This thesis seeks to explore the implications of a parenetic reading of the Book of Revelation as a whole, rather than merely of the seven messages in which this is more commonly regarded as the primary purpose of the text. It examines the validity of this approach in relation to the book�s claims about its purpose in the original communication event of which its text is a witness and its effectiveness in addressing hermeneutical issues in key passages of the book and argues that attention to the function of parenesis facilitates readings of Revelation which connect more directly with the intention of the book free from the need to decipher obscure coded references to past or future history. Drawing from the text of the Apocalypse a twofold hermeneutical strategy is developed and exemplified by application to key passages of the book. The first aspect of this reading strategy is focussed on the proposed parenetic nature of the book. In an examination of Revelation�s introductory and concluding passages it is argued that as a coherent unity they form a frame around the book. This frame serves to establish the perspective from which the whole book may be read. It does so by giving rise to the expectation that the whole book contains parenetic exhortation to faithfulness in light of the imminent parousia. Consequently this thesis proceeds to interpret the Book of Revelation by focussing primarily on how the various images in the book�s body (4:1-22:9) as well as the explicit parenesis in the seven messages serve to communicate this parenetic exhortation to the original addressees. The second aspect of interpretation seeks to facilitate scholarly analysis of the parenesis expected to be contained in Revelation�s body with systematic regard for the individual situation of each of the addressees of the book, as documented in the comparatively accessible seven messages. To this end an intra-textual hermeneutic is employed. It builds on an examination of the links between the various parts of Revelation which is part of the examination of both the book�s frame and the seven messages. This intra-textual reading utilizes the many links between the seven messages and Revelation�s body by allowing them to play a determinative role in the investigation of an image�s parenetic implications. In order to further explore the validity of a parentic reading, the intra-textual principle is applied to two central parts of Revelation�s body, the Babylon vision (Rev 17-19:3) and the seal, trumpet and bowl visions (Rev 6, 8, 9, 11:15-19, 15, 16). In this reading, the Babylon vision is read not as a general critique of the church�s pagan environment but as a divine commentary on the concrete threats and temptations with which the churches of the seven messages were confronted. In God�s judgment of Babylon those who suffer under her violence against Christians are promised vindication and are thus encouraged to maintain their faithful witness as citizens of the New Jerusalem. The citizens of Babylon however are exhorted to repent and leave her behind, becoming citizens of the New Jerusalem and thus escaping Babylon�s demise. The seal, trumpet and bowl visions are interpreted as illustrating the dividing line between what constitutes faithful witness to Christ on the one hand and heed to satanic deception on the other. Faithfulness even to the point of death is expected of the followers of the Lamb; the inhabitants of the earth are exhorted to repent from their affiliation with the beast and give glory to God. Thus such an intra-textual reading of Revelation as parenesis offers a strategy for reading the book in a way that is relevant for the Christian church beyond the limits of end-time phantasms on the one hand and mere historic interest on the other hand and so might facilitate the emergence of the message of the book from the obscurity in which it appears to be hidden to a significant proportion of its contemporary readers.

Having been a male dominated pursuit, Bible interpretation has long reflected a male bias and encouraged sexual stereotyping in the study of biblical characters. The history of Jewish Bible interpretation and the traditional Jewish emphasis on works of specific exegetes have, in turn, colored the educational materials used in Jewish school curricula and stereotypes have been perpetuated as elementary school children study the Bible. This thesis focuses on eight women in Scripture. After examining the Bible, selected rabbinic exegetical works are studied to see how this literature reflects or changes the Bible's image. A review of textbooks and teaching tools used for Bible study follows to see how these educational materials present the biblical women, whether or not they mirror classical Jewish perspectives on biblical women, and if they offer a varied portrait of the figures.

