The central theoretical statement of this study proposes that practical wisdom as an executive virtue within positive psychology may be applied in a pastoral-theological paradigm. One of the main virtues in positive psychology, namely wisdom, is investigated and defined in this study. The article format has been used in this thesis, ultimately consisting of five articles. In Article 1 the scriptural perspectives found on practical wisdom in the Old Testament are discussed. From the information contained in the article, it is deduced that Old Testament wisdom should and can possibly be used to connect the reader with the teachings in a realistic way so that the person is enabled to apply the principles of Old Testament wisdom literature to everyday circumstance. Article 2 deals with the wisdom principles found in the Sermon on the Mount. It can be said that wisdom teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount could possibly be used to enable the reader to achieve personal happiness in everyday life. It is further concluded that the principle of the transforming initiative could possibly be used in a valid psychotherapeutic process by the Christian psychologist with Christian clients. In Article 3 the meta-theoretical fields of philosophy, psychology, and specifically positive psychology, are investigated in terms of wisdom principles. The study focuses on how practical wisdom can be used as an executive virtue within the context of a Christian psychotherapeutic process. The conclusions from this chapter are used to direct the empirical research on the executive function of wisdom. Wisdom is an essential part of the psychotherapeutic process and can be used to enable the client to achieve personal happiness in everyday life. Article 4 deals with the empirical research where practical wisdom as executive virtue in the psychotherapeutic process was used to drive a process of personal growth and exploration for the clients in this study. It is stated further that wisdom is not the primary aim of the therapeutic intervention, but a tool to assist the therapist and the client in a more effective, outcomes-based, measurable result of personal growth. In Article 5 a pastoral-theological model for the executive virtue of practical wisdom in positive psychology is formulated. This model could possibly be applied to a therapeutic context, providing the client has the ability to comprehend the concepts and that the spiritual dimensions fit into his religious frame of reference. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The central theoretical statement of this study proposes that practical wisdom as an executive virtue within positive psychology may be applied in a pastoral-theological paradigm. One of the main virtues in positive psychology, namely wisdom, is investigated and defined in this study. The article format has been used in this thesis, ultimately consisting of five articles. In Article 1 the scriptural perspectives found on practical wisdom in the Old Testament are discussed. From the information contained in the article, it is deduced that Old Testament wisdom should and can possibly be used to connect the reader with the teachings in a realistic way so that the person is enabled to apply the principles of Old Testament wisdom literature to everyday circumstance. Article 2 deals with the wisdom principles found in the Sermon on the Mount. It can be said that wisdom teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount could possibly be used to enable the reader to achieve personal happiness in everyday life. It is further concluded that the principle of the transforming initiative could possibly be used in a valid psychotherapeutic process by the Christian psychologist with Christian clients. In Article 3 the meta-theoretical fields of philosophy, psychology, and specifically positive psychology, are investigated in terms of wisdom principles. The study focuses on how practical wisdom can be used as an executive virtue within the context of a Christian psychotherapeutic process. The conclusions from this chapter are used to direct the empirical research on the executive function of wisdom. Wisdom is an essential part of the psychotherapeutic process and can be used to enable the client to achieve personal happiness in everyday life. Article 4 deals with the empirical research where practical wisdom as executive virtue in the psychotherapeutic process was used to drive a process of personal growth and exploration for the clients in this study. It is stated further that wisdom is not the primary aim of the therapeutic intervention, but a tool to assist the therapist and the client in a more effective, outcomes-based, measurable result of personal growth. In Article 5 a pastoral-theological model for the executive virtue of practical wisdom in positive psychology is formulated. This model could possibly be applied to a therapeutic context, providing the client has the ability to comprehend the concepts and that the spiritual dimensions fit into his religious frame of reference. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This work embarks on a study of the use and interpretation of the term ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> (self-control) in the principal Pauline letters. But, first of all, a study is made of the use of this term in the literature outside the New Testament. It becomes clear that ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was a cardinal virtue closely associated with <font face="symbol">syvrosung</font> (temperance), one of the four basic Greek virtues. The emphasis fell particularly on the educated person's ability to control himself through strict self-discipline. However, this idea of self-control is alien to the tradition of the Old Testament. Only through the Hellenised Wisdom literature it became part of the Judaism of Paul's time. Through an exegetical analysis of Paul's use of the modes of the term ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>; in 1 Corinthians 7:5, 9 and 9:25, as well as in Galatians 5:23; it becomes clear that to him ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was part of the love with which believers served one another, within the freedom to which Christ has called them. It was the result of divine empowerment and control, because it was part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Although Paul also utilised the term as a virtue, to him it was not primarily characteristic of a person, but rather characterised the restrained and sacrificial managing of rights and privileges in relationships within the faith community. His own style of apostleship was a good example, because he willingly gave up his right to receive recompense for preaching the gospel. He illustrated this behaviour with the metaphor of an athlete's willingness to disregard certain rights with the eye on his goal. Believers should similarly be charitable towards one another. Nevertheless, regarding the control of sexual desires, Paul went a little further in his use of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>. Although he did not denounce matrimony, it was his opinion that a distinctly demarcated group of believers received the gift to easily control their sexual desires. He advised them to stay celibate in order to devote themselves even more to God's service. Comparing Paul's utilisation of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> with the use of writers outside the New Testament, confirms his creative harnessing of concepts from the cultures in his environment. But it was not the classical or Hellenistic interpretation of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> that influenced him. The Hellenised Judaism of the Septuagint formed Paul's concept of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font>. Nevertheless, his utilisation of the term was innovative original: by angling the Christian view away from the Hellenistic self-centredness, and focusing it on a loving and altruistic managing of rights and liberties, he thoroughly christianised the term. A study of the church's understanding of Paul reveals that his use of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> was mostly misunderstood. Again the term was understood and utilised as depicting the virtue of self-discipline in the classical and Hellenistic sense of the word. This, in turn, led to widespread incidence of asceticism and celibacy in the church. Even some views that lay behind modern day legalism and pietistic tendencies, originated from this understanding by the church of ’<font face="symbol">egkr</font>´<font face="symbol">ateia</font> . / Dissertation (PhD (New Testament Science))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted