In Nigerian Christianity, many theologians and Christians who do not have any formal theological training perceive Jesus Christ primarily as a solution to the problems that confront humanity. As a solution, they expect Jesus Christ to inspire some theological discourses that will deconstruct and overthrow Western theological hegemony, to rekindle the quest to preserve some indigenous traditions, to liberate the oppressed, poor and powerless, to expose the oppressors and all evildoers, to liberate and protect people from the attacks of the malevolent spirits, and to save people from being eternally separated from God. But what these solution-oriented Christologies have overlooked is that the Christ-Event is a paradox for it creates simultaneously a problem and a solution for the Christian community which confesses that God has revealed God’s self in this event. The contextual Christology that I develop in this study probes the theological, christological and anthropological consequences of this claim for interpreting and appropriating Jesus Christ in the Nigerian contexts. To achieve this task, I will converse with and critique some selected ‘constructive Christologies’ of some key theologians and some ‘grassroots Christologies’ that have been informed by social conditions, indigenous worldview, encounter with some versions of Christianity propagated by the West, and some existential issues that confront many Christians. However we choose to interpret and appropriate Jesus the Christ in our contexts, he remains simultaneously a question and an answer to the theological, cultural, religious, anthropological, political and socio-economic issues that challenge us. Viewed from this perspective, I will argue that the Christ-Event upsets, unsettles, critiques, and reshapes the solution-oriented Christologies of Nigerian Christianity. I will explore this claim within the circumference of the overarching thesis of this study; namely, as both a question and an answer, Jesus Christ confronts us as a ‘revealer’ of divinity and humanity. Thus, he mediates and interprets divinity and humanity for the purpose of enacting and sustaining a relationship between God and human beings.

This thesis will argue that John 8.6, 8—when Jesus twice ‘bent down and began to write on the earth’ in the Pericope Adulterae (John 7.53–8.11; hereafter PA)—is a claim that Jesus was a literate individual. Furthermore, it will argue that the claim that Jesus is capable of writing is an important key to understanding the insertion of PA into the Gospel of John (hereafter GJohn). The following study therefore offers a new interpretation and transmission-history of perhaps the most popular story in gospel tradition.

In this thesis I present a critical explication of Barth’s doctrine of providence in Church Dogmatics III.3. I argue that Karl Barth’s doctrine of providence developed throughout CD III.3 represents a ‘personalist’ revision of Reformed orthodoxy which can only be understood through his ad hoc use of philosophical resources. I claim that critics and supporters alike have missed the depth of Barth’s revision of Reformed providence by failing to perceive his ad hoc use of contemporaneous philosophical tools of the personal. Barth’s doctrine of providence remains theology proper, and not philosophy, but cannot be understood without philosophy. By setting Barth in conversation with three philosophical theologians, Vincent Brümmer, John Macmurray and Austin Farrer, I attempt to show how far Barth is from pre-modern understandings in his articulation of the doctrine of providence. These conversations equip the reader to discern continuities and discontinuities of Barth’s thought with 20th century personal, relational philosophy, thereby making sense of many of Barth’s counterintuitive claims. For Barth, human life is the continual double-agency of human self-determination and divine determination. This life in covenant before God (coram Deo) constitutes the Godgiven opportunity of human personhood. Seen in dialogue with personalist philosophical thinkers, Barth’s doctrine of providence overcomes problematic aspects of traditional Reformed views and grants limited time and space for personal development. Providence sheds light on Barth’s ‘eternalizing’ eschatology in that election establishes the objective reality of salvation for all creatures, while providence explicates God’s active lordship in the human’s self-determination of personal identity in history (the subjective formation of the person who is objectively saved). Election describes God’s salvific work on behalf of creation solely in the work of Jesus Christ. Providence determines the identity of those creatures in relation with the personal God. The conversations I propose with philosophical theologians enable the reader to discern a greater philosophical coherence in Barth’s doctrine of providence. Through contrast with the philosophical theologians, Barth’s christocentric and Trinitarian articulation gains clarity and significance. Building on these philosophical comparisons, I attempt to assess Barth’s elaborations on entrenched debates concerning history as determined by divine action, human freedom under divine providence, and the problem of evil in world-occurrence. I argue that Barth’s ‘personalist’ post-Enlightenment providence as seen in the whole of III.3 points to absolute confidence in God’s determination of all world-occurrence, limited human autonomy of action under God’s universal providence, and an explication of evil that strengthens the Christian in the face of suffering and injustice.

