Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nineteenth century Presbyterian witness in South Africa provides us with a wonderful testimony of close work relationships between ministers that served independent colonial congregations and missionaries in native mission stations. However, these relationships remained good as long as these two streams of Presbyterianism were kept separate. Attempts to form one Church failed resulting to the formation of the Presbyterian Church in South Africa, a coming together of some mission and colonial congregations, in 1897. The majority of mission congregations stayed out of this union and formed themselves into the Bantu Presbyterian Church in 1923. From the beginning of the twentieth century the Ecumenical Movement posed a challenge to the world church, condemning her inability to live as the Body of Christ and as God's one big family. South Africa witnessed a deeper polarization of society through the rise of divisive nationalist ideas among Africans and Europeans. Churches did not escape this wave of thought. They also could not ignore the challenge by the World Council of Churches. Unity talks started just after 1923 and took a serious turn in 1959 under the heat of South Africa's racist policies. In the same year a Committee on Union Negotiations was appointed by both Churches. It had become very clear that a divided witness was a mockery of Presbyterian witness as well as of Christian witness in general. This was evident in continued conflict in areas where work overlapped. Africans in both Churches did not understand why there were two Presbyterian Churches. They changed Churches as it suited them sometimes to avoid disciplinary action. Whilst there was a desire to have the two Churches unite problems relating to,: 1. the laws of the land, the legal policy of the Government, that of separate development and an un-Christ-like attitude of Whites towards blacks weighed heavily in the minds of most people. 2. a distorted Christian understanding of the members of both Churches as the Body of Christ due to lack of theological reflection, 3. suspicion and mistrust of each other 4. and an inadequate or total lack of information on unity negotiations with decisions only at the top with very little or no input from most congregations derailed all attempts on union. There were genuine fears on both sides. Blacks had learnt never to trust white people. These negotiations came to an end in 1973 with the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa voting in favour and the Bantu Presbyterian Church against. In 1994 another attempt was made. This time the laws of .the land had changed, Both Churches had come to accept the need to come together. Past hurts were addressed and this led to the formation of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa on the 26th September 1999. It is still not too late. We can still help make this union have real meaning to most people at grass root level. We must help people develop trust, create a strong theological base and mobilize them around a better understanding of the church. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Negentiende eeuse Presbiteriaanse getuienis in Suid-Afrika verskaf aan ons 'n wonderlike getuienis van noue werksverhoudings tussen predikante, wat onafhanklike van koloniale gemeentes gedien het, en sendelinge wat die inheemse bevolking vanuit sendingstasies bedien het. Hierdie verhouding het goed gewerk solank as wat die twee Presbiteriaanse strome apart gehou is. Pogings om een kerk te vorm het misluk en aanleiding gegee tot die stigting van die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van Suid-Afrika deur die samevoeging van 'n aantal sendingstasies en koloniale gemeentes in 1897. Die meerderheid sendinggemeentes het egter buite hierdie kerkeenheid gebly en hulleself gedurende 1923 georganiseer as die "Bantu Presbyterian Chuch". Sedert die begin van die twintigste eeu het die Ekumeniese Beweging 'n uitdaging aan die Wereldkerk gerig deur haar onverrnoe tot uitlewing van "die liggaam van Christus" en "God se groot familie" te veroordeel. Suid-Afrika is verder gepolariseer deur die opkoms van verdelende nasionalistiese idees tussen die Swart en Wit gedeeltes van die bevolking. Die Kerke het nie ontsnap aan hierdie kennisgolf nie en hulle kon ook nie die uitdaging van die Wereldraad van Kerke ignoreer nie. Versoeningsgesprekke het net na 1923 begin en In ernstige wending in 1959 geneem veral as gevolg van Suid-Afrika se toenemende rassistiese beleidsrigtings. In dieselfde jaar is In Komitee van Eenheidsonderhandeling deur beide Kerke aangestel. Dit was duidelik dat die verdeelde geestelike uitlewing In bespotting van beide Presbiteriaanse sowel as Christelike getuienis gemaak het. Daar was volgehoue konflik binne areas waar werk oorvleuel het en Swartmense het nie verstaan waarom daar twee Presbiteriaanse Kerke was nie. Hulle het dan ook na willekeur van Kerk verander ten einde dissiplinere stappe te voorkom. Alhoewel daar 'n begeerte vir die vereniging van die twee kerke was is dit ernstig belemmer deur o.a.: 1. Die wette van die land, die regsbeleid van die Regering, afsonderlike ontwikkeling en In on-christelike houding van Blankes teenoor Swartes. 