This study identifies a theological trajectory of first generation “believers” – those who allow the biblical text to speak authoritatively into their lives – within the Sindhi community of Pakistan. A passage from a contemporary translation of the New Testament in the Sindhi language – Luke 15:11-32, Jesus’ Parable of the Two Lost Sons – was presented in interview settings to discover how Sindhis express their faith as they consider the message of the parable. Culture texts generated by believers are compared to those generated by “traditional” Muslim Sindhis who do not accept the Bible as authoritative. Twenty–eight people identified as Sindhi believers were interviewed as well as twenty traditional Sindhi Muslims. Similarities and contrasts between the two groups are used to discover how the theological praxis of the believers is being impacted and how they are adjusting their view of God as they engage scripture. The description of theological trajectories that diverge from accepted traditional convictions is referred to as “mapping.” Six themes were identified from the interviews that are important for both groups while demonstrating distinct contrasts and similarities. The themes are (1) God is compassionate/kind/merciful/loving beyond our imagination, (2) God forgives his servants who repent, (3) Concepts of rewards, punishment and the fear of God, (4) The relationship of human beings with God (child versus servant), (5) Issues of justice, honor and status, and (6) The importance of obedience to God. An evaluation of the six themes revealed one overarching trajectory: a shift from a dominant master–servant view of the Divine–human relationship to a father–child paradigm. The research affirms that the shift to a biblically shaped view of God is not disconnected from previous beliefs, but is based on and shaped by a priori assumptions held by members of society. Commitment to the Bible as God’s word speaking authoritatively to believers creates a shift or trajectory of faith so that current perspectives, symbols and metaphors of God are being reformed and reconfirmed through the believers’ interaction with the Sindhi translation of scripture. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Bibliography: leaves 255-295 / The study of the Church of Christ’s ‘Identity- and Mission-Continuity’ in the Zimbabwean context explores how the Christian faith should be interpreted and contextualised in Africa. The Church of Christ in Zimbabe (COCZ) is a Christian movement claiming to be representative of the ethos of the Church that was founded by Jesus Christ on the day of Pentcost. The thesis raises critical questions of Christian identity and transformation in missionary founded churches like the COCZ in an attempt to contribute towards a locally based study of the Church. Consciousness to being a Church founded by Jesus Christ has implications for Christian unity (oneness) and ecumenism in the COCZ, and its wider Christian networks1. Use of its theological tenets, which are indeed congruent with its projected identity, to explore its history when it came to Zimbabwe in relationship to its founding charism helped because of scarcity of literature on the history of Christian denominations in Zimbabwe. This thesis has followed four objectives that are related to the four stages of experiences by the Church Jesus Christ founded, namely, the (1) early Church, (2) reformation evangelism, (3) missionary enterprise and, (4) contemporary (African) expressions of the faith. This study has investigated the origin and reasons for the formation of the Church in the midst of others; and why its missionaries chose Zimbabwe where there were other denominations. Local experiences of the Church after the departure of white missionaries motivated this study with questions on how the process of inculturating the gospel in the COCZ raised, especially the tension between continuity and discontinuity, linking and delinking, similarity and dissimilarity as well as diversity and diference. Creative synthesis on what Jesus intended; what missionaries brought; and what the God of history is doing in the contemporary life and efforts of the Church were implied and/or explicated. Using a two-pronged approach to the study, the thesis has, first, unearthed (primary) documents