Die invloed van Abraham Kuyper op ds. S.J. du Toit

Abstract

The well-known Rev. S.J. du Toit must be understood as a prophet. Taking after die influential minister of Paarl, the reform-minded Rev. G.W.A. van der Lingen, Rev. S.J. du Toit associated himself with the Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper, who formulated and advocated a Calvinist worldview. Du Toit was guided by Kuyper in almost every way, but espe­cially in his call for a free and Christian system of education. Adopting the educational principles argued by Kuyper, he drafted a similar act of education for the Transvaal and with his aid attempted to foster a society in the Calvinist sense of the word. And yet, his prophetic vision estranged him from his Dutch teacher and friend as well as from those he so badly wanted to address and influence. Eventually he was left in the cold. Nevertheless, he proved himself as a prophet of Afrikaans... and perhaps he was politically also not without a prophetic sense.