Die kerk, maatskappy en vrye verenigings: 'n studie van die kerkorde van die NG Kerk

Abstract

In its stipulantions for the church in its actions against or with the other institutions and societies in society, the order of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) is unique among reformed churches. Two main principles guide these stipulations of the DRC-CO. The first one is that such a society or organization should be based on Christian principles and be able to show it convincingly in practice. The second one is that the well-known principle used in Neo-Calvinistic thought namely that of “souvereignty in its own sfere” should be used to normalize such relations. Nearly the same articles in the same words with regard to the church, society and free societies have remained now for over 50 years in an ever changing church order.