like minutes from church board meetings by Europeans (with misionary thinking that developed from these origins), to contextual (secondary) documents (on how local theologians in the context have engaged the different Christian doctrines in the Zimbabwean context). Secondly, an empirical method was used to interview and distribute questionnaires to a number of individuals, inclusive of those who were in the COCZ leadership and ordinary members. Data collection tools were semi-structured, giving respondents freedom to express themselves and/or their views on what the COCZ was doing and what they believe must be done. Data from interviews and questionnaires were correlated with views expressed in the written sources. The data was interpreted heuristically, in order to give light to new knowledge that was being formed in the process. As an interpretive tool, hermeneutics (the phenomenological approach using Atlas.ti 8 (SPSS, Nvivo 8) - for verbatim transcription) was made key in looking into the context, culture and religion of the COCZ. The thesis attempted to create a dialogue by relating identity, communal ontology and epistemology to the empirical study findings, literature and the methodology. Ecology and gender were some of the indispensable aspects of theology, crucial for human survival, harmony and peace that were discussed because they were neglected in the COCZ. The thesis also revisted differences and similitudes found in the gospel in relationship to the intended and unintended 1 Unity and oneness expressed in John 17 [“Et Unum Sint” – That they may be one], emphasise the sociality of the Godhood through the doctrine of perichoresis, which is unity of the Godhead in the economy (our) of salvation. xiii cultural contributions of the Ndebele and Shona so far, with the purpose of repositioning the COCZ within its own transformative framework. This helps the Church with a strategy of how to model its theology in an African context and how to learn from its past with the view to transform itself for the 21st century Zimbabwe. The study is not exhaustive on the nature, history and mission of the COCZ, and many avenues like hermeneutics, church polity, public theology, conflict studies and church doctrine can be carried out using the COCZ as a case study. In all, the study has laid a foundation for the contextualization, evangelization, inculturation and incarnation of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the COCZ in a postmodernist society. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Phil. (Systematic Theology)

La présente recherche analyse l'œuvre passée, présente et future de l'Église méthodiste parmi les Tetela du Zaïre Central, population évangélisée par la Mission méthodiste américaine de 1914 à 1960 (1964). Fondamentalement, la thèse poursuit deux groupes d'objectifs. Le premier est d'analyser l'impact du christianisme dans la culture et dans la société tetela. Le second est de proposer un modèle d'Église aux populations du Zaïre tout entier et du reste de l'Afrique. Le principe fondamental qui a guidé l'étude est le suivant : l'enracinement de la foi chrétienne dans la vie quotidienne d'un peuple se réalise de manière suffisante si le mariage d'amour et de respect mutuel a effectivement eu lieu entre l'Évangile et la culture locale. À la lumière de ce principe, nous avons formulé l'hypothèse suivante : Pour avoir refusé toute référence à la culture locale, pour n'avoir pas assuré l'intégration effective de la population évangélisée dans l'entreprise de fonder une Église parmi les Tetela, la Mission méthodiste a d'emblée manqué une occasion exceptionnelle d'enraciner l'Évangile au Zaïre Central. Deux modèles d'action missionnaire ont, à cet égard, servi de cadre de référence à notre recherche, à savoir : la mission accomplie par le Seigneur Jésus-Christ lui-même au cours de son ministère terrestre et l'œuvre missionnaire réalisée par l'apôtre Paul. Trois traits caractérisant ce dernier modèle ont particulièrement attiré notre attention, notamment les efforts déployés par "l'apôtre des païens" en vue de concrétiser le caractère universaliste de l 'Évangile la dimension inaugurée par le Seigneur Jésus-Christ), le recours constamment fait à ce qui est connu par ses auditeurs pour annoncer l 'Évangile