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One of the defining features of early Christians is that they invoked the name of Jesus. This usage of the name of Jesus stands in stark contrast to prior Jewish conventions that utilised the name of YHWH. This study focuses upon the christological import of the use of the name of Jesus in various activities, especially cultic acts. In order to shed light on the significance of the use of the name of Jesus in early Christianity, a History-of-Religions approach is employed whereby both Greco-Roman and Jewish conventions are explored in terms of the use of numinous and apotropaic names in various activities. Thereafter, various Christian materials are examined and compared to the Greco-Roman and Jewish materials (literary and non-literary) with the purpose of drawing conclusions on the meaning and function of the use of the name Jesus in early Christianity.

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The thesis aims to assess the influence of the concept of Partnership in Mission in key policy statement of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) in relation to its mission training College of the Ascension, Selly Oak, Birmingham between 1965 and 1996. It will be demonstrated that the concept of Partnership in Mission owes its origins to the theology of <i>Missio Dei</i>, which understands that mission belongs to God and that the church’s role is to participate in God’s mission in the world. Partnership in Mission occurs when churches share resources for mission in mutual and interdependent relationships. The concept challenges the traditional practice of Western missionary agencies of transferring resources in a one-way direction from the West to the rest of the world. Learning to share together in God’s mission across geographical, cultural and theological boundaries is fundamental to the application of Partnership. The thesis examines the extent to which Partnership in Mission influenced decisions of the USPG in relation to the College of the Ascension. Each chapter of the thesis examines a key decision taken by USPG concerning the College of the Ascension between 1965 and 1996. The seven chapters are based on the following decisions: to re-open the College in 1965; to receive students from across the Anglican Communion in 1969; to review missionary selection and training policy in 1974; to inaugurate a College Advisory Group in 1978; to initiate a Bursaries Programme in 1982; to extend the college facilities in 1989; and to form a United College with the Methodist Church in 1996. Each chapter examines the minutes of USPG committees which outline the decision, and the background reports which illuminate the process taken to formulate the committee resolution.

In 1900 the Free Church of Scotland and the United Presbyterian Church united to form the United Free Church of Scotland. A small minority of the Free Church declined to enter the united Church and attempted to continue the separate life of their Church. Indeed, the claim was made that it was <i>ultra vires</i> for Free Churchmen to join the United Free Church of Scotland. When this claim was taken to the law courts the final result, four years later, was that the name and property of the Free Church of Scotland were found to belong to the dissident minority. This study examines the law case and its origins in the history of the Free Church. The principal sources employed are the legal proceedings, the official records of the Church and the writings of its more prominent members. The finding of the study is that the ecclesiastical division which manifested itself in the law case of 1900-04 can be traced back to an earlier Union controversy which began in 1863. Indeed, there is evidence that the seeds of the division are to be found at the very foundation of the Church in 1843. Conflicting approaches in social philosophy, theology, worship and piety are described and analysed. The conclusion is that what, at bottom, divided the contesting bodies was their attitude to Creed. The United Free Church championed the view that the Church, acting in obedience to Christ her Head, had absolute power over her Creed and was free to alter, change, add to or modify her constitution and Creed. The continuing Free Church, on the contrary, held that the Church's identity was dependent on her loyalty to her settled Creed and constitution. It is argued that this difference was decisive in the law case and that it lay at the bottom of the controversy from the outset. It is concluded that the end result of the controversy and ensuing law case was the fatal disturbance of a credal balance which characterized the Church of Scotland constitution inherited by the Free Church in 1843: a balance between massive inbuilt doctrinal convervatism and a decided assertion of the Church's superiority to her Creed.

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This study examines the impact of the London Missionary Society on the Bangwato of Botswana from 1857 to 1923. The latter possessed a common language, culture and religion with other Tswana ethnic groups and were ruled by a democratic government headed by a King. This societal structure played a vital role in the development of the Ngwato Church. Failure by the missionaries to recognise the importance of these cultural processes, meant that they did not see the need to contextualize Christianity, which resulted in a series of conflicts. Although the reaction of the missionaries was varied it was generally influenced by a superiority complex. The study shows that the L.M.S. adopted two major proselytizing traditions. These are represented by two great pioneer missionaries among the Tswana - Robert Moffat and David Livingstone. The former was culturally conservative, apolitical and evangelical. His methods and approaches largely attempted to impose a western type Christianity on the Ngwato. He rejected the pre-colonial and pre-christian Ngwato customs and traditions without any proper assessment. Although the Livingstonian tradition also demanded that the Tswana society altered in order to accept the missionary message, the task was to be achieved through both formal and information processes of education, acculturation and political involvement. Through these avenues were indigenous leaders also to be.