One
of Nelson Mandela's famous quotes was also an expression of a deeply Christian
idea, "until I changed myself, I could not change others". That expression
of being born again, the need for internal revival before one can lead others
to their own change, was just one of many expressions of faith Nelson Mandela
shared throughout his life.
Although
it is almost universally agreed that he was a Christian, his exact
denominational allegiances remain a source of discussion. While some have
suggested that he was a Jehovah's
Witness,
as his first wife, his sister, and many relatives around him identified as
such, most believe he was a Methodist. He attended a Methodist church school
growing up, and was baptised in a small Methodist stone church in the Eastern
Cape village of Qunu.
In
his autobiography, "The Long Walk to Freedom" he talked of his early
experiences with Christianity, praising its engagements with the society around
him: "The Church was as concerned with this world as the next: I saw that virtually
all of the achievements of Africans seemed to have come about through the missionary
work of the Church."
Consequently,
while attending the University of Fort Hare, an elite black university in
Alice, Eastern Cape, Mandela became a member of the Students Christian
Association and taught Bible classes on Sundays in nearby villages. Among other
factors, it was Mandela's Christianity that steered him away from Communism and
the class struggle that was spreading into South Africa in the 1940s. Despite befriending
Gaur Redebe and Nat Bregman, prominent Xhosa and Jewish South African communists,
he could not reconcile communism's atheistic attitudes with his Christian
faith. Also, he felt that the idea of class struggle was misleading, and that
South Africa's problems were primarily racial in origin. Although he was
impressed that the local communist party saw Europeans, Africans, Indians, and
those of mixed heritage all mixing equally, he clearly believed there was
another way to go.
It
is likely that Mandela's Christian faith influenced his strategy during the
more militant portion of his protest against the government, when he co-founded
the armed resistance group Umkhonto we Sizwe, or "Spear of the
Nation" in English. The targets Mandela chose, and the way in which the
group timed its attacks, was a clear message that he intended to target the government,
not the civilians it claimed to serve. Rather than bombing densely populated
areas, Mandela instead chose to organise acts of sabotage, the first target
being an electricity substation. Later attacks would focus on things like the
burning of crops, destruction of government offices, damaging government owned
factory machines, and blowing up telephone lines. All of this was done at
night, so as to avoid civilian casualties. Although Mandela considered that
terrorism might be necessary, he did not want to resort to it until other
routes had failed.
During
his imprisonment on Robben Island, he continued to attend Sunday services, but
also took classes on Islam, in what he called "the University of Robben
Island". Prisoners would lecture on their subjects of expertise, and Mandela
frequently listened to what other students had to say about communism, Islam, and
many other subjects. This led to many impassioned debates, but ultimately they equipped
him with a greater level of understanding. He also learned to speak Afrikaans
in the hope that he could reach out to the guards and convert them to his
cause.
At
the moment of his release, Mandela once again remembered the importance of
internal renewal ahead of external change. "As I walked out the door toward
the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness
and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison." Upon his liberation, Mandela
took opportunities to speak at substantial Christian events. Two of these were
the Zionist Christian Church's Easter Conferences, once in 1992 and again in
1994. In the latter of these conferences he shared the following:
"The
Good News borne by our risen Messiah who chose not one race, who chose not one country,
who chose not one language, who chose not one tribe, who chose all of
humankind!
Read the rest of the article on the Christian Today website:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nelson.mandela.and.his.faith/34956.htm
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nelson.mandela.and.his.faith/34956.htm
For some reasons I am of the impression that Mandela did not die as a believer of the Christian faith. He seems to strike me more as an African traditionalist to thhe ore.
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