Writing this “Alternative” revealed how and where Belhar is lacking as a confession of faith. Key parts of the gospel message, like the cross, forgiveness of sins, Christ’s death and resurrection, and eternal life are altogether missing from Belhar.

Controversy is growing in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC). In June 2012 the CRC synod will consider adopting a fourth confession, whether or not to add the Belhar Confession to the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort as one of its official forms of unity.

The Belhar Confession was written in apartheid-era South Africa to speak against the separation of apartheid and stand for principles of unity, reconciliation and justice. The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa has adopted it as a fourth confession and has presented it to Reformed churches around the world for consideration. The Reformed Church in America adopted Belhar in April 2010 after two-thirds of its classes confirmed the General Synod 2009 decision.

But Belhar is stirring substantial debate in the CRC. The Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee is recommending Belhar on the grounds that it is “an important witness” for the CRC to “stand firm on matters that are rooted in scriptural teaching and flow from the heart of God.” Additional grounds claim the CRC needs to “formally state its commitment” to “the biblical principles of unity, reconciliation, and justice,” and that adopting Belhar would be “in concert with the Reformed Church in America.”

On the other hand, many in the CRC oppose adopting Belhar, for a wide range of reasons. Some believe Belhar has a Marxist flavor, while others are concerned that Belhar mandates government redistribution of wealth, or will open the door to legitimizing homosexual lifestyles.

As a minister in the CRC I am required to sign the Form Of Subscription, which states that our three confessions “fully agree with the Word of God.” Would I be able to sign this in good conscience if Belhar was added as a fourth confession?

In an effort to answer this question, I thought I would make my own version of Belhar, as an exercise to find what is lacking. I thought I would make enough changes to form Belhar into a statement I could sign in good conscience while attempting to keep as much of the original as possible. I titled this exercise “The Belhar Alternative” to be a statement that advocates for unity, reconciliation and justice, but one that (I believe) is more closely aligned with the Bible.

Official changes, however, are not an option. Due to ecumenical agreements and concerns about western arrogance, no changes will be considered on an official level in the CRC. Nevertheless, this as an exercise was enlightening.

Writing this “Alternative” revealed how and where Belhar is lacking as a confession of faith. Key parts of the gospel message, like the cross, forgiveness of sins, Christ’s death and resurrection, and eternal life are altogether missing from Belhar. Belhar has admirable goals in combating apartheid and racism by proclaiming unity, reconciliation, and justice, but sadly the result is inadequate.

In the end, Belhar proclaims church unity without mentioning unity in Christ, proclaims justice without mentioning the cross or final judgment, and proclaims reconciliation without mentioning the death or resurrection of Christ that reconciles believers with God. Based on the “Alternative” it would be a serious mistake for the CRC to adopt Belhar as a fourth confession.

Text notes: All additions are in bold font with double **asterisks** while deletions from the original are in italics and [bracketed]. To demonstrate a more balanced biblical grounding, just over 100 Bible references have been added to Belhar’s original 47, and six of the original references were relocated.

Rev. Aaron Vriesman is the Pastor of the North Blendon Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. He reports on the CRC for The Aquila Report

The Belhar Alternative

1. We believe in the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who gathers, protects and cares for the church through **his** Word and Spirit. This, God has done since the beginning of the world and will do to the end.

2. We believe

**– that God himself came to earth in Jesus Christ, died to take away our sins, rose again from the dead for our salvation, and sent forth his Holy Spirit for our sanctification.**

**– that God has revealed himself perfectly in his Word, made flesh in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God; that the Bible is God’s Word written by human beings who were moved by the Holy Spirit; that both its Old and New Testaments reveal Jesus Christ to us, including everything God wants us to know about himself and what he expects of us.**

— [in] **there is** one holy, universal Christian church, the communion of saints called from the entire human [family] **race, through which the Holy Spirit guides and guards correct interpretation of the Bible (1Tim. 3:15), and displays God’s grace in its various forms as a testimony of his goodness to the world (2Cor. 1:3-5).**

