Hermeneutiek van kerkreg toegepas op die kerkorde van die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to show that hermeunetics of church polity is of the utmost importance in the interpretation and application of a church order. The necessity of this study is due to the absence of hermeunetics of church polity with many users of a church order. This results in the wrong interpretation and application of a church order. Hermeunetics of church order requires certain hermeunetic principles which are necessary for the forming of such hermeunetics from which a church order can be implemented and applied. An overview is given of the development of hermeunetics as a science. The purpose of this is to see how the various principles of Hermeunetics bear relation to the hermeunetics of church polity. Various historical church orders were discussed in order to see if these documents had an infulence on the Church Order of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa (NRCA). An hermeunetical principle which is essential to the understanding of a church order is the relation it has with the Bible and the church' creed. This relationship was shown in such that the church order can be seen as an extension of the church' creed, without being given the same authority to the Church Order as to the Bible and creed. The implementation of the NRCA's Church Order is based on a resolution of it's general assembly. This gives the Church Order a certain authority, again not equal to that of the Bible and creed. The results obtained from this study were then applied to the Church Order of the NRCA. This was done by posting the uniqueness of various principles of church polity as well as regulations from the Church Order against the background that a unique approach and way of thinking is required when acting in the church.