Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Includes abstract and vita. "November 2002." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-139).

The interface between apartheid and Aids in the unique South African context between 1987 and 1990 is particularly striking. Natal was such a volatile ground, one rocked by political violence and threatened by a world epidemic. A literary study of the four years' Natal Witness Aids articles and an oral witness by four clergy living in Natal at the times reveal an intriguing debate and deeds by the people in Natal. The difficulty in ascertaining the actual spread of the disease in South Africa was imperative in the search for a reliable information system. Neither the random testing prior to 1987 nor the secret testing between 1987 and 1989 produced reliable Aids statistics. The launching of surveillance testing in 1990 not only amounted to a reliable information system but also revealed staggering statistics reports. Not only was the infection doubling every six months, but it was becoming predominantly heterosexual and exacerbated in the black race. A close study of the Natal Witness articles reveals that the Natal Aids debate could be chronologically divided into four characteristic periods. The 1987 debate was an international debate because the focus was on what was happening in North America and in Europe. The 1988 debate was an African debate because the focus on Aids for the first time placed the African continent on spotlight indicating signs of its future lead in infection and mortality. The 1989 debate was a South African debate because the articles featured miner's plague and the gay plague and their possible negative influence on the economy. The 1990 debate zoomed into the Natal province as it revealed attitudes, myths, and controversies that underpinned the Aids disease. The Natal Witness reports are both contrasted and complemented by the reflections of four Christian ministers who served in Natal at the time. The clergy used particular philosophical frameworks to reconstruct their experiences. According to Sol Jacobs, a 'black consciousness' Methodist priest, the churches did not engage in prevention because of their racial divisions. Vic Bredencamp witnessed a judgemental church, one that could not deal with the Aids disease because of its punitive theology. Ronald Nicolson, an Anglican priest, only witnessed an ignorant church, one that could not become involved in Aids prevention because of its paralysis ignorance. Lastly, Paul Decock, a Catholic priest, witnessed an active church, one that was actively involved in Aids activism as early as 1987. The ministers differed immensely on how the church responded to the Aids disease as well as in the reasons for that particular response. Both the articles and the interviews were found to be misleading in several instances. Through editing and selection, the articles left out important details and articles. The interviewees could barely establish a chronology in their memory of events. With the help of internal and external evidence however, both the interviews and the articles complement each other in establishing the Aids experiences of the Christians in Natal. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

HIV/AIDS is a challenge that African society will have to contend with for a number of years to come. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected by HIV/AIDS in the world. The combination of poverty, natural disasters, violence, abuse of women and children, social and political chaos, and mass migration to cities, all accelerate the spread of HIV. Equally, HIV/AIDS increases the risk of a household or individual becoming more impoverished and makes communities vulnerable to other infectious and poverty-related diseases such as tuberculosis. It presents a huge challenge to the church. South Africa's HIV/AIDS statistics are alarming and the nation is beginning to feel the impact through the loss of economically active people, increasing demand on health care, child headed households and increasing mortality rate due to AIDS. AIDS underrnines life and the great possibilities that our new democracy could bring. Faced with the devastating impact of AIDS, families and communities seek ways and means of surviving and carry on with life. They utilise every resource at their disposal to make a living. Making use of the sustainable livelihoods approach, this study recognises this fact and investigates how people survive, what resources or assets they have, how they utilise these, the constraints they are faced with both in a accessing and in utilising resources, and how the culmination of these efforts impacts upon them. Building on these insights this study focused on how the church at Hinge Township in Que'enstown could enhance the agency of families affected by AIDS. The study argues that the church can contribute by (i) addressing the underlying factors that contribute to the vulnerability context; (ii) building the asset portfolio of households affected by AIDS; (iii) chaUenging the policies and structures which inhibit the livelihood options of such households; and (iv) enhancing the existing livelihood strategies. Examples of each of these actions, drawn from the context of Hinge, are provided. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The devastating consequences of the HIV and AIDS epidemic are endangering many lives and shaking weak economies of the Sub-Sahara Africa. The Church of Christ in Africa has decided to join hands with other players who are seeking appropriate responses to the epidemic. The Church has an important role of providing theological understanding upon which the response should be grounded. This study explores how the Free Methodist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo could participate in the alleviation of suffering and loss due to the HIV epidemic in the region of Kivu. The eastern part of DRC, especially the Kivu region, has experienced a severe outbreak of HIV-related diseases as the aftermath of the six-year war (1996-2002) that has destroyed economic and medical infrastructures in the territory. The recent crisis is the result of rape, which was used as a cheap weapon of war and the impoverishment of the community due to political and economic instability in the area. This study therefore draws the attention of the Free Methodist Church to the urgent need of providing care to many poor people suffering from HIV-related diseases who are unable to access treatment or purchase medicines. It suggests that the doctrine of social holiness that has been the driving force behind the involvement of the Free Methodist Church in providing social services to poor community could be used as a theological framework for its intervention. The doctrine of social holiness is expressed in extending God's love and mercy to people who live in misery and marginalized, My argument is that, in the case of the Kivu region, the doctrine of social holiness could motivate the Free Methodist Church to meet the needs of those living with HIV and AIDS. As a matter of emergency the focus could be put on providing physical and spiritual care, and also care with justice. The doctrine of social holiness could be used to mobilize the community to provide care for the needy by sharing the theological insights about human sexuality, God's love, stewardship, acceptance of the other and restoring dignity to every person created in God's image. These theological themes could be integrated in formulating a theology of HIV that could become a tool in the hands of the Free Methodist church as it ministers to people living with HIV and AIDS in Kivu. This study advocates that, even though the response of the Free Methodist Church in responding to the HIV epidemic is still timid, there are enough potentialities in the doctrine of social holiness that could be re-examined and restated in order to meet the actual needs. The doctrine of social holiness requires that every believer who had received in his/her heart the love of God by faith may share this love with others, especially with the poor and marginalized. The misery and suffering of people living with HIV and AIDS in the Kivu region presents an opportunity to the Free Methodist Church in DRC to mobilize the community towards caring for the sick. The magnitude of the epidemic requires that the Free Methodist Church uses its theological foundation as a motivating factor in networking and lobbying other stakeholders in the region and externally so that those who are abandoned without care can find care and support. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Thesis (MA(Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-84) Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1993. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-180).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Abilene Christian University, 1994. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 250-256).

Thesis (M. A. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, May 2009. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-132).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-167).