This dissertation argues that the new perspective on Paul rests on a faulty heremeneutical presupposition. This presupposition is that covenantal nomism (as advocated by E. P. Sanders as a proper conception of Second Temple Judaism) could not have served as a foil for Paul in the development of a doctrine of justification that resembles that of the Reformation. The presupposition is faulty because Sanders's portrayal of Judaism as grace-based has no bearing on the categories that defined the shape of the doctrine of justification during the Reformation period and beyond. The study neither accepts nor rejects Sanders's portrayal of Judaism. Instead, it accepts Sanders's claim for the sake of argument and then demonstrates that his claim does not warrant a radical revision of the Reformation approach to the Pauline writings. Chapter 1 demonstrates the strong dependence of the new perspective on Sanders's work and the hermeneutical presupposition that his work Paul and Palestinian Judaism has generated. Chapter 2 sets the historical-theological background for the thesis by surveying important works in the pre-Reformation Catholic scholastic period, as well as the decree of the Council of Trent on justification, in order to demonstrate that, much like covenantal nomism, the emerging Roman Catholicism of the late medieval and Reformation periods was a grace-based, yet monocovenantal, religion. Chapter 3 surveys the works of three prominent Reformers-Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and John Calvin-in order to demonstrate that what defines the Reformation doctrine of justification is not grace per se but rather a doctrine of alien righteousness, situated within a bicovenantal framework, in which there is an uncompromising divine demand for perfect obedience. Chapter 4 traces the same themes-perfect obedience, bicovenantalism, and alien righteousness-into the post-Reformation period in order to demonstrate that these are the categories that define the "old perspective" on Paul. Chapter 5 summarizes the foregoing observations, argues that the new perspective's hermeneutical presupposition is unwarranted, and then concludes with exegetical observations that demonstrate a bicovenantal theology in Paul that is similar to that of the Reformation doctrine of justification, one that could have easily arisen in the context of a prevailing covenantal nomism.

M.A. / The focus of this dissertation is based on the Biblical and Pauline perspectives of life and death. If the Christian is to believe abortion is wrong, he should do so for sound Biblical reasons. Scripture places a deep personal concern toward human beings. The Judeo-Christian tradition has always held that all men and women are created in God's image and that every life is to be considered of value. The Bible does not place less value on people who are of a lower standard or age because it does not question their right to live and this is the main reason the church can never become anything else but pro-life. Of importance is also the fact that the innocent human life needs to be protected and if it is not, this would be inviting God's judgement. Man has no right to take another person's life because this would be failing to acknowledge God as Creator of life. Death is seen in Scripture as an enemy and the Bible says there is hope for deliverance in the face of death. With the coming of Christ, the power of God's reign on earth can be experienced in "new life" as described by Paul. Looking at what Scripture had to say about when does human life begin, it was discovered that Scripture places a high value on conception. It was also evidenced that conception is a gift from God and a fulfilment of His promises found in Scripture. A fundamental unity exists between body and soul and death is not an alternative even in the face of suffering. No Scripture supports abortion; on the contrary, God is viewed as overseeing all of life from the moment of conception. By examining the five major faiths in South Africa, namely Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity, it was realised that all five of these faiths take the unborn child into consideration. Only in extreme circumstances do some of these faiths allow abortion, e.g. rape, incest. It must also be said that these circumstances are in an abnormal situation and are not regarded as regular practices. It was necessary to discuss the application and effects of abortion in the final chapter in order to determine what happens in an abortion. Medical facts were presented about abortion and this was helpful in order to deal with the moral questions more intelligently. A description was given of the more common procedures used in performing abortions. It was evidenced that the medical staff participating in the performance of abortions are affected psychologically and recognise that abortions are destructive and violent. From all the specialised medical equipment available and all the modern medical advances being made daily, abortion is seen as unnecessary. Even the "hard cases" such as rape, incest and genetic defects did not permit support for abortion. Ethical considerations were also taken into account with more value being placed on innocent human lives. A number of questions were then addressed concerning the role of the law and abortion. The South African Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975 was discussed and it was necessary to look at two other countries with similar constitutions, namely Ireland and the United States of America, in order to see how they have ruled on abortion. Ireland has interpreted its constitution to favour the right to life of the unborn child while the Untied State of America preferred the right to privacy of the mother. A brief summary was given of the legal changes recommended by the Ad Hoc Select Committee on Abortion and Sterilisation with a number of figures being given on abortion in South Africa. A number of both surprising, and shocking facts were discovered about the New Constitution and its responses to the public. It was also necessary to refute a number of "pro-choice" arguments submitted to the Ad Hoc Select Committee on Abortion and Sterilisation as it seems the "pro-life" arguments were not even considered. A lengthy discussion was then given about the Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). It is evident that South Africa is not yet familiar with this term although many suffer from it already. The defence mechanisms were listed as well as the symptoms of this syndrome. The final chapter ended with a number of tasks of healing of the Post- Abortion Syndrome. It was concluded that the Bible is pro-life and that it does not seem that the New Constitution, which seems to be pro-choice, did not even consider Biblical morals in its deliberations. It is acknowledged that it is the task of the church , and even the other faiths in South Africa, that will need to continue in this battle to protect the life of the unborn and the mother.