et le climat de respect et de confiance que Paul instaura entre lui et les populations évangélisées. Dans cet ordre d'idées, nous avons analysé les principaux concepts courants en missiologie, entre autres la culture, l'acculturation, la déculturation, 1 'inculturation et la contextualisation. Parmi ces concepts, nous avons constaté que la contextualisation permet de réaliser les modèles christologique et paulinien. Nous avons également montré l'inadéquation de quelques concepts dans l'entreprise missionnaire, en l'occurrence l'indigénisation, l'adaptation et l'assimilation. L'analyse de la situation a, en effet, montré qu'en se servant de ces concepts, quelques Missions chrétiennes ont réduit la chance q u 'avaient des nouveaux convertis de s'épanouir dans la foi. C'est dans ce contexte que le concept de syncrétisme a été analysé en tant que résultat d'une œuvre d'inculturation manquée. Quatre sources ont permis de réunir les données de la thèse : l'observation participante, l'analyse de documents, l'interview et l'enquête par questionnaires. Les résultats obtenus ont été résumés en quatre points : a) Deux périodes symbolisent les deux attitudes manifestées par la Mission méthodiste au Zaïre Central. La première, de 1914 à 1939, est caractérisée par un conflit chez les missionnaires et la Société des Missions relativement au désir d'intégrer ou d'exclure le peuple évangélisé de la démarche conduisant à la fondation de l 'Église. Au cours de la seconde période, de 1940 à 1959 (1964), la volonté d'intégration s'est accrue, mais les mesures pratiques ont été freinées par des préjugés d'ordre culturel. b) La Mission n'a pas envisagé la possibilité de favoriser un quelconque dialogue entre l'Évangile et la culture locale. Avant leur arrivée au Congo, les missionnaires étaient convaincus qu'ils allaient travailler dans un terrain vierge. c) Les relations personnelles entre les missionnaires et la population locale étaient placées sous le signe d'un rapport entre propriétaire et nécessiteux. d) La destruction injustifiée de la quasi-totalité des valeurs culturelles et sociales tetela par la Mission a provoqué une transformation aliénante de la vie et de la vision du monde chez les Tetela. Les conséquences de cet état de choses sont multiples. Nous en avons retenu quatre : a) Le nouveau chrétien est non seulement placé devant deux Dieux, celui de ses ancêtres et celui annoncé par la Mission, mais aussi se sent incapable de découvrir un quelconque lien entre les deux. b) Qualifiant ses ancêtres de "Saints inconnus" tout en aspirant à la vie nouvelle, ce chrétien finit par afficher une attitude ambiguë vis-à-vis l'Évangile. c) Pour plaire aux missionnaires et aux membres du clergé, il a dû cultiver des sentiments d'hypocrisie et de dépendance. ; d) Tenant l'Évangile d'une main et les coutumes ancestrales de l'autre, le chrétien tetela finit par professer une foi chancelante. La page de la Mission étrangère étant tournée, force nous est de proposer aux peuples du Zaïre Central un modèle d'Église capable de réaliser un enracinement volontaire de l'Évangile dans cette région. Ce modèle a, entre autres, trois missions de base à remplir, à savoir : a) instaurer un dialogue officiel entre l 'Évangile et les cultures locales, b) assurer, dans l'œcuménisme, sa souveraineté administrative, financière et missionnaire, c) assurer son avenir afin de faire face aux vents et marées du monde changeant. À ce sujet, deux importantes références ont été faites, la première à la théologie de 1'africanisation du christianisme, que nous croyons être l'approche idéale pour contextualiser l'Évangile en Afrique et, la deuxième aux mouvements de recouvrement de l'identité africaine, notamment la Négritude. Cette dernière partie de la thèse a pour but de montrer aux Tetela et aux autres peuples tant zaïrois qu'africains que le christianisme peut être un projet respectueux de l'intégrité de la culture africaine. De ce fait, il leur revient de se sentir responsables de leur Église afin que celle-ci puisse répondre au principe suivant de sa mission : "Là où est le peuple, là doit être l'Église". Seule une telle Église peut répondre aux attentes des populations africaines qui, actuellement, s'efforcent de remonter la glissante pente vers la modernisation de leurs sociétés.

