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The constituent concepts of the gospel is not only vital for the correct understanding of the true meaning of Christ, but also for the appropriate meaning and practice of mission to enlarge the church of Christ in his service. The thesis researched the background of the Prosperity Gospel critically in addition to the use of it for missiological purposes to enlarge the church with the luring of poor people with the excessive promises of vast wealth after contributing to the Prosperity Churches generously and substantially from within their poverty. The heart of the research was the analysis of ten sermons by prosperity preachers according to the “open coding” of the “Grounded Theory”, drawing conclusions from the practical analysis of the sermons, instead of the usual research working with the material from a pre-conceived theory. This approach uncovered and displayed the distortion and falsification of the true gospel. The thesis constructed an appropriate benchmark of the authentic gospel against which to measure deviations from the traditional gospel and mission according to this gospel. The dissertation exposed courteously, but deliberately that the Prosperity Gospel was infiltrated with alienated concepts from unscriptural humanism, the “American materialistic dream” and the secular Rogerian psychology with its non-spiritual psychotherapeutic approach, as well as the “profane” preaching of Norman Vincent Peale, comprising “New Thought”, metaphysics, Christian Science, and medical and psychological practices. More serious was the specific “cultic” influences and teachings. Cultic here indicated a system of religious or spiritual beliefs, especially an informal and transient belief system regarded by the traditional churches as misguided, unorthodox, extremist, or even false, and directed by a charismatic, 2 authoritarian leader. Ultimately, the Prosperity Gospel was contaminated with Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism and Unitarianism. The thesis, however, is not negative about the overflowing blessings of God, also regarding temporal prosperity, but the research unearthed the true riches of the gospel of Christ in an exegetical scriptural manner and delineated it in an extensive way – money is indeed “raining from heaven”, but spiritually in a true gospel way, through prayer and in obedience to Christ, depending on faith in God. The norm was “abundance, but not accumulation of riches”. It is sad to have unmasked the fact that some prosperity preachers commanded the churches not to pray anymore, but to command the blessings of God “onto” the “true” believers towards accumulation of vast wealth (cf. “pastor” D O OYEDEPO). The 10 sermons were thoroughly scrutinised and the main problems with the “claiming” of vast wealth according to the gospel brought out in the open – the lack of Christ-centred preaching, the absence of the emphasis of the work of the Holy spirit, the misunderstanding of the “revelation” history, the deficiency of scriptural exegesis and the unscriptural obsession with vast material wealth as a “blessing”. Usually only the prosperity preacher and a few supporters became the “blessed” rich from all the compromised donations of the “masses”. This was followed by a development of the academic discipline of theology, indicating revelation as a historical process, where the gospel moved from survival to justice in the Old Testament, and finally to unconditional love and care according to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This was situated vis-à-vis an evaluation of the theology of the Prosperity Gospel, portraying the false concept of “faith”. Towards the end of the thesis the perspective of the development of missiology was explained up to the contemporary point and an oversight of the concept of mission of the past century was outlined: It became clear that ecclesiology did not precede missiology, but rather, missiology precedes ecclesiology, because a community of Christians did not first create a church and then developed its mission; a community of Christians participated in God’s mission and thus constituted a church, according to the New Testament. This placed the preaching of the blessings of the gospel and the functioning of God’s mission in true perspective. As poverty is a vital concept regarding the preaching of the Prosperity Gospel the plight of the poor in all its shocking depths were exposed as a problem and a mission task for all the churches of Christ - approximately 15 million people in South Africa live in dire poverty without any hope of alleviation, and 1 billion people in the world live under the poverty datum line. This is a wake-up call for the church of Christ, existing for God’s mission, to face this challenge of mission to the poor. The research closed with a summary of the mission task to the poor. The dissertation concluded with a delineation of possible further topics in this field to be studied. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