This study proposes an investigation into the formation of a new British Muslim identity, alongside various personal and social challenges and consequences many Muslim converts face as a result of conversion to, and in some cases from, Islam. The thesis analyses the factors and elements that greatly contribute to a more positive conversion experience and draws on insights from colonial history, the political climate, the Islamic fitrah, and western theories on conversion and identity development. Based on a qualitative study sample of thirty-four British converts, the thesis argues that many challenges Muslim converts face are due to them having a limited understanding of Islamic teachings and their rights. The study was guided by research questions: What are the anticipated benefits and positive elements that encouraged the start and continuation of an Islamic conversion journey? What constitutes a comfortable and balanced British Muslim identity and lifestyle for westerners? and What are the main problems and challenges new Muslims face that can lead to de-conversion? Is Lewis Rambo’s stage model, alongside Helen Ebaugh’s de-conversion stages appropriate for the study of conversion and de-conversion to and from Islam? It was found that those who enjoyed being Muslims were able to create a balanced British Muslim identity by negotiating and applying their own western values to their understanding of The Prophet Muhammad’s biography and The Quran, and integrated Islamic values into their own environments and everyday lives that were free from foreign cultural practices. It was important to understand what they were expecting to benefit from Islam and how they later perceived, practised, expressed and understood their new faith and identities as British Muslims. The study also examines how converts deal with Islamophobia and extremism, and how Islamic conversions can be perceived as a threat to White British identity, social class and values. The participants shared common difficulties regarding gender and racial discrimination, living among Muslims, identity development, marriage, parenting, Muslim culture, isolation, integration and practising Islam, but at different levels, and with differing consequences. The sacrifices, challenges and consequences faced by some individuals as a result of a de-conversion are explored, which includes living with hidden identities as ‘closeted disaffiliates’ out of fear of abuse and stigmatisation.

What are the biblical cherubim? In the Hebrew Bible, the physical appearance and cultic role of the cherubim are never explicitly elucidated. Largely, the authors assume their audience is familiar with the form and function of these heavenly beings. Yet the portrayal of the cherubim varies from text to text and, sometimes, we are given conflicting information. Previous studies of the cherubim have placed too great an emphasis on archaeological and etymological data. This thesis presents a new synthetic study which prioritises the evidence supplied by the biblical texts. Biblical exegesis, using literary and historical-critical methods, forms the large part of the investigation (chapter 2). The findings arising from the exegetical discussion provide the basis upon which comparison with etymological and archaeological data is made (chapters 3 and 4). It is argued that, with the exception of the book of Ezekiel, the biblical texts are quite consistent in their portrayal of the cherubim. Cherubim are intimately connected with the manifestation of Yahweh and have an apotropaic function in relation to sacred space. They are envisaged with one face and one set of wings. Ps 18:11 = 2 Sam 22:11 suggests that they are quadrupedal. The traditions in the final form of Ezekiel 1-11 mark a shift in the conception of the biblical cherubim. Physically, the cherubim are transmogrified and become enigmatic beasts with four faces and four wings. Their function also changes. Depicted elsewhere as menacing guardians, in Ezekiel they become agents of praise. The results suggest that traditions envisaging the cherubim as tutelary winged quadrupeds were supplanted by traditions that conceived of them as more enigmatic, obeisant beings. In the portrayal of the cherubim in Ezekiel and Chronicles, we can detect signs of a conceptual shift that prefigures the description of the cherubim in post-biblical texts, such as The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Enochic texts.

This thesis focuses primarily on Lakota concerns about the appropriation of their spirituality. The religious authority of the Lakota has been recognised by Native Americans and non- Natives alike through the books of Nicholas Black Elk, who witnessed the establishment of reservations in the Plains, the aftermath of the Wounded Knee massacre and the conversion of his people to Christianity, and through the teachings of his nephew Frank Fools Crow who kept the prohibited Lakota Sun Dance alive and other ceremonial practices until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was passed by Congress in 1978. Not long after, elders from Lakota and other Plains Indian Nations became increasingly concerned about what they perceived to be the misuse of their ceremonies. In 1993, five hundred representatives of the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota peoples endorsed the ‘Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality’, which primarily attacks the commodification of Lakota ceremonies by ‘pseudo-Indian charlatans’ and ‘new age wannabes’. Ten years later, a group of Lakota and neighbouring Plains Indian spiritual leaders supported the ‘Arvol Looking Horse Proclamation’ prohibiting all non-Native participation in Plains Indian ceremonies. Meanwhile, in academic institutions, several Native American scholars accused their non-Native colleagues of exploiting Native American communities, raising methodological questions connected to insider/outsider debates and research ethics in the study of Native American religious traditions. The thesis first examines the historical roots of the religious ‘war’ between Native Americans and non-Natives and analyses how the expropriation of Lakota ceremonies across tribal boundaries became the basis of a pan-Indian religion. By bringing together diverse indigenous peoples of North America as the ‘colonised’ against non-Native appropriators perceived as the ‘colonisers’, a tension developed between racial interpretations of ‘Native American’ based on blood quantum methods, established by the federal governments, and ‘traditional’ definitions where attitude and behaviour determines membership of the group. The main body of the thesis explores this tension in a variety of contexts: among the Lakota themselves, non-Native Americans accused of appropriating Lakota ceremonies, contemporary Mi’kmaq in eastern Canada who have employed Lakota and other Plains Indian ceremonial practices, and in the academy where ethnicity and ethics in the study of Native American religions are currently debated. The matter is further complicated by evidence illustrating that the Lakota have no centralised authority where traditional religious matters are concerned; however, Native Americans consistently refer to ‘protocols’ that define the way ceremonies are performed and the rules of participation, largely based on the Lakota model again, in particular where pan-Indian religion is present, such as at Mi’kmaq powwows, and in ceremonies where the pipe is smoked, such as the sweat lodge ceremony and vision quest, which have been appropriated extensively, often without the protocols, by non-Native Americans, including practitioners in Britain where some have altered the ceremonies to create a reconstituted British indigenous tradition. The attempt to restrict participation in Native American ceremonies according to ethnicity has not only created conflict between Native and non-Native peoples, but within Native communities as well. Nevertheless, the call for exclusivity has come after previous warnings about the misuse of ceremonies had been ignored. Therefore, the thesis examines Native American discourses about the breaking of ‘protocols’ as being at the heart of objections to the appropriation of Native American spirituality.

