Desmond Tutu’s theological argument for fighting apartheid in South Africa, its impact on the

church today and his legacy

Chapter 1. Life of a Desmond Tutu and his influence

1.1. Desmond up bring and the family
1.1.1. His education
1.1.2. Church experience
1.2. The influence he has in his community
1.2.1. He promoted education
1.2.2. Encourage non-violence

Chapter 2. Fighting for social justice in South Africa and Tutu’s theology
2.1. Why fighting for social justice against Apartheid
2.1.1. Apartheid
2.1.2. Witness justice
2.2. Tutu’s theology
2.2.1. Theology on Ubuntu
2.2.2. Theology Of Imago Dei

Chapter 3. Desmond Tutu leading truth reconciliation Commission

3.1. The establishment of truth reconciliation commission
3.1.1. Power of truth
3.1.2. Reconciliation
3.2. The cost of forgiveness
3.2.1. Confession
3.2.2. Forgiveness

Chapter 4. Tutu’s impact to the church today and his legacy

4.1. Tutu was a voice of a church
4.1.1.First black to be general secretary of South Africa Church Council
4.1.2. Church as agent of change
4.2. Desmond’s legacy
4.2.1. Won peacemaking price
4.2. 2. Foundations
INTRODUCTION

In every country everywhere, there is that one unique person that shall forever be remembered by
his good and humble work they did for their country and people, like Martin King Luther was a
beacon of hope Black Americans when he stood and fought with them in peaceful protests for
their civil rights. In Germany, Martin Luther has also been considered as one of the national
heroes as he moved humanity forward in so many ways like in religion, education, music and in
commerce, also, in my country Lesotho, we have our own hero, our King Moshoeshoe I, who
through all the trials and troubles, continued to save Lesotho and Basotho from the dangers of
the Boers and other ethnic groups that wanted our land. In South Africa, we have so many
national heroes, like Nelson Mandela and many others, however the concern on this thesis is on
Desmond Tutu, who is also considered a national hero, as he took South Africa to higher lands
through his hard work. A hero is someone who gives himself, often putting his own life at great
risk for the greater good of others, a person who overcomes their fear of danger in order to do
good for others.1

It is impossible for a person to become a hero like those fictional characters from our heroic
movies, but a mortal person with their flaws can still become an idol or a role model, someone
considered a hero in their country, and Desmond Tutu is one of those people. Unlike Nelson
Mandela, Desmond Tutu fought for South Africa, but in a different way, as he believed more in
peaceful resolutions than violence, so he was never seen in protests or anything violent.
Desmond Tutu was a man of God, he was an ArchBishop, this is why all his arguments were
theological rather than anything else.2Theological argument is an argument for the existence of
God, or more generally that complex functionality in the natural world which looks designed is
evidence of an intelligent creator.3 This simply means that Desmond fought, but from the side of
God, as he would often remind people of the good Lord, and how much he wanted his children to
have peace and harmony around them.

It is very important to know what the South Africans back then were fighting for, and it was
apartheid as they were fighting against it. Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial
segregation that existed in South Africa and Namibia, from 1948 to the early 1990s, and it was
1 Schein, S. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer’s Lliad. University of California Press. 1985. Pp 58
2 Francisco, A, J Theological Argument University of California: Los Angeles. 2006. Pp 409-421
3 Ibid.
an authoritarian political culture based on dominating South Africa politically, socially and
economically through minoritarianism, where the white population was dominating the black
population.4 Clearly this apartheid was a problem, as there were unwelcome guests in South
Africa, and just because they had or at least had an access to some natural resources which most
of them belonged to South Africa, that did not give them the right to undermine and racially
discriminate black South Africans the way they did. Desmond Tutu is one of the people who
went through the apartheid, as he was born right in the middle of it, and it did not matter that his
father was a well respected man among the black community, as he was a teacher, he was still
racially discriminated against in the white community. It did not matter how well educated
Desmond Tutu became, he was still racially discriminated against. This therefore makes
apartheid the problem in this thesis.

Desmond Tutu was a well respected and known man, and this is why his work is relevant even
today, but how relevant is his work to the church today? It was mentioned that Tutu was a man
of God, as he was an ArchBishop, and so this means that every battle he fought and won was
from the side of the church. A church is a building for public worship, especially Christian
worship, and therefore is considered to be the true body of Christians or the original institution
established by Jesus.5 A church is the body of Christ, that is, everything that happens in the
church should be a reflection of what Jesus Christ represented during his ministry. A church is
not meant to be religious, as Jesus was not religious, instead it is supposed to be a place where
people feel the warmth of love, peace and harmony, where everyone gets a chance to go no
matter their skin color or their ethnicity. This thesis is therefore going to investigate whether or
not the church has been impacted on, by Desmond Tutu’s theological argument in fighting the
apartheid, together with its legacy.

1. AIM OF THE STUDY

Desmond Tutu was both an academic and a priest, which makes him one of the most logical
people that ever existed, because he had two perspectives and so that means before making any
sort of decision he weighed in all his options, their pros and cons from all their sides. It was
mentioned earlier that he was born right in the middle of apartheid, which means that he had seen
4 Myre, G. South Africa ends Racial Classifications. Cape Girardeau: South East Missourian, 1991. Pp 5-10
5 Weaver, J. Christian Theology: A Concise and Practical View of the Cardinal Doctrines and Institutions of
Christianity. United Brethren: Publishing House, 1900. Pp 245
it all, the discrimination, the unfairness that the black people were being given in their own
country, and many other bad things. This then pushed Desmond through the years of hope and
faith that things would soon change for the better, but when he realized that he needed to step up,
and take matters into his own hands, he did, and that was when he started being involved in
taking South Africa out of apartheid era, but he did that through peaceful resolutions, as he did
not believe in violence. He then became more of a server than a served person, as he
continuously served all South Africans regardless of their skin color or their ethnicity, he served
simply because he was a person who had a sense of responsibility and was obedient.