Dans cette recherche, nous avons tenté de construire une grille de lecture qui dépasse la distribution des valeurs entre « ancestrales » et « modernes » face au choix du christianisme colonial qui « envahit » le Congo dès la fin du XIXe siècle. Le cadre de réflexion est l'ancienne province du Kasai où les missionnaires et les nouveaux chrétiens se sont attelés à un travail de redéfinition identitaire. Le principe méthodologique adopté est fondé sur la saisie des données discursives de représentations dans leur « matérialité langagière ». Afin d'y accéder, nous avons recouru à un maniement des offres du champ ancestral et de la culture moderne par le biais des concepts qui organisaient les images, les événements, les signes, les symboles, les signifiants, etc. dans la nouvelle marche historique des Kasaiens. Ils sont interprétés non pour leur valeur factuelle, mais pour ce qu'ils voulaient dire dans l'imaginaire des Kasaiens d'alors. Sur la base du périodique Nkuruse - périodique missionnaire publié au Kasai/Zaïre dès 1914 -, nous essayons d'abord d'expliquer les reconstructions idéologiques de la nouvelle identité et de la nouvelle mémoire. Ensuite, nous tentons de saisir le processus de purification et d'ajustement et de « création » des valeurs communes profondes et enfin nous tentons de reconstituer l'impact de ces transformations dans l'évolution des peuples du Kasai et en regard des avantages qu'offrait le pouvoir moderne alors chrétien et colonial. Plusieurs conclusions ressortent : la construction idéologique de l'identité kasaienne a son origine dans le travail commun des missionnaires et des nouveaux chrétiens appelés Bena Nkristo. En tant que corps social et politique nouveau, ces derniers ont manipulé et créé de nouvelles formes identificatoires en rapport avec leur histoire et l'évolution de leur société immédiate. Il s'est alors opéré une organisation de la pensée qui a construit l'« être » kasaien autour des images et stéréotypes inspirés de l'Occident, mais dont les matériaux sont empruntés aux acquis traditionnels. Imputés aux Kasaiens ou recherchés par ces derniers durant la période coloniale, ces images et ces stéréotypes sont des caractéristiques qui aujourd'hui reconstruisent l'« être » kasaien et le Kasai comme désignation physique du corps social « distinct » dans l'imaginaire collectif zaïrois. Véritablement connotes et manipulés dans la culture populaire et dans les jeux politiques du Zaïre postcolonial, ces stéréotypes expliquent le poids culturel et politique qui est attribué aux Kasaiens et leur marginalisation dans la gestion de la société zaïroise actuelle. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2013

The Old Testament, which is one of the first books in the Malagasy language, plays an important role in the religious and cultural life of most people in Madagascar, for instance in an increasing tendency to use Old Testament texts in Malagasy religious contexts, which is noticeable both within and outside mainstream Christianity. The first such case illustrating this trend within the Church is the Malagasy Roman Catholic Church's (MRCC's) application of certain texts in the famadihana (turning of the dead), a custom reflecting traditional Malagasy practices in their strongest form. Almost all the Malagasy churches from their beginning have unsuccessfully attempted to abolish it. Therefore, the MRCC decided to base it on biblical texts and incorporated it in her liturgy in order to make it a Christian celebration. Among the texts used here are: Genesis 49: 33-50: 13; Exodus 13: 19 and Exodus 20: 12. The second case is the Malagasy Lutheran Church's (MLC's) employment of Old Testament texts to create certain items for Nenilava (Tall mother), the founder of the revival movement of Ankaramalaza, who was acknowledged by this Church and the members of this movement as a prophetess and priestess. To demonstrate these roles, and at the same time to confirm her consecration, the MLC and the `children of Ankaramalaza' made for her a priestly robe modelled on the high priest's garments described in Exodus 28 and a silver crown related to Deuteronomy 28. The use of the Old Testament outside the Church is illustrated by the third case, investigating traditio-practitioners' applications of Old Testament texts in their religious practices. Examples include: 1) Exodus 3:1-3; Leviticus 14: 1-8; Jeremiah 8: 22, used in traditional healing; 2) Exodus 3: 5b; Job 33: 6a; Psalm 121: 8a, employed as religious slogans; 3) Leviticus 1-6, applied in traditional sacrifices and offerings; and 4) Psalm 113: 5-6; Genesis 2: 18, 22, employed as references for morality. This project, which describes and analyses how and why the Old Testament is used by different people, Christian and traditionalist, in Malagasy religious contexts, is aimed at developing an interpretive model based on these three cases. More specifically, it seeks to show how the Old Testament can be interpreted and used in contemporary Madagascar/Africa. / Biblical and Ancient studies / D. Th (Old Testament)

