History spirals, says Chuck Stephens, and the Freedom Front is on the up

The Right Reverend Chuck Stephens has never been shy of a big idea. History, he argues, doesn’t go backwards. It spirals. The church pressure that pushed Afrikaner Calvinists to renounce apartheid is now being turned around, with conservative believers leading a “reconquest” of liberal denominations and Western politics. He draws a line from John Calvin and the Huguenots, through the Gafcon revolt against Canterbury, to Charlie Kirk and South Africa’s coming municipal elections. His conclusion? The Freedom Front Plus deserves a bigger seat at the coalition table. Agree or not, it’s a provocative read. And yes, he has a book to sell..By Chuck Stephens.History never goes backwards. But it does not always advance, either. Sometimes it goes sideways. This causes the phenomenon I call “spiraling”. That got me to thinking…One of the great Protestant Reformers was from Paris – John Calvin. His teachings came to be known as Calvinism and it was a real affront to Catholicism. That’s one reason why so many French Protestants (called Huguenots) were persecuted. They fled to Holland, which was also largely Calvanist (Dutch Reformed), but already densely populated. So, Holland soon offered them space in its new Cape Colony, at the horn of Africa. Calvinists from Holland and Huguenots populated this new colony and out of the wilderness they carved a new country.What the “Boers” did in the next four centuries was remarkable. Compared to Spanish (largely Catholic) colonies, the Cape colony’s economy took off. It was based on productivity, not on robbing Aztec or Inca gold. Farming, mining, industry, and other sectors became prosperous. Cities arose deep in the interior. Roads and railroads. But there was a strand of this Calvanism that was abhorrent called apartheid. It had to be rooted out, and that took some time and effort. This caused quite a rift in the church. From Germany and England first - and later America – came “abolitionists”. Then England defeated Napoleon and took over the Cape Colony once and for all. Soon after came the end of the Atlantic Slave Trade. South Africa hung on for another century, then confessed that apartheid was a heresy (i.e. un-biblical) and the first free and democratic elections were held.The Reformed church is still the main church in South Africa, just as the Catholic church remains strong in Latin America. But times are changing. On the conservative side of the church, Latin America is now probably 50 percent Catholic and 50% protestant (evangelicals and Pentecostals)..Meanwhile in Europe, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment began to eclipse the Protestant Reformation. There were many wars as the primacy of Rome faded with a foment that led to the emergence of nation-states after the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Then came great revivals (e.g. Wesleyan) and revolutions (e.g. America and France). All these certainly had some roots in faith but secularisation began to set it. Deists at first, humanists, relativists and even atheists. This had a knock-on effect on the church.Some Christians conserved cherished convictions and traditions. Others looked for ways to keep up with the times. Music and forms of worship changed. Church architecture modernised. But those are superficial. But deeper shifts in theology also came, which we call “liberalism”. In the Catholic church, liberation theology emerged. In the past century, the ordination of woman started. Then the blessing of same-sex marriages. And some churches even condone abortion!This has led to splits, splinters and schisms. America’s biggest Christian denomination split into the United Methodists (no longer united, however!) and the Global Methodists. Anglican conservatives started a “Continuing Anglican” rump to challenge unbiblical practice. Recently this has caused African Anglicans, who are very conservative on the whole, to frrm Gafcon – the Global Anglican Council. It is openly challenging the primacy of Canterbury. It considers the official archbishop there to be apostate.Where is this going? Well, just as the Reformed church was confronted by other denominations to drop apartheid, conservative churches have now begun a "containment" or even “reconquest” of liberal churches. This is slowly becoming more aggressive, as happened in the struggle against apartheid. In that struggle, the church’s internal corrective processes (e.g. the Kyros document) were strengthened by political and economic support, like sanctions against South Africa. This squeezed a God-fearing nation to take the path of correction. Including its mother church.This is happening again now, prompting the liberal churches to aver that conservatives are “Christian nationalists”. Or even “populists” - as if there is something wrong with ether term. Both can be totally democratic and revitalizing.The swing to the Alt-Right is not commanded by the evangelical, protestant or conservative Catholic churches. But they all line up. An excellent example was Charlie Kirk, a young evangelical who was also patriotic. These two aspects synergise quite naturally..This explains what the book WHY CHARLIE WAS RIGHT has to say. Theology, philosophy and politics are leading to statecraft that rejects domination by a broad alliance of humanists, atheist/socialists, and intifadistas. In Western civilisation, some traditions are just plain non-negotiable, and we are now seeing a “walk back” of various trends usually lumped together under the umbrella term “woke”.Elections in Brazil, Israel, USA, South Africa and Spain are on the horizon. The left-leaning governments of France, Germany and Britain are gasping for air while they clutch at straws. Many Christians find this encouraging, and speak of revival (spiritual) and reconquest (political) in the same breath.In South Africa, the first round of coalitions is shifting. A number of the major municipalities are likely to shift to the right of centre in the upcoming election. One of the key actors is the Freedom Front. It is a small party but it can be an important power-broker in coalition governments. It is less ideological and more pragmatic. It will never rule, but it can be a very prominent power-broker, even while remaining relatively small.While apartheid was abhorrent, the Calvinist Boers and Huguenots have done some such for their homeland. And for the African continent. Local infrastructure and industry attest to this, beyond the amazing agricultural sector. Thanks in large part to the “Calvinist work ethic”, and in fact to Reformed eschatology. Calvinism never taught about a rapture which will suddenly remove Christians from earth, on their way to somewhere beyond the Cosmic Horizon. It teaches that Jesus will return to earth and establish a “reign of God” which will rule for a thousand years. Dominionist Rushdoony put it this way: "If the state is equated with government, there is then no freedom for man, because freedom is inseparable from self-government under God.".As a result, Calvinists dig in and get to work preparing their community for the return of their hero. They do not wait around, arms folded, to be raptured. That is unbiblical.The era of apartheid is gone. It is not coming back. Jesus is coming back. So let’s engage and get involved in policy and governance. The Freedom Front represents a segment of South Africa’s population that has made a lasting contribution. It is not going away either. It deserves more space in the mix of South Africa’s governance.This is not a paid political announcement. It is brought to you by the author of WHY CHARLIE WAS RIGHT. Not advertising a political party, but promoting a book and its ideas..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

History spirals, says Chuck Stephens, and the Freedom Front is on the up

Related Stories

Wayne Sussman: DA leads in 4 Metros, 2 to go…

AI's $30tn bet: the money may run out before the productivity arrives

LGEs 2026: The ANC, DA, MKP, EFF, IFP, Freedom Front, Patriotic Alliance, ActionSA

Why freedom of thought matters more than freedom of speech this election: Elnieke Bronkhorst