M.Litt. et Phil. / The importance of the Trinity cannot be overemphasised in the matter of salvation. We cannot talk about a salvation if we cannot talk about a Trinity. Paul thinks of salvation only in trinitarian categories. For the purpose of this treatise, we call it a Soteriological Trinity. Paul takes the soteriological trinity as a matter of fact because he ascribes deity to both Christ and the Holy Spirit without denying his monotheistic background or beliefs. For Paul, God's dealing with people in the world is to call a people for his own name. These are called the People of God, and is identified with the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Church. The Holy Spirit is instrumental in constituting this People, or Body, or Temple. Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the gift of the promised Holy Spirit, this People is defined as an eschatological community, and salvation is an eschatological event. Through these events, the future and the kingdom is present in the here and now ("already"), while there is still a "not yet" aspect to that future. This society, the Church, is therefore a reflection of the Divine Trinity. They reflect God's unity, love, grace, kingdom and more in this world. Because the community of believers is a Spirit-instituted, Spirit-sealed, Spirit-quickened, Spirit-initiated, Spirit-controlled and Spirit-endowed community, they characterise the New Age, which is the age of the New Covenant and the age of the Spirit. That means that our obedience to God is internally motivated rather than by external codes or requirements of law. The Church is, really then, the beneficiaries of God's grace, thus making them a charismatic community. Salvation is by God's grace. Sanctification is by God's grace. Security is ours by God's grace. In fact for Paul, the whole of the Christian life is a matter of God's grace. He calls it "the riches of the glory of God's grace" (Eph. 1:7). Grace is the antithesis of the Law. Paul's own experience of Christ and the Spirit, changed his whole understanding of God, the People of God, and the Law. God was now understood as a trinity; the People of God now consisted of both Jews and Gentiles; and the Law, though holy and good, was weak through the flesh, and unable to bring salvation. In fact, the Law brought death and bondage, rather than life and liberty. The Spirit of life and liberty set us free from the law of sin and death. The Spirit, life and liberty are then gifts of grace. We now have to live as free, not using our freedom as a 'cloak of maliciousness', but to bring honour to God. Freedom was for Paul the mark of sonship, and bondage of slavery. We are sons and not slaves. Through the Spirit we were made sons of God, and are being fashioned after the image of the true Son of God. All of the Spirit's operations in the Church, are to this end. Whether to give us life, or to place us in Christ's Body, or to unite believers to Christ and to each other, or to give gifts for the building up of the saints and for the work of the ministry, or to lead and control us, or to have us bear spiritual fruit, a to reveal to us the mysteries of God, it is so that the Body and the individual believer be conformed to Christ's likeness. All these operations are done in conjunction with the Father and the Son. The Kingdom of God is for Paul the final goal of the relationship between the Spirit, Christ and the People of God. So that God's righteousness and rule be the culmination of it all. The Kingdom of God is nevertheless a present reality, in that righteousness, peace and joy are already the experience of the Church. Yet, the future of the believers' participation in the Kingdom, is guaranteed by their participation with the Holy Spirit in the present. Through this present participation with the Spirit, are we guaranteed of the future bodily resurrection, inheritance and eternal life. Our participation in the "firstfruits" guarantees our participation in the "harvest". When the Holy Spirit is involved in the world, he is involved with the task of the Kingdom; the calling of those who will be the People for God's Name. The Holy Spirit makes the Word understandable and appropriate for salvation through the Gospel. He gives life which opens them up for his work in them to bring about their identification with Christ, the Lord and King. The Holy Spirit is the key to true spirituality and Christ-likeness. The Holy Spirit is the key to the future.

