Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In Australian Aboriginal affairs, the acculturative strand of assimilation developed in large part from Elkin’s religious and Idealist commitment, for which in the years 1928 to 1933 he won social-scientific authority. In competition with both an eliminationist politics of race and a segregationist politics of territory, Elkin drew upon religious experience, apologetics, sociology, and networks to establish a ‘positive policy’ as an enduring ideal in Aboriginal affairs. His leadership of the 1930s reform movement began within the Anglican Church, became national through civic-religious organs of publicity, and gained scientific authority as Elkin made religious themes a central concern in Australian anthropology. But from the 1960s until recently, most scholars have lost sight of the centrality of Idealism and religion in our protagonist’s seminal project of acculturative assimilation. This thesis aims to show how Elkin dealt with problems fundamental to twentieth century Aboriginal affairs and indeed to Australian modernity more generally – problems of faith and science, morality and expediency – in developing his positive policy towards Aborigines.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In Australian Aboriginal affairs, the acculturative strand of assimilation developed in large part from Elkin’s religious and Idealist commitment, for which in the years 1928 to 1933 he won social-scientific authority. In competition with both an eliminationist politics of race and a segregationist politics of territory, Elkin drew upon religious experience, apologetics, sociology, and networks to establish a ‘positive policy’ as an enduring ideal in Aboriginal affairs. His leadership of the 1930s reform movement began within the Anglican Church, became national through civic-religious organs of publicity, and gained scientific authority as Elkin made religious themes a central concern in Australian anthropology. But from the 1960s until recently, most scholars have lost sight of the centrality of Idealism and religion in our protagonist’s seminal project of acculturative assimilation. This thesis aims to show how Elkin dealt with problems fundamental to twentieth century Aboriginal affairs and indeed to Australian modernity more generally – problems of faith and science, morality and expediency – in developing his positive policy towards Aborigines.

Abstract The aim of the thesis was to examine how Finnish mission organization missionaries, re-entering Finland, produce meanings related to their re-entry and re-entry shock in research interview speech. Textual data consisted of ten interviews conducted and transcribed by the researcher. Five of the interviews were conducted as individual interviews and the interviewees were single female missionaries. The rest of the five interviews were carried out as pair interviews and the informants were married missionary couples. I examined the textual data as a unit, I have named as missionary speech, which I have attempted to reconstruct by using discourse analysis. The central concepts are discourse and interpretation repertoire, and the rule of interpretation that conveys the relation between the two. The discourse is constructed in the tension between the interpretation repertoires which were in an opposing interactional relationship with each other. In re-entry shock research, related to culture shock research, culture shock has been approached from three different angles: as a mental crisis, as a learning experience, and as a crisis related to multicultural identity. In this dissertation the crisis perspective was also the starting point of interpreting culture shock, which the first discourse analytical interpretation rule was based on. The series of other interpretation rules was derived from this rule. For interpretation of the results of the analysis, I have used Milton Bennett's concept of intercultural sensitivity and the model of multicultural identity, founded on the former. The model of multicultural identity contains a form of multicultural identity crisis called internal culture shock which is one of the theoretical bases for my research. The discourse called missionary speech, mentioned above, is interpreted in my research on the basis of the concepts of Milton Bennett's six stage developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In the model, intercultural sensitivity is understood as sensitivity towards cultural differences and difference in general. This sensitivity can be ethnocentric when cultural differences are seen as negative or ethnorelativistic when cultural differences are experienced in a positive way. The central foundation is Jane Bennett's interpretation of multicultural identity through the concepts of constructive and encapsulated marginality. As the result of my research, I have established eight discourses: 1) geographical discourse, 2) discourse of mode of speaking, 3) emotive and feeling-based discourse, 4) attitude, 5) value discourse, 6) competence discourse, 7) discourse of intercultural sensitivity and 8) identity discourse. Each discourse was construed by two interpretation repertoires controversial to each other. The result of my research suggests that the multicultural identities, described by Milton Bennett and Janet Bennett, could be interpreted as open possibilities or "options" dynamizing the identity negotiation. Identity could thus be seen as a dynamic process by nature. On the basis of the results, I suggest interpreting intercultural sensitivity in the identity theoretical framework by taking advantage of the concepts of the model of intercultural sensitivity in a more multidimensional way, detached from sequentiality of the value-bound developmental model and drawing attention to the complexity and diverse nuances of intercultural sensitivity. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassa tavoitteena oli tutkia, miten Suomeen palaavat suomalaisen lähetysorganisaation lähetystyöntekijät tuottavat paluutaan ja paluusokkiaan koskevia merkityksiä tutkimushaastattelupuheessa. Tekstimateriaali koostui kymmenestä tutkijan suorittamasta ja litteroimasta haastattelusta. Informanteista viisi oli yksilöhaastatteluissa haastateltuja naimattomia naislähettejä. Loput kymmenen informanttia olivat parihaastatteluissa haastateltuja lähettipuolisoita. Haastattelujen tekstimateriaalia tarkastelin lähettipuheeksi nimittämänäni kokonaisuutena, jota pyrin rekonstruoimaan käyttäen diskurssianalyysiä. Keskeistä diskurssianalyysin sovelluksessani on diskurssin ja tulkintarepertuaarin välinen suhde sekä sen määrittävä tulkintasääntö. Diskurssi rakentuu toisilleen vastakkaisessa vaikutussuhteessa olevien tulkintarepertuaarien jännitteessä. Paluusokkitutkimuksessa kulttuurisokkia on lähestytty kolmesta näkökulmasta: psyykkisenä kriisinä, oppimiskokemuksena ja monikulttuuriseen identiteettiin liittyvänä kriisinä. Kriisinäkökulma muodostui myös tässä väitöskirjassa kulttuurisokin tarkastelun lähtökohdaksi, jonka varassa rakentui ensimmäinen diskurssianalyyttinen tulkintasääntö. Tästä säännöstä edettiin seuraaviin diskursseihin ja repertuaareihin. Analyysin tulosten tulkintaan käytin Milton Bennettin kehittämää kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden käsitettä sekä sen varaan rakennettua monikulttuurisen identiteetin mallia, johon liittyvä 'sisäiseksi kulttuurisokiksi' kutsuttu monikulttuurinen identiteettikriisi on yksi tutkimukseni keskeinen teoreettinen lähtökohta. Lähettipuheeksi nimettyä diskurssia tulkitsen Milton Bennettin kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden kuusivaiheisen kehitysmallin pohjalta. Mallissa kulttuurienvälinen herkkyys ymmärretään herkkyydeksi kulttuurisille eroille ja erilaisuudelle. Tämä sensitiivisyys voi olla etnosentristä, jolloin kulttuurinen erilaisuus mielletään kielteiseksi, tai etnorelativistista, jolloin kulttuuriset erot koetaan myönteisiksi. Toinen tulkinnassa käytetty keskeinen teoreettinen viitekehys on Janet Bennettin kehittämä monikulttuurisen identiteetin tulkinta, jossa apuna ovat rakentavan ja eristyneen sivullisuuden käsitteet. Tutkimukseni tuloksena syntyi kahdeksan diskurssia: 1) maantieteellinen diskurssi, 2) puhetapadiskurssi, 3) tunne- ja tuntemusdiskurssi, 4) asennediskurssi, 5 arvodiskurssi, 6) kompetenssidiskurssi, 7) kulttuurienvälinen herkkyysdiskurssi sekä 8) identiteettidiskurssi. Kukin diskurssi rakentui kahdesta toisilleen vastakkaisesta repertuaarista. Tutkimuksen tulos viittaa siihen, että Milton Bennettin ja Janet Bennettin kuvaamat monikulttuuriset identiteetit voitaisiin tulkita identiteettineuvottelua dynamisoiviksi optioiksi ja identiteetti dynaamiseksi prosessiksi. Tutkimuksen tuloksen pohjalta ehdotan kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden tulkitsemista identiteettiteoreettisessa viitekehyksessä käyttämällä hyväksi ja kehittämällä kulttuurienvälisen herkkyyden kehitysmallin käsitteistöä irrotettuna kehitysmallin arvosidonnaisesta peräkkäisyyteen kytketystä rakenteesta. Samalla tulisi kiinnittää huomiota herkkyyden eri osatekijöiden välisten suhteiden nyansseihin.

