Editing South African Republic (section)

===Religion===
Initially, the state and church were not separated in the constitution; citizens of the ZAR had to be members of the [[Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK)|Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk]], a denomination which had broken from the [[Dutch Reformed Church]]. In 1858, these clauses were altered in the constitution to allow for the {{lang|af|[[Volksraad (South African Republic)|Volksraad]]}} to approve other Dutch Christian churches.{{sfn|Eybers|1918|pp=358–359}} The [[Reformed Churches in South Africa|Dopper Church]] was approved by the {{lang|af|Volksraad}} in 1858, which had the effect of allowing [[Paul Kruger]], a [[Reformed Churches in South Africa|Dopper]] himself, to remain a citizen of the ZAR.

The Bible itself was also often used to interpret the intention of legal documents. The Bible was also used to interpret a prisoner exchange agreement, reached in terms of the [[Sand River Convention]], between a commando of the ZAR, led by Kruger, and a Commando of the Orange Free State. President [[Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff]] had issued a death sentence over two ZAR citizens, for treason. Kruger argued with President Boshoff that the Bible said punishment does not mean a death sentence and at the prisoner exchange, it was agreed that the accused would be punished if found guilty. After consulting Commandant Kruger's Bible, Boshoff commuted the men's sentences to lashes with a [[sjambok]].<ref name=krugerp>{{cite book|last = Kruger|first = P.|date = 1902|title = Memoirs of Paul Kruger|url = https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft|location = Toronto|publisher = Morang and Co.|page = [https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft/page/59 59]| isbn=9780804610773 }}</ref>