This study aims to analyse the links between patriarchy in the bible, the Damara culture, and the ecclesiological practices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCN). Using empirical research (interviews) and socio-historical methodology, the study demonstrates how biblical patriarchy affects married Damara women and evaluates the consequent roles of women in the religious context of the church, in the light of the biblical and cultural patriarchy which Damara women are subjected to. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This study is an investigation and description of ways in which the Apostolic Faith Mission churchwomen are succeeding in overcoming patriarchy. It also gives a critical evaluation of the extent to which these women are successful in their endeavour to overcome it. Fifteen women from the AFM Church were interviewed using the narrative methodology. This method was chosen to give women freedom to narrate their stories without interference. The data collected was analysed using a feminist theoretical framework on what it means to be human and to be a church. To avoid repetition and to give a room for a detailed analysis, the study was limited to four stories of the AFM churchwomen. Furthermore library research and fieldwork were also used to give a broader picture in analysing the field research work. The findings of this study indicated that women ministries are not taken seriously and are not fully supported by the church. They are still struggling with the issue of partnership because the church does not trust them to be good leaders. It has been noted in this study that patriarchy is the root cause of the marginalization of women of the AFM church. However, the study has demonstrated that women are resisting patriarchy despite the struggles that they are facing inside this church. The study went further to investigate some Biblical texts that advocate for gender equality and to find ways in which the Bible can be used as the source of liberation for both women and men of the AFM church. It has been suggested that the church should engage in the pursuit of Biblical directives for the Body of Christ. The scriptures prove that men and women are given equality by God and also some differences that clearly express the human diversity in general. So, the AFM women are challenging the church to recognise, affirm and celebrate them. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Art as an expression of spirituality and theology has the artist as a potential visionary and mediator of the spiritual. All over the world and in South Africa, the visual has been used to illustrate thought patterns, religious themes, religiousity, and to draw people closer to God. However, questions arise about how the visual images depicted by visionaries/artists express social movements, and more deeply, spiritual longings of God for liberation and life. This dissertation explores the question of representation of women's spirituality and theology for liberation and life in contemporary South Africa through visual arts. With a particular look at the lives and work of two women artists of KwaZulu Natal- Dina Cormick and Bonnie Ntshalintshali, I map the interface between religion, art, spirituality and theology, and expressions of reality of those who are dominated people. I look at women's spirituality in South Africa, art as theology, creative expressions as ways to hide and reveal, and at the specific artists in whose lives and work these questions intersect. I argue that visual art is a powerful means of both shaping and expressing spirituality and theology, and if 'read' with attention and discipline, reveals incipient movements of the Spirit. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2008. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The study focuses on the important issue of young adult female sexuality in an age of HIV/AIDS. The research question explores the influence of the parental home, the church and young black women's own belief on their sexual behaviour. Sexuality is influenced by societal voices that override religious and parental voices. Parents are hesitant to speak out, the church is burdened with an antiquated and unworkable sexual ethics and the young women's belief is overpowered by social discourses. Male domination and infidelity exacerbate female vulnerability and contribute to the powerlessness of young women in sexual relationships. Feminist theology puts forward an embodied theology that demands integrated embodiment and full humanity for women. This can be achieved when relationships are mutual, reciprocal and empowering. This study proposes an accountable sexual ethics that will renew and recreate the lives and relationships of young people in a confusing and perilous environment. / Sys Theology and Theol Ethics / MTH (SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY)

In this dissertation an attempt has been made to investigate the means by which God is at work in our world. The researcher has acted on the assumption that God rules in our world, but investigates the content of such a belief. The question whether God acts in our world from a basis of control, or from a motivation of shared interest is currently brought to the surface. Istrumental is the use of Critical Theory to investigate the above mentioned problem. With this instument oppressive perspectives (paternalistic views) are identified and unmasked as well as new perspectives (stewardship) implemented. Biblical stewardship seems to be a perspective on how God wants to use the local church to assist in his plan of salvation for those in need. Authority with others rather over others seems to be the stewardship strategy God wants us to participate in. / In hierdie verhandeling word ondersoek ingestel na die wyse waarop God in die wereld betrokke is (Missio Dei). Daar word uitgegaan van die veronderstelling dat God in die wereld regeer en wat hierdie navorsing poog om te verstaan hoe God in die wereld regeer. Die problematiek wat deurgaans in hierdie studie hanteer word, hou verband met die vraag of God vanuit 'n beheerstelsel (pantokratiese stelsel) in die wereld betrokke is en of sy werksaamhede eerder vanuit 'n bestuurstelsel (oikonomos) verstaan moet word. In 'n poging om bogenoemde probleem op te los word gebruik gemaak van die Kritiese Teorie. Met hierdie instrument word enersyds gepoog om onderdrukkende perspektiewe (soos God as Pantokrator) te weerle, wat onderdrukkende ideologie instand hou. Andersyds word die Kritiese Teorie as instrument gebruik om alternatiewe te ondersoek (soos God as bestuurder van ons heil) wat nuwe perspektiewe daar kan stel. Bybelse rentmeesterskap hou gevoglik daarmee verband dat God die mens/kerk medeverantwoordelik maak in bogenoemde bestuursproses ten einde God se Missio Dei deelnemend te bestuur. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This thesis attempts to compare the feminist principles of two American Christian women, Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) and Rosemary Radford Ruether (b. 1936-). Although separated by one hundred years, they are both considered to be Christian Feminists in the sense that they have both tried to extend women's voice into the male world of religion. Further they compliment each other in the struggle and opportunity they see for Women in the Church. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, was dedicated to "equality" of the sexes in her Church. . Despite Eddy's insistence on "equality", she was more interested in her Church as a healing institution rather than in a Church that was known for its Feminist principles. Rosemary Radford Ruether is a contemporary academic whose writings have become the standard texts for female theologians. She has written with outstanding scholarship on the androcentricism in the Christian Church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Church History)

