Submitting to the civil authorities today

Abstract

In Southern Africa, as is often the case in the rest of Africa, the relationship between “church and state” is an important one. This is the case not only because of the importance of politics in the lives of (South) Africans, but especially because of the churches’ involve­ ment in human relations and society. It is therefore all the more surprising that such few exegetical studies were done in this field in the past two decades. Some historical (“The Church Struggle” of De Gruchy is a good example) and some ethical studies lightens this somewhat dark picture.