We believe
— that Christ’s work of reconciliation is made manifest in the church as the community of believers who have been reconciled with God and with one another (Eph. 2:11-22);
— that **this** unity **in Jesus Christ** is, therefore, both a gift and an obligation for [the] **his** church [of Jesus Christ]; that through the working of God’s Spirit it is a binding force, yet simultaneously a reality which must be earnestly pursued and sought: one which the people of God must continually be built up to attain (Eph. 4:1-16);
— that this unity **in Jesus Christ** must become visible so that the world may believe that separation, enmity and hatred [between people and groups] is sin which Christ has already conquered, and accordingly that [anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the church and must be resisted] **the church is called to focus on Jesus Christ who is the head of his church and the sufficient healer of all human divisions** (John 17:20-23 **; Matt. 10:2-4** );
— that this unity of the people of God must be manifested and be active in a variety of ways: in that we love one another; that we experience, practice and pursue community with one another; that we are obligated to give ourselves willingly and joyfully to be of benefit and blessing to one another; that we share one faith, have one calling, are of one soul and one mind; have one God and Father, are filled with one Spirit, are baptized with one baptism, eat of one bread and drink of one cup, confess one name **under heaven for salvation**, are obedient to one Lord, work for one [cause] **kingdom**, and share one hope; together come to know the height and the breadth and the depth of the love of Christ; together are built up to the stature of Christ, to the new humanity; together know and bear one another’s burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ that we need one another and upbuild one another, admonishing and comforting one another; that we suffer with one another for the sake of righteousness; pray together; together serve God in this world; and **stand** together [fight] against all which may threaten or hinder this unity **in Christ** (Phil. 2:1-5; 1 Cor. 12:4-31; John 13:1-17; 1 Cor. 1:10-13; Eph. 4:1-6; Eph. 3:14-20; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Gal. 6:2 [; 2 Cor. 1:3-4] );
— that this unity can be established only in freedom and not under constraint; that the variety of spiritual gifts, opportunities, backgrounds, [convictions] **personalities**, as well as the various languages and cultures, are by virtue of the reconciliation in Christ, opportunities for mutual service and enrichment within the one visible people of God (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Eph. 4:7-13 [; Gal. 3:27-28; James 2:1-13] );
— that [true faith in] Jesus Christ is the only [condition] **true foundation** for [membership] **unity** of this church **; that no church institution, nationality or human affiliation can substitute for his unity (1Cor. 3:11); that Christ accepts any repentant sinner who calls on his name for salvation, judging people everywhere with perfect justice based on the heart and actions, not outward appearance (Rom. 10:11-13, Joel 2:32; Luke 19:22f; Jer. 17:10; 1Sam. 16:7); that the church is responsible to guard this unity in Christ so that false teachings, human prejudices and sinful actions do not erode or destroy the church’s true unity in Jesus Christ (Rom. 15:1-13; 2Cor. 13:11; Tit. 3:9)** .

Therefore, we reject any doctrine

— which [absolutizes either natural diversity or the sinful separation of people in such a way that this absolutization hinders or breaks the visible and active unity of the church, or even leads to the establishment of a separate church formation;] **forcibly segregates Christ’s church according to the prejudices of sinful humanity, which are based on outward appearances (Gal. 3:26-29; James 2:1-13);**

— which professes that this spiritual unity is truly being maintained in the bond of peace [while believers of the same confession are in effect alienated from one another for the sake of diversity and in despair of reconciliation] **when Christ is denied explicitly or implicitly by the professions or actions of any group that claims to be Christian, and is unified around something besides the Jesus Christ revealed in God’s Word (Matt. 7:15-23; Tit. 1:16; 1Jo. 2:4-6)** ;
— which denies that a refusal earnestly to pursue this [visible] unity **with Christ** as a priceless gift is sin;
— which explicitly or implicitly maintains that descent or any [other human or social factor] kind of ethnicity should be a consideration in determining membership of the church (Col. 3:8-15).