2. 'n Verwronge begrip van die Kerk (as Liggaam van Christus) onder gemeentelede, hoofsaaklik as gevolg van 'n gebrek aan teologiese refleksie. 3. Agterdog en wantroue en 4. 'n onvoldoende of selfs totale gebrek aan inligting oor eenheidsonderhandelings. Besluite is slegs in die topstruktuur geneem en daar was weinig of geen insette van die afsonderlike gemeentes nie. Bogenoemde faktore het aile pogings tot eenheid ontspoor, daar was werklike vrese aan beide kante en Swartes het 'n totale wantroue in Blankes ontwikkel. Die onderhandeling het in 1973 tot 'n einde gekom toe die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van Suidelike Afrika ten gunste van en die "Bantu Presbyterian Church" teen eenwording gestem het. 'n Verdere poging tot eenwording is in 1994 aangewend. Teen hierdie tyd was die landswette reeds gewysig en beide Kerke het die onderlinge behoefte aan mekaar besef. Verskille van die verled~ is aangespreek en die "United Presbyterian Church in South Africa" is op 26 September 1999 gestig. Hierdie eenwording was nie te laat nie en dit kan werklike betekenis vir mense op grondvlak he. Mense moet egter gehelp word om vertroue te ontwikkel, In sterk teologiese basis moet ontwikkel word en hulle moet gemobiliseer word tot 'n beter begrip van die kerk.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines and proves the distinct characteristic of the hermeneutics of Reformed church polity, with regard to other jurisprudence. The study is set out as follows: Chapter 1 The methodological approach used is of cardinal importance in the research of a distinct hermeneutical characteristic associated with church polity. A clear choice is made for a research methodology which validates the thesis. This thesis opts for a theological and church political study with an ecclesiological foundation. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 is divided into two sections or themes: (i) Whether church and law can coexist and (ii) the unique characteristic of church polity. These two themes qualify the study in toto, whilst (at the same time) identifying useful elements that can assist in exploring the question of a distinct hermeneutical characteristic associated with Reformed church polity. It is argued that if church and law can exist together, the focus of the study can shift to the next theme in accordance with the thesis, namely the distinct characteristic of Reformed church polity. Judged from a Reformed perspective, it is clear (derived from part 1) that church and law can coexist and therefore is not a contradiction in terminis. Derived from part 2, it is clear that church polity has a unique character (sui generis), which is practiced in and for the church as a unique community. The argument of the thesis is that the church is the object of the law, also that its unique character resides with the faith community‐ which is the creation of God, which in turn enables Christ to rule the church‐ as her Lord and King. Chapter 3 As with the Bible and all legislation‐ the church order is subject to hermeneutical rules. The hermeneutics associated with theology and legislation are not isolated dissiplines, but form an inherent part of a general hermeneutics for the human sciences. The texts associated with church polity are therefore subjected to the same hermeneutical processes as other legislative texts. The hermeneutics associated with church polity possess a unique characteristic, with regards to the community in which it functions. Legislative texts should be read within the context of the community that sanctioned it. Church order then differs from the legislation of other communities. Hermeneutics, and the methods associated with it, can therefore assist the interpreter in reading a church order. Chapter 4 In the concluding chapter the hypothesis of the study is evaluated and verified in accordance with the conclusions reached in the preceding chapters‐ each with its own particular theme and relevance to the end‐result and validation of the thesis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek en bewys die eiesoortige hermeneutiese aard van die Gereformeerde kerkreg, in vergelyke met ander reg. Die ondersoek val soos volg uiteen: Hoofstuk 1 Die metodologiese aanpak van die studie is van deurslaggewende belang by die ondersoek na ʼn eiesoortige hermeneutiese karakter by die kerkreg. Daar word ʼn duidelike keuse