<p> This doctoral project was developed to evaluate the validity and reliability of a spiritual growth assessment tool that the author created for his ministry in Southeast Asia called the Bridge or BRIDGES. This tool called the BRIDGES Spiritual Growth Questionnaire (BSG-Q) is helpful for church leaders who intend on implementing The Bridge&rsquo;s 7-Stage Discipleship Strategy in determining the spiritual stage of their church members. Fifty volunteers at the Bridge were recruited to complete the BSG-Q. To study the validity of the BSG-Q, the three basic and traditional components of validity (criterion-related validity, content validity, and construct validity) were applied. Nine small group leaders at the Bridge were recruited to help assess the criterion-related validity by completing a criterion assessment form. Five experts concerning the Bridge&rsquo;s 7-Stage strategy were recruited to help assess the content validity by completing a content assessment form. Construct validity was assessed by referencing published authors. To study the reliability of the BSG-Q, the test-retest method and the split-halves method were applied. The accumulated data from all the questionnaires and tests and the analysis of the data confirmed the hypothesis of this project: &ldquo;The BSG-Q is a valid and reliable tool in determining a person&rsquo;s level or stage of spiritual growth within the 7- Stage strategy.&rdquo; This project also enabled the author to make some critical discoveries in how to interpret the scores of BSG-Q participants resulting in important recommendations for church leaders who intend on using this tool.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to answer the question: What would constitute an effective strategy for training and developing holistic small group leaders, specifically at Renaissance Community Church? To begin the process of answering this question the author identified four specific steps that were necessary to assist in the development of holistic small group leaders at RCC. </p><p> Prior to the project design, the author, working with Dr. Bobby Hill of Hill Consulting, and using the NCD assessment tools, discovered that small groups were the minimum factor. It was at that point that RCC began transitioning from a church with small groups to a church of small groups. </p><p> This led to the first step of the ministry project, which involved recruiting twelve potential leaders and administering a pre-test designed to gauge the participant&rsquo;s current level of understanding and confidence to explain the following concepts: understanding God&rsquo;s purpose for small groups, understanding a leader&rsquo;s personal development, understanding and developing new leaders, understanding the dynamics of spiritual development, leading small group meetings, comprehending group progress, understanding the role of a shepherd, and with these competencies impact their world. </p><p> For the second step, using a <i>Modeling/Turbo</i> group model, the author developed an eight-week small group setting using the <i> Leading Life-Changing with Small Groups</i> as the leadership curriculum for the twelve participants. The author then used a post-test to measure the participants&rsquo; development in their abilities to explain and implement the material. </p><p> The third step consisted of the <i>turbo launch</i> in which the participants led six groups for eight weeks using the material <i> ReGroup: Training Groups to be Groups,</i> specifically designed by the author in order for the participants to implement their new skills. </p><p> This eight-week process ended with the fourth step, an exit interview with questions (see Appendix F) designed to measure the qualitative efficacy of the <i>Leading Life-Changing with Small Groups</i> training program. The participants&rsquo; showed signs of significant increase in both the understanding of the material during the eight week modeling/turbo group.</p>

