This dissertation is a missiological evaluation of the challenges presented to Christian faith by reincarnation. Owing to the far-reaching theological implications of reincarnation, I have made use of an analytical grid to structure the research. It consists of seven sections, namely God, anthropology, ethics, hamartiology, soteriology, theodicy and history. This grid has been used to examine reincarnation as espoused in the Bhagavad-Gita (chapter 2) , as propounded by the well-known Hindu Swamis Vivekananda and Prabhupada (chapter 3) , and in the responses of four Christian theologians (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi and Edmond Robillard) to reincarnation (chapter 4) . There are many individuals within Western society who are attracted to reincarnation. My concern is to evaluate whether the Christian church can incorporate reincarnation in its religious worldview. In chapter 5, I give an evaluation of this question from a Reformed theological perspective. / Hierdie verhandeling is 'n missiologiese beoordeling van die uitdagings wat die leerstelling van reinkarnasie aan die Christelike geloof hied. As gevolg van die verreikende implikasies van reinkarnasie, gebruik ek 'n analitiese raamwerk om vorm te gee aan die· ondersoek. Hierdie raamwerk bestaan uit sewe onderafdelings, naamlik die beskouings oor God, mens, etiek, sonde, verlossing, teodisee en geskiedenis. Hierdie raamwerk word gebruik om die leerstelling van n!inkarnasie te ondersoek soos wat dit aan die orde kom in die Bhagavad-Gita (hoofstuk 2), in die geskrifte van die twee bekende Swamis Vivekananda en Prabhupada (hoofstuk 3) , en in die reaksies van vier Christenteoloe (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi en Edmond Robillard) op reinkarnasie (hoofstuk 4). Daar is heelwat mense in die Westerse samelewing wat aangetrokke is tot reinkarnasie. My vraagstelling is om te evalueer of die Christelike kerk re'inkarnasie in sy godsdienstige wereldbeeld kan opneem. In hoqfstuk 5, gee ek 'n beoordeling van hierdie vraag uit 'n Gereformeerde teologiese gesigspunt. / Christian,Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

The letter to the Romans conveys a message of God's love and how through his grace, he has prepared a way to liberate mankind from a life of sin to a life of righteousness. But the way the message is presented, this grace may easily be misunderstood as an encouragement for people to live in sin. In Chapter 6:1-14, a concise but detailed outline of the message of the epistle unfolds into two main sections, namely, the Indicative and the Imperative. Key statements in these sections are: 'How can we who have died to sin, continue to live in it?' (6:2), and 'Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God' (6:11). Failure to distinguish the separate meanings of these statements may lead to the conclusion that the pericope encourages libertinism. In outlining the:meaning of this expression, 'We have died to sin ... ', I hope to make a contribution for a better understanding of the message of this pericope, namely: The grace of God that enables believers to live a righteous / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Theology)

The aim of this research is to present an important but forgotten Tiffany interior, that of All Saints Episcopal Church, and focuses on the source for the Saunders memorial window, Christ Resurrection. After portraying the Saunders Family and the context of the window and church interior as an important part of Richmond’s history, this thesis sets up a number of inquiries regarding Christ Resurrection. What are the literary sources; what are the formal sources, from the Renaissance to the late nineteenth century; and what is the meaning of the composition? This thesis utilizes an art historical method of archival, connoisseurial, and iconological research. The analysis of the third chapter illustrates that Frederick Wilson’s composition of Christ Resurrection does not follow any one of the Evangelists. Rather it comes from an extensive pictorial tradition from Resurrection scenes of the 14th century leading into the 17th.

Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English / Where do we find the first evidence of a belief in life after death, and a divide or separation in the afterlife? We find answers in the primal and traditional religions in Africa and America, Hinduism, Buddhism, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Hellenism, the Bible and the apocrypha. There had been a preparation for the work and words of Jesus. He is unique. After His death and resurrection as historical figure, He never died again. He is our guarantee for life after death. His Gospel includes eternal heaven as well as eternal hell. He is proclaimed as Saviour. The New Testament uses metaphors to convey the reality of heaven and hell. Not only do we find kerugma about the afterlife, but also information. The message has also transformation as a goal. / Hier word ondersoek waar die eerste getuienis gevind kan word dat die mens in die lewe na die dood begin glo het. Daarna word ondersoek waar ons die eerste getuienis vind dat mense begin glo het in 'n skeiding na die dood. Hier word antwoorde gevind by die primate religiee, die tradisionele godsdienste van Afrika en Amerika, die vroee-Hindoelsme van Indie; die Boeddhisme; Egipte; Babilonie (Irak); die Zoroastrisme van Persie (Iran); die Hellenisme van die Grieks-Romeinse wereld; die Ou Testament; die apokaliptiek in die apokriewe - die Intertestamentere literatuur en die Nuwe Testament. Daar was 'n voorbereiding vir die koms van Jesus Christus. As gevolg van sy kruisdood en opstanding staan Jesus uit as historiese figuur in die wereldgeskiedenis. Hy is uniek. Na sy opstanding het Hy nooit weer gesterf nie. Jesus Christus is die waarborg dat mense ook sal lewe na die dood. In sy prediking het Hy by sekere elemente van die bestaande gedagtes oor die lewe na die dood aangesluit. Hy het verkondig dat daar 'n hemel en 'n hel sal wees as ewige seen of ewige straf. Die Evangelie hied die realiteite van die hemel en die hel in beeldspraak aan, om daardeur die dringende boodskap tuis te bring. Christus word verkondig as die Verlosser van sondeskuld en die ewige straf, tot die ewige ]ewe. Die gegewens in die Nuwe Testament oor die hemel en die hel het dus nie net steeds kerugmatiese waarde nie, maar dit bevat ook inligting (informasie) en het ook transformasie ten doel. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Teology)

This dissertation is a missiological evaluation of the challenges presented to Christian faith by reincarnation. Owing to the far-reaching theological implications of reincarnation, I have made use of an analytical grid to structure the research. It consists of seven sections, namely God, anthropology, ethics, hamartiology, soteriology, theodicy and history. This grid has been used to examine reincarnation as espoused in the Bhagavad-Gita (chapter 2) , as propounded by the well-known Hindu Swamis Vivekananda and Prabhupada (chapter 3) , and in the responses of four Christian theologians (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi and Edmond Robillard) to reincarnation (chapter 4) . There are many individuals within Western society who are attracted to reincarnation. My concern is to evaluate whether the Christian church can incorporate reincarnation in its religious worldview. In chapter 5, I give an evaluation of this question from a Reformed theological perspective. / Hierdie verhandeling is 'n missiologiese beoordeling van die uitdagings wat die leerstelling van reinkarnasie aan die Christelike geloof hied. As gevolg van die verreikende implikasies van reinkarnasie, gebruik ek 'n analitiese raamwerk om vorm te gee aan die· ondersoek. Hierdie raamwerk bestaan uit sewe onderafdelings, naamlik die beskouings oor God, mens, etiek, sonde, verlossing, teodisee en geskiedenis. Hierdie raamwerk word gebruik om die leerstelling van n!inkarnasie te ondersoek soos wat dit aan die orde kom in die Bhagavad-Gita (hoofstuk 2), in die geskrifte van die twee bekende Swamis Vivekananda en Prabhupada (hoofstuk 3) , en in die reaksies van vier Christenteoloe (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi en Edmond Robillard) op reinkarnasie (hoofstuk 4). Daar is heelwat mense in die Westerse samelewing wat aangetrokke is tot reinkarnasie. My vraagstelling is om te evalueer of die Christelike kerk re'inkarnasie in sy godsdienstige wereldbeeld kan opneem. In hoqfstuk 5, gee ek 'n beoordeling van hierdie vraag uit 'n Gereformeerde teologiese gesigspunt. / Christian,Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

The letter to the Romans conveys a message of God's love and how through his grace, he has prepared a way to liberate mankind from a life of sin to a life of righteousness. But the way the message is presented, this grace may easily be misunderstood as an encouragement for people to live in sin. In Chapter 6:1-14, a concise but detailed outline of the message of the epistle unfolds into two main sections, namely, the Indicative and the Imperative. Key statements in these sections are: 'How can we who have died to sin, continue to live in it?' (6:2), and 'Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God' (6:11). Failure to distinguish the separate meanings of these statements may lead to the conclusion that the pericope encourages libertinism. In outlining the:meaning of this expression, 'We have died to sin ... ', I hope to make a contribution for a better understanding of the message of this pericope, namely: The grace of God that enables believers to live a righteous / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Theology)