gemaak vir ʼn navorsingsmetodologie wat die tese sal valideer. Die eiesoortige karakter van die hermeneutiek van die kerkreg, met insluiting van die temas‐ bestaansreg van die kerkreg, asook die eiesoortigheid van die kerkreg, is oortuigende argumente vir ʼn teologieskerkregtelike aanpak, met ʼn sterk ekklesiologiese onderbou. Hoofstuk 2 Hoofstuk 2 van die studie fokus in twee dele op (i) die bestaansreg van die kerkreg, asook (ii) die eiesoortigheid van die kerkreg, in ʼn poging om die studie in toto te kwalifiseer, asook om bruikbare elemente te identifiseer‐ wat kan bydra tot die vraag na die eiesoortige karakter van die hermeneutiek van die kerkreg. Daar word uitgegaan van die opvatting dat indien kerk en reg saam kan bestaan, die fokus kan aanskuif na die volgende tema in lyn met die tese van die studie, nl. die eiesoortigheid, oftewel unieke karakter van die kerk se reg. Vanuit ʼn Gereformeerde perspektief blyk dit duidelik (in deel 1) dat kerk en reg wel bestaanbaar is en nie ʼn contradictio in terminis nie. Kerkreg kan as behorend tot reg in eie sin beskou word, aangesien die reg die gestalte van die genade is (teenoor die opvatting dat reg en genade mekaar uitsluit). Kerk en reg se saambestaan, is kwalifikasie vir die vraag na die unieke karakter van die kerkreg. In deel 2 is dit duidelik dat die kerkreg ʼn eiesoortige reg (ius sui generis) is, wat in en vir die kerk as eiesoortige gemeenskap beoefen word. Die argument voorts is dat die kerk, die objek van die reg is, en dat die eie karakter van die kerkreg blyk uit die geloofsgemeenskapwat die “maaksel van God” is, en haar laat regeer deur Christus‐ haar Heer en Koning. Hoofstuk 3 Die kerkorde (soos die Bybel en alle regstekste) is onderhewig aan hermeneutiese reëls, wanneer dit kom by die uitleg daarvan. Beide die teologiese en regshermeneutiek is nie geïsoleerde dissiplines nie, maar maak ʼn inherente deel uit van ʼn algemene hermeneutiek vir die geesteswetenskappe. Kerkregtelike tekste is dus onderhewig aan dieselfde hermeneutiese prosesse as ander regstekste. Die hermeneutiek van die kerkreg toon ʼn eie karakter vir sover dit rekenskap hou met die eie aard van die gemeenskap waarin dit funksioneer. Regstekste moet gelees word teen die agtergrond van die gemeenskap wat dit as sulks gesanksioneer het. Die kerk se reg verskil dus van die reg in ander gemeenskappe. Die eie aard van die Christelike gemeente hou dus formele konsekwensies in vir die hermeneutiek van die kerkreg. Verder veronderstel ʼn hermeneutiese lees en gebruik van die kerkorde verskeie hulpmiddelswat tot diens van die interpreteerder kan wees. Na aanleiding van die verskeie hermeneutiese metodes, blyk dit dat daar ʼn ingewikkelde samespel aanwesig is by die kerkreg‐ tussen die kerk, kerkordelike‐reël en die Skrif. Hoofstuk 4 Ten slotte word die hipotese van die studie beoordeel en bevestig, na aanleiding van die gevolgtrekkings wat gemaak is in die voorafgaande hoofstukke‐ elk met ʼn eie bepaalde tema, wat direk verband hou met die eind‐resulterende validasie van die tese.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study describes and analyses the problem of termination of pregnancy, with special attention to its prevalence in Kenya, where more than seven hundred abortions are performed daily on girls between fifteen and seventeen years of age. Although pregnancy termination is illegal in Kenya, its practice goes on in the rural villages, in homes, in urban streets and in private clinics. The research focuses on the ethical quest for human dignity in the context of the church’s response to the challenge of termination of pregnancy. It examines the perceptions and attitudes of various cadres of Christians, such as church ministers, doctors and lawyers, towards the problem. The study has been mainly through literature review of books, journals, magazines and newspapers, as well as through structured interviews and focus group discussions in Kisumu County of Kenya. Various viewpoints have been discussed and analysed with regard to the problem. The research proposes Martin Benjamin’s ethical theory of compromise as the most suitable means by which the church in Kenya can approach the challenge of termination of pregnancy. The theory finds support from Norman Geisler’s theory of graded absolutism as well as from a biblical analysis. Through the compromise theory, the research proposes that the church should lead in public advocacy for legalising pregnancy termination within the first six weeks of pregnancy in order to deal with pregnancies arising out of rape and incest. Findings from structured interviews and focused group discussions support the current legal framework that prohibits pregnancy termination, but reveal a desire for change in the way the church deals with members who get unplanned pregnancies and those who terminate the same. The research suggests, in addition, that the church’s role should emphasize counselling, teaching and pastoral care, rather than ex-communication and public rebuke. The church should avoid activism which seeks to keep abortion illegal at the expense of numerous Kenyans who do not necessarily submit to the church’s position. Within the church, and among those whom the church seeks to convert, the researcher upholds the church’s teaching of chastity and abstinence as the most effective preventive measures against abortion. The thesis proposes these measures as the means to ensuring human dignity within the church in relation to the ethical challenge of termination of pregnancy. