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CONFESSIONAL BASE
The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRC) is part of the broader Christian community, which finds its roots right back within the Biblical era. Initially, only one Christian church existed, with individual congregations spread over North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and eventually Western Europe.
During these first three centuries of the existence of the Church, the three ecumenical Christian Creeds were developed and accepted as the expression of the contents of Christian belief. The DRC fully subscribes to these three short expressions of the Christian faith. Today they are still widely accepted by most Christian churches in the world. They are:
· The Apostolic Creed
· The Athanasian Creed
· The Nicene Creed
In 1054 the final schism between the Western and Eastern church in Europe became a reality, with the establishment of the Eastern Orthodox Church (with its headquarters in Constantinople – currently Istanbul), while Rome stayed the geographical centre for the Western (Catholic) Church. It was within the latter church (Roman Catholic Church), that the Protestant movement (Reformation) developed through the 15th to 16th century. As such, numerous Protestant congregations were founded in the various countries of Western Europe.
To this effect, in the 17th century, a great variety of Reformed/Protestant congregations were founded, and soon a number of (anti-Catholic) creeds were used to express this alternative Christian faith until 1618. Then the various congregations were convened as the first Reformed Synod in Dordrecht, and the Three Formulas of Unity were accepted as the specific expression of the Reformed understanding of the Christian message/teaching. These three formulas were:
· The Belgic Confession
· The Heidelberg Catechism
· The Canons of Dordt
Thus, the teaching of the Dutch Reformed Church is founded on the Bible. The Bible is accepted and understood as the authoritative Word of God. God reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in His Word. This Church, therefore, declares its unequivocal obedience to the Will of God, as it is expressed in the Bible.
DOCTRINAL STANDARDS
The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) is firmly based on the Bible as the holy and infallible Word of God. The doctrine that the DRC confesses in accordance with the Word of God, is set out in the doctrinal standards as determined at the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618 - 1619, namely the Belgic Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort.
It is important to state categorically that the DRC accords the highest priority to the uncompromising adherence to the authority of Holy Scripture. We believe and confess that Holy Scripture is the complete revelation of God, authoritative for all time. Thus for us it is the sole yardstick by which all standpoints, attitudes and actions in the South African situation must be tested.
This means that consistent with our doctrinal standards, we need to study Scripture carefully and correctly, in order to determine what message and mandate come to us out of the Word and how we must apply it in any given situation. We must constantly be on our guard that no other voice, however appealing or beguiling - be it that of a particular ideology, school of thought, political trend, tradition, personal bias, national sentiment, or whatever - speaks decisively to us above or alongside the truth of the Bible.
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