This dissertation is a nuanced study of ‘compassion’ in the context of the Pauline Letters. The Letters are considered within the socio/political context of imperial Rome. ‘Compassion’ is a complex emotion, therefore it has been necessary to include, in my analysis, cognate sentiments such as patience, kindness, gentleness, perseverance. As this is a semantic study the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains, compiled by Louw and Nida (L-N), is used extensively. A dictionary provides a potential meaning, but it is the context of the sentence, the sentence within a larger unit of the text as a whole, considered within the prevailing social conditions, that influence meaning. This method reveals that Paul envisages ‘compassion’ as the means to establish communities, not enslaved by the values of ‘the world’, nor grasping things for themselves at the expense of others. In Paul, ‘compassion’ is expansive and inclusive, where the good of the whole community is valued. His paradigm is the sacrifice of Christ. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. A. (Ancient Languages and Cultures)

This research conducted according to the phenomenological method investigated the Pauline concept of suffering. It traces the historical development in Paul's thinking on suffering. The two lines of Paul's suffering are his personal suffering - his struggle with the thorn in the flesh; and his suffering through persecution for Christ's sake. It is through his personal suffering that Paul endears himself to his readers. 2 Cor.12:1-10 reveals the function of the thorn - it brings vindication. Paul's personal suffering merges with his suffering for Christ, and the note of joy, hope, glory and vindication is emphasized. Just as Paul shares in Christ's suffering, he will share in the victory and glory too. Paul sees his suffering in the light of Christ's suffering and the suffering of his readers in the light of his suffering. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

In the Central African Presbyterian Church (C.C.A.P.) women are marginalised in its synods. The Nkhoma Synod has taken the strictest measures in marginalising women in the sense that, unlike the other synods, at the time of writing this dissertation, they did not allow women to be deacons, elders or ministers. The dissertation is a quest to find out the root cause of this marginalisation. The main focus has been on finding out to what extent the Pauline writings influenced this marginalisation. Chapter 1 describes the extent of women marginalisation in the C.C.A.P. Synods in Malawi, focusing especially on the Nkhoma Synod. Chapter 2 deals with the unparalleled contribution of women to the success of the Nkhoma Synod’s work. The position of women in Malawi and within the Chewa society is discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with various interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16; 14:34, 35. These are Pauline texts which seem to support the marginalisation of women. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research, while in chapter 6 suggestions are made with regard to the future improvement of the position of women. / New Testament / M.A. (Biblical Studies)

In the Central African Presbyterian Church (C.C.A.P.) women are marginalised in its synods. The Nkhoma Synod has taken the strictest measures in marginalising women in the sense that, unlike the other synods, at the time of writing this dissertation, they did not allow women to be deacons, elders or ministers. The dissertation is a quest to find out the root cause of this marginalisation. The main focus has been on finding out to what extent the Pauline writings influenced this marginalisation. Chapter 1 describes the extent of women marginalisation in the C.C.A.P. Synods in Malawi, focusing especially on the Nkhoma Synod. Chapter 2 deals with the unparalleled contribution of women to the success of the Nkhoma Synod’s work. The position of women in Malawi and within the Chewa society is discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with various interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16; 14:34, 35. These are Pauline texts which seem to support the marginalisation of women. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research, while in chapter 6 suggestions are made with regard to the future improvement of the position of women. / New Testament / M.A. (Biblical Studies)