This thesis seeks to expand the self-critical resources of contemporary theological economic ethics by bringing the method of a pre-modern theologian and social commentator, Martin Luther (1483-1546), into interaction with that of a modern contribution to social ethics, the Swiss theologian Arthur Rich (1910-92). This thesis is the first substantial treatment in English of Rich’s magnum opus, Wirtschaftsethik. The demonstration of the thesis is undertaken by a close engagement with a selected publication of Luther (his 1519/20 Großer Sermon von dem Wucher) and of Rich (his masterwork, Wirtschaftsethik, published in two volumes in 1984 and 1990 respectively). The thesis does not simply describe Luther’s and Rich’s economic ethics, but demonstrates the way in which they operate, that is, their method. An introduction sets out the thesis, and defends its method. Chapter 1 introduces Luther’s sermon on usury, and situates it in its context. It then gives a commentary on Luther’s method, discussing its genre, the way in which Luther deploys Scripture and exploits doctrines with respect to ethics, and his concept of the twofold government of God. It analyses how Luther brings these theological motifs to bear on a particular economic question. Chapter 2 sketches Arthur Rich’s life and work, and presents Rich’s method as set out in Wirtschaftsethik. It discusses his understanding of ethics, his approach to Scripture, and his adoption of the thought of Max Weber and John Rawls. Chapter 3 brings our study of Luther to bear on Rich’s approach, noting strengths and weaknesses of Rich’s method. It questions some of Rich’s assumptions, and notes ways in which a more self-critical approach could have made his project more successful. A conclusion then summarises the argument, and makes tentative suggestions as to the wider applicability of the critical questions posed to Rich’s method by the analysis of Luther.

The constituent concepts of the gospel is not only vital for the correct understanding of the true meaning of Christ, but also for the appropriate meaning and practice of mission to enlarge the church of Christ in his service. The thesis researched the background of the Prosperity Gospel critically in addition to the use of it for missiological purposes to enlarge the church with the luring of poor people with the excessive promises of vast wealth after contributing to the Prosperity Churches generously and substantially from within their poverty. The heart of the research was the analysis of ten sermons by prosperity preachers according to the “open coding” of the “Grounded Theory”, drawing conclusions from the practical analysis of the sermons, instead of the usual research working with the material from a pre-conceived theory. This approach uncovered and displayed the distortion and falsification of the true gospel. The thesis constructed an appropriate benchmark of the authentic gospel against which to measure deviations from the traditional gospel and mission according to this gospel. The dissertation exposed courteously, but deliberately that the Prosperity Gospel was infiltrated with alienated concepts from unscriptural humanism, the “American materialistic dream” and the secular Rogerian psychology with its non-spiritual psychotherapeutic approach, as well as the “profane” preaching of Norman Vincent Peale, comprising “New Thought”, metaphysics, Christian Science, and medical and psychological practices. More serious was the specific “cultic” influences and teachings. Cultic here indicated a system of religious or spiritual beliefs, especially an informal and transient belief system regarded by the traditional churches as misguided, unorthodox, extremist, or even false, and directed by a charismatic, 2 authoritarian leader. Ultimately, the Prosperity Gospel was contaminated with Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism and Unitarianism. The thesis, however, is not negative about the overflowing blessings of God, also regarding temporal prosperity, but the research unearthed the true riches of the gospel of Christ in an exegetical scriptural manner and delineated it in an extensive way – money is indeed “raining from heaven”, but spiritually in a true gospel way, through prayer and in obedience to Christ, depending on faith in God. The norm was “abundance, but not accumulation of riches”. It is sad to have unmasked the fact that some prosperity preachers commanded the churches not to pray anymore, but to command the blessings of God “onto” the “true” believers towards accumulation of vast wealth (cf. “pastor” D O OYEDEPO). The 10 sermons were thoroughly scrutinised and the main problems with the “claiming” of vast wealth according to the gospel brought out in the open – the lack of Christ-centred preaching, the absence of the emphasis of the work of the Holy spirit, the misunderstanding of the “revelation” history, the deficiency of scriptural exegesis and the unscriptural obsession with vast material wealth as a “blessing”. Usually only the prosperity preacher and a few supporters became the “blessed” rich from all the compromised donations of the “masses”. This was followed by a development of the academic discipline of theology, indicating revelation as a historical process, where the gospel moved from survival to justice in the Old Testament, and finally to unconditional love and care according to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This was situated vis-à-vis an