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This dissertation attempts to answer the following question: Does Scripture call all churches to be as ethnically diverse as their communities? Chapter 1 introduces the "multi-ethnic mandate," the belief the Scripture instructs all churches to be ethnically diverse. Chapter 2 isolates seven arguments in favor of the multi-ethnic mandate: the Babel/Pentecost argument, the hospitality/love argument, the argument based on Christ's ministry, the unity argument, the Jew/Gentile argument, the heaven argument, and the argument based on NT examples. Chapter 3 argues that these seven reasons do not provide compelling proof for the multi-ethnic mandate. Chapter 4 highlights four biblical values that mono-ethnic churches support: God cares about preserving culture, Christians retain their ethnic identities, contextualization can make ministry more effective, and God uses the natural connectedness of people to expand his kingdom. Chapter 5 summarizes the thesis, warns of some potential dangers of affirming the multi-ethnic mandate, and points to possible areas of further research. The over-arching point of the dissertation is to demonstrate that churches need to reach out to all ethnicities to the best of their abilities, but if the natural byproduct of such ministry is a mono-ethnic church, then such a church is not unbiblical or unhealthy.

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Theology in the field of Practical Theology at the University of Zululand, 2005. / The New Testament does contain sufficient information in order that we may arrive at a reasonably clear understanding of the principles upon which the churches of the New Testament were based. The Scriptures do not give us a model of how churches must look and thus provides sufficient leeway to apply those principles within the context of different socio¬economic groups, cultures and ages. One of these principles is that of the "Priesthood of Every Believer". This principle, should effect every aspect of the structure of the church and the relationship between ministries and the flock. Thus ministries are intended to truly be servants of the churches and not masters or lords over assemblies. This does not leave leaders without authority, but it is an authority based on relationships, and of the flock recognising the gifts of the leader, rather than a delegated and imposed authority. Since leaders are not "staff or in the "employ" of the church, the question as to how they are to meet their temporal needs arises. The Scriptures draw no distinction between "full-time" and "part-time" ministries and both those who make tents and those who receive money from the church need to look to their Master - Jesus Christ for the supply of their needs. At the same time the labourer is worthy of his hire and local churches must take care of the needs of those who devote themselves to the work of the ministry. Ministries, as listed in Ephesians 4:11, do continue beyond the first century. Unfortunately tradition and modern trends have resulted in many of these ministries being grossly misunderstood and many modern forms of particularly the pastor, apostle and prophet are grotesque aberrations of the Lord's original intent. These aberrations have, to a large extent, resulted in the rejection of the notion that they do continue. While the Lord Jesus clearly intended for local churches be autonomous and not part of a larger organisation (except the Church Universal), they are by no means intended to be so independent that they do not interrelate with other assemblies. Thus local churches are self-sufficient, self governing and self-propagating while, at the same time, being in loving and supportive relationship with churches and men outside the local church.

The research work has engaged in a critical missional reflection on the effectiveness of Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nigeria (TEKAN) as an ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos, a central area in Northern Nigeria that has been bedevilled with violent conflicts commonly associated with religio-cultural and socio-political factors. The scope of this study is limited to a conceptual exploration of the issues. In the critique of TEKAN, an inherent contradiction is identified within its identity, vocation and witness. The theoretical framework that guided this study embraced an interdisciplinary approach on issues about God’s mission (Missio Dei) through the Church (Missio Ecclesia) that propels Ecumenical engagement (Oikoumene) and leads to the quest of Justice and Peace (Dikaiosune & Shalom) for all humanity. The ecumenical witness of TEKAN within the environment of Jos calls into question its effectives as a tool of transformation in a multi-political and religious environment plagued by violence. The data gathered by various commissions of inquiry into the crises of Jos seems to suggest that a study approach to problems of justice and peace will not resolve the deeply entrenched problems. Therefore, the ultimate test of whether TEKAN will develop into an effective missional and ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos will be dependent on taking radical steps that embrace a genuine mission audit of its identity, vocation and witness that will empower the organization to meet the deep challenges of the people of Jos and their quest for authentic human development built on justice and peace. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