Through his personal spiritual growth process and Jesus’ teachings and life, Paul became acutely aware of the vast differences between Prophetic Judaism and the Mystical Traditions in relation to the Temple Cult and Temple-ism in general. Paul’s own “history of religion” centred on Abraham’s Covenant as the first and preferred, unmediated, spiritual and universal model, against Moses’ priestly mediated cultic system designed basically for Jews. Therefore, Paul follows Jesus teachings and mission to “rip the dividing curtain” of the Jerusalem Temple (Heb 6:19, 20); so that all nations can be reconciled to God (Eph 2:11-18). Jesus re-negotiated “a new and better covenant” of God’s mercy through repentance to all. Cultic “regulations” and Jewishness as being a special “religious”, covenantal “qualification” is now outdated and rather were now dangerous myths in Paul’s new religion. Paul knew that bridging concepts and new interpretations of metaphors will have to be part of the transition. God did not need a final special blood cultic sacrifice; to the contrary, only some people needed one so that they can make the mental transition from a cultic religion to a spiritual and personal religion.To Paul, God was the unknown Father and the Essence of all creation and Jesus-Christ was their leader and master or lord. In the mystical sense however, “Christ” represented the real Spiritual essence of mankind; the image of God in mankind. The core of Paul’s soteriology is his growth and participational aspects which constitutes the salvation process and are closely linked. The salvific process starts in the first phase with conversion from cultic Temple-ism and weaning from cultic and ethnic “laws” through the teaching of, and participation in, the spiritual growth process of the “physical” Jesus while the Spirit within us is awakening. The latter heralds the start of the “second” mature spiritual phase of the resurrected and vindicated Christ; sensitising our conscience as our moral identity and source of internal motivation from the real Self; one lives intuitively from loving-kindness; you honour this Gift in your earthly vessel with a fitting response to life. The behavioural element is central and an absolute necessity in the salvific process and he never views it as being secondary. Christianity will have to revise simplistic “faith” to salvation dogmas and broaden its functional scope by again honouring the second personal and authentic spiritual growth phase to be able to manifest a better Kingdom with the aid of Human Beings. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis examines the use of hagios and related words in the Pauline Literature. Its aim is to outline the understanding of holiness in Paul. A methodological outline is following on introduction (Holiness in OT and Second Temple Judaism) and summary of research. A first survey of the relevant biblical references indicates a division into three chapters to be appropriate: Holy Spirit, Sanctification and the Holy Ones. Paul’s thinking on Holiness and Sanctification is theocentrically grounded with strong christological inclinations. Sanctification concerns all areas of life, demands dedication and ethical consequences and leads to eschatological perspectives. Sanctification is a com- munal enterprise, forms identity and urges for solidarity. Sanctification doesn’t follow on justification. Both are parallel expressions for the Christ-event reaching out on human lives. Holiness-terminology has a manifold communicative potential: the transfer towards God’s sphere is described, paraenesis is motivated for, identity founded and strengthened, christian solidarity advertised for. / Diese Arbeit untersucht den Gebrauch von Heiligkeitsterminologie (insbesondere Hagios und Stammverwandte) im Corpus Paulinum, um sich so dem Heiligkeitsverstandnis des Paulus zu nahern. Nach Einleitung (u.a. Heiligkeit in AT und Fruhjudentum) und Forschungsuberblick wird die Konzeption der Untersuchung dargestellt. Ein erster Uberblick uber die relevanten Stellen legt nahe, das Material in je ein Kapitel zu „Heiligem Geist", „Heiligung" und „den Heiligen" zu gliedern. Paulus versteht Heiligkeit und Heiligung theozentrisch-soteriologisch fundiert und christologisch akzentuiert. Heiligung betrifft das ganze Leben, erfordert Hingabe und ethische Konsequenzen und geht einher mit eschatologischer Orientierung. Heiligung geschieht in Gemeinschaft. Heiligkeit formt Identitat („die Heiligen") und fordert Solidaritat. Rechtfertigung und Heiligung stehen nicht im Verhaltnis eines „Nacheinander", sondern sind parallele Ausdrucksformen fur das Menschen ergreifende Christusgesehehen. Das kommunikative Potential von Heiligkeitsterminologie ist vielfaltig: der „Transfer auf die Seite Gottes" wird beschrieben, Paranese motiviert, Identitat gestiftet und gestarkt und um christliche Solidaritat geworben. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)

In the 1980s, in the discipline of Classical studies in the field of Greco-Roman philosophy, the scholars showed renewed interest in the subject of the emotions. The outcome of their research reinstated the cognitive function in emotions. The research also recognised that the values and beliefs in the emotions are culturally conditioned. This outcome opened the possibility of discovering the values of a culture by analysing the emotions. Another outcome of the research showed that the interpretation of a lexical term, designating an emotion, did not necessarily imply the same meaning universally. The knowledge of the emotions in this discipline influenced numerous branches of academic study. It was noted that this did not apply to New Testament studies and therefore became an opportunity for a research subject, namely: An Analysis of Emotions of Anger and Fear in the Undisputed Pauline letters. The purpose was to determine their meanings within the context of Imperial Roman values. The analysis was based on Aristotle's definition of anger and fear. This approach also required a study of social conditions in the provincial Roman cities in which Paul had formed communities. The study was dependent on the emotional language used by Paul in his undisputed letters. Louw-Nida New Testament Greek-English Lexicon based on Semantic Domains was used to locate the words that expressed the emotional concepts of anger and fear. The essence of the research problem was to discover the meaning of the emotions in the undisputed Pauline letters in the first century CE. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Through his personal spiritual growth process and Jesus’ teachings and life, Paul became acutely aware of the vast differences between Prophetic Judaism and the Mystical Traditions in relation to the Temple Cult and Temple-ism in general. Paul’s own “history of religion” centred on Abraham’s Covenant as the first and preferred, unmediated, spiritual and universal model, against Moses’ priestly mediated cultic system designed basically for Jews. Therefore, Paul follows Jesus teachings and mission to “rip the dividing curtain” of the Jerusalem Temple (Heb 6:19, 20); so that all nations can be reconciled to God (Eph 2:11-18). Jesus re-negotiated “a new and better covenant” of God’s mercy through repentance to all. Cultic “regulations” and Jewishness as being a special “religious”, covenantal “qualification” is now outdated and rather were now dangerous myths in Paul’s new religion. Paul knew that bridging concepts and new interpretations of metaphors will have to be part of the transition. God did not need a final special blood cultic sacrifice; to the contrary, only some people needed one so that they can make the mental transition from a cultic religion to a spiritual and personal religion.To Paul, God was the unknown Father and the Essence of all creation and Jesus-Christ was their leader and master or lord. In the mystical sense however, “Christ” represented the real Spiritual essence of mankind; the image of God in mankind. The core of Paul’s soteriology is his growth and participational aspects which constitutes the salvation process and are closely linked. The salvific process starts in the first phase with conversion from cultic Temple-ism and weaning from cultic and ethnic “laws” through the teaching of, and participation in, the spiritual growth process of the “physical” Jesus while the Spirit within us is awakening. The latter heralds the start of the “second” mature spiritual phase of the resurrected and vindicated Christ; sensitising our conscience as our moral identity and source of internal motivation from the real Self; one lives intuitively from loving-kindness; you honour this Gift in your earthly vessel with a fitting response to life. The behavioural element is central and an absolute necessity in the salvific process and he never views it as being secondary. Christianity will have to revise simplistic “faith” to salvation dogmas and broaden its functional scope by again honouring the second personal and authentic spiritual growth phase to be able to manifest a better Kingdom with the aid of Human Beings. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

