Ad Fontes

Eerste Boustene vir ’n Geskiedenis van die Reformatoriese Filosofie – ook in Suid- Afrika

Abstract

To have a good perspective on the philosophy one is practising, some knowledge of its history is a prerequisite. A history of Reformational thought is of equal importance to inspire generations of the future. A beginning was made in 2006 to document the history of the movement for a Reformational Philosophy, started about seventy years ago (1935) in the Netherlands. However, it was a very brief overview and it also does not include a history of this trend of philosophy in South Africa, regarding it more or less as a Dutch “export”. This article will not be able to fill this gap. It is not of a historiographical but of a bibliographical nature. As its title (ad fontes) indicates, the intention is merely to collect some of the original sources or building blocks for an eventual historical evaluation. Apart from an introduction (about the need and the method), it will be done in the following four steps: (1) Something briefly about the cradle of Reformational Philosophy in the Netherlands. (2) The origin, development and representatives of this movement in South Africa (confined to two centra, viz. Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom). (3) Its global geographical dissemination and theoretical application in a variety of disciplines. (4) Since an eventual history will include, apart from the past and the present, also the future, the challenge of the contextualisation of a Reformational philosophy for the African continent concludes the essay.