Scholars have sorely neglected the subject of religion in British Columbia during the interwar years. This thesis will address this gap through a study of the relationship between Protestantism and society in the province's major urban centers, Vancouver and Victoria. I will approach the issue through a new window into the role of churches in British Columbia - the church taxation debates of the 1920's. This work begins with a review of the literature that sets the historical context of the church tax issue and reveals gaps in our knowledge of the role of religion in British Columbia. Primary source material is derived largely from newspapers, magazines, and archival material including private correspondences, City Council documents, pamphlets, and booklets. The church taxation issue illustrates the agenda of British Columbia's urban churches in a rapidly changing and secularizing society. In order to remain relevant, they were forced to consider their purpose and persuade society to agree. Exemptionists employed different strategies to convince the public of their indispensability. In Victoria, churches clung to tradition, while in Vancouver churches responded by redefining the relationship between church and state. Victoria's churches wanted the role of churches to remain unchanged while Vancouver churches sought to harmonize the churches' agenda with that of the state. In both cities, the exemptionists won their cases. However, their victories did not permanently define or secure the future role of churches.

No description available.

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.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

This research proceeds from the premise that Okullu was a significant church leader in Kenya. His significance relates to his outspokenness on issues of social justice including the struggle for political liberation from the oppressive one party system and issues of human rights. The purpose of this dissertation is to reconstruct Okullu's Christian political theology through establishing what motivated him and the biblical basis for his socio-political activities. An attempt is made to reconstruct the socio-political environment, which gave birth and necessitated Okullu's prophetic ministry and to investigate the social and spiritual factors, which shaped him. The findings of the research reveal that Okullu spoke out of conviction. His theology of development and participation had its roots in evangelical and ecumenical perspectives emerging between the 1960's and early 1980's. For Okullu the mission of the church was the total liberation (salvation) of the whole person body, soul and spirit. Evangelism and social concern were mutually inclusive. The major sources of his theology were African socialism and the Bible. The ideals of African socialism, which he incorporated in his theology, which are in harmony with biblical principles were: the high value placed on the individual, the principle of equality and the central place of the community in development. He argued for a people-centred holistic development, which took account of the whole human person- body, soul and spirit. For Okullu, the biblical basis upon which Christians should act in a non- Christian society is the prophetic role of the church, founded upon the justice of God as illustrated in the writings of the Old Testament and continued in the concept of the 'kingdom of God' and the concept of 'God as judge in the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Although Okullu affirmed the validity of the doctrine of separation in church-state relations, the concept of separation according to him does not fully explain the relationship. The separation is only institutional but at value level the two are bound together in the realm of ethics owing to their common origin in God. It is this integrated whole that gives the church its mandate for involvement in politics. Okullu's significance is demonstrated historically, by the literary out-put containing his socio-political challenges that faced Kenyan society in his time, testimony of others expressed in condolence letters and the views of groups of persons interviewed for this work. Okullu spoke out against injustices. He fought for human rights. His most significant contribution was spearheading the multi-party debate and the repeal of the section of the constitution of Kenya, which had made Kenya a single party system. His prophetic ministry was hammered out in the public arena. He was an Amos of his time. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1984.

This thesis examines the development of the Yugoslav Communists' approach towards the Catholic Church during the period of their takeover and consolidation of power from the outbreak of war in April 1941 until late 1946. In recent years, a comprehensive reappraisal of the Communist takeover has been going on in the countries of former Yugoslavia, and this work draws on this new scholarship, as well as on hitherto unused archival material. It examines the development of the Communists' popular front line during the war, according to which the Communist-dominated Partisan movement sought to appeal to non-communists, including Catholics, to join them in ousting the occupier. As such, this policy meant downplaying the Communists' revolutionary programme, which they never actually gave up. The thesis examines in detail the application of the popular front policy among the Catholic Croats of Croatia and Bosnia, and among the Slovenes. It describes how the Communists avoided actions or pronouncements that would have offended the Church, attempted to have cordial relations with the Church hierarchy and encouraged the active participation of Catholic clergy and prominent lay people in the movement. The prime purpose of this was to reassure the Catholic population that they had nothing to fear from a Communist takeover. However, the hostility between the two sides was not overcome, as revealed in the violence of the Communists towards many of the clergy during the period immediately before and after their takeover. Following this, the Communists' implementation of their revolutionary programme brought them into direct conflict with the interests of the Church, especially in their curtailing of the role of the Church in education and in their confiscation of Church property. Relations quickly degenerated into open confrontation, as the Church could not accept the limited role in society which the Communists were prepared to grant it.

No abstract available.

No description available.

No description available.