evaluation of the theology of the Prosperity Gospel, portraying the false concept of “faith”. Towards the end of the thesis the perspective of the development of missiology was explained up to the contemporary point and an oversight of the concept of mission of the past century was outlined: It became clear that ecclesiology did not precede missiology, but rather, missiology precedes ecclesiology, because a community of Christians did not first create a church and then developed its mission; a community of Christians participated in God’s mission and thus constituted a church, according to the New Testament. This placed the preaching of the blessings of the gospel and the functioning of God’s mission in true perspective. As poverty is a vital concept regarding the preaching of the Prosperity Gospel the plight of the poor in all its shocking depths were exposed as a problem and a mission task for all the churches of Christ - approximately 15 million people in South Africa live in dire poverty without any hope of alleviation, and 1 billion people in the world live under the poverty datum line. This is a wake-up call for the church of Christ, existing for God’s mission, to face this challenge of mission to the poor. The research closed with a summary of the mission task to the poor. The dissertation concluded with a delineation of possible further topics in this field to be studied. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

Modern economic theory of self-interest alleges that in their economic relations people always behave in a way that maximises their utility. The idea whether human beings were solely self-interested has a long history as it can be seen from the writings of Greek philosophers and the Church fathers. Among Greek philosophers there were those who argued that human beings were naturally self-interested (Aristotle) and those who maintained that human beings were communal by nature (Plato, Stoics and the Pythagoreans). The later position was adopted by the Church fathers as they condemned self-interest as the sin of avarice and greed. The justification of self-interest in human and political activities was part and parcel of the economic and political early modernists, as it can be seen in the works of Mandeville, Hobbes, Hume and Adam Smith. In the writings of these thinkers, the flourishing of wealth depended on individual freedom to pursue their self-interests. In this regard, selfinterest became the sole source of motivation in the behaviour of homo economicus. A persistent motif in late modern economic discourse on self-interest is based on the idea that people think and act on the basis of that which is to their self-interest. It is mainly for this reason that late modern economic thinkers maintain that society would prosper when people are left alone to pursue their self-interests. Late modern economic theory of utility maximisation alleges that individuals act only after calculating costs and benefits. The argument of this thesis, based on the commonalities between African humanism and process philosophical anthropology, is that self-interest is antithetical to communal life as advocated in the ethic of Ubuntu. One who acts solely on the basis of maximising his or her utility would inevitably deprive others of a humane existence. A holistic metaphysical outlook based on the relatedness and interrelatedness of everything that exists as we find it in African humanism and process philosophical anthropology implies that the individual exists in internal relations with everything else. We should go beyond selfinterest by giving primacy to a holistic ethic. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / D. Div. (Theological Ethics)

Cette thèse est le résultat de l'observation des politiques de développement des pays africains depuis les indépendances dans les années 1960. Il ressort que le continent reste encore dépendant de l'extérieur. De là, les bailleurs de fonds et les institutions de développement internationales ont changé de stratégies en s'orientant vers « la coopération non-Gouvernementale », dont les associations et les O.N.G constituent les canaux d'acheminement de l'aide et des projets pour les institutions et les populations. Malgré ce changement de stratégies, la pauvreté persiste. Ce qui nous conduit à reprendre l'analyse du phénomène du développement en cherchant à expliquer le contraste entre la prolifération des O.N.G dans la lutte pour la réduction de la pauvreté et sa persistance. / The results of this study are based on observations made of the development policies of African countries, since the independence of these African countries in 1960. lt appears that the continent is still structurally dependent from outside entities. So, donors and international development institutions have decided to change their strategies and moved towards a new form of cooperation called « Non-Governmental cooperation » by using associations and NGOs as delivery channels to birth projects and aid for institutions as well as populations. With these changes in strategy, the poverty still persists. The subject matter of our research is what explains the contrast betvveen the proliferation of NGOs and non-Poverty reduction solutions and the Iack of actual results.

