Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [80]-87).

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [80]-87).

This dissertation will explore the relationship between human agency and divine agency by bringing the work of Albert Borgmann into conversation with the approaches to preaching found in the New Homiletic. It asks: on what authority is the practice of preaching built? The New Homiletic movement began as a criticism of traditional (logical/propositional) approaches to preaching that emphasised the authority of the preacher. Alternatively, the New Homiletic relies on narrative and dialogical modes of preaching to relocate authority within the experience of the listener. The New Homiletic has made progress by shifting authority from the preacher, but this shift does not go far enough. The question of authority must be framed by way of God’s authority as the primary authority of preaching. This dissertation will draw on the work of Albert Borgmann. Central to Borgmann’s work is the effect of technology on society which he calls the device paradigm. The device paradigm describes the cumulative effect of replacing things with devices. Devices sever the relationship between the means and ends of all things and encourage a life of consumption of commodities. An overemphasis on methodology in preaching risks commodifying preaching by separating the means of preaching from its ends. As an alternative, this dissertation presents preaching as a focal practice. Focal practices are Borgmann’s proposal to counter to the disengaging nature of devices. By putting significant things, focal things, at the forefront of one’s life a person can build their life around engagement. Preaching is a focal practice. The effective power of preaching is external to the practice of preaching, and it is God, as the focal thing, who gives it authority. Building on the principles of Polynesian navigation, the preacher will be presented as a navigator. The preacher cannot create the change they wish to see in their congregation. Instead, they work to orient the community to what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation presents a practical theological evaluation of Bible study materials which incorporate the video medium as part of their package. I begin by establishing a focus of practical theology which emphasises the importance of the development of an active reflective sojourning of the practical theologian. I conclude that: <ul> Practical theology is concerned with establishing and cultivating the rhythm of action and reflection within the experience of the Christian community of faith. This is a process of listening to the Word of God and discerning to address the community of faith through proposing change, with all these tasks operating within a current context of the Christian faith and for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community.</ul> Following this, I present the established rhythm of action and reflection by drawing on a narrative of my experience and arrive at a perceived problem with the current development of Bible study materials that incorporate the video medium. The following thesis is proposed: <ul> The Church has a responsibility to train and equip believers within the context of the relational community interacting with the Word of God so the community may grow in discernment and maturity. The Church has, and continues, to utilise different media to provide teaching and training on a mass scale. The current products being developed as Bible study materials (especially those incorporating the video medium) are failing to meet this responsibility.</ul> From this position the study then presents a continuing sojourning through a theoretical and empirical investigation to explore the validity of the thesis and cultivate further my active reflection. The theoretical investigation provides three complimentary perspectives for evaluation: Cultural Value Systems; Communication Theories; and Pedagogical Approaches. The empirical exploration includes a Qualitative Document Analysis of the Bible Study Products which is supplemented by Qualitative Interviews of small group leaders from a local church setting. In conclusion, the thesis is re-evaluated against the outcomes of the study and a proposed change is presented for the purpose of maintaining and perfecting the Christian community. This draws attention to the tension between established cultures and the introduction of new technologies; the importance of a production focussed informed by a theology of small groups; the need for new media to be continually evaluated in their utilisation; and the need to recognise the dominant ‘message’ communicated by the combination of content and the medium. A closing narrative reflection of my experience is also included to illustrate the ongoing cultivation of the rhythm of action and reflection which this study has encouraged. Copyright / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Since the advent of the environmental crisis, some writers have raised concerns with the moral influence of Christian scripture and interpretive traditions, such as the medieval book of nature, a hermeneutic in which nature and scripture are "read" in reference to one another. Scripture, they argue, has tended to stifle sacred relationships with nature as a non-human other. This thesis argues that such perspectives are reductive of the sacred quality of scripture. Environmental perspectives should be concerned with the desacralization of religious texts in addition to nature. Chapter one suggests that two questions surrounding the medieval book of nature's history can help us address ways that such perspectives reduce religious interpretation of sacred texts. The first question is the tension between manifestation and proclamation, or the question of how scripture and nature reveal sacred meanings. The second is the problem of evil, or the question of where evil and suffering come from. It also proposes that Shakespeare's As You Like It and religious philosophy, particularly Paul Ricoeur's writings, can help us address these problems and provide a contemporary religious perspective of the "book of nature." Drawing on scenes in the play in which nature is "read" as a book and Ricoeur's essay on "Manifestation and Proclamation," chapter two argues how manifestation often works interdependently with proclamation. Chapter three discusses how anthropocentric worldviews in which natural entities are exploited also distort interpretive relationships with scripture. Overcoming desacralization requires giving up desires to suppress contingencies, particularly suffering, in nature and in interpreting religious texts. Only as the characters in As You Like It accept contingencies are they able to engage hidden sources of hope, which is comparable to the need to let go of mastery in interpretation Ricoeur describes. Chapter four discusses problems with attempts to uncover the origins of the environmental crisis by discussing what Ricoeur writes about the problems with theodicy and Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology of evil. Assumptions that specific human origins for evil can be blamed confirm deceptively human-centered worldviews and can mask valuable messages about how to morally respond to suffering that are taught in Judeo-Christian narratives.