However reluctant he may be about providing details, Karl Barth dares to affirm the coming resurrection, even in the strong corporeal sense of the Apostles Creed, “I believe in . . . the resurrection of the flesh.” At the heart of Barth’s creative approach is an equation between revelation and resurrection. Indeed, everything said about the human addressed now in revelation is to be said about the human at the coming resurrection, including the remarkable fact that resurrection raises the “flesh” (inasmuch as God has revealed Himself to those “in the flesh”). Barth’s early training inculcated in him dialectical themes that would emerge throughout his career. His early work is dominated by a sense of encounter with the present but transcendent God, an encounter described in terms of the raising of the dead. Human existence is sublated – “dissolved and established” – unto a higher order in God. Yet even after Barth abandons the resurrection of the dead as his preferred theological axiom, he portrays eschatology proper in terms of the human sublated in the divine presence. Therefore, in Church Dogmatics he expresses the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh in three primary ways: eternalization, manifestation and incorporation. The human, delimited as he or she is by death, is made durable in God, obtaining the gift of eternalization. The human, ambiguous in the creaturely mode of earthly life, has one’s true identity revealed with Christ at His return, and obtains the gift of manifestation with the divine. The human, isolated as he or she is in one’s autonomy, is incorporated into the body of Christ by His Spirit, obtaining the gift of communion. In each of these expressions of resurrection Barth desires to preserve fleshliness. His account, however, entails a certain loss of temporality, creatureliness and particularity of the human when it comes to the final state. Instead of being resurrected from the dead in the strong corporeal sense, human bodies appear to be memorialized, deified, recapitulated. Though written with the language of the Antiochene and Reformed schools, Barth’s position enjoys the same strengths and suffers the same weaknesses of a more Alexandrian or Lutheran theological trajectory. Like each of the traditional lines of Christian thought about the resurrection of the flesh, Barth gravitates toward an eschatology centered around the human’s vision of God in the heavenly life. To this extent Barth’s creative treatment of the resurrection of the dead can be understood as broadly Christian, even if he risks undermining the very flesh he hopes to save.

[pt] A esperança cristã constitui algo essencial para a fé cristã, pois se trata de uma das três virtudes teologais, ao lado da fé e da caridade. Estas virtudes são chamadas teologais porque o ser humano não as adquire através do próprio esforço, mas como resposta a uma força externa, que chamamos de graça, capaz de despertar nele uma busca de sentido, uma razão para a sua própria existência. Esta ação o direciona ao sentido último da vida, o éschaton. A nossa pesquisa sobre a esperança cristã, apresenta o que vem a ser esperança. Este fundamento basilar é necessário para o objetivo proposto, neste caso: fundamentá-la e refleti-la na teologia de Jürgen Moltmann. Ele é um dos maiores teólogos cristãos da atualidade. Em suas obras, traz um novo enfoque à escatologia, destacando a realização da esperança escatológica através da justiça, da humanização do ser humano, da socialização da humanidade e da paz para toda a criação. Assim, para ele, falar de esperança é falar da força positiva que nos faz caminhar rumo a um horizonte. É uma expectativa que aspira algo supremo, intocável, infinito. Apenas a esperança, neste caso, a esperança cristã, nos faz desfrutar, já no presente, um kairós vivificante e anunciador de um ainda não futuro. / [en] The Christian hope constitutes something essential to the Christian faith, because it is one of the three theologicals virtues, beside faith and charity. These virtues are called theologicals because the human being doesn t acquire them by its own effort, but as answer to a external strength, that is called grace, capable of awaking the search for meaning, a reason for the its own existence. This action conducts the human being to a further meaning of life, the éschaton. Our research about Christian hope shows what hope is. This basic founding is necessary to the objective proposed, in this case: to found and reflect Christian hope in Jürgen Moltmann s theology. He is one of the most important Christian thinker in nowadays. In his work, he brings a new focus to eschatology, bringing up the realization of eschatological hope through justice, humanization of the human being, socialization of humanity and peace to all creation. Therefore, for him, to speak of hope is to speak of a positive strength that makes us walk towards an horizon. It s an expectative that wishes something supreme, untouchable, infinite. Only the hope, in this case, the Christian hope, make us experience, now in the present, a kairós vivifying and advertiser of a not yet future.