<p> Four oracles appear in Jeremiah 21:11-23:8 detailing the failure and future of the final kings in Judah, also known as the King Collection. The final oracle against Jehoiachin (he also appears with the names Coniah / Jeconiah) precedes the announcement of the unnamed new Davidide, the Branch. </p><p> The oracle against Jehoiachin appears to be unique, involving no stipulations of covenant wrongdoing, a feature of Deuteronomistic criticism of the kingship since Solomon. He is one of the most unremarkable kings in Israelite history. Yet, he is the concluding figure in both the Greek (Septuagint or LXX) and Hebrew (Masoretic Text or MT) versions of Jeremiah's King Collection, a significant change from the accounts in Kings and Chronicles. He occupies an important place in Josephus's attempts to sketch the ideal Israelite king, respectful of Roman rule. He is important to the rabbis in developing an atonement theory of the exile. In the New Testament, he appears in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, while the other kings from the King Collection disappear. The Epistle to the Hebrews may adopt similar ideas in developing the analogy of Melchizedek, another insignificant king in Israel's history, as a precursor to Jesus. Ideas developed from the flow of the oracle in the text of Jeremiah, shaped by the polemics of exile, appear in the Acts of the Apostles' casting of Jesus' spiritual kingship on the world's stage. </p><p> Precritical Jewish and Christian exegesis adopted a harmonizing approach to the oracle, importing reasons from the Deuteronomistic History and the Chronicler for its harsh judgment. Yet discussion of the oracle and its significance in the construction of the figure of Jehoiachin in Jeremiah has all but disappeared from critical scholarship following the groundbreaking work of Bernhard Duhm. Early critical scholarship, while correcting many of the mistakes of precritical exegetes, followed the new Protestant confessionalism of the 19^th century. Michel Foucault locates the loss of the theology of the cross as this decisive turn in interpretive methodology. This turn caused modern Protestant interpreters, who are mainly responsible for the foundations of modern critical studies in Jeremiah, to devalue disempowered kings in Israel's history, one of the most important hermeneutical categories in classical Jewish literature, according to Yair Lorberbaum. Thus, Bernhard Duhm, and later scholarship that builds on his work, missed the significance of this oracle in the textual function of the book of Jeremiah and its polemical significance in the debates between post-exile groups of Judeans. Gerhard von Rad, in his revision of Martin Noth's theory of the Deuteronomistic History, saw the importance of Jehoiachin as a source of hope for a renewed Israel. Jack Lundbom most recently observed the development of an oracular frame moving from the center outward in which the oracle against Jehoiachin appears. Yet, to date, little work has appeared on the way the canonical form of Jeremiah frames Jehoiachin and its effect on Jeremiah's end to the DtrH. </p><p> To make sense of it, we must account for what appears to be an unfulfilled prophecy in Jeremiah 22, as recorded by Jehoiachin's treatment in Jeremiah 52 where, against the expectation of the oracle, the Jewish king again appears on the world stage. Mark Roncace has written extensively on how this type of prophecy functions in the book of Jeremiah. Speech-act theory, as proposed originally by J. L. Austin, and refined by his prot&eacute;ge, John Searle, provides further insight into this issue. Building on the scholarship of von Rad, Lundbom, Mark Leuchter and several other scholars of the sociopolitical forces in the production of biblical texts in exile, we will reconstruct the remarkably adaptable prophetic frame developed in exile around Jehoiachin and his oracle, which set the stage for a return of a Jewish king to the world stage.</p>

Contributing to scholarship that explores human suffering within mediated culture has provided the impetus for this PhD thesis. I propose that suffering in mediated modernity be considered in social, cultural, and theological terms; and specifically in the context of privation, a term applied by Saint Augustine to the integrated problems of suffering and evil. Privation, to Augustine, meant negation: a vacuum of human existence understood as the absence of positive, sustaining life forces. I attempt to update this concept by arguing that a modern definition of privation can be conceived of as variable states of human deprivation such as loss, dislocation, isolation, and hunger. Privation encompasses these states of deprivation, expressing the kind of suffering that occurs in mediated culture. To narrow the mediated-culture aspect of the study, I explore the topic of fandom, which I define as “the intentional socialization of textual consumption,” and I attempt to show how privation exists in several well-defined forms within a wide variety of fan cultures (groups of fans). In short, fans use their fandom to satisfy their privation in four ways: through connectivity, release, identification, and empowerment. The corresponding deprivations include dislocation, animus, isolation, and hunger. I bring these concepts together in the form of deprivations requiring satisfactions described as dislocation/connectivity, animus/release, isolation/identification, and hunger/empowerment. In each case I attempt to provide analysis and discussion of relevant findings based on empirical research, and in a final discussion I integrate supportive ideas from theories of attachment, catharsis, identification, and empowerment. My methods of research include a combination of secondary source analysis; two distinct phases of questionnaire-based research among 256 fans from various fan cultures; and a case study approach to the online fan culture of the Harry Potter books by Edinburgh author J.K. Rowling.