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie beskryf en ontleed die probleem van die beëindiging van swangerskap, met spesiale aandag aan die voorkoms daarvan in Kenia, waar meer as sewe-honderd aborsies daagliks uitgevoer word op meisies tussen vyftien en sewentien jaar oud. Hoewel swangerskap-beëindiging onwettig is in Kenia, vind dit steeds plaas in die plattelandse dorpies, in huise, in stedelike strate en in private klinieke. Die navorsing fokus op die etiese strewe na menswaardigheid in die lig van die kerk se reaksie op die uitdaging van die beëindiging van swangerskap. Dit ondersoek die persepsies en houdings van verskillende kaders van Christene, soos predikante, dokters en prokureurs, ten opsigte van die probleem. Die studie is hoofsaaklik gedoen deur ‘n literatuuroorsig van boeke, artikels, koerante en tydskrifte, sowel as deur middel van gestruktureerde onderhoude en fokus-groep besprekings in die distrik van Kisumu, Kenia. Verskillende standpunte word bespreek en ontleed met betrekking tot die probleem. Die navorsing stel Martin Benjamin se etiese teorie van kompromie voor as die mees geskikte manier waarop die kerk in Kenia die uitdaging van die beëindiging van swangerskap kan benader. Die teorie word ondersteun deur Norman Geisler se teorie van gegradeerde absolutisme sowel as deur 'n Bybelse analise. Deur die kompromie-teorie stel die navorsing voor dat die kerk leiding moet neem in openbare voorspraak vir die wettiging van swangerskap-beëindiging binne die eerste ses weke van swangerskappe wat voortspruit uit verkragting en bloedskande. Bevindinge van gestruktureerde onderhoude en gefokusde groepbesprekings ondersteun die huidige regsraamwerk wat swangerskap-beëindiging verbied, maar openbaar 'n begeerte vir 'n verandering in die manier waarop die kerk optree teenoor lede wat onbepland swanger raak en diegene wat aborsies kry. Die navorsing dui verder daarop dat die kerk se rol eerder moet fokus op berading, onderrig en pastorale sorg, as op ekskommunikasie en openbare teregwysing. Die kerk moet aktivisme vermy wat poog om aborsie onwettig te hou ten koste van die talle Keniane wat hulle nie noodwendig aan die kerk onderwerp nie. Binne die kerk, en onder diegene wat die kerk wil bekeer, ondersteun die navorser die kerk se lering van kuisheid en onthouding as die mees doeltreffende voorkomende maatreëls teen aborsie. Die tesis stel hierdie maatreëls voor as middele om menswaardigheid, met betrekking tot die etiese uitdaging van die beëindiging van swangerskap, binne die kerk te verseker.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The goal of this thesis is to present a historical-theological inquiry regarding secular humanism in Malawi. Some Christians have tried to respond, but there has been no detailed historical-theological response from the Church or theologians, nor has there been any critical investigation into the philosophy and underlying assumptions of secular humanism (understood as a specific movement and a broader intellectual current). (SHOULD BE REMOVED) The study is both historical and theological in perspective. It is historical, in that secular humanism is dealt with from a historical dimension, whereby its development over centuries is traced and lessons are learnt on how to respond to this movement in Malawi today. This study is also theological, in that it explores whether Christian humanism can engage constructively with concerns raised by secular humanists. It describes secular humanism on the level of its underlying assumptions, which are laid bare and their possible weaknesses exposed. The researcher holds that a critique of the assumptions is of greater merit than that which ends only on the level of specific arguments. Such a method of critiquing is borrowed from Klaus Nürnberger, who in his book Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion: A Repentant Refutation, critiqued Dawkins on the level of assumptions as well as Alister and Joanna McGrath who, in their book The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, challenged Dawkins at representative points, leaving it to readers to