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Authenticity of Christian conversion in the African context : an investigation on the rationale for the Hehe to convert to Christianity with special reference to the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (1899-1999)Mdegella, Owdenburg Moses. January 2005 (has links)
This thesis contends that Christian conversion in the African context has been authentic because of the translatability of the event of Christ. The event of Christ is defined as the incarnation, the suffering and death on the cross and the sending of the Holy Spirit. Through these events God made the calling of all humanity including Africans, for transformation unto salvation. God is perceived as the originator and the initiator of Christian conversion while human beings and their culture are perceived as the recipients and channels of God's mission. The combination of the concepts of preparation evangelical, the translatability of the event of Christ and the theology of the cross are the basis of the theological deliberations of this thesis. The thesis contends further that the proclamation of the gospel hence, Christianisation moved together with the wave of modernization. Due to the continuity of translation, Christianity strengthened its influence and became the Word of God in the Hehe vernacular. In that way Christianity was naturally indigenised and continually contextualised in the Hehe culture and belief thus being deeply entrenched in their daily life and could be rightly described as renewed Hehe (African) Religion. Therefore, the Hehe accepted Christianity because God appeared in the human (Hehe) nature through Jesus Christ and dwelt in the Hehe community and shared everything with them. God through Jesus Christ participated in the daily suffering. He was humiliated and became vulnerable and weak. Through the translation of the Word God was no longer the ineffable beyond. Through the manifestations of the spiritual gifts God remained among the Hehe; instructing, comforting and reminding them of the benevolent love and the call of God for the universal salvation through which the Church builds its response to God's mission. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005
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Reclaiming Monergism: The Case for Sovereign Grace in Effectual Calling and RegenerationBarrett, Matthew 16 May 2011 (has links)
This dissertation examines the doctrines of effectual calling and regeneration and argues that the biblical view is that God's saving grace is monergistic - meaning that God acts alone to effectually call and monergistically regenerate the depraved sinner from death to new life - and therefore effectual calling and regeneration causally precede conversion in the ordo salutis, thereby ensuring that all of the glory in salvation belongs to God not man. Stated negatively, God's grace is not synergistic - meaning that God cooperates with man, giving man the final determative power to either accept or resist God's grace - which would result in an ordo salutis where regeneration is causally conditioned upon man's free will in conversion and, in the Calvinist's opinion, would rob God of all of the glory in salvation.
Chapter 1 introduces the monergism-synergism debate by placing it within the contemporary evangelical context. Chapter 1 not only introduces the debate between Calvinists and Arminians but also introduces the recent attempt of modified views to present a via media between the two. Chapter 1 also presents the thesis and explains the parameters and presuppositions of the dissertation.
Chapter 2 examines the doctrine of monergism within the Reformed tradition. Rather than an exhaustive survey, chapter 2 selects some of the most important representatives from the Reformed tradition including: Augustine, John Calvin, the Canons of Dort, and the Westminster Confession. In discussing these figures and confessions, chapter 2 provides the historical and theological context in which the Reformed argued against the synergists of their own day.
Chapter 3 turns to a biblical and theological defense of total depravity and effectual calling. Chapter 3 first begins with a biblical defense of total depravity and spiritual inability, as well as a brief discussion and utilization of Jonathan Edwards' understanding of free will (the freedom of inclination). Chapter 3 then seeks to argue for the thesis presented in chapter 1 by showing from Scripture that the Calvinist view of effectual calling is biblical.
Chapter 4 continues the argument from chapter 3 by focusing in on the doctrine of regeneration. Chapter 4 argues that regeneration is monergistic rather than synergistic, meaning that God's grace in regeneration is not contingent on the will of man to believe but God's grace works alone. Therefore, faith and repentance are the result not the condition of regeneration in the ordo salutis.
Chapter 5 seeks to give an accurate and fair presentation of the Arminian view(s), giving attention to the theological nuances among Arminians. Chapter 5 shows that there is diversity within Arminianism, so that there are those who hold to a "classical Arminian" view and there are those who hold to a Semi-Pelagian view. However, chapter 5 demonstrates that both views end up in the same place, namely, affirming the doctrine of synergism which makes God's grace contingent upon man's will.
Chapter 6 is a biblical and theological critique of the Arminian view. Chapter 6 shows that the Arminian doctrine of synergism is not found in Scripture, contradicts Scripture, and robs God of all his glory in salvation.