The question remaining is how Tutu fought the apartheid, through peaceful resolutions, yet the
apartheid itself was a violent creature. Tutu wrote and read his theological arguments every
opportunity he got, and shared his views to people even through his public speeches, for
example. He used his acceptance speech on his nobel peace price award, to advocate for peaceful
resolutions in South Africa, and he would often write letters to Presidents of South Africa and of
America. The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not the theological arguments
Desmond Tutu made in fighting the apartheid were of any value in South Africa, that is, whether
they changed anything, and of course how the church was and is influenced by all of these, and
the legacy of the argument in church.

2. PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION

a. To demonstrate that Desmond Tutu was more than a leader, but also a server, as his
purpose was to see to it that others were always taken care of.
b. To prove that he was a self righteous and a self conscience man who knew to put other
people's feelings and needs before his.
c. To show that Tutu was more than a teacher, and more than a priest, he was also a leader
of the commission of truth and reconciliation which was about the true reconciliation
between the white and the black South Africans, the confessions of all the bad they did to
the blacks and the blacks finally forgiving the whites for every bad thing they have done.
d. To investigate the influence that Tutu and his theological argument have on the church
today and the legacy he left behind, by demonstrating that he was the first black general
secretary of South Africa Church council, and that he believed for the church to be the
 agent of change. His legacies cannot be denied as he won the peace making nobel price,
and established his own foundation

3. JUSTIFICATION OF THE INVESTIGATION

There is a saying in Lesotho that ‘moleko o ntso’a ka moleko o mong’ which essentially
translates to “an eye for an eye”, and that is what the South Africans were doing at the time they
were fighting for apartheid. They were under a lot of dictatorship to a point that they saw the
only way to solve the problem of racial discrimination was to fight not with their words but with
their bodies. It was during those times that South Africa lost countless people who were in the
struggle due to being brutally murdered by the white soldiers, while protesting for their rights to
freedom. This was a bad time in South Africa and around the world and Tutu was there to
witness it all, and that makes him the witness to the horror and terror that was happening around
South Africa at the time. Some people may argue that Desmond, like others, could have fought
violently, but that would bring no good to him as he would end up in jail or even in exile, and
how did he help them?

So, as much as Desmond grew up in a violent environment, not only in his country but also in his
home, as his father would physically abuse his mother when drunk, Tutu never opted for
violence in his life, as he believed that matters, no matter how bad they are could be resolved
through peaceful harmony. Yes it is true that he never did anything physically, but he did other
things behind closed doors, and that is not because he was afraid it is because he was not willing
to sacrifice his priesthood and what he stood for yet there were other more non-violent ways to
handle the situation. That was when Tutu realized that it would be wise to dissolve apartheid
through peace over violence, and so he began his theological arguments, like we are all children
of God, who can coexist without one having to kill or undermine the other. It should be noted
that he successfully dissolved apartheid while remaining humane, and he is the reason why
Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

The reason for this research study is therefore necessary for people to know that not everything is
to be solved through violence, no matter how bad it may seem. An eye for an eye is a thing of the
past, that is why when Jesus Christ was ministering, he demolished that law of Moses by
declaring that we should instead love and forgive one another, especially because no one is
perfect, we all make mistakes and all need forgiveness from others. Violence is bad, and peaceful
resolutions are better.

4. RESEARCH SOURCES

For this thesis to have been conducted thoroughly, there had to be a full use of scholarly sources
such as:

a. Specialized books
b. Articles
c. Journals
d. Scriptures

5. PLAN OF STUDY

The plan of the study will be focused on the four following chapters: Chapter I This chapter is
going to focus on the life of Desmond Tutu as it is vital to know deeply of the man we are going
to be talking about in the whole thesis. It is more like a personal chapter where his education,
church experience, and the influence he had on the community will be discussed.

Chapter II This chapter is going to focus on apartheid, and social justice. It is going to get into
detail on what apartheid is and its effects on South Africans, and how Tutu’s theologies;
theology of Ubuntu and theology of Imago Dei helped in achieving the social justice the South
Africans were longing for.

Chapter III It is from this chapter that we are going to learn more about the roles that Desmond
Tutu played while he was leading the truth and reconciliation commission, which was still
encouraging peaceful resolutions through confessions and forgiveness.

Chapter IV This is the last chapter of the thesis, and it will be focused on the legacy Tutu left
behind and its impact on the church, since he was the voice of the church. He believed the church
to be the agent of change, and he left foundations that are still relevant even today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOK

1. Francisco, A, (2006), J Theological Argument University of California: Los Angeles.

2. Myre, G. (1991), South Africa ends Racial Classifications. Cape Girardeau: South East
Missourian.
3. Schein, S.(1985), The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer’s Lliad. University of
California Press.
4. Weaver, J. (1900), Christian Theology: A Concise and Practical View of the Cardinal
Doctrines and Institutions of Christianity. United Brethren: Publishing House.