judge the overall reliability of his evidence and position. This is not to throw away specific arguments for it is through such arguments that we discern assumptions. This study is a critical engagement with the assumptions of secular humanism in Malawi, with the goal of responding to the challenges posed by their critique of religiosity. The study seeks to offer a constructive and adequate way of engaging Secular humanists and at the same time, explores whether Christian humanism is ideal in engaging concerns raised by secular humanists. The Christian humanist John W. de Gruchy is studied. He drew from John Calvin and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the study also shows how he made use of their insights. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om ‘n histories-teologiese ondersoek aangaande Sekulêre humanisme in Malawi in te stel. Sommige Christene het probeer reageer, maar tot dusver was daar nog nie ‘n georganiseerde en sistematiese histories-teologiese reaksie van die Kerk of teoloë nie, daar was ook nog nie enige kritiese ondersoek na die filosofie en onderliggende aannames van Sekulêre humanisme (hier verstaan as ‘n spesifieke beweging en ‘n breër intellektuele stroming). (SHOULD BE REMOVED) Hierdie studie is sowel histories as teologies in perspektief. Dit is histories, in dat Sekulêre humanisme vanuit ‘n historiese dimensie benader word, waardeur die ontwikkeling oor eeue heen gevolg word en lesse geleer word oor hoe om te reageer op hierdie beweging tans in Malawi. Die studie is ook teologies, in die sin dat dit van die aanname uitgaan dat Christelike humanisme konstruktief met die vraagstelling wat Sekulêre humaniste op die tafel plaas, kan omgaan. Dit beskryf Sekulêre humanisme op die vlak van die onderliggende aannames, wat uitgelig word en waarvan die moontlike swakhede ontbloot word. Die navorser voer aan dat ‘n kritiek van die aannames van groter meriete is as een wat eindig op die vlak van spesifieke argumente. Hierdie metode van kritisering word geleen van Klaus Nurnberger, wat is sy boek Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion: A Repentant Refutation, Dawkins kritiseer op die vlak van aannames, asook Alister en Joanna McGrath, wat in hulle boek The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Dawkins op verteenwoordigende punte uitdaag, wat dit aan die lesers oorlaat om die oorhoofse geloofwaardigheid van sy bewyse en standpunt te bepaal. Dit is nie om spesifieke argumente weg te gooi nie, aangesien dit deur sulke argumente is wat ons aannames onderskei. Die studie is ‘n kritiese omgaan met die aannames en filosofie van Sekulêre humanisme in Malawi, met die doel om te reageer op die uitdagings wat deur hulle kritiek van godsdiens gebied word. Hierdie studie poog om op ’n konstruktiewe manier met Sekulêre humaniste om te gaan en bied terselfdertyd Christelike humanisme aan as die ideaal in die omgaan met die vraagstellings wat Sekulêre humaniste opper. Die Christelike humanis John W. de Gruchy is ‘n voorbeeld van hoe ‘n Christelike humanitiese veldtog uitgevoer kan word. Hy bou op Johannes Calvyn en Dietrich Bonhoeffer en die studie dui ook aan hoe hy van hulle insigte gebruik maak.

That the centre of Christianity is rapidly shifting from the global North to the global South, particularly to Sub-Saharan Africa, is undoubtedly a great cause of celebration. But the impact of this shift on ethical life remains to be seen among many African believers both at individual and community levels. One main factor for this is that moral life for most believers continues to be guided by a traditional ethical framework which derives its foundational moral values and norms from the concepts of community and solidarity. In this way, African ethics shares significant similarities with Christian ecclesial ethics which regards church as an ethical community. But a conceptualisation that sees the church as an ethical community does not only find fertile grounds in African cultures and thereby enriched by its strong sense of community and solidarity but it also ought to meaningfully challenge and transform this cultural framework in order to formulate an ethics that is not just African but is genuinely Christian, evangelical and biblical. As this research argues, this is possible when the distinctive underpinnings of the gospel are taken seriously thereby ensuring a fruitful and sustained moral formation within Christian communities. / MA (Ethics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