**– which establishes unity as an end in itself for the church and subjects the church to watering down its long-held doctrines or compromises in its moral stances for the sake of inclusion; that inclusion in and of itself outside of the unifying truth found in Jesus Christ is a false gospel (John 10:4-5; 15:4-5; 2Cor. 11:4; 1Jo. 1:7).**

3. We believe
— that God has entrusted the church [with] **to proclaim** the message of **our** reconciliation **with God** in and through Jesus Christ, that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the **kingdom of God: the** new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Cor. 5:17-21; Matt. 5:13-16; Matt. 5:9; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21-22).
— that God’s lifegiving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore [also of]irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity **have no place among true followers of Christ,;** that God’s lifegiving Word and Spirit [will enable] **equips** the church to live in a new obedience which [can open]**demonstrates and testifies to** new possibilities of **true** life [for] **to** society and the world (Eph. 4:17–6:23; Rom. 6; Col. 1:9-14; Col. 2:13-19; Col. 3:1–4:6);
— that the credibility of this **saving** message **of reconciliation** is seriously affected and its beneficial work obstructed when it is proclaimed [in a land which professes] **among those who profess** to be Christian, but [in which the enforced] **who force** separation of people on a racial basis, [promotes]**promoting** and [perpetuates] **perpetuating** alienation, hatred and enmity;
— that any teaching which attempts to [legitimate] **legitimize** such forced separation by appeal to the gospel, and is not prepared to venture on the road of obedience and reconciliation **in Jesus Christ**, but rather, out of prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief, denies in advance the reconciling power of [the gospel] **Christ**, must be considered ideology and false doctrine **(1Jo. 4:7-21)**.

Therefore, we reject any doctrine
— which, in such a situation, sanctions in the name of the gospel or of the will of God the forced separation of people on the grounds of race and color and thereby in advance obstructs and weakens the ministry and experience of reconciliation in Christ;

**– which teaches a generalized reconciliation in order to justify, legitimize or otherwise force people to accept and tolerate behavior that Christ has shown us to be sinful (1Cor. 5:1-13).**

4. We believe
— that God has revealed himself as the one who wishes to bring about justice and true peace between himself and humans, and thereby also among people (Isa. 30:18; Mic. 5:3-5);

**– that God sent his only begotten Son to suffer and die on the cross to accomplish this justice and peace (Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 42:1-4); that as sinless man and perfect God, Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on behalf of sinful humanity amounts to the greatest injustice of all time (Isa. 53:5-6, 8-10; Luke 20:9-18, 23:41; Acts 8:32-35);**

**– that God, by the cross of Christ, condemns all injustice in sinful humanity (Rom. 8:3); that God, by the resurrection of Christ, shows his salvation to triumph over injustice (Php. 2:5-11; Isa. 53:11-12);**

**– that God desires and calls people from all nations, tribes, backgrounds, ranks and status to his salvation through Christ (1Tim. 2:1-4; Rev. 14:6); that all believers everywhere are called to face injustice for the sake of Christ, not seeking their own justice (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19), but taking up the cross and following Christ in suffering injustice (Matt. 16:24; 2Tim. 1:8; 1Pet. 2:19-23, 4:1), thereby considering it an honor to suffer injustice for the sake of Christ (Matt. 5:10-12; Acts 5:41; 1Pet. 4:12-19);**

— that God, in a world full of injustice and enmity, [is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged] **will bring his judgment and true justice to the earth, righting the countless wrongs of history, vindicating all who trust in him, and demonstrating that his salvation is the ultimate antidote to injustice (Ps. 9:7-10; Ps. 62; Ps. 135:14; Eccl. 12:13-14; Mic. 4:3; Acts 17:31; Rom. 8:28-37; 2Thess. 1:5-7)** ;
— that God calls the church to follow him in [this] **his work of showing love to all people and even enemies (Matt. 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36; Rom. 12:20-21)**, for God **works salvation among all sorts of people without favoritism (Acts 10:34-35), seeks to save the lost (Luke 19:10),** brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry;
— that God frees the [prisoner] **prisoners of sin** and restores sight to [the] **those** blind **by sin to the glory of God (Gal. 3:22; 2Cor. 4:4-6; John 9:35-41)** ;
— that God [supports the downtrodden] **will make the first last and the last first (Matt. 19:30, 20:8, 16; Lk. 13:30)**, protects the [stranger] **weak** , helps orphans and widows and blocks the path of the ungodly **(Ps. 113:7-9)** ;
— that for God pure and undefiled religion [is to visit] **includes visiting** the orphans and the widows in their suffering **, and keeping ourselves from the world’s pollution; because this world and what it values passes away but the rewards of demonstrating the love of Christ are eternal (Matt. 6:19-21; Luke 12:32-33; 1Jn. 2:15-17)** ;
— that God [wishes to teach the] **teaches his** church to do what is good and to seek the right (Deut. 32:4; Luke 2:14; John 14:27; Eph. 2:14; Isa. 1:16-17; James 1:27; [James 5:1-6;] Luke 1:46-55; Luke 6:20-26; Luke 7:22; Luke 16:19-31; Ps. 146; Luke 4:16-19; Rom. 6:13-18; Amos 5);