Lieux d'ouverture et de brassage culturel, les villes alimentent fantasmes et utopies. Elles grouillent, gagnent sur la campagne. L’enquête porte ici sur la ville antique, Carthage dans Salammbô de Gustave Flaubert et Abou de l’Égypte pharaonique dans L’Amante du pharaon de Naguib Mahfouz. La thèse interroge la représentation de la ville dans l’oeuvre romanesque de Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), et de Naguib Mahfouz, maître de la littérature arabe (1911-2006). Notre point de départ est la question suivante : "Quelle est l’importance de la ville chez nos deux romanciers ?". L’analyse combine une perspective comparative, historique, et thématique. Elle met en valeur la réception créatrice par Mahfouz du roman français du XIXe siècle. / Places of openness and cultural mixing, cities feed fantasies and utopias. They swarm, taking over the countryside. The subject of investigation here is the city in antiquity, Carthage in Gustave Flaubert's Salammbo, and the Egyptian city of Abou during the times of the Pharaohs in Naguib Mahfouz' Pharaoh's Lover. The thesis examines the representation of the city in the novels of Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), and Naguib Mahfouz, the master of Arabic literature (1911-2006). Our starting point is the following question, "What is the importance of the city for the two novelists?" The analysis brings together comparative, historic and thematic perspectives. It show cases the creative manner in which Mahfouz received French 19th century novels.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:58:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ewerton Menezes Fernandes de Souza.pdf: 614323 bytes, checksum: 04570878eac70f2103b4b0d6b3730556 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-16 / This dissertation proposes to analyze poems comprehending Adélia Prado work, since her first book Bagagem, published in 1976, to her last work, Miserere, released on 2013. It is discussed how adelian poetry lays ahead both values in the world and modern poetry, trying to find which are the fundamental elements for the author s choice which allow to notice the presence of a poetic project reigning the development of her work. For such, we look to answer the following questions: how is done the dialogue with modernity conditioned by Christian values, which the author s poetry adheres? Which poetic project results from the stress between modernity values to Christian values present in adelian poetry? Which are the elements allowing the dialogue from Adelia Prado s work to her time, generating affinities and distinctions? It is thought, as an answer for such questions, the hypothesis that adelian poetry is built as an interpellation of the modernity values resulting in a poetic project trying to save the individual and the image of the world linked to the first, subscribing them within the poem. For such, Christian beliefs about incarnation and resurrection, responsible to make viable the subscription of the man and the world in the texture of the poetic text, thought as a body and territory of imago mundi, which is desired to preserve. With such intent, we have searched in the theoretical works by authors such as George Steiner and Octavio Paz, regarding to questions about modernity, to which, there is the addition of works by Mircea Eliade, Michael Henry, Tzvetan Todorov and Miguel Unamuno, regarding to poetry and religion. As a methodological strategy along the four chapters, we placed the quoted authors in a dialogue with the analysis of the corpus. On the closing remarks, reaffirming the suggested hypothesis, noticing it as a way in which the poet has to answer to the problems of modernity, which the work establishes a stressed relation of pertaining and refusal / Esta dissertação propõe-se a analisar poemas que compõem a obra de Adélia Prado, desde seu primeiro livro Bagagem, publicado em 1976, à última obra Miserere, lançada em 2013. Discute-se como a poesia adeliana se situa frente aos valores do mundo e da poesia modernos, levantando quais são os elementos que fundamentam as escolhas da autora e que permitem perceber a presença de um projeto poético que rege o desenvolvimento de sua obra. Para tanto buscou-se responder às seguintes questões: como o diálogo com a modernidade está condicionado pelos valores cristãos aos quais a poesia da autora adere? Que projeto poético resulta da tensão entre os valores da modernidade e os valores do cristianismo presentes na poesia adeliana? Quais são os elementos que possibilitam o diálogo da obra de Adélia Prado com seu tempo, gerando afinidades e distinções? Cogita-se, como resposta a essas questões, a hipótese de que a poesia adeliana se constitui como interpelação dos valores da modernidade resultando em um projeto poético que busca salvar o sujeito e a imagem do mundo que a ele se vincula, inscrevendo-os no interior do poema. Contribuem para tanto as crenças cristãs da encarnação e da ressurreição, responsáveis por viabilizar a inscrição do homem e do mundo na tessitura do texto poético, pensado como corpo e território da imago mundi que se deseja preservar. Com esse intuito, recorreu-se às obras teóricas de autores como George Steiner e Octavio Paz, no que se refere às questões da modernidade, às quais se acrescentam as obras de Mircea Eliade, Michel Henry, Tzvetan Todorov e Miguel de Unamuno, no que toca à relação entre poesia e religião. Como estratégia metodológica, buscou-se, ao decorrer dos quatro capítulos, colocar os autores citados em diálogo com a análise do corpus. Quanto às considerações finais, ratifica-se a hipótese aventada, percebendo-a como uma forma de a poeta responder aos problemas da modernidade, com a qual a obra estabelece uma relação tensa de pertença e recusa