Funeral leaders share the ministry of comfort with others. They make a specific religious contribution towards restoring life or decontaminating from death, which affects the faith and hope of the bereaved. Their ministry responds to a need of the bereaved by affirming community in the face of death. It is based on spirituality and grounded in the biblical and apostolic tradition; it is carried out in a catholic contextualisation. The leaders' insertion into both the cultural background and the religious realm encourages contextualisation. Their verbal proclamation is done in various ways and is linked to ritual. It reflects the three dimensions of the model employed in pastoral theology by taking life seriously, interpreting it in the light of faith, and leading a celebration that opens up the future of the participants. The leaders' proclamation is sincere when they link cultural family-procedures and church rituals in a parallel way. Sincerity suffers when community leaders, used to provide a comprehensive service, cannot preside over the promised celebration of the Eucharist, which could be the culmination of the rite of passage. Their ministry remains incomplete because of factors beyond their control. It nevertheless contributes to justice in many ways, in particular by deploying local people. While the ministry is carried out independently, it depends on collaboration with the pastoral staff, in particular the priests. They safeguard the quality of ministry by formation and through supervision. The collaborative formation contributes to the cultural insertion of the local and expatriate staff and enhances their competence. This collaborative ministry serves the bereaved, the community of faith, and theology. It allows the development of a contextualised liturgy, and a local theology. It is a step forward on the road towards a genuine form of community ministry in this particular African context. It corresponds with contemporary secular approaches towards leadership and management. African approaches emphasise the need for contextualised management forms. They assume the compatibility of different practices employed in different contexts. The comprehensively grounded ministry seems to contribute to the avoidance or overcoming of some of the grave shortcomings of ministry as provided in the past. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Text in German / This thesis analyses the contextual concepts for Mission in Europe as developed by European churches between 1979 and 1992 by examining their interpretation of European culture and history (,,Europabild") and the corresponding understandings of mission. The main thrust of the Roman Catholic concept of the ,,New Evangelization of Europe" is to understand European-humanist culture as having grown out of christian (Roman Catholic) roots and to interpret the Church as Soul of Europe. Accordingly, New Evangelization means to call Europe back to the Church in order to keep its culture from ruin and to revitalize it. The European branch of the Lausanne Movement took some clues from the Roman Catholic concept, but interpreted them in its own way since 1984. Here European culture is understood in the basic theological tension between ,,bridge" and ,,barrier" for the Gospel in Europe. The aim of mission is the conversion of Europeans to the biblical and present Jesus Christ who is able to give new life and new hope for individual Europeans and European culture. The Conference of European Churches has coined and discussed the concept of ,,Mission of the Churches in a Secularized Europe" since 1986. The Protestant ,,wing" tends to be less critical towards secularized European culture than Orthodox theologians seem to be. Nevertheless both affirm an understanding of mission as encounter with present time European culture in which God is seen at work in various and mysterious ways. Finally the author formulates his conclusions and perspectives for a transforming (of) mission in Europe. The Body of Jesus Christ in Europe needs to be as deeply rooted in biblical revelation as in biblical spirituality in order to live as a missionary and