopt it as one of the standards of unity of the CRC.

The fact that it is being proposed as a confession – on a par with the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and Canons of Dordt – gives the document a high profile, which may encourage wider discussion, several delegates said.

The committee that placed the proposal before Synod 2009 said adopting the Belhar would be “an important testimony to the membership of the CRC that together we stand firm on matters that are rooted in scriptural teaching and flow from the heart of God.”

During the discussion prior to the vote, many delegates asked questions about or expressed discomfort with the Belhar. They asked whether the document is truly biblical, suggesting that it does not state strongly enough that the only true salvation of the world comes through Jesus Christ.

“The Belhar has done a good job of making us aware of the problem with apartheid. But it does not formally affirm salvation in Jesus as do our other confessions,” said Jose Rayas, an elder from Classis Arizona.

“I do not believe that it is best to raise the Belhar Confession to the same standard of our other confessions.”

Some delegates asked whether the Belhar was in effect a form of liberation theology, a theology that teaches that people need not wait for death to experience salvation and a just life.

Rev. John Bolt, a professor of systematic theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, also said he has issues with the Belhar. “There is so much in it that it is hard for people not to passionately agree with. But certain statements could create disunity.”

Rev. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., president of Calvin Theological Seminary, said there are varying views on the Belhar among seminary faculty. But for the most part, he said, the faculty “is very hospitable to the Belhar Confession and some of us are very enthusiastic.”

The Reformed Church in America’s Synod recently approved the Behar by a vote of 166-65. But it still must be voted on by all of the classes in the church and approved by two-thirds of them.

The CRC was asked several years ago in a letter sent by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church to examine the Belhar and to adopt it as a formal confession.

Among other things, the Belhar states: “We reject any ideology which would legitimate forms of injustice and any doctrine which is unwilling to resist such an ideology in the name of the gospel… We believe that, in obedience to Jesus Christ, its only head, the church is called to confess and to do all these things, even though the authorities and human laws might forbid them and punishment and suffering be the consequence.”

Rev. David Kromminga, a delegate from Classis Grand Rapids East, said he favors making the Belhar another confession.

“Apartheid happened with a Reformed Church,” said Kromminga. “This (the Belhar) provides an admirable antidote to such a heresy.”

He said the Belhar could help the CRC “address the problems of this age. It would help us get out of the box.”

Near the end of debate, Synod vice president Rev. Sheila Holmes said that this “is not a black/white thing. It is about God. It is about changing our hearts, our minds and our lives.”

“God wants to open us,” said Holmes. “God is doing a new thing (with the help of the Belhar) and we need to humble ourselves. Once God saves us, he wants to change us. We need to move from where we are to the heart of God.”