This thesis examines the role and effects of Christianity in specific social areas in the period from the arrival of Christianity on the territory of Vietnam to the present time. First the historical overview of the spread of Christianity in this country is provided. There is also analyzed historical context and events that formed historical framework of the penetration of Christianity and missionary activity. This historical overview is followed by the analysis of changes in specific social areas which were caused by the penetration and spread of Christianity in Vietnam. These areas are the political sphere, culture and practical and spiritual life.

Developments in Information and Communication Technologies are rapidly breaking down the barriers of time and place that may have previously limited learning to those able to access campus-based programmes. Distance learning, or e-learning, offers exciting opportunities to cross cultural borders and open up the world of education in ways inconceivable even a few years ago. This study considered how e-learning can be used to effectively deliver training to those involved in Christian mission work. Holistic mission training aims to equip the whole person head, heart and hands for Christian service, especially in cross-cultural contexts. Particularly in the Western world, this training has traditionally taken place within face-to-face learning communities, with e-learning s place as a delivery mode being a matter for debate. The research set out to identify and define the key criteria required for the effective delivery of holistic mission training through e-learning and conceptualise those criteria within a framework. A multimethod research design was adopted combining qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. A systematic literature review was carried out to identify and define the key criteria for effective mission training and effective e-learning and the main challenges in delivering mission training through e-learning, along with potential solutions. Further criteria were found through action research to develop and evaluate a programme of holistic mission training delivered through e-learning. The study contributes to knowledge by identifying for the first time the elements, factors and conditions that can enable holistic mission training to be delivered effectively through e-learning and setting them within a framework to facilitate the development and evaluation of e-learning programmes. The findings highlight principles applicable to different learning situations, cultures and technologies and are largely transferable to other disciplines.

No description available.