alternative community in the middle of European culture, and in order to not repeat past european-christian inculturations, but to repent and invite Europeans to turn to Jesus Christ to explore fresh ways of life, hope and reconciliation in the middle of European diversity. / Diese Arbeit fragt nach den theologischen und historischen Grundlinien kontextueller Missionskonzepte filr Europa, wie sie zwischen 1979 und 1992 in den Kirchen Europas entwickelt wurden. In einer ein:f:Uhrenden Standortbestimmung werden zunachst Diskontinuitat und Kontinuitat eines auf Europa bezogenen Missionsverstandnisses in der Missions- und Kirchengeschichte dargestellt. Im Hauptteil der Arbeit werden in einem historisch-theologischen Untersuchungsgang die verschiedenen Missionskonzepte fUr Europa nach ihrem Europabild und dem korrespondierenden Missionsverstandnis befragt. Im romisch-katholischen Programm der ,,Neuevangelisierung Europas", das seit 1979 von Papst Johannes Paul II. inspiriert wird, geht es darum, die christliche (romisch-katholische) Kirche als Wurzel und Seele der europaisch-humanistischen Kultur zu erkennen und sich ihr neu zuzuwenden, um so die europaische Kultur vor dem Zerfall zu bewahren. Der europaische Zweig der evangelikalen Lausanner Bewegung hat Impulse aus der romischkatholischen Kirche aufgenommen und seit 1984 in einer Reihe von Konferenzen in eigener Weise fortgefuhrt. Hier wird die Kultur Europas in der Spannung zwischen Silnde und Erlosung und somit als Herausforderung und Chance fUr eine speziell auf die europaische Situation ausgerichtete Mission verstanden. Ziel der Mission ist es, die Europaer zur Umkehr zu Jesus Christus einzuladen, der alleine Grund fUr neues Leben und neue Hoffnung in der Kultur Europas sein konne. Die Konferenz der Europaischen Kirchen, der ein gro.Ber Teil der protestantischen und orthodoxen Kirchen Europas angehOrt, beschaftigt sich seit 1986 in einer Reihe von Studienkonsultationen mit der ,,Mission der Kirchen in einem sirkularisierten Europa". Die protestantischen Delegierten stehen der sirkularisierten Kultur Europas weniger kritisch gegeniiber als die orthodoxen Vertreter. Insgesamt versteht man Mission in Europa als Begegnung mit der europaischen Kultur der Gegenwart, in der man Gottes Wirken entdecken konne. Ausgehend von diesen Ergebnissen werden in einem Schlussteil Grundlinien fur ein erneuerte und erneuernde Mission in Europa formuliert. Die missionarische Gemeinde in Europa heute braucht die Verwurzelung in der biblischen Offenbarung und in biblischer Spiritualitat, um als Mit-, Gegenund Fur-Kultur inmitten von Europa nicht zu einer Riickkehr zu vergangenen christlichen Inkulturationen, sondern zur Umkehr zum lebendigen Christus einzuladen, der neues Leben und neue Hoffnung schenkt und Versohnung inmitten aller europaischen Verschiedenheit moglich macht. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

This project seeks to determine, to what extent the culture of early Israel (1250-1000 BC) is similar to African cultures, more specifically, to that of the Lemba. However, a comparison between the cultures of early Israel and those of certain African tribes is not the primary objective in this case. This project is neither an anthropological study nor does it intend to mainly focus on the Lemba as such -though this may appear to be the case. This endeavour primarily fits into the ambit of Old Testament Studies. The investigation into the Lemba is meant to be subsidiary to the point of contingence between their culture and Old Testament customs and traditions, and how this information affects the interpretation of the Old Testament and its teaching in Africa. A number of comparisons between the early Israelite religion as reflected in the Old Testament and the Lemba are drawn. Though the qualitative research (inductive approach) is employed in the field work, the greatest part of the data on religious perspectives and practices is mediated by the theory of a phenomenological approach as advocated by Ninian Smart on matters of experience, mythology, ritual, and ethical/judicial dimensions. Therefore, the approach is also deductive. The Lemba is a very specific group with claims about Israelite/Judaic origins. Their early departure from Israel (according to them ca 586 BC) can mean that there are remnants of a very ancient type oflsraelite religion, now valuable when juxtaposed to that of early Israel. This study takes Lemba traditions seriously, but finally does not verify or falsify Lemba claims - but the outcomes in this thesis may take this debate a step further. Their claims make them