M.Litt. et Phil. / The focus on this script is based on the comparison between the Johannine and Pauline eschatology. Eschatology is the field of interest of many scholars and theologians. Both the Old and the New Testament, examine eschatology as the hope of the Messiah's coming and the end of the Age. Eschatology is the teaching or doctrine of the last things, the Second coining of Our Lord Jesus Christ. John and Paul use different words, with the same meaning, to describe the Second coming of the Messiah. They approach the subject matter under the following headings: Parousia, resurrection, judgment and eternal life. In order to define John and Paul's meaning of eschatology, the following passages are important: John 5:19-29; I and II Thessalonians and I Corinthians 15. When we read the entire fourth gospel, the strong emphasis is upon the presence of salvation in the believers life. Paul, for instance, speaks of salvation as both a present experience and future hope. This is clearest in Paul's declaration in Romans 8:24 "for in hope we are saved". The central message in both Johannine and Pauline gospels is Jesus Himself is life, He offers life to men in the present. The aim of this script, is to bring this important aspect of the eschatology of John and Paul to the fore. This script also highlights the importance of eschatology as the foundation of the Christian faith (Creed). Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Christians look forward with hope to the resurrection of the dead and the life in the world to come. We shall realise in this script that salvation, eternal life, resurrection and judgment are a realized or present reality. The reason why this study has been undertaken is to look at the presentation of eschatology as present and future, in John and Paul letters.

M.A. / Christianity was not born in a vacuum, but it completely owes its historical genesis on or from Jewish religion. The Apostolic, Primitive church was initially composed of Jewish believers who had seen in and understood Jesus of Nazareth as the anticipated Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets and writers. The current and lamentable truth is, Jewish Religion and Christianity are now two different and separate religions. Jesus Christ, His disciples, and Paul remained Jews as far as the Jewish culture is concerned. It is difficult to separate the sacred and secular in the Jewish economy because Jewish culture and religion are intertwined. In this culture, ploughing is as sacred as worshipping. The only apparent shift in his (Paul) paradigm was in interpreting and explaining the Old Testament prophecies and ceremonial system in the light of the Jesus Christ event at the Cross. His evaluation of that "event" and the Person of Jesus of Nazareth became the point of conflict with Judaisers and Judaism that would set a stage for separation between Christianity and Jewish Religion. The Christian Church exists in the post-Cross era. This Church is faced with, among other issues and tasks, challenges of sifting and demarcating between God's injunctions and Jewish Customs.

M.A. / In this study the question on the eschatology of the New Testament is handled. Most New Testament scholars never try to compare the eschatology of Paul with the eschatology of the book of Revelation. Can this two works be compared or are they so different that they cannot be compared? There was a remarkable development in the eschatology of the period between the two testaments and even during the duration of the New Testament. These influences are considered to make a comparison between the writings of the early church and the Jewish people.The writings of Paul were by no means written to give a full eschatology but the letters is full of eschatological thoughts. The Apocalypse of John on the other hand is so full of eschatological meaning that almost the whole book has to do with eschatology. To compare these two is therefore very significant. It is considered that the two writing had one common source of apocalyptic thought. The development within the Jewish thought also shed some light on the meaning of some of Paul's doctrine. The two different settings in which the two authors lived also played an important role. Although both authors experienced persecution in some sense, the question that arises is if they perceived it different from each other's experience. The method used in the study is the literal comparison method. The two works is compared on the grounds of literal differences as well as the exegetical differences. The apocalyptic traditions of the Jews and the early Christians also are brought into view. The backgrounds of the writers are considered although not much is known about John who wrote Revelation. The influences of the Greek and Roman cultures play an important role to understand the development of the eschatological thought.It seems that there is much more conformity between the letters of Paul and the book of Revelation than what most people think. The purpose of the two works is different and many times the eschatology of Revelation is not included in the eschatology of the rest of the New Testament because of its symbols and images. Paul's strong Jewish background played an important role in his eschatology. The Pauline readers had an expectation for the coming of Christ but the crisis that is experienced in Revelation gave the readers an ever-greater expectation for the coming of the Son of Man. The cosmic occurrences and al the symbolism adds up to a great end in the Final Age. Those who persevere the enemies of God and serve the only one true God will be rewarded justly. The study can to the conclusion that behind the two eschatological works lies a common tradition, which developed from the apocalyptic thought of the early Christian age.

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