This thesis argues that the Feast of the Discovery of the Cross offered an occasion to refute religious opposition to the cross and crucifixion in the diverse socio-political contexts encountered by Syriac Christians between the fourth and the ninth centuries. At its inception, the Feast of the Cross promoted the cult of the True Cross, Old Testament typology, and the expansion of the Christian faith, and these features were sufficiently malleable to meet new religious challenges and political contexts. John of Dara's ninth-century homily On the Cross is a lengthy exposition on the veneration of the cross, and it showcases how the feast could be used for apologetic ends. The first chapter focuses on the relic of the True Cross and the theologies of the cross of Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Ephrem the Syrian, which shaped later festal celebrations. The second chapter traces the development of the legend of Helena's Invention of the Cross and introduces the most popular Syriac invention legends, the Protonike and Judah Kyriakos legends. The third chapter analyses themes in pre-Arab Conquest Syriac homilies for the Feast of the Cross by Narsai, David Eskolaya, Jacob of Serugh, Severus of Antioch, and Pseudo-Chrysostom. The fourth chapter provides an overview of the dramatic changes of the seventh century during the reign of Heraclius and following the Arab Conquest. Chapter five compares inter-religious debate concerning the cross and crucifixion between Christians and Jews and between Christians and Muslims between the seventh and ninth centuries. Chapter six introduces John of Dara's homily for the Feast of the Cross, which uses the traditional themes, together with apologetic topics, to defend the veneration of the cross. Chapter seven explores the influence of John of Dara's homily on later Syrian Orthodox writers, Moshe bar Kepha and Dionysius bar Ṣalībī.

Religious experience is a narrative reality, while it certainly relates to doctrines and rituals, it is embodied by the stories people tell which express the meaning of conversion as understood by the converts themselves. In order to enter this narrative world we must engage the actual stories told by converts, making space for their narratives as they make meaning of their experiences and thus open windows on the emic perspective. Sometimes this happens through stories that are largely thematic—expressing conversion in mainly one metaphor. Other times, narratives may touch on many different ideas, allowing us to discern various internal structures, such as some of the factors leading to conversion. Nevertheless, as important as these narratives are, they are only part of the picture because religious conversion always takes place in context. Therefore, if we are to properly understand the deeply personal experience we call conversion, we must frame it within the social, cultural and historical currents swirling around that experience. The conversions in this study are rooted in the religious history of Central Asia, particularly the seventy-odd years of Soviet rule. By the end of that era, it is probably more appropriate to think in terms of localized islam, rather than a universal religion based on the text of the Quran. Not only so, but the once proudly distinct Muslim peoples, now living under Russian rule, had become enculturated into Russian patterns of life, thought, and worldview, a process referred to as Russification, something which had profound effects on the way some of them have experienced conversion away from their natal religion. This study examines both of these aspects, first the contextual and then the personal, through the stories of thirty-six Muslims who converted to faith in Christ in post-Soviet Central Asia. By exploring the deeply personal and the broadly contextual together, this study offers a clear view of the meaning of religious conversion, in a historical, social, and religious context. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Lit. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die verhoudings tussen Christene en Moslems word dikwels vertroebel deur wantroue, misverstand en kultuurverskille. Hierdie studie behandel gebed as 'n moontlike brug van begrip tussen Moslems en Christene. Die motivering vir die studie le egter dieper as die soeke na goeie wedersydse verhoudings. Dit vloei voort uit deelname aan die "God se sending" in die wereld. Hoofstuk 2 gee 'n noukeurige beskrywing van Moslemgebed (salat), deur te kyk na die oproep tot gebed, voorneme, wassing, gebedshoudings, asook die plek en rigting van gebed. Hoofstuk 3 bevat 'n Christelike interpretasie van Moslemgebed. Di t bestudeer die aanroep ("In die naam van God"), die Moslem-geloofsbelydenis en salat as ritueel. Hoofstuk 4 tref 'n vergelyking tussen die eerste Soerah (Al-Fatihah) en die "Onse Vader". Beide verskille en ooreenkomste word aangetoon. Hoofstuk 5 trek dan 'n paar missiologiese konklusies, met die klem op gebedshoudings en die verhouding tussen dialoog en getuienis. / Relations between Christians and Muslims have often been strained due to mistrust, misunderstanding and cultural differences. This study focuses on prayer as a possible bridge to mutual understanding between Muslims and Christians. However, the motivation for this study goes deeper than a search for good neighbourliness. It stems from participating in the ''mission of God" in society. Chapter 2 gives a detailed description of Muslim prayer (salat), looking at the call to prayer, intention, ablution, prayer postures, the place and the direction of salat. Chapter 3 contains a Christian interpretation of Muslim prayer. It examines the invocation ("In the name of God"), the Islamic Creed, and salat as ritual. Chapter 4 draws a comparison between the opening Surah (Al-Fatihah) and the Lord's Prayer. Both the common and distinguishing features are highlighted. Chapter 5 draws some missiological implications, focusing on prayer postures and the relationship between dialogue and witness. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This thesis looks at the development of Protestant and Evangelical encounter with Muslims from the earliest days of the Modern missions movement. Special attention is given to the dynamic equivalence model (DEM), which resulted in a new method for interpreting the Qur’an called the Christian Qur’anic hermeneutic (CQH). I begin with the early Protestant ministers among Muslims, such as Martyn and Muir. Pfander’s (1910) book, The balance of truth, embodies the view that the Qur’an teaches an irrevocable status of inspiration for the Old and New Testaments. The early and mid-twentieth century saw a movement away from usage of the Qur’an during Evangelical encounter with Muslims. Direct model advocates bypass the Qur’an and other religious questions for an immediate presentation of the gospel. The 1970s saw the development of the DEM, which produced significant changes in how Evangelicals encountered Muslims. Pioneers like Nida, Tabor, and Kraft implemented dynamic equivalence as a model in Evangelical ministry. Concurrently, Accad and Cragg laid groundwork for the CQH. The DEM creates obscurity in anthropology by promoting an evaluation of cultural forms as essentially neutral. This is extended to religious forms, even the Qur’an. Such a simple, asocial value for symbols is not sufficient to account for all of human life. Cultural forms, especially those intrinsically religious, are parts of a complex system. Meaning cannot be transferred or equivocated with integrity from one context to another without a corresponding re-evaluation of the entire system. Theological difficulties are also produced by the DEM and the CQH, and include the assigning a quasi-inspirational status to the Qur’an and a denial of unique inspirational status to the Christian Scriptures. If the gospel is communicated through the Qur’an, then it is difficult to deny some level of God-given status to it. Further, the Christian Scriptures are not unique as inspired literature. My proposal for how to use the Qur’an responsibly looks to Bavinck’s elenctics and is presented as Qur’anic pre-evangelism. Rather than communicating Biblical meaning through the Qur’an, Evangelicals can focus on areas of the Qur’an that coincide with a lack of assurance felt by Muslims in anthropology. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

