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Theology, Law and State Illegitimacy: An Agenda for Theologians and Lawyers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

Charles Villa-Vicencio
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Extract

According to our Christian tradition, based upon what we have already seen in the Bible, once it is established beyond doubt that a particular ruler is a tyrant or that a particular regime is tyrannical, it forfeits the moral right to govern and the people acquire the right to resist and to find the means to protect their own interests against injustice and oppression. In other words a tyrannical regime has no moral legitimacy. It may be the de facto government and it may even be recognized by other governments and therefore be the de jure or legal government. But if it is a tyrannical regime, it is, from a moral and a theological point of view, illegitimate.

The Kairos Document

It is our belief that civil authority is instituted of God to do good, and that under the biblical imperative all people are obliged to do justice and show special care for the oppressed and the poor. It is this understanding that leaves us with no alternative but to conclude that the South African regime and its colonial domination of Namibia is illegitimate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , 1987 , pp. 241 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 1987

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References

1. The Kairos Document: A Theological Comment on the Religious Crisis in South Africa (rev. 2d ed. 1986) [hereinafter Kairos Document]Google Scholar. The Kairos Document was first published in September 1985 over the signatures of a group of Christians as a basis for challenging the witness of the churches and resisting the tyranny of the South African government.

2. The Lusaka Statement, Lusaka, Zambia, 05 8, 1987 [hereinafter Lusaka Statement]Google Scholar. The Lusaka Statement emerged from the World Council of Churches' consultation on Southern Africa held in Lusaka from May 4-8, 1987, under the theme “The Churches' Search for Justice and Peace in South Africa.”

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4. Chikane, , Where the Debate Ends, in Theology and Violence: The South African Debate 308 (Villa-Vicencio, C. ed. 1987)Google Scholar.

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6. Id. at 615-21.

7. Id. at 603.

8. The Johannesburg Star (May 22, 1987).

9. Hart, supra note 5, at 617.

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19. Id. at 224.

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27. For a history of the church's recognition of this obligation, see Villa-Vicencio, C., Between Christ and Caesar: Classic and Contemporary Texts on Church and State (1986)Google Scholar.

28. Wand, J.W.C., The Four Great Heresies 377 (1955)Google Scholar. For an application of this definition of heresy to apartheid see de Gruchy, , Towards a Confessing Church: The Implications of Heresy, in Apartheid is a Heresy 83–86 (1983)Google Scholar.

29. Nolan, The Day of Prayer and Catholic Moral Theology, in When Prayer Makes News, supra note 23, at 95 (1986).

30. For the debate on the legal status of Rhodesia after the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, see Molteno, , The Rhodesian Crisis and the Courts, 11 The Comp. and Int'l L.J. of S.Afr. [hereinafter CILSA] 254–89 (No. 2, 07 1969)Google Scholar; 11 CILSA 404–43 (No. 3, 11 1969)Google Scholar; 111 CILSA 18–49 (No. 1, 03 1970)Google Scholar. See also Acta Juridica 1973, 1–171 (1975)Google ScholarActa Juridica 1974, 109–246 (1976)Google Scholar.

31. Molteno, , 11 CILSA 254 (No. 2, 07 1968)Google Scholar. For a discussion on Hans Kelsen's understanding of revolution as a means of replacing an existing fundamental law (Grundnorm) with another, see The Pure Theory of Law, 51 L.Q. Rev. 5117Google Scholar.

32. Id. at 256-57.

33. Molteno, , 11 CILSA 425F (No. 3, 11 1969)Google Scholar.