Chapter 7 turns from the Arminian view to examine recent modified attempts to pave a middle way between Calvinism and Arminianism. Chapter 7 shows specifically that attempts at a middle way borrow from Arminianism and consequently fall prey to an erroneous interpretation of Scripture. Chapter 7 shows that a middle way is biblically impossible and it also robs God of all his glory in salvation.
Chapter 8 concludes the dissertation by restating the thesis, summarizing the biblical data, and arguing that only the Calvinist view can preserve the glory of God to save sinners.
Three appendixes conclude the dissertation. Appendix 1 examines the Arminian and Calvinist views of the love of God and argues that divine love in Scripture is far more complex than the Arminian makes it out to be. God not only has a universal love for all people but a special, particular, and efficacious love only for the elect. Appendix 2 examines the Arminian and Calvinist views of the will of God and argues once again that the will of God in Scripture is far more complex than the Arminian makes it out to be. Scripture shows, it is argued, that God not only has a moral or preceptive will as well as a will of disposition but also a will of decree by which he effectually ordains all that comes to pass. Appendix 3 looks at the relationship between effectual calling and regeneration in the Reformed tradition and the diversity that exists among the Reformed as to how exactly describe this relationship. Appendix 3 presents and critiques each view, but pays particular attention to Michael Horton's recent proposal for "covenant ontology and effectual calling."
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Negotiating violence : the construction of identity amongst Adivasi Christians in Udaipur district, RajasthanKalra, Nikhila January 2015 (has links)
This thesis elucidates processes of identity construction that have taken place amongst Bhil Christians in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, in the context of the endemic anti- Christian violence that has been carried out by Hindu nationalist organisations and adherents in this area since the late 1990s. My work explores how Bhil Christians engage with this, and seeks to make both an empirical and analytical contribution to existing analyses of anti-Christian violence by shifting the focus away from the construction of majoritarian Hindu identities in India's tribal belt, and placing it instead on the minority Christian community. Utilising a tripartite typology of violence (direct, structural and cultural) as its starting point, this thesis addresses questions of how Bhil Christians construct and perform their identity in this context, and how they understand and negotiate their relationships with both non-Christian communities and the state in their localities. This aims to situate Christians as agents in the construction of their own identities, rather than simply having 'otherness' imposed on them as a result of Hindu nationalist mobilization and rhetoric. This study shows that Bhil Christians are involved in a dualistic process of strategically emphasizing both difference and similarity between Christians and Hindus, while making recourse to an overarching adivasi identity that, in various ways, serves to challenge and often undermine the damaging constructions of Christianity that are propagated by the Sangh Parivar. At the same time, they foreground a Christian identity that is decisively shaped by notions of agency, moral uplift, and assertion; these are ideas that are informed by longer histories of adivasi self- and community making, but have acquired important new meaning and relevance in the context of anti-Christian violence.
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The impact of religious conversion on cultural identity conversion story South African Anglican Indian ChrstiansJohn, Arun Andrew 28 February 2007 (has links)
The impact of religious conversion on cultural identity is a study of conversion story
of South African Indian Anglican Christians rooted in the oppressive history of
casteism in India and Racism in South Africa.
This study has used multi discipline approach using various schools of human
sciences and broader theological framework in dealing with moral and ethical issues.
This study defends the religious conversions and highlights the impact it has made on
cultural identity of converts from social, economic, psychological and spiritual
perspectives.
While highlighting the positive impact of religious conversion on cultural identity this
study has also pointed out some ambiguities attached to this process.
This study looks into the possibilities of Native and Indian Christians working
together to create a healing culture in South Africa. An attempt is made to point out
the interrelatedness of the experiences of suffering of Native Christians and Indian
Christians from indentured backgrounds in South Africa.
This study does not cover disparity issues between native Africans and the Indian
Community in South Africa. However, an attempt is made to encourage Indian
Christians in South Africa to connect with the pain and pathos of poor communities in
South Africa. This study encourages the Indian Christians hi South Africa to read
Dalit theology and get involved with Black theologians in formulating appropriate
mission praxis for their mission and ministry in post apartheid South Africa.
This study concludes on a positive note and hope based on my eight years of ministry
in Lenasia. During my ministry I had experienced that South African Anglican Indian
Christians and native Christians have the developing ability and capacity to become a
spiritual resource in building a transformed and transforming society in South Africa.