This thesis examines the use of hagios and related words in the Pauline Literature. Its aim is to outline the understanding of holiness in Paul. A methodological outline is following on introduction (Holiness in OT and Second Temple Judaism) and summary of research. A first survey of the relevant biblical references indicates a division into three chapters to be appropriate: Holy Spirit, Sanctification and the Holy Ones. Paul’s thinking on Holiness and Sanctification is theocentrically grounded with strong christological inclinations. Sanctification concerns all areas of life, demands dedication and ethical consequences and leads to eschatological perspectives. Sanctification is a com- munal enterprise, forms identity and urges for solidarity. Sanctification doesn’t follow on justification. Both are parallel expressions for the Christ-event reaching out on human lives. Holiness-terminology has a manifold communicative potential: the transfer towards God’s sphere is described, paraenesis is motivated for, identity founded and strengthened, christian solidarity advertised for. / Diese Arbeit untersucht den Gebrauch von Heiligkeitsterminologie (insbesondere Hagios und Stammverwandte) im Corpus Paulinum, um sich so dem Heiligkeitsverstandnis des Paulus zu nahern. Nach Einleitung (u.a. Heiligkeit in AT und Fruhjudentum) und Forschungsuberblick wird die Konzeption der Untersuchung dargestellt. Ein erster Uberblick uber die relevanten Stellen legt nahe, das Material in je ein Kapitel zu „Heiligem Geist", „Heiligung" und „den Heiligen" zu gliedern. Paulus versteht Heiligkeit und Heiligung theozentrisch-soteriologisch fundiert und christologisch akzentuiert. Heiligung betrifft das ganze Leben, erfordert Hingabe und ethische Konsequenzen und geht einher mit eschatologischer Orientierung. Heiligung geschieht in Gemeinschaft. Heiligkeit formt Identitat („die Heiligen") und fordert Solidaritat. Rechtfertigung und Heiligung stehen nicht im Verhaltnis eines „Nacheinander", sondern sind parallele Ausdrucksformen fur das Menschen ergreifende Christusgesehehen. Das kommunikative Potential von Heiligkeitsterminologie ist vielfaltig: der „Transfer auf die Seite Gottes" wird beschrieben, Paranese motiviert, Identitat gestiftet und gestarkt und um christliche Solidaritat geworben. / New Testament / M. Th. (New Testament)

This study explores the practice of hospitality within the Pauline churches and links this practice with mission. It is theoretically informed by Käsemann’s (1963) emphasis on the unity of the church as “an eschatological datum.” While highlighting faith, Käsemann downplays the role of organization and religious practices. Neither he nor missiological studies deal with the practice of hospitality within this context. Hospitality has been interpreted in the literature primarily as an ethic one should adopt towards strangers. Alternatively, this study interprets it as a ritual-like practice aimed at family, friends and strangers in the context of meal gatherings. The question is whether it served as an instrument of koinonia, a practice aimed to create, maintain and extend the Pauline churches as an open network, without denying the role of kerygma. This enquiry utilizes two methodological approaches to answer this question. First of all, it uses Stark’s (1996) network theory of conversion, in order to provide a framework for hospitality in early Christian mission. Secondly, it uses Bell’s (1992) ritual theory in order to interpret meal fellowship in the Pauline churches. Presupposing that science is a conversation, the relationship between missiology and anthropology is depicted as a conversation, ideally an ongoing conversation. This conversation is possible and potentially coherent because the “basic convictions” of both disciplines, respectively love and power, do not contradict each other. The key contribution of this study is that it shows that several practices in the Pauline churches such as welcoming, foot washing, seating order, distribution of portions, etc. qualify as ritual-like. This finding establishes the ritual-like character of meal fellowship within the Pauline churches. Yet, these practices were found ambiguous. They were not simply an instrument to achieve social integration or the transmission of beliefs. While they set the meal off from daily reality, they did not resolve the tension within the churches. Paul knew that this tension was part of a larger apocalyptic picture, the battle between Christ and Satan. Through ritual-like practice he participated in this battle, employing a “poetics of power” that fostered the church as an open network. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Urban Ministry)