The current work is an intellectual history of how blood permeated early modern Spaniards' conceptions of morality and purity. This paper examines Spanish intellectuals' references to blood in their medical, theological, demonological, and historical works. Through these excerpts, this thesis demonstrates how this language of blood played a role in buttressing the church's conception of good morals. This, in turn, will show that blood was used as a way to persecute Jews and Muslims, and ultimately define the early modern Spanish identity.

The study focuses on the unique phenomenon of society’s changing attitudes towards the Crusades. Right from its inception the Crusades made a lasting impact on history, an impact which is still evident in the present day. Several aspects contributed to the start of the Crusades, among them the world and ideology of the eleventh century, the era in which the Crusades began. In current times there have been calls demanding an apology for the Crusades, while at the same time some within Christianity have felt the need to apologise for the atrocities of the Crusades. The Crusades are often blamed for the animosity between Christians and Muslims, a situation worsened by the fact that leaders on both sides misuse the word ‘crusade’ for their own agendas. The thesis is written within a historiographical framework making use of both critical enquiry and historical criticism. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Church history)

Summaries in German and English / German text / In dieser Forschungsarbeit wird qualitativ das missionarische Engagement der sansibarischen Christen den einheimischen muslimischen Sansibaris gegenüber auf förderliche und hinderliche Faktoren untersucht. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, diese Faktoren aufzuzeigen und dadurch ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik der fehlenden Ganzheitlichkeit zu schaffen, damit hier gegengesteuert werden kann. Dazu wird zunächst der ethnologische und religionsgeschichtliche Hintergrund über Sansibar vorgestellt. Danach wird die geschichtliche Entwicklung und das heutige Bild der sansibarischen Gemeinden und Kirchen skizziert, um anschließend anhand des empirischtheologischen Praxiszyklus die Planung, die Durchführung und die Ergebnisse qualitativer Interviews mit jeweils drei Pastoren und leitenden Mitarbeiterinnen sansibarischer Gemeinden und Kirchen darzustellen. Mit Hilfe der Grounded Theory lassen sich zwei Tendenzen von kaum bis bedingt gelebter ganzheitlicher Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen und ihr jenseitsorientiertes Evangeliumsverständnis als Ursache dessen identifizieren. Abschließend wird der Ist-Zustand der Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen beschrieben, indem basierend auf den Forschungsergebnissen Thesen formuliert werden. / This research work qualitatively examines the beneficial and hindering factors of the missionary commitment of the Zanzibari Christians to the native population. The aim is to describe these factors and to create an awareness for the lack of holistic mission so that countermeasures can be taken. Firstly, background information about Zanzibar is presented. Next, the historical development and current church landscape are described. Based on the empirical-theological practice cycle, the planning and execution as well as the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six church workers are then presented. Furthermore, based on the Grounded Theory, two tendencies of their mission practice ranging from negligible to minimal are identified, caused by a kingdom-come orientation concerning the understanding of the Gospel. Last but not least, based on the research results, the actual state of the mission practice of the Zanzibari churches is presented in three theses. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