That the centre of Christianity is rapidly shifting from the global North to the global South, particularly to Sub-Saharan Africa, is undoubtedly a great cause of celebration. But the impact of this shift on ethical life remains to be seen among many African believers both at individual and community levels. One main factor for this is that moral life for most believers continues to be guided by a traditional ethical framework which derives its foundational moral values and norms from the concepts of community and solidarity. In this way, African ethics shares significant similarities with Christian ecclesial ethics which regards church as an ethical community. But a conceptualisation that sees the church as an ethical community does not only find fertile grounds in African cultures and thereby enriched by its strong sense of community and solidarity but it also ought to meaningfully challenge and transform this cultural framework in order to formulate an ethics that is not just African but is genuinely Christian, evangelical and biblical. As this research argues, this is possible when the distinctive underpinnings of the gospel are taken seriously thereby ensuring a fruitful and sustained moral formation within Christian communities. / MA (Ethics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This thesis seeks an orderly set of theological reflections on the declaration that “God is light” (1 Jn. 1:5). Such talk of divine light, this study argues, must begin with the doctrine of God, namely, with God's light in se and his “shining forth” ad extra towards creatures in the darkness of sin and death. This work therefore follows a precise pathway in expounding this theme. Chapter 1 offers a brief survey of the historical and scriptural uses of the concept of light in order to fix its linguistic and conceptual boundaries. Chapter 2 seeks to reflect upon God's light as the light of his own radiant triune identity, as well as offering a preliminary examination of God's economic, covenantal shining forth to creatures. Chapter 3 gives a much more detailed rehearsal of this act of shining forth by an account of God's light as manifest in the economy of his works with which he lovingly elects, reconciles, and illuminates creatures. Chapter 4 proposes that with the treatment of God's shining forth there belongs a treatment of the light of the church called out of darkness, gathered into the “marvelous light” of God, and set to proclaiming the “excellencies” of God. Chapter 5 concludes this study by examining what bearing the reality of God's shining forth as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit might have on the work and call of theology as an activity of the 'illumined mind'.

This dissertation combines a sustained reflection on the European and North American Post-Holocaust theological landscape with the themes of otherness, exclusion, and identity. The study aims to offer a constructive contribution toward ecclesiology in a post-Holocaust world riven with a rejection of otherness. The consensus among Holocaust scholars is that the moral failure of the churches to engage on behalf of the vast majority of victims of the Third Reich evinces a profound sickness at the heart of the Christian faith. Both Holocaust theologians and ecclesial statements have made notable strides towards diagnosing and curing this illness through proposals to radically reshape Christian theology in the shadow of Holocaust atrocities. However, rarely have these proposals outlined revisions in the realm of practical theology, specifically relating to ecclesiology and how the Christian community might live as church in the post-Holocaust era. This study conducts an interdisciplinary analysis of dominant trends within post-Holocaust theology through the hermeneutical lens of the propensity to abandon, dominate, or eliminate the Other. It argues that the leitmotif of post-Holocaust proposals for revision, i.e. the refutation of antisemitism and a renewed emphasis on Christian/Jewish solidarity, is potentially an exacerbation of the problem of otherness rather than a corrective. Chapter one cultivates a conceptual lens of a rejection of otherness, highlighting its pervasiveness and its deleterious implications for Christian churches. Chapter two surveys a wide range of post-Holocaust ecclesial statements as well as reflections by Holocaust theologians in order to portray the churches’ own perception of their role during the Holocaust and how they have begun to reformulate Christian theology and practice in this light. Chapter three analyzes three dominant trends that come to light when the post-Holocaust landscape is assessed through the lens of otherness. Chapter four explores dynamics of Christian and ecclesial identity as a framework for the cultivation of multi-dimensional identities which make space for the Other. Finally, chapter five will briefly envision some ecclesial characteristics and practices that might better equip churches with the moral resources to resist a rejection of otherness and build an ethical responsibility for the Other into the core of ecclesial identity.