This dissertation describes a movement I am calling Radical Social Activism that flourished among Catholic women between the years 1920-1960. The Catholic women participating did not abandon their Church's teachings on women but worked within the androcentric Catholic Church to achieve some lasting results as Radical Social Activists. This Radical Social Activism worked in the lives of Dorothy Day, Maisie Ward, and Dorothy Dohen, three women who retained a firm attachment to the Catholic faith and who would not align themselves with the incipient feminism of the times, but who, nevertheless, strove for social change and justice without regard for political or social recognition. Their work was radical because they were not complacent with the status quo and worked to change it. Their work was social because they ignored Church politics and reached outside their individual egos. And their work was definitely action oriented in that they practiced their beliefs rather than simply preach them. Few Catholic women were involved with the early women's Suffragist movement; the overwhelming majority did not participate in mainstream feminism, in part due to their immigrant background. Women stepped out of the family setting and into active roles in a society that increasingly measured success in terms of economic well being. These role changes produced trade offs in terms of how the family was viewed and it de-emphasized society's spiritual well being. Some of the issues and solutions for women in modern society collided with moral and ethical teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I have selected three such women who responded with Radical Social Activism, and participated in the American Catholic Church, however, they did not participate in the general feminism of the times. These women, Dorothy Day, Maisie Ward, and Dorothy Dohen, represented in their Radical Social Activism, a feminism of the spirit, as it were, while still remaining within the structure and Magisterium of the Church proper. As women moved into secular society, they made compromises concerning their duties and responsibilities to family. Issues of divorce, birth control, and abortion became popular remedies that helped limit family duties and responsibilities. However, the Catholic Church has always viewed these as problematical and theological challenges to Catholic teaching and has consistently refuted the expediency of these solutions on moral grounds. Yet, if the Church's view on women limits women as feminists have claimed, it did not stop Day, Dohen, and Ward from participating and changing the secular world around them, while still remaining loyal to the teachings of the Catholic Church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

In the „coloured‟ community of Scottsville in the Western Cape, the historical legacy of political violence and abuse, combined with the current social hierarchies of violence, control and abuse, have serious consequences for Scottsville‟s young people. These traumas and the associated discourses create a culture of fear, distrust, hopelessness, humiliation and silence amongst the majority of the young people. I have employed feminist-poststructuralist analyses in order to grasp the complex nature of the challenges of „coloured‟ poverty. Foucault‟s analyses of power relations also offered this research ways to critique pastoral power. Because of Foucault‟s analyses, I became aware that „coloured‟ people‟s experience of poverty and invisibility could not be separated from my own experience of the power of privilege and visibility. The operation of unjust power relations in the „coloured‟ community therefore compelled me to use my education and privileges to work for the restitution of the voices and of relational and physical possibilities in the lives of „coloured‟ young people. What started out as a research project became a cross-cultural journey of reparation and of my own humanisation. I argue that the praxis of embodied solidarity with the „other‟ is the challenge that poverty ultimately poses to people of privilege and to the ways in which theology defines itself. In doing the work of reparation I was supported by the relational theme of solidarity with the marginalised provided by a feminist theology of praxis. The knowledges of the women in the community in particular served as resources of faith. The research methodologies I used in this research combined the practices of narrative therapy, creative writing, mentoring and drama. The purpose of these methodologies was to invite young people into various meaning-making processes which enabled them to become the agents of their own lives and of a culture of possibility. Derrida‟s work on deconstruction and the aporia provided this research with a framework for the theory of possibility. Through the methodologies of networking and advocacy, other people have joined us in going beyond the physical and relational limitations of poverty to create possibilities for the young people and their schools. / Practical theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th.(Systematic Theology)