Modern economic theory of self-interest alleges that in their economic relations people always behave in a way that maximises their utility. The idea whether human beings were solely self-interested has a long history as it can be seen from the writings of Greek philosophers and the Church fathers. Among Greek philosophers there were those who argued that human beings were naturally self-interested (Aristotle) and those who maintained that human beings were communal by nature (Plato, Stoics and the Pythagoreans). The later position was adopted by the Church fathers as they condemned self-interest as the sin of avarice and greed. The justification of self-interest in human and political activities was part and parcel of the economic and political early modernists, as it can be seen in the works of Mandeville, Hobbes, Hume and Adam Smith. In the writings of these thinkers, the flourishing of wealth depended on individual freedom to pursue their self-interests. In this regard, selfinterest became the sole source of motivation in the behaviour of homo economicus. A persistent motif in late modern economic discourse on self-interest is based on the idea that people think and act on the basis of that which is to their self-interest. It is mainly for this reason that late modern economic thinkers maintain that society would prosper when people are left alone to pursue their self-interests. Late modern economic theory of utility maximisation alleges that individuals act only after calculating costs and benefits. The argument of this thesis, based on the commonalities between African humanism and process philosophical anthropology, is that self-interest is antithetical to communal life as advocated in the ethic of Ubuntu. One who acts solely on the basis of maximising his or her utility would inevitably deprive others of a humane existence. A holistic metaphysical outlook based on the relatedness and interrelatedness of everything that exists as we find it in African humanism and process philosophical anthropology implies that the individual exists in internal relations with everything else. We should go beyond selfinterest by giving primacy to a holistic ethic. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Div. (Theological Ethics)

L’histoire a très souvent opposé catholicisme et libéralisme. Tout du moins, les a-telle situés dans deux domaines séparés. Pour autant, cette opposition relève d’une confusion au sujet de la doctrine libérale qui s’en trouve figée dans une conception tronquée. À nos yeux le libéralisme est multiple. S’il convient de parler « des » libéralismes, il reste à penser ce qui les rapproche, la spécificité d’« un » esprit, de « son » esprit. Cette thèse a pour objectif de l’élucider et, pour ce faire, elle établit que le libéralisme dépend d’une conception de l’homme qui trouve sa source en terre chrétienne. En plus de rapporter les principales étapes de l’entrelacement des idées théologiques, philosophiques, économiques et de leur rôle dans la constitution « du » libéralisme, il s’agit donc de porter à la lumière la dépendance d’une doctrine philosophique et économique vis-à-vis d’un principe, « l’être-personne-en-relation », appelé à la féconder. / Catholicism and Liberalism have historically been subject to controversial debate. It’s a matter of fact that these two notions are considered as very different, if not opposed, in most people’s mind. However, this kind of antagonism can be explained by the basic confusion made about the liberal doctrine itself, actually opened to various understandings and that hence to an unrealistic scrutiny. In our opinion, liberalism can be understood as different levels of meanings. The main goal of our work is precisely to define a commune feature between these different opinions by adopting a specific “spirit” that fits with all of these interpretations. This thesis aims to get a better approch, in definig liberalism in generalas the result of a conception that came up in christian countries. In a first step, we have to relate the interlacing of theological, philosophic and economic ideas and their role in the constitution of Liberalism/ how they played a role in the constitution of Liberalism. In addition, it’s a question of putting the light on the dependence of Liberalism towards a concept, “être-personne-en-relation” that is fertilizing the philosophic and economic doctrine.