special and extremely interesting to study from the point of view of oral cultures. Their oral culture is constitutive of their world-view and self-understanding or identity. It incorporates the role of oral traditions, history and historiography and parallels are drawn between orality in early Israelite and Lemba religions. The reciprocity between orality and inscripturation of traditions, yielding valuable information on what may have happened in the developent of traditions in Israel, are also attended to in this project. Nevertheless, this project is primarily a search for the understanding and relevance of the Old Testament in Afiica and is, therefore, a selective and not an exhaustive comparison between the Lemba and early Israel. And so, taking cognisance of the hermeneutic of contextualisation in Africa in particular, a teaching module syllabus for Old Testament Studies is developed, of which the very strands of religion among the Lemba and early Israel are constitutive for teaching Old Testament Studies in present-day African cultures (and perhaps elsewhere). / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

This dissertation is a contextual reading of 1 Samuel 25:14-35 that highlights the Abigail approach to peacemaking. The synchronic analysis of this text done in the light of the context of North Kivu conflict resolution focuses on the literary analysis of the text. The interaction between the two contexts of peacemaking, in the Abigail narrative and the North Kivu context, allows me to recommend "participative negotiations" as a suitable diplomatic means to solve North Kivu conflicts for a lasting peace. In fact, participative negotiations inspired by the Abigail strategy contrast with the diplomacy of avoidance and competitive negotiations, by which North Kivu cannot reach lasting peace. However, the strategists of peacemaking, involving North Kivu rank-and-file in the peacemaking process, must first build mutual confidence between the parties in conflict during discussions, then analyse their respective interests, and bring them to suggest suitable strategies using objective criteria which can lead the parties to true consensus. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The Old Testament, which is one of the first books in the Malagasy language, plays an important role in the religious and cultural life of most people in Madagascar, for instance in an increasing tendency to use Old Testament texts in Malagasy religious contexts, which is noticeable both within and outside mainstream Christianity. The first such case illustrating this trend within the Church is the Malagasy Roman Catholic Church's (MRCC's) application of certain texts in the famadihana (turning of the dead), a custom reflecting traditional Malagasy practices in their strongest form. Almost all the Malagasy churches from their beginning have unsuccessfully attempted to abolish it. Therefore, the MRCC decided to base it on biblical texts and incorporated it in her liturgy in order to make it a Christian celebration. Among the texts used here are: Genesis 49: 33-50: 13; Exodus 13: 19 and Exodus 20: 12. The second case is the Malagasy Lutheran Church's (MLC's) employment of Old Testament texts to create certain items for Nenilava (Tall mother), the founder of the revival movement of Ankaramalaza, who was acknowledged by this Church and the members of this movement as a prophetess and priestess. To demonstrate these roles, and at the same time to confirm her consecration, the MLC and the `children of Ankaramalaza' made for her a priestly robe modelled on the high priest's garments described in Exodus 28 and a silver crown related to Deuteronomy 28. The use of the Old Testament outside the Church is illustrated by the third case, investigating traditio-practitioners' applications of Old Testament texts in their religious practices. Examples include: 1) Exodus 3:1-3; Leviticus 14: 1-8; Jeremiah 8: 22, used in traditional healing; 2) Exodus 3: 5b; Job 33: 6a; Psalm 121: 8a, employed as religious slogans; 3) Leviticus 1-6, applied in traditional sacrifices and offerings; and 4) Psalm 113: 5-6; Genesis 2: 18, 22, employed as references for morality. This project, which describes and analyses how and why the Old Testament is used by different people, Christian and traditionalist, in Malagasy religious contexts, is aimed at developing an interpretive model based on these three cases. More specifically, it seeks to show how the Old Testament can be interpreted and used in contemporary Madagascar/Africa. / Biblical and Ancient studies / D. Th (Old Testament)