helperus ritzema van lier
by geraldine goncalves
This ancient grave, half hidden by trees and shrubs in a suburban Newlands road lined with plane trees, attracted little interest from passers-by over the years until the large old oaks on the plot were cut down in April 2008. There was concern at the time that the plot would be sold and developed. However, the grave is old enough to be protected under the South African Heritage Resources Act (SAHRA).
In fact, this is the tomb of a truly remarkable person of the VOC era. Helperus Ritzema van Lier was born in Holland in 1764. He was a brilliant scholar from Assen in the Netherlands who entered uniersity at the age of 14. By 18 he was a Master of Free Sciences and Doctor of Philosophy, having majored in History, French, Latin and Greek. The subject of his thesis for the doctorate concerned “human liberty and responsibility in the light of man’s lack of moral freedom and divine pre-science”. Although he had originally registered for theological studies, he was conflicted between his interest in physical sciences and his spirituality. His scientific interests dominated in these early years and he was widely recognised for the scholarly papers he produced.
Following a series of personal misfortunes, Van Lier returned to his theological studies and qualified as a minister in 1785. In understanding this change of profession, it is helpful to recognize the influences in his life.
His studies were dominated by the Pietist theologians. This movement - which originated from the German Lutherans and the writing of Philip Jacob Spener - emphasised religious devotion, ethics, charity and pastoral work in opposition to formalistic theological dogmatism. There were links between the Pietists and the Moravians. Van Lier later pursued the Moravians in his attempts to get the missionaries established at the Cape. This included persuading his uncle, Professor Petrus Hofstede, an academic in Rotterdam, to support him. Another influence was George Whitefield an Englishman who preached a new brand of Calvinistic Methodism mostly in America. Whitefield’s sermons were designed to simplify the essentials of religion to appeal to ordinary people.
The following year, 1786, at the age of 22 Van Lier left for the Cape of Good Hope with two sisters and was appointed the third minister of the Groote Kerk in Cape Town.
Thereafter two threads in his short life followed: his writings, for which he became internationally renowned, and his evangelical, missionary and pastoral work at the Cape. His most famous and influential written work is The Power of Grace 1789-92, a series of six letters written in Latin to John Newton, rector of St Mary Woolnoth, London, in which he describes his earlier re-conversion to faith. This was the same Newton, son of a slave trader and later a trader in slaves himself who, after converting to an ardent Christian, became one of the foremost players in the English anti-slavery movement and wrote the hymn Amazing Grace. The Power of Grace was translated into English by the poet William Cowper, a lifelong depressive who was taken under the wing of Newton and who wrote a number of our best known hymns. Here in the Cape one of Van Lier’s sisters wrote among other religious works a poem that is now Hymn 28 in the Dutch Reformed Hymnal.
Sadly, there do not seem to be any copies of his works in South African libraries.
At the Cape Van Lier was noted for his sermons which packed the Groote Kerk but he put most of his energy into pastoral visits and particularly into his missionary work with the most poor and humble of the parish including slaves and the Khoi. During this period there was considerable opposition from many of the farmers and other slave owners to the Christianising and education of their slaves, which was seen as a threat to the institution of slavery. Van Lier’s groundwork enabled the creation of the SA Missionary Society after his death and it was on account of his belief that the slaves and coloured people shared the same humanity and his zeal for education that a succession of evangelicals became involved in the teaching of slaves and black children in the Western Cape.
Another of Van Lier’s activities at the Cape was his educational work with the Dutch youth. He gave classes in Latin and French to prepare them for studies in Holland and he himself learned the language of the Malay Muslim slaves.
In 1793, aged 28, Van Lier died of consumption. In that same year he had won a gold medal for a dissertation on the best means of arousing the interest of ordinary people in religion.
In his brief life he had married and fathered four children as well as casting his influence over the Protestant world and here at the Cape. Despite his intellect he set greater store by his parish work and was himself so humble that he adopted the pen name Christodulus (the servant of God) for his writings so that they would not be ascribed to him. At his request he was buried in what was then the countryside in Newlands rather than in the Dutch Reformed graveyard in Cape Town.
Van Lier's grave in the morning light. PHOTO: Karin Winstain
His tomb, on the corner of Ravensburg and Finsbury Avenues, Newlands, is in good condition though the surrounding paving is cracked and the metal railing around the grave needs re-painting and rust proofing. There is at present no plaque and the fence around the perimeter of the plot, a necessity to keep out vagrants and dumpers, is broken. The tomb and plot belong to the Dutch Reformed Church.
The NRA would like to offer support to the church in assisting it to obtain funding for at least a plaque and a good metal railing to surround and protect the plot. We are waiting for their response. One can safely assume that Van Lier would not have wished for his grave site to be maintained in anything other than a simple rustic style. Nevertheless, bearing in mind not only his intellectual accomplishments, his humility, pastoral work and particularly the philosophical and theological links that he brought about between the far away colony and the western world, local residents and visitors should have the opportunity to learn more about, and honour, this remarkable man who left our world so prematurely after achieving so much.
On enquiry it was found that the grave has been overlooked by the city and provincial heritage authorities who are tasked with entering heritage resources in a heritage registry. This is being rectified.
Sources: Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Vol 11, p152 Dictionary of National Biography Gilomee. The Afrikaners, p96 Ashley DI Cloete. Mysterious Ways of God James D Nelson. Pietism. Internet Biography: Helperus Ritzema van Lier. TN Hanekom 1959