Geyser contributed to the first annotated edition (1953–1958) of the Bible in Afrikaans, founded the Christian Institute, and was the first South African to be elected as a member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

[3][1] The Geyser progenitor had immigrated to South Africa in 1725, and Albert's great-grandfather and grandfather had been among the founding members of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (NHK).

[10][5] He completed additional courses in Aramaic and Syriac in 1945, adding these to his sound knowledge of Afrikaans, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German, Dutch and English; meaning that he could "read 10 languages.

[1] Geyser's appointment as professor produced controversies from the outset, relating to other faculty members, his lack of a doctorate, the selection of a rector for the University and, later, his theological interpretations and political views.

De Zwaan of the University of Leiden, recommended that the degree should be granted cum laude, but this was the option endorsed by the council of the Faculty of Theology in March 1946.

[5] The United Party, led by former field marshal Jan Smuts, was for co-operation with Britain, while at home it stood for an informal segregation, opposed geographic separation and, by the 1960s, wanted a single citizenship for all South Africans.

[3][14] Geyser's actions and writing after 1952 suggests that two factors in post-Second World War Europe may have contributed to his abandonment of race-based nationalism and his lifelong commitment to ecumenism.

Geyser's Pretoria colleague Ben Marais had made similar statements during the annual Peter Ainslie Memorial Lecture at Rhodes University on 10 September 1957.

[19] In 1955 Geyser joined 13 Afrikaans academics in signing a petition that condemned the National Party government's proposed removal of coloureds from Parliament and the stacking of the Senate with its own politicians to better achieve its aims.

Geyser's signing of the petition marked a turning point in his relations with those inside and outside the NHK, which worsened as he set out to refute any biblical justifications for apartheid.

[21][22] While Geyser by 1960 still identified with those who called themselves Afrikaner "nationalists," he clearly meant the desire for political self-determination, not the more narrowly-defined racist ideology intent on developing one group at the expense of others.

[24] Geyser was responding to claims by the conservative politicians Andries Treurnicht and Albert Hertzog that Afrikaner nationalism, which rejects "English" liberalism, derives from Calvin's teachings.

He joined a group of 350 Afrikaans clergy who met secretly in Johannesburg and Pretoria for six months to discuss the nature and effects of apartheid policies on churches.

As a direct result of these consultations, a book titled Vertraagde Reaksie (Delayed Action) was produced, comprising contributions by 11 authors,[26] edited by Geyser and Stellenbosch theologician B B Keet.

[27] Geyser and Marais clarified in an interview with Die Transvaler newspaper on 21 November 1960 that "the book was not written for politicians or to promote rebellion in church and state.

[2] Geyser received international support for his views when, following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the World Council of Churches sent a delegation to meet with clerics in the Johannesburg suburb of Cottesloe.

While Geyser was not a representative at Cottesloe he strongly supported the recommendations and continued to launch fierce attacks on the NHK, particularly on its understanding of the concept of catholicity and on its policy with regard to missionary work.

In January 1961 two mass protests against the authors of Delayed Action, attended by thousands of Afrikaners, were organised by Pont, then professor of church history in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria.

The written charges against him comprised 13 pages, accusing him of saying that God's love (agape) knew no racial boundaries; of breaking regulations that prohibited criticism of NHK decisions; denying that apartheid had any Biblical basis; and attempting to organize a meeting between his students and Catholic seminarians.

During the early 1960s Geyser befriended Beyers Naudé and disclosed to him his idea of establishing a movement which would bring together ecumenically minded Christians in Southern Africa with a view to a united witness against the ideology of apartheid and its negative consequences in church and society.

The editor immediately acknowledged that the offending articles contained "crass, untrue and defamatory statements" and expressed his "deep and sincere regret", but Pont refused to retract his comments.

While recovering in hospital he penned a letter to President P. W. Botha urging him to atone for the role played by himself and the National Party in implementing apartheid after 1948.

The letter, written in Afrikaans, was headed: "Consensus, conciliation, confidence, confession" and demonstrated that while Geyser was sympathetic to President Botha's reforms he continued to have theological reservations.

In the letter Geyser states "I am sorry Mr President, even if you are now rowing back as hard as what the fear for the Conservative Party (CP) permits you, you are one of the oldest surviving people responsible.

Commenting on the role of the Broederbond in drafting the policy on apartheid, he wrote: "It was easy for this dark 'think tank' to succeed with its mutual self-promotion in the civil service, government circles, education and church, because it sidestepped the restraining but healthy experimenting station of public debate".

Paton lauded Geyser (with Beyers Naudé) in his opening address to the National Conference of the LP in July 1965 as "brave" for being willing "to suffer for what they believe to be right, and who can see that separate development is the great white myth".

[1] Geyser's arguments against the theological justification of apartheid, like that of his colleague Adrianus van Selms at Pretoria, lay the groundwork that ultimately led to its complete rejection in 2010 by the NHK.

In a 2011 memorial lecture in Leeuwarden Casper Labuschagne highlighted that it was Geyser who had initiated the formation of the Christian Institute and had co-founded the ecumenical newspaper Pro Veritate with Ben Engelbrecht.

[1][2] Journalist Benjamin Pogrund described Geyser as demonstrating "awesome intellectual courage and emotional strength" through his willingness to re-examine and reject the religious ideology behind apartheid, regardless of the consequences.

[4] Sowetan columnist and political commentator Prince Mashele wrote: " 'True virtue is not when a man defends his own interests, but when he endangers his life in defence of others.