MT Steyn: A modern Christian Afrikaner leader?/MT Steyn: 'n Moderne Christen-Afrikanerleier?

MT Steyn was the last president of the Republic of the Orange Free State (1896-1902), since his term as president coincided with the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) in which the small republic, together with its sister state, the South African Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, ZAR), had to defend themselves against imminent invasion by Great Britain. His inspirational leadership during this war gave rise to nicknames such as "Afrikaner van die Afrikaners" (the outstanding Afrikaner) and "Siel van die Vryheidstryd" (the spiritual driving force behind the fight for freedom), simultaneously showing his close ties with the Afrikaner people. This article takes a closer look at MT Steyn as an able leader of Christian Afrikaners in his time. It focuses on Steyn as an outspoken reformed Christian, his credo or expression of faith in God and his application of biblical truths to everyday life. His spontaneous identification with and leadership of the Afrikaner people are discussed with reference to his term as president, but also taking into consideration his conduct as an ex-president and community leader. Steyn was born near the town of Winburg in the Free State on 2 October 1857, the first president to be born in the republic as such and educated within an Afrikaner farming community--according to him he was a "simple" son of a farmer ("'n gewone boerseun"), familiar with both "a horse and a gun". Given this kind of background Steyn's spiritual and emotional bond with the Afrikaner people was never doubted. It was simply accepted. He was the political and spiritual leader--the real first citizen--of the Republic of the Orange Free State at the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899. His reading of this momentous event was that the very existence of the Afrikaner people was at stake. In his opinion, imperialists such as the British High Commissioner in Southern Africa, Lord Alfred Milner, precipitated the Anglo-Boer War with the intent of discouraging the Afrikaner people in trying to resist the proposed expansion of the British Empire, which would cost them their freedom as citizens of an independent Boer republic. Steyn spoke of the Triune God as our God who is three times holy. Apart from certain unpersonal names associated with the influence of the Enlightenment from 1750 onwards, he used scriptural or biblical names for the Lord. He accepted the beneficial effect of the providence of God in human life. His notion that nothing happened outside the will of the