L'écho parvenant d'Afrique au monde, ou du monde aux Africains, diffracte en une variation de nuances un thème répétitif : l'Afrique irait mal, surtout l'Afrique politique. Parmi ceux qui accourent à son secours, l’Église catholique tient un rôle vital. Mais que fait l’Église en Afrique, que peut-elle lui faire en tant qu’Église ? Peut-on aider l'Afrique à se moderniser en occultant le fait que pour elle, la modernité a été synonyme d'oppression coloniale ? Il y a là une affirmation, une action et une question. On se proposera, prenant l'exemple du Togo, de questionner la pertinence de l'affirmation, d'élaborer une réponse à la question, pour espérer (ré)orienter sinon l'action, du moins sa lecture. On s'inspirera des études post-coloniales et du mouvement théologique Radical Orthodoxy, notamment des travaux de Milbank et Cavanaugh. / Echoes from Africa to the world and from the world to Africa seem to tell a single story: Africa fails.Especially political Africa. Among those dashing to help, the commitment of the Church catholic is to be praised but also critically engaged. Can anyone help Africa to modernize by ignoring that in Africa, modernity meant colonization? Then, a question: what is the Church doing, and what can it do qua Church, for Africa? This confronts us with a situation, an action and a critical question. This work, focusing on Togo taken as mirror to the continent, aims at challenging the way the situation is described, at elaborating an answer to the question in hoping to shed a light on the way the action is understood and undertaken. For such an end, it draws on post-colonial studies and on the Cambridge theological movement called Radical Orthodoxy, through the works of J. Milbank and W. Cavanaugh.

La lutte contre la pauvreté est une difficulté grandissante en raison notamment de son caractère multidimensionnel, et du fait qu’elle intègre la prise en compte d’autres aspects tels que la lutte contre les inégalités. En suivant le cheminement de l’enseignement social de l’Église tel qu’il s’exprime dans les textes pontificaux, de Léon XIII à Jean-Paul II, nous nous posons la question de savoir en quoi cet enseignement social peut nous éclairer et nous stimuler aujourd’hui, compte tenu de ses qualités et de ses défauts, de ses apports et de ses limites. Mais la pauvreté est aussi un thème de la science économique : tout en s’appuyant essentiellement sur la théologie, cette thèse s’inspire donc aussi de ce domaine. Il n’est en effet pas question pour nous d’opposer science économique et enseignement social de l’Église, mais au contraire de faire entendre la voix de l’Église comme système de réflexion. Nous montrerons dans un premier temps, que, à la croisée de la philosophie, de l’économie et de la politique, l’éthique ouvre la voie à la conscience humaine, à la liberté et à la sérénité, mais qu’elle ne peut être dissociée de l’action, sans laquelle elle ne peut porter ses fruits. Puis il s’agit pour nous d’évaluer le niveau éthique des politiques économiques et sociales, notamment en Europe occidentale avant de détailler l’apport de l’enseignement social et de sa réflexion théologique dans la lutte contre la pauvreté. / The fight against poverty is a growing problem in particular because of its multidimensional nature and the fact that it integrates the consideration other aspects such as the fight against inequality. By following the path of the social teaching of the Church as expressed in the pontifical texts, from Leo XIII to John Paul II, we ask ourselves the question of how this social teaching can inform us and stimulate us today, considering its qualities and defects, its contributions and limitations. But poverty is also a theme of economics: while relying primarily on theology, this thesis is inspired also in the field. There is indeed no question for us to oppose economics and social teaching of the Church, but rather to make the voice of the Church as reflection system. We will show in the first place, that, at the crossroads of philosophy, economics and politics, ethics opens the way to human consciousness, freedom and serenity, but it can not be separated from the action, without which it can not bear fruit. Then it is for us to assess the ethical level of economic and social policies, particularly in Western Europe before detailing the contribution of the social teaching and its theological reflection in the fight against poverty.