In January, 1951, the Lutheran Church of China denounced all relations with the American, German and Scandinavian missions, which for more than half a century had worked in the country. As one of the first, this church made a clear and corporate stand in favour of the New Democracy and the Three-Self Movement, while most of the missions made their political choice, retreated with the Nationalists and finally went to Taiwan. This book presents the Lutheran missions from optimistic new orientations in 1944 to the evacuation and the break down of the cooperation with the Chinese church seven years later. This short .period was dramatic and of great importance for the whole missionary movement, and the study may lead to renewed self-criticism and to a necessary re-evaluation of the Chinese Revolution - one of the most significant events in World History.

This thesis covers the concepts of God in the traditional faith of Meru people but the background goes back to African traditional religion in general. Meru is located at the eastern part of Mount Kenya. The work begins with a literature review and field based on oral tradition, which indicates that Meru people came from northern Africa, moved to Canaan, Meroe, (south of Egypt) Meru-Arusha, Mombasa, and finally through Tana River to their present land. The Meru people also claim that they came along with all Bantus speaking communities in Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa. The thesis has seven chapters. The first one covers introduction and background, followed by the research plan and methodology (chapter two) Literature review (chapter three). The fourth chapter outlines the geography, migration and the various stages of becoming a human being. That fifth chapter consists of Meru traditional government and specialists. The sixth one describes the concepts of the Supreme Being in Meru traditional religion. The seventh chapter discusses the interaction of Meru traditional religion with Christianity and its implications. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis explores the Mbuti Pygmies, a sub-group of the Pygmy peoples, one of the main ethnic groups of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbuti Pygmies are settled mostly in the Ituri rainforest, and are, with regard to Christian mission, still unreached and unchurched. The oversight of the churches vis-à-vis these people is highlighted, through this thesis, as a challenge to Christian mission. This challenge is a result of the way Christian mission is understood and undertaken in DRC, namely in the selective and exclusive way of missioning, according to which some peoples are targeted and others forsaken. Churches in the DRC shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies probably because, on the one hand, these forest dwellers belong to the group of Pygmies whose existence as full human beings is enigmatic and very controversial. Because of the uniqueness of the Pygmy peoples in terms of physical features, culture, and way of life, on the other hand, the non-Pygmy peoples, including Christians, suffer from a kind of complex of superiority that creates in them a spirit of discrimination against the Mbuti Pygmies. As the Mbuti Pygmies are discriminated against even by Christians, it is very difficult for them to be taken into account within the mission agendas of the churches. This challenge to Christian mission is highlighted by two facts. Firstly, Christian mission is designed for all the nations to which the Mbuti Pygmies belong. Secondly, the churches, with their missional mandate to all the nations, shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies as if these people were outside the scope of Christian mission and, thus, unworthy of God’s grace and love.To remedy this challenge, with the aim of implementing Christian mission in the DRC, this study suggests a missional encounter as a way forward to addressing the Mbuti Pygmies. In practice, this may be implemented through the missionary conversion, the right perception of the Mbuti Pygmies as being fully made in the “image of God” and fully part of the “all nations”, promoting formal education among the Mbuti Pygmies, and sustaining the churches by an integrated theological education. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Anglican dioceses established by The Church Mission Society and other Western founded Christian denominations in East Africa were envisaged to grow and become self-governing, self-propagating and self-supporting. The first two goals(to be self governing and self-propagating) have more or less been achieved. The third goal (the pursuit of self-support) is at a critical stage, especially considering that resources, in terms of funding and personnel, are in decline. This research sought to document the factors that contribute to, or hinder, the role that lay people (business people in particular) can play in sustaining the ministry and mission of Anglican dioceses. The research methods chosen for data collection consisted of interactive fieldwork. In this, formal and informal interviews were conducted. The interviewees were selected mainly from Anglican dioceses, with their input being corroborated by Methodists, Evangelical Lutheran and Presbyterian Church leaders from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Interviews were conducted, first, with church leaders who were in office at the time when John Gatu declared a moratorium on Western missionaries in 1974. Next came interviews with leaders of the 1990s and 2000s. For each leader, a corroborative project was documented. A limited quantitative questionnaire was administered for triangulation purposes.The data were analysed to identify the themes and patterns that emerged. This phase was followed by an extensive literature review. The research methodology utilised the Praxis Cycle, developed by Cochrane, De Gruchy and Peterson (1990) in their book, In Word and Deed,which has its roots in the “see, judge, act” method of the Belgian Cardinal, Joseph Cardijn,founder of the Young Christian Workers movement. The analysis allowed me to examine the interplay between business and mission, using the seven-point Praxis Cycle, modified by JNJ Kritzinger (2008:771) to assess the spirituality of BAM and its contribution to Christian mission. Other movements of the Praxis Cycle are practical projects, theological reflection, contextual analysis, ecclesial analysis, agency and reflexivity. The literature review was analysed in terms of four primary dimensions: Business as Business (profit maximisation), Mission as Business(profit from philanthropy),Mission as Mission(philanthropy from profits), and Business as Mission (profit for the common good). The fourth dimension was explored as an overarching vision for churches seeking to grow towards financial sustainability. Also considered was how such sustainability could be implemented in the East African context. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)