黃健羒著. / 手稿本, 複本據手稿本影印. / 論文(神學學部神道學碩士)--香港中文大學硏究院. / 參考文獻: leaves 143-151. / Huang Jianfen zhu. / 論文撮要 --- p.ii / 謝詞 --- p.iv / 經文引述按語 --- p.v / 附表目錄 --- p.iii / Chapter 第一章 --- 導論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二章 --- 教牧書信作者問題 --- p.9 / Chapter 二、一節 --- 作者問題的重要性 --- p.10 / Chapter 二、二節 --- 推斷作者是否保羅的途徑 --- p.14 / Chapter 二、三節 --- 總論 --- p.23 / Chapter 第三章 --- 使徒性教會的本質 --- p.26 / Chapter 三、一節 --- 初期教會信經 --- p.29 / Chapter 三、二節 --- 使徒傳統 --- p.34 / Chapter 三、三節 --- 承繼使徒傳統的準則 --- p.43 / Chapter 第四章 --- 受按立之牧職 --- p.52 / Chapter 四、一節 --- 初期教會之情況 --- p.53 / Chapter 四、二節 --- 牧職之涵義 --- p.58 / Chapter 四、三節 --- 按立之涵義 --- p.66 / Chapter 四、四節 --- 長老、監督及執事 --- p.76 / Chapter 第五章 --- 受按立牧職之重要功能─教導 --- p.86 / Chapter 五、一節 --- 教牧書新重視教導 --- p.89 / Chapter 五、二節 --- 藉教導保持使徒性 --- p.97 / Chapter 五、三節 --- 如何在今日教會中推行教導 --- p.108 / Chapter 第六章 --- 結論 --- p.116 / 畧字表 --- p.122 / 註釋 --- p.124 / 書目 --- p.143

This dissertation provides a biblical theology of the good deeds mission of the New Covenant community, with a particular focus on how one’s conception of the overall covenantal structure of Scripture affects one’s conclusions concerning the good deeds mission. Chapter 1 introduces the debate over the good deeds mission of the church, whether good deeds out to the world have equal priority with evangelism or whether evangelism retains operational priority. Chapter 2 provides an in-depth review of the relevant literature since 1974, covering the (overlapping) categories of missiology and biblical theology. The review is divided into literature supporting either the equal priority or the evangelistic priority position, highlighting the different biblical-theological arguments offered. Chapter 3 surveys the good deeds responsibility given to all humanity, including the initial responsibilities of Genesis 1-2, the impact of sin upon this mission as displayed in Genesis 3-7, and the partial renewal of humanity’s good deeds mandate in Genesis 8-11. Chapter 4 explores the good deeds mission given to Abraham and his descendants until the time of Christ, distinguishing the good deeds mission of Abraham and his descendants until possession of the covenant land, the good deeds mission of Abraham’s descendants from possession of the covenant land until the exile, and the good deeds mission of Abraham’s descendants from the exile until Christ. Chapter 5 studies the good deeds mission of God’s covenant people in the Gospels before New Covenant inauguration, divided into two categories: the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and the pre-New Covenant ministry of his disciples, giving careful attention to the unique transitional period of Christ’s earthly ministry. Chapter 6 analyzes the good deeds mission in the New Covenant in three distinct categories: the inaugurated New Covenant ministry of Christ, the inaugurated New Covenant ministry of disciples, and the consummated New Covenant ministry of Christ and his disciples. Chapter 7 summarizes the biblical-theological conclusions which emerge from the research of the dissertation, recapping the main elements of a biblical theology of the good deeds mission of the New Covenant community and providing practical applications.