I could see in them a reconciled 'wounded healers' and for me this is a powerful
impact of religious conversion on their cultural identity, "Victims' now have the
capacity to act as 'Wounded Healers'. / Religious Studies & Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)
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Conversion narratives in context: Muslims turning to Christ in post-Soviet Central AsiaHoskins, Daniel Gene 22 October 2014 (has links)
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 & Arabic / D.Lit. et Phil. (Religious Studies)
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Evangelicals encountering Muslims : a pre-evangelistic approach to the Qu'ranJohnson, Wesley Irvin 05 1900 (has links)
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)
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Bakens op die weg : die bekeringsverhale van Augustinus en C.S. LewisSmit, Christine 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Two literary conversion narratives with much historical detail, are compared in this thesis: the
Confessiones written by the renowned fourth century church-father, St. Augustine, and
Surprised by Joy written by the twentieth century writer and scholar, C.S. Lewis. In order to
understand St. Augustine's conversion to the Christian faith, Christian religion as a social
phenomenon in the Ancient World is discussed. As background for the discussion and
comparison of the two conversion narratives, a brief biography is given of St. Augustine and
of Lewis, as well as a description of each one's course of conversion. The research is
structured In terms of beacons that St. Augustine identified during the course of his
conversion: people who played a significant role, events that influenced his life, and inner
conflict that spurred him on his way. By means of an analysis regarding theme and content, it
is shown that there are clear similarities between the beacons identified by Augustine and
Lewis in their conversion narratives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis word twee literêre bekeringsverhale waarin die historiese werklikheid deur die
skrywers weergegee word, met mekaar vergelyk: die Confessiones van die vierde eeuse
kerkvader Augustinus, en Surprised by Joy van die twintigste eeuse skrywer en geleerde C.S.
Lewis. Om Augustinus se bekeringsverhaal histories te kan plaas teen die agtergrond waarin
hy geleef en tot bekering gekom het, word 'n uiteensetting gegee van die Christelike
godsdiens as 'n sosiale fenomeen in die Antieke Wêreld. 'n Kort lewensbeskrywing van
Augustinus en Lewis en 'n oorsig van die weg wat elkeen se bekering gevolg het, dien as
agtergrond vir die bespreking en vergelyking van die twee bekeringsverhale. Die navorsing
word gestruktureer aan die hand van bakens wat Augustinus op sy bekeringsweg uitgelig het:
persone wat 'n beduidende rol gespeel het, gebeure wat hom beïnvloed het, innerlike konflik
wat hom voortgedryf het. Die tesis toon deur 'n analise op grond van inhoud en tematiek aan
dat daar duidelike ooreenkomste is tussen die bakens op Augustinus se bekeringsweg en dié
op Lewis se bekeringsweg.
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The impact of religious conversion on cultural identity conversion story South African Anglican Indian ChrstiansJohn, Arun Andrew 28 February 2007 (has links)
The impact of religious conversion on cultural identity is a study of conversion story
of South African Indian Anglican Christians rooted in the oppressive history of
casteism in India and Racism in South Africa.
This study has used multi discipline approach using various schools of human
sciences and broader theological framework in dealing with moral and ethical issues.
This study defends the religious conversions and highlights the impact it has made on
cultural identity of converts from social, economic, psychological and spiritual
perspectives.
While highlighting the positive impact of religious conversion on cultural identity this
study has also pointed out some ambiguities attached to this process.
This study looks into the possibilities of Native and Indian Christians working
together to create a healing culture in South Africa. An attempt is made to point out
the interrelatedness of the experiences of suffering of Native Christians and Indian
Christians from indentured backgrounds in South Africa.
This study does not cover disparity issues between native Africans and the Indian
Community in South Africa. However, an attempt is made to encourage Indian
Christians in South Africa to connect with the pain and pathos of poor communities in
South Africa. This study encourages the Indian Christians hi South Africa to read
Dalit theology and get involved with Black theologians in formulating appropriate
mission praxis for their mission and ministry in post apartheid South Africa.
This study concludes on a positive note and hope based on my eight years of ministry
in Lenasia. During my ministry I had experienced that South African Anglican Indian
Christians and native Christians have the developing ability and capacity to become a
spiritual resource in building a transformed and transforming society in South Africa.
I could see in them a reconciled 'wounded healers' and for me this is a powerful
impact of religious conversion on their cultural identity, "Victims' now have the
capacity to act as 'Wounded Healers'. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)
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Conversion narratives in context: Muslims turning to Christ in post-Soviet Central AsiaHoskins, Daniel Gene 22 October 2014 (has links)
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)
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Evangelicals encountering Muslims : a pre-evangelistic approach to the Qu'ranJohnson, Wesley Irvin 05 1900 (has links)
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)
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