**– that therefore the church must first and foremost preach and demonstrate the salvation of God through Jesus Christ to all peoples of the earth (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), being ready and willing to suffer injustice for Christ’s sake even as he suffered unjustly for us (1Pet. 3:17-18);**

**– that the church must pursue what is heavenly over what is earthly, by freely choosing unparalleled generosity and willingness to part with what the world values, from the unsurpassed joy and delight of knowing Jesus Christ, who became poor so that we might become rich, telling us it is more blessed to give than receive (Php. 3:7-8; 2Cor. 8:9; Acts 20:35); by moving forward to help when others flee (Luke 10:25-37); not by enabling with quick and painless handouts but by engaging in difficult relationships with concern for the whole person (Luke 14:12-14; Ro. 12:13-16);**

— that the church must therefore stand by people [in any form of suffering and need] **who are unable to stand up for themselves (Ps. 41:1, Ps. 82:3-4; Prov. 14:21)**, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against [any form of] injustice, [so that] **until that great and glorious day when** justice [may roll] **rolls** down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream **(Prov. 24:11; Amos 5:24)** ;
— that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged **: young or old, born or unborn** ; that in following Christ the church must witness against **evils such as spousal and child abuse, corruption of public officials, termination of human life in the name of convenience, slavery and sex trafficking, and** all [the] **those who are** powerful and privileged who **use their power to** selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others **(Ps. 10, 82; Ezek 34:4; Prov. 17:23; Ezek. 22:27; Amos 2:6-7; James 5:1-6)** .

Therefore, we reject any ideology

**– which denies that the greatest injustice of all is human sin against the holy God (Ps. 51:4);**

**– which denies that true justice is getting rid of sin, either through the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross or through the eternal punishment of those who reject Christ (Rom. 3:25-26; Matt. 25:31-46; 2Thess. 1:8-9; Heb. 10:26-31);**

**– which manufactures a justice that would deny God’s every right to eternally punish sinners who reject his salvation; that would make God responsible for sin; and that would remove the culpability of sinful humans (Rom. 3:5-6);**

**– which would place greater value on righting human injustices than that of proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ that alone can make people right with God and answer all injustice (Ps. 73; John 6:26-27);**

**– which would simply preach salvation and neglect meeting needs and addressing injustice (James 2:15-16);**

— which would use God to [legitimate] **legitimize** forms of abuse or injustice and any doctrine which [is unwilling to resist] looks the other way from such an ideology in the name of the gospel (Isa. 56:10-12; Jer. 23:1-4; Ezek. 34:1-10).

**– which teaches a form of justice
that excuses or legitimizes the sinful desires of the flesh (Tit. 2:11-12; 1Pe. 2:16);
that detracts from people in true need of life’s basic necessities and is used for justifying financial advantage or gaining positions of power (Matt. 23:4-12; 1Tim. 6:3-5);
that provides able-bodied people with an excuse for refusing to work (1Thess. 4:11-12, 2Thess. 3:10-12);
that enables people to make foolish choices by removing life-giving consequences (Prov. 20:30; Eccl. 8:11);
or that stratifies society in such a way that completely rejects the God-ordained authority and leadership of parents, church, employers and civil government (Rom. 13:1-7; 1Pet. 2:13-14).**

5. We believe that, in obedience to Jesus Christ, [its] **our** only head, the church is called to confess and to do all [these things] **that Christ commands** , even though the authorities and human laws might forbid them and punishment and suffering be the consequence (Eph. 4:15-16; Acts 5:29-33 [; 1 Peter 2:18-25; 1 Peter 3:15-18] ).

Jesus is Lord.
To the one and only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be the honor and the glory forever and ever.

Note: [This is a translation of the original Afrikaans text of the confession as it was adopted by the synod of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa in 1986. In 1994 the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa united to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). This inclusive language text was prepared by the Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). ] **This is a modified Belhar Confession that depicts for me the unity, justice and reconciliation revealed by God in Scripture.**