Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1996. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-195).

This thesis is an examination of Sunday School and the transition of the institution from a society-based program to a church-based program. Primary emphasis is given to Sunday School’s placement under church leadership and the change in purpose that impacted Sunday School’s functionality. Although there were many contributing factors for this transition, this thesis proposes that two—the rise in wide-spread mass education and the shift from paid to gratuitous teachers—are significant factors which contributed to the shift of Sunday School from society to the church. Religious education became one of the main purposes of Sunday School when it transitioned into the church.

This study demonstrates the lack of meaning in contemporary society. Modern youth is confronted by numerous factors contributing towards a meaningless life. Because the child has an existential yearning for menning, he needs the pedagogic guidance of a (Christian) educator to assist him to constitute his own life-world and, in particular, to enable him to attain a meaningful existence via the acquisition of a Christian philosophy of life. The study reveals the role of education with regard to the various components of constituting a life-world and the overall task of the school and its curriculum. The significance of a Christian philosophy of life in helping the child to constitute a life-world through education is demonstrated with special reference to various aspects of adulthood (modes of human existence) and certain meaningful relationships. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This study demonstrates the lack of meaning in contemporary society. Modern youth is confronted by numerous factors contributing towards a meaningless life. Because the child has an existential yearning for menning, he needs the pedagogic guidance of a (Christian) educator to assist him to constitute his own life-world and, in particular, to enable him to attain a meaningful existence via the acquisition of a Christian philosophy of life. The study reveals the role of education with regard to the various components of constituting a life-world and the overall task of the school and its curriculum. The significance of a Christian philosophy of life in helping the child to constitute a life-world through education is demonstrated with special reference to various aspects of adulthood (modes of human existence) and certain meaningful relationships. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

Text in German with summaries in German and English / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-212) / Das Matthäusevangelium ist in seiner literarischen Form eine Erzählung. Jesus und die Bedeutung seines Lebens sowie der göttlichen Sendung bilden dabei die zentrale Rolle. Die narrative Exegese ist somit für die Untersuchung der Lehrmethoden Jesu in der Darstellungsweise von Matthäus besonders dazu geeignet, die Lehrmethoden zu analysieren und literarisch zu charakterisieren. Eine Untersuchung der Lehrmethoden Jesu zeigt, dass Jesus auf besondere Art und Weise die Jünger schult, begleitet und herausfordert. Dazu werden zentrale Texte aus dem Matthäusevangelium, in denen die Lehrmethoden Jesu und der Lernprozess der Jünger deutlich werden, zunächst identifiziert, eingegrenzt und narrativ untersucht. Mit diesen Ergebnissen werden in einem weiteren Schritt die Lehrmethoden Jesu mit erlebnispädagogischen Methoden verglichen. Auf dieser Grundlage werden die Darstellung und Charakteristik der Lehrmethoden Jesu erarbeitet, um so mögliche nicht-offensichtliche Bedeutungen der Darstellung von Jesu Lehrtätigkeit und seinen Methoden zu entdecken. / The Gospel of Matthew is a narrative in its literary form. Jesus, the meaning of his life, and his divine mission constitute the central message of the Gospel of Matthew. The narrative exegesis of Matthew is especially suited to the analysis and literary characterization of the teaching methods of Jesus. Numerous passages show what special methods Christ used to instruct, accompany, and challenge his disciples. Essential passages of the Gospel of Matthew which reveal the teaching methods of Jesus and learning process of the disciple are first identified, then narrowed down, and finally analyzed in their narrative. The results of Jesus’ teaching methods are subsequently compared with contemporary experiential education. The presentation and characteristic of the teaching methods of Jesus are compiled in this manner in order to discover possible non- obvious meanings in the account of the teaching of Jesus and his methods. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)

The aim of the thesis is to determine the influence exerted by the heads of the Catechetical School (Didaskaleion) in Alexandria on the growth and development of Christianity in Africa prior to the Arab invasion in 642 CE in Egypt. The methodological tool used is the Historical Method. Chapter 1 contains a discussion of the founding and development of the city of Alexandria through its Golden Era and until the Arab invasion in 642 CE. This city played an important role in the development of Christianity as it is there that the early Christians (the "followers of Christ's teachings") settled and established their faith. Chapter 2 deals with the founding of the Didaskaleion as an addition to the other big schools/"universities" in the city, for example the Musaion (also called the Museion), the Serapium (also called the Serapeum) and the Sebastion. All the possible heads of the School are discussed in order to get a full picture of the School and her activities during the time. In Chapter 3 all the extant and lost documents written by the heads of the School are discussed to provide insight into the formation of the Theology of the School and the contributions of her various heads. Chapter 4 constitutes the pinnacle of the thesis and depicts the influence of the School on the known parts of Africa – to the west and the south of Alexandria – during the first seven centuries CE (until the Arab invasion in 642). The influence is described at two levels: Influence, where mentioned by a specific writer, is called factual influence and includes personal influence. • Influence that is not mentioned but observed, is called derived influence. As there is ample evidence that the (heads of the) School exerted both factual and derived influence on the people in Africa, the conclusion can be drawn that the School and her heads played a significant role in the growth and development of Christianity in Africa. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church history)