This thesis consists of a detailed exegetical and contextual study of passages that contain the term "to know YHWH" in the book of Jeremiah. The goal of the thesis was to define the meaning of the term "to know YHWH" as Jeremiah understood it and to find out its relevance for the Church in DR Congo. The study demonstrates that the life of Judah as a nation was conditioned by the knowledge of YHWH. According to Jeremiah, to know YHWH is to recognize covenantal traditions as normative and to accept to follow them for a harmonious relationship with YHWH and with one another in the society. These covenantal traditions were rooted in YHWH's mighty acts of liberation of Israel in history, in YHWH's prerogative as the sole God of Israel, and in the necessity for Israel to establish a just society as witness of YHWH's justice, righteousness and steadfast love. Jeremiah demonstrates that it is the abandonment of this knowledge that caused the disintegration of Judah as a nation. This abandonment of the knowledge of YHWH is manifested in two areas. The first is the area of social justice (4:19-22; 5:1-6; 9:1-8; 9:22-23; 22:13-19). Several passages in Jeremiah link the lack of the knowledge of YHWH with the perversion of justice in terms of not encouraging the oppressed, not defending the cause of the fatherless, not pleading the cause of the widow, and not maintaining justice in the court. This lack of social justice is also manifested in terms of falsehood, adultery, abuse of human speech and the abuse of power by those who possess it. The second is the area of idolatry (2:4-13). The prophet Jeremiah accuses the people of Judah (Israel) of not having called upon YHWH during their time of need. Instead, they chose to go after foreign nations and their idols. In this way, they broke the covenant with YHWH and brought judgment upon the nation. For Jeremiah, the blame of the failure to know YHWH is to be placed upon the entire nation, but particularly upon two groups of people: religious and political leaders. These two groups worked for their own interest and failed to maintain a society according to the requirements set in the covenant. YHWH responded to this failure in two different ways (24:4-7; 31:31-34): he punished his people by sending them into exile, and promised to restore them. This restoration will consist of bringing Israelites back to their land, of making a new covenant with them, and of giving them a new heart that will enable them to fully know him. I used my Congolese context to understand the meaning of some passages in Jeremiah where I could not agree (or where I was not sure) with other scholars' interpretation. At the same time, the book of Jeremiah helped me to realize that it is because our Congolese Christianity (or our knowledge of YHWH) is still superficial that it has not yet been able to help us build a coherent and unified nation. This is why the DR Congo has collapsed in spite of its claim to have the largest Roman Catholic community in the continent, the world's most influential francophone Protestant movement and the continent's biggest independent Churches. This researcher argues that the crisis in DR Congo may find a solution if the Church reorganizes her ministries and views her mission as the implementation of Jesus' mission for the world: the announcement 1f the coming of the Kingdom of God with its vision of the new heaven and new earth. This vision of new earth and new heaven would lead the Church to a new understanding of our salvation in Christ as a constant restoration of our relationship with God, with one another and 'a new understandiJOl9 of our life and ministry as responsible citizens, striving to reconcile every aspect of our life as individuals and community with Christ. In this way, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of each Christian would not be understood only in terms of leading us to heaven but also as the power that enables us to transform our society now and here. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