Thesis advisor: Richard R. Gaillardetz / This dissertation argues that Sandra Schneiders’ work lays the groundwork for a robust theology of the church’s prophetic nature and builds upon her work by proposing the beginnings of a critical prophetic ecclesiology. This ecclesiological method seeks to articulate how the church might live more fully into its prophetic nature both through its mission in the world and in its ordered life of communion. This dissertation proceeds in an introduction, five chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction argues that the tensions in the Second Vatican Council’s treatment of the church’s share in Christ’s prophetic work call for the development of a theology of the church’s prophetic nature. Moreover, it proposes that Schneiders’ work is poised to help theologians respond to that call. The first chapter highlights Schneiders’ fundamental theology and hermeneutical theory, in order to draw out her claim that Christians respond to God’s salvific invitation to share in God’s life by appropriating the paschal imagination—the ideal meaning of scripture and tradition’s witness to God’s self-revelation—into the world in which they live. The second chapter draws out Schneiders’ understanding of the paschal imagination, which is rooted in her theology of the paschal mystery. It demonstrates that in the paschal mystery Jesus is revealed to have incarnated God’s unceasing invitation for creation to share in the life of God and the fullness of the response humanity is called to offer through its cooperation with the Spirit’s salvific initiative in his prophet life, ministry, and death. The church manifests the presence of the risen body of Jesus in history through its ongoing cooperation with the indwelling Spirit, through whom the risen Jesus returns to his disciples. The third chapter illustrates that Christian spirituality, which Schneiders suggests must be feminist in nature, is the life project of responding to God’s salvific initiative by participating in the life of the risen body of Jesus. Such participation necessarily entails sharing in the prophetic life through which he was glorified in the life of God in the paschal mystery. Sharing in this life involves attending to the laments of the oppressed, announcing God’s vision of salvific communion revealed in Jesus and the Spirit, working to deconstruct structures of domination, and seeking to build up structures that make the shalom of God’s life manifest. The fourth chapter reviews developments in the theology of the church’s share in the prophetic identity of Christ since Vatican II. It argues that Schneiders’ work, drawn out in the first three chapters, provides a framework for a robust theology of the church’s prophetic nature by rooting the prophetic character of the church in the paschal mystery and implicitly calling the church to adopt a prophetic ecclesial spirituality. The fifth chapter develops the beginnings of a critical prophetic ecclesiology, an ecclesiological method that seeks to articulate how the church might live into its prophetic nature more fully, particularly in light of the ways it has failed to do so. It puts this method into practice by examining how the U.S. Catholic Church has failed to embody the prophetic life of Jesus in its ordered life through its participation in clericalism, patriarchy, and White racist supremacy. In response to the church’s participation in these structures of domination, it develops theologies of ordered evangelical relationality, charismatic discipleship, and a recovered sense of the church’s Gentile identity that calls the church to transform the wounds it has inflicted upon its body into sites of Christ’s glorification. The dissertation’s conclusion argues that ordering the church around base ecclesial communities would allow it to live into its prophetic identity by providing a practical means for these theologies to take root and empowering the church to continue the mission of Jesus in the world through practices of radical solidarity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: Mark S. Burrows / Ecclesiology in Motion: Ecumenical Vocation and the Developing Ecclesial Identity and Self-Understanding of the United Church of Christ (USA) By: Jason M. Donnelly Advisor: Mark S. BurrowsThis study explores the question of ecclesiology in the United Church of Christ by presenting a historically descriptive account of this church's developing ecclesial identity and self-understanding during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Chapter one, "Ecumenical Vocation and the Question of Ecclesiology in the United Church of Christ" considers the context and composition of the organic union that established the United Church of Christ in 1957, engages the founding documents and early developments of the UCC's ecclesial identity and self-understanding up to 1982, and situates this study within its larger historical, ecumenical, and theological contexts. Chapter two, "Corporate Expressions of Ecclesial Identity in the United Church of Christ" examines the emergence of a theologically descriptive tradition of ecclesial identity and self-understanding in the UCC. Proposing that this united and uniting church developed its own ecclesiological tradition in the process of responding to a series of ecumenical texts from the 1980s, this central chapter charts the gathering momentum of a maturing ecclesiological tradition evident in the processes and corporate responses of the UCC to these ecumenical texts as the young church remained faithful to its ecumenical vocation by adapting to an ecumenical context vastly different from the one that inspired the creation of the UCC in 1957. The four ecumenical texts that provoked these corporate expressions of the UCC's ecclesial identity between 1982 and 1995 include: Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, the 1982 text produced by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches; An Invitation to Action, the 1984 text produced from Series III of the Lutheran-Reformed Dialogue; The COCU Consensus, the 1984 text presented to the member churches of the Consultation on Church Union for formal action; and Churches in Covenant Communion, the 1988 text, also presented to the member churches of the Consultation on Church Union for formal action.Chapter three, "Deepening Ecclesial Self-Understanding" briefly explores the origins and ecclesiological significance of the UCC's three full-communion agreements, focusing primarily on the theological content behind the UCC's most recent full-communion agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Reformed Church of America.Chapter four, "Assembling the Expressions of Ecclesial Self-Understanding" presents the theological content expressed in the four corporate texts considered in chapter two in conversation with The Nature and Mission of the Church.Chapter five, "Conclusion" provides a brief overview of the study and suggestively explores the significance of what has been advanced in relation to the ecumenical movement in general and the UCC's ecclesiology in motion in particular. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.