The Kyrgyz are a Mongolian, Turkic ethno-linguistic people group. The political and social changes of the post-soviet times have led to a great religious openness among the Kyrgyz. Within one decade the nunber of Kyrgyz Christians has grown from few dozens to over 3000. The intention of this work was to analyze the conversion process of the Kyrgyz converts to Christianity and to apply the results to further missiological activity. The religious background of the Kyrgyz, which is heavily influenced by Folk Islam, was presented in the first chapter of the paper. In the second chapter, interviews collected from Kyrgyz Christians were evaluated. The third chapter summarizes the most important findings of the work and makes them applicable for missionary work. The precise knowledge of the religious background of the Kyrgyz and intercultural communication that it is based upon it can essentially dismantle barriers for the acceptance of the gospel. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

No abstract available / Religious Studies / M.A. (Religious Studies)

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)

This research examines the topic of the Christian mission to Muslims in Ethiopia. The Insider Movement paradigm is examined with respect to the meaning of conversion and identity and how these concepts may best be understood in support of Muslim outreach. The study area of Ethiopia is not a Muslim majority nation but rather is pluralistic society and political system. Thus the most specific application is other sub-­‐ Saharan, non-­‐Muslim majority nations in Africa. The cultural and historical context of Ethiopia is first explored with special reference to factors arising from or focusing upon religion. Literature is reviewed regarding evangelization, church planting, and outreach to Muslims. The concept of conversion is discussed at length from both social science and Christian theological paradigms. The topic of identity is explored including identity theory as used among sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. The research was conducted and analyzed using concepts from the philosophical orientation of critical hermeneutics with specific use of the communication theory of Jurgen Habermas and narrative theory of Paul Ricoeur. The narrative identity theory of Ricoeur was found to be appropriate to a mission to Muslims. An understanding of conversion as being a process of transformation into Christ-­‐likeness through the power of the Holy Spirit was found to be most compatible with Muslim outreach. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. 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)

素來教會史的研究論述，多半是以「授方」—「宣教者」的角度，對所掌握的史料進行耙梳、權衡、取捨與評論，因而勾勒呈現的圖像從重心、成就到進展、變化皆以授方為依歸與主軸。我嘗試以相對（而非相斥，且可有力補足授方觀點）的「受方」—「受教者」的角度與史料，討論在基督宗教信仰實踐至關重要的議題：從保存完整的後浦堂會議事錄來探究關於「教會懲戒」的議題。 本論文作為一種呈現「受方」觀點（相對於「授方」觀點）的論述，同時也是一種地區教會史的建構嘗試。在進入論題核心的同時，注重教義與宗教傳統層面的梳理之外，也探求當地信徒如何承受、消化、進而發展重要的信仰質素、價值與行動。對於宗教教義層面，我梳理希伯來經文（或稱舊約）與新約裡關於教會與懲戒的相關經文，確定教會懲戒在信仰經典裡的脈絡、意義、作法與要求，並兼論及兩約之間（主要以死海古卷裡的昆蘭社群規條為本）的相關文獻。宗教傳統層面我從天主教的教會法典開始，依序檢視、比較與後浦堂會的發展相關的美國歸正教會、加拿大長老會（做為英國長老會的替代）與台灣基督長老教會等相關法規的處理模式。 另一方面，配合後浦堂會之形成、發展所處的歷史脈絡與其留下的完整議事記錄，我掌握了後浦堂會所有的教會懲戒記錄，呈現教會懲戒在後浦堂會發展歷程中在頻率、項目分配與消長等方面的實際情形，並將各懲戒事項之宗教教義與傳統論據與在現實中的法律、文化的相關處置作對照，凸顯受方面對真實的信仰—文化衝突時的取捨歷程。 我在論文研究過程中發現，後浦堂會議事錄裡的教會懲戒記錄最頻繁的施行高峰，恰恰是後浦堂會本身所處閩南大會的教勢發展大脈絡的最優進期（1903 至1912 年）。這一方面證明教會懲戒的正確施行，必當在教會處於信仰深深內化且質素高、內部彼此愛的關係豐厚與處理問題能力強的情態，另一方面也印證後浦教會在創立早期的確在上述各個方面有早熟而令人印象深刻的展現。自1866 年以降新教的金門島域福音工作，亟待方家更細緻綿密的史料整理與刻畫，更希望教會界願意開放議事錄等資料供學界進行嚴謹之學術研究與保存，以裨益地區教會史之建構。 / There are two specific approaches in the research of church history. One is the approach of the Givers / Preachers, focusing on 5 Ws (Who When Where What How) issues of the evangelization process, dealing with historical figures and events, and analyzing interactive relations in between these two factors mainly caused by or related to the side of the Gospel Conveyers. The other is the approach of the Receivers / Converts, an approach that the researchers will also use the 5Ws, concentrate on the converts instead of focusing on the conveyers. This approach is more and more common these days especially for the Chinese scholars. This thesis is not only an examination from the receivers’ point of view of how new Christian converts carried out the missionaries’ message by proceeding the actual practices of church discipline toward local converts in their cultural-religious context, but also an attempt of tracing the history of the Quemoy / Kinmen Churches. First of all, in the doctrinal-traditional aspect I have surveyed the biblical context (the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament, and the New Testament) , related non-biblical sources, with the Church Laws like the Canon Law (the Roman Catholic Church), the Book of Church Order (the Reformed Church in America), the Book of Forms (The Presbyterian Church in Canada) , Bylaws (the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan) about church discipline and other cultural sources dealing with the secular treatments to these subjects. Secondly in the practical aspect, I have abstracted related Minutes of church discipline from the consistorial records of Au-Po congregation (between 1900 and 2000 C.E.), and found the period that church discipline being processed most frequently, was the time during 1903-1912: the most fruitful and powerful period of Christian Churches in China. However, the impressive manner shown in these records could be an illustration of the depth of the internalized messages for Protestant believers in Quemoy.

This research examines the topic of the Christian mission to Muslims in Ethiopia. The Insider Movement paradigm is examined with respect to the meaning of conversion and identity and how these concepts may best be understood in support of Muslim outreach. The study area of Ethiopia is not a Muslim majority nation but rather is pluralistic society and political system. Thus the most specific application is other subSaharan, non-Muslim majority nations in Africa. The cultural and historical context of Ethiopia is first explored with special reference to factors arising from or focusing upon religion. Literature is reviewed regarding evangelization, church planting, and outreach to Muslims. The concept of conversion is discussed at length from both social science and Christian theological paradigms. The topic of identity is explored including identity theory as used among sociology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. The research was conducted and analyzed using concepts from the philosophical orientation of critical hermeneutics with specific use of the communication theory of Jurgen Habermas and narrative theory of Paul Ricoeur. The narrative identity theory of Ricoeur was found to be appropriate to a mission to Muslims. An understanding of conversion as being a process of transformation into Christ-likeness through the power of the Holy Spirit was found to be most compatible with Muslim outreach. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

No abstract available / Religious Studies / M.A. (Religious Studies)

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)

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)