South Africa is in many ways a traumatised society and the Bulhoek Massacre of 24 May 1921 in which about two hundred people were killed in a matter of minutes was one such traumatising experience. What makes this massacre special is that the victims were a clearly identi~able christian grouping who dared to question and resist the overpowering might of the state by cleverly establishing an utopian community which lived in a new and resistant time, with counter values and an alternative lifestyle. One of the key ideas which shaped the establishment of this utopian commune by Enoch Josiah Mgijima on what was declared Crownland were this-worldly views of salvation and the destruction of the world. Mgijima offered people a practical and pragmatic way in which they would be saved from this impending destruction. A lot of water as gone under the bridge since that fateful morning in May 1921. This study investigates present views of salvation among the Israelites, the followers of Mgijima, and the role of the memory of Bulhoek Massacre in the construction of these soteriological notions. The thesis argues that inspite of the extreme trauma and apparent disconfirmation of the original vision and hope of a counter society, present views of salvation must stand in continuity with the hope and vision of those who fell in 1921. Furthermore, the thesis argues and demonstrates that though they seek to transcend the limits and constraints of the present commodified structuring of social and material relations, present views of salvation necessarily have their basis in the' material context of domination, thereby rendering the soteriology of the Israelites as a contextual soteriology. Using the methodological framework of depth hermeneutics the thesis probes and interprets the various reading methods and henneneutic strategies that the Israelites utilize in the construction of their soteriological notions. These methods and strategies are focused on all four ritual festivals of the Israelites, viz. pesach, the Fast of Esther, the commemoration service of the Bulhoek Massacre, and the commemoration of the life ofEnoch Mgijima These methods and strategies establish a dynamic and organic link between the two biblical festivals and the two Israelitic festivals across time and space, through a contextual appropriation of the two biblical festivals which have freedom as their key motif. What becomes clear through this appropnanon is that though the Israelites do not view themselves as a political movement per se, freedom from domination is key to their theological self-understanding and identity. The thesis demonstrates the manner in which the memory of the Bulhoek Massacre serves to facilitate the insurrection of the soteric knowledges which the perpetrators of the massacre sought to subjugate. What the study also reveals with respect to the Fast of Esther is that the narrative and interpretive strategies of Esther's soteric agency is determined not only by her identity as a woman in a kyriarchal context in Persian exile, but also by the gender-biased interpretative interests and commitments of the present Israelite readers. For this reason male Israelite define her soteric agency along domesticating, patriarchal and macho lines whereas the Israelite women are silent in respect of this and choose instead to underscore the spiritual depth of her soteric agency. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Taxation was one of the crucial issues facing the first century Palestinian peasantry. In particular, the Galilean peasantry suffered under a triple tax system: tribute to Rome, taxes to support the Herodian administration, and the Temple tithes and taxes. These taxes were not used for the well being of the people, but were a means for the ruling class and Temple leaders to enrich themselves. The wealthier the ruling and Temple elites became, the poorer the peasants became. The burden of taxation forced the peasants to borrow. This would later lead them into a state of indebtedness, landlessness, debt-slavery and finally, into severe poverty. It is against this background that we explore Jesus' response towards taxes in his words and deeds. After investigating the response of Jesus towards taxes, this study examines how Jesus' response challenges the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) - Konde diocese in its handling of taxation issues in its context. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999

The Gumuz society in Ethiopia has been neglected and almost forgotten by the previous rulers of Ethiopia. It is not surprising therefore to see that the majority of the population of Ethiopia have no knowledge about the Gumuz society. This society was not exposed to education until the arrival of the missionaries at the end of 1950's. When Christianity was introduced, the Church did not do enough in helping Christians to distinguish between the Gumuz traditional and the Christian marriage practices, the former which denies some male members of the community the possibility of getting married. Marriage is contracted by exchanging girls. Thus, unless a man has a sister to exchange he is not going to get married. There is an assumption that a man may get a girl from one of his extended families, but that is not always possible. He may or may not get a girl. Therefore the man will end up without getting married. The introduction of Christianity made it possible for every member of the Gumuz people to get married by allowing them to marry from the neighbouring tribes. However, it introduced another side effect. Christians were not able to differentiate between the Gumuz traditional and Christian marriage practices. This dissertation studies the traditional and the Christian marriage practices of the Gumuz society and of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (the EECMY). According to the Gumuz society, marriage is believed to be (Okka) God given. To get married is to obey okka, to accept what God has given, and to have as many children as possible in order to increase the population of the Gumuz tribe. Failure to get married is a crime against traditional beliefs and practices. Furthermore, this dissertation provides the way the Gumuz society understands divorce. Among the Gumuz society divorce does not concern only one family. Both family members and extended families are affected. Since marriage is performed as indicated earlier on by exchanging girls, if a person divorces his wife he has to expect that his sister will divorce her husband which will disturb the whole extended family relationships. Realizing the risk, every married persons in the Gumuz society is conscious about divorce. This attitude brings the rate of divorce to a low level. This dissertation sees the need for counselling and appeals for a therapeutic approach by putting emphasis on contextual family therapy, a therapeutic process which is constructed with maximal concern for its relevance to the cultural context in which it occurs. For example, the problems related to exchanging girls, marriage between the Gumuz and the neighbouring tribes, the issue of divorce, and so forth, are not problems which can be discussed only with individuals or a family member, it needs the inclusion of extended families as well as multigenerational processes. This therapeutic process is capable of providing a contextual approach by looking at the system of the family. I recommend the therapists to have a grounding in the general principle of family life and to get familiar with the way families operate as a social system. The dissertation hopes to create awareness among therapists with basic theories of family systems which enable them to get knowledge of a causes for dysfunctional behaviour within the families, and to equip them with therapeutic skill. This is paramount. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