The study focuses on the unique phenomenon of society’s changing attitudes towards the Crusades. Right from its inception the Crusades made a lasting impact on history, an impact which is still evident in the present day. Several aspects contributed to the start of the Crusades, among them the world and ideology of the eleventh century, the era in which the Crusades began. In current times there have been calls demanding an apology for the Crusades, while at the same time some within Christianity have felt the need to apologise for the atrocities of the Crusades. The Crusades are often blamed for the animosity between Christians and Muslims, a situation worsened by the fact that leaders on both sides misuse the word ‘crusade’ for their own agendas. The thesis is written within a historiographical framework making use of both critical enquiry and historical criticism. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Church history)

The Islamic religion has become a challenge to Christianity due to its rapid growth around the world today. Christianity and Islam are both devising strategies on how to reach out to each other with their conflicting messages. Christian missiologists have come up with several approaches of doing Mission to the Muslims. However, because of the Islamic practices and beliefs that vary in different contexts or from place to place, some of the approaches are not effective in some areas. The nature of the cultural context has more often made it progressively difficult for the Christian churches and missionaries to do Mission among the Muslim countries, including those at South Coast of Kenya, the Digo folk Muslims. The call for a suitable understanding of an evangelism approach among the Digo folk Muslims is an essential concept for an effective Mission to them. There is no doubt that in Digoland, there is still a great challenge in evangelising the Digo people. Even though currently there is a good number of un-indigenous churches in this area, the problem remains that the Digo Muslims have not effectively responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at large. It is also clear that the evangelism approaches that the Christian churches are using have not been effective. This thesis analytically examines evangelism approaches to Mission among the Digo folk Muslims by seven selected Christian churches from different denominations in the South Coast of Kenya. The study investigates the effectiveness of the evangelism approaches, which these churches are using with the Digo folk Muslims in sharing the gospel. Mostly using data collected from oral interviews, the study finds that Mission involvement to Digo Muslims is slow and not as effective as evidenced by the small number of the Muslim background believers in the selected churches. The churches and the Muslim background believers face challenges that include fear due to threats from the Muslim community as they perceive the Christians as adversaries who are stealing their members. Moreover, the few Muslims are, at times threatened with death. The churches also face challenges from the lack of effective training in Muslim evangelism in context including the financial constraints for Muslim Mission in the area. The research concludes that significantly, there is a need for the selected churches to reexamine and reconsider their evangelism approaches to Digo folk Muslims with a view to improving their ways of engaging in sharing the gospel with them. Finally, the study formulates and proposes a practical biblical model for effective Mission to these Digo Muslims. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Muslim Evangelism)

Summaries in German and English / German text / In dieser Forschungsarbeit wird qualitativ das missionarische Engagement der sansibarischen Christen den einheimischen muslimischen Sansibaris gegenüber auf förderliche und hinderliche Faktoren untersucht. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, diese Faktoren aufzuzeigen und dadurch ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik der fehlenden Ganzheitlichkeit zu schaffen, damit hier gegengesteuert werden kann. Dazu wird zunächst der ethnologische und religionsgeschichtliche Hintergrund über Sansibar vorgestellt. Danach wird die geschichtliche Entwicklung und das heutige Bild der sansibarischen Gemeinden und Kirchen skizziert, um anschließend anhand des empirischtheologischen Praxiszyklus die Planung, die Durchführung und die Ergebnisse qualitativer Interviews mit jeweils drei Pastoren und leitenden Mitarbeiterinnen sansibarischer Gemeinden und Kirchen darzustellen. Mit Hilfe der Grounded Theory lassen sich zwei Tendenzen von kaum bis bedingt gelebter ganzheitlicher Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen und ihr jenseitsorientiertes Evangeliumsverständnis als Ursache dessen identifizieren. Abschließend wird der Ist-Zustand der Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen beschrieben, indem basierend auf den Forschungsergebnissen Thesen formuliert werden. / This research work qualitatively examines the beneficial and hindering factors of the missionary commitment of the Zanzibari Christians to the native population. The aim is to describe these factors and to create an awareness for the lack of holistic mission so that countermeasures can be taken. Firstly, background information about Zanzibar is presented. Next, the historical development and current church landscape are described. Based on the empirical-theological practice cycle, the planning and execution as well as the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six church workers are then presented. Furthermore, based on the Grounded Theory, two tendencies of their mission practice ranging from negligible to minimal are identified, caused by a kingdom-come orientation concerning the understanding of the Gospel. Last but not least, based on the research results, the actual state of the mission practice of the Zanzibari churches is presented in three theses. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)