No Abstract is provided. / Thesis (DD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Faculty of Theology and Religion Studies at the University of Zululand, 2002. / The thesis of this study is that the concept of the church as oikost as found in. Luke-Acts provides principles to inspire the church to meet some present challenges- The concepts of church and family in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles were examined. It was found that the first church community was constituted on the pattern of the extended family in the Greco-Roman world of the first century. This allowed for the development of a rich culture of interpersonal relationships. It was within this environment that the love taught and exemplified by Jesus found its first concrete expression. In family churches, comprising of between 50-100 members, care was taken of individuals in a holistic sense. This was especially important in a society that existed long before the invention of social services, pensions, hospitals and care for the aged. This example set by the first church had far-reaching political consequences. In the fourth century it was this kind of church structure that was taken as a model for the whole of the Roman Empire. This study reflects a distinctive choice regarding methodology in the application of a unique combination of both the contextual and social-scientific methods. A danger of contextual methodology is to concentrate on the present context at the expense of the context of the text. A deliberate attempt is made to avoid this by an inclusive approach of both contexts. The second part of the combination in the methodology of this thesis is the application of the social-scientific approach to the Biblical text and to our present context. This method is used as an extension of the contextual method, in order to avoid possible distortions caused by the latter. This pursuit does not seek to operate at the exclusion of other accepted approaches to the Biblical text, namely those of the literary, linguistic and historical, but functions eclectically whilst highlighting the rewards of the social-scientific methodology. The term 'social-scientific' is used in this study to broadly embrace the sociological approaches to the study of the New Testament text and to our present context. In addition to uncovering the social context of the Biblical text, this study is equally eager to understand the 'now' of one's own Sitz im Leben. Therefore, current social-scientific insights together with those from family sociology are utilised to balance the methodological framework. In short, a social-scientific understanding of the concept of oikos will assist in analysing the context of the Biblical text. A social-scientific analysis of the present context will facilitate a re-contextualisation of the church as oikos in the new South Africa. Chapter one outlines the methodology. A social-scientific study of the concept of oikos in Luke-Acts is engaged in chapter two. Chapter three commences with a sociological perspective of the family. This includes a contextual analysis of families in South Africa. The next chapter (chapter four) explores ministry perspectives to ascertain how the local church can function as oikos. Chapter five proposes a model for the ministry of the church while chapter six contextualises the church as oikos. A final concluding chapter summarises and synthesises the research.

In this thesis the researcher has investigated which of the two concepts: believing before belonging or belonging before believing, is a more accountable perspective in regards to ministry in post-Christendom society. With the final stages of the modern period the power of hegemonic ideologies is coming to an end as people identify less with grand ideologies and more with subcultures related to technology and social and economic networks of different kinds. The post-Christendom phase has begun and is radically challenging Christendom notions of ministry. We have to assume that among post-Christians the familiarity with Christian concepts will fade as the decline of Christendom has meant that Christianity has been losing its status as a lingua franca, only to be understood in the long run, by those who are professing Christians. It is therefore important that the church will anticipate longer journeys towards faith and not move on to disciple new converts too quickly. Post- Christendom evangelization will consequently take longer, start further back and move more slowly. In the context of post-Christendom, knowledge of Christianity is rather limited and people need to come to an understanding of what Christianity entails. For those seekers, exploratory participation at first is safer than making a definite commitment. Postmodern society is also suspicious of institutions and eager to find whether Christian beliefs also work in practice and not only in theory. Therefore is belonging before believing very much necessary for seekers to test whether Christians live out in their communities what they claim to be true? / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Christ has entrusted mysteries to his church which are essential for its life, teaching and mission and are to be explored in their meaning. One of it is “the glory of the Lord”. In a variety of ways the biblical testimony speaks of “the glory of the Lord”, which has revealed itself diversely and at all times. It has played a central role in God’s encounter with man in the Old and New covenant. God in his glory took his abode in the temple in order to establish worship. For this reason he let his glory become man in Jesus and let his glory live in man and in his church by his spirit up to its completion. The church has been called to the glory of God revealed in Christ. In spite of the broad biblical basis this term has played only a marginal role in many ecclesiologies until today. In present churches the glory of the Lord still remains an abstract term for many. It is not differentiated in any way or recognized in its meaning for the church. For this reason some of the most important ecclesiologies of the 20th century in German language are examined regarding the meaning and importance of the glory of the Lord. They are checked regarding its impact for ecclesiology and church-development. Its role will be compared with that in the bible. The conclusions are meant to be inspirations and impulses for ecclesiology and for church growth, for church life and community and for its mission in the world. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)