The book of Deuteronomy turns out to be very interesting for the study of passing on religious traditions within family. On the one hand, with a canonical approach — i.e. an approach where the function of a biblical text within the canon is emphasised over die history of this text - Deuteronomy acts like the hermeneutical key explaining how the new generations must face and actualise the Torah — the principles of life and conduct given by the Lord to His people. On the orner hand, the content of Deuteronomy represents the family as the privileged place, or rather die "vehicle" by which die Torah will be handed down to the next generation.

The subject of this thesis is the relationship between eschatology and history in the Christian community for which Luke-Acts was written. Chapter 1 formulates the problem in terms of Luke's eschatology. It argues that Luke and his community thought of the End as 'near' and that Luke's historical perspective affected his eschatology. Luke-Acts represents a community that held a relevant eschatological hope and was aware of continuing history. This is the interpretive problem this thesis seeks to enlighten. The perspective to be used in approaching this problem is that of sociological analysis. Chapter 2 explores the use of sociological perspectives in New Testament study and the benefits to be achieved by the use of the sociology of knowledge. Chapter 3 is a sociological analysis of the community in terms of date, location, stratification, racial composition, boundaries, social institutions, and charismatic roles and functions. This material suggests that mission was an important community task. Chapter 4 establishes a sociology of mission for the community, investigating commitment as the mechanism that motivated community members to pursue mission, the importance of mission to the community, the motivation of converts, and the problems encountered in mission. Chapter 5 investigates the social functions of eschatology in the community and finds that it functioned in legitimating numerous aspects of the community's mission experience. Chapter 6 investigates the social functions of history in the community and finds that it functioned in legitimating various aspects of the community's mission experience. In the conclusion it is shown that history and eschatology were functionally related to one another in legitimating aspects of the community's mission experience. This functionality also provided a meaningful relationship in helping the community to make sense of its world. This further prepares us to try and understand these ideas theologically by placing them in a social context.

No description available.

This study is a critical analysis of Carl Gustav Jung's interpretation of the book of Job. It presents first the methodological approach adopted in Jung's reading of the book of Job and the epistemology at the basis of his enterprise. It then explores the biographical context of Jung's writings on the book of Job followed by the reconstruction of Jung's interpretation of it with reference not only to Antwort auf Hiob ( Answer to Job) published in 1952, but also to other writings. A series of critiques addressed to Jung's reading of the book of Job are analyzed and followed by a careful study of key concepts of Jung's psychology necessary to properly situate his understanding of the book of Job. The latter is the bulk of this study and emphasizes the relevance of the notion of the self and of the individuation process. All this provides the background for an exploration of the positive aspect of the unconscious. Doing so is necessary to put in a new light the experience of Job, and thus the suffering of the righteous or the innocent. The conclusion widens the issue concerning the reality of evil and suffering in its relation to the divine according to Jung, and it suggests some possible research topics for further examination.