Thesis (Ph.D.)--McGill University, 1984. / Includes bibliography: p. 167-179.

The Rev. John Howard Shakespeare was General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland from 1898 until his resignation on the grounds of ill health in 1924. This thesis describes and evaluates changes in the Baptist denomination in England during that period, and assesses the significance of Shakespeare’s contribution. Following summaries of the history of Baptist ecclesiology and Shakespeare’s personal background, the main areas of denominational reform are described. The first of these is the strengthening of the Baptist Union and the expansion of its influence, which was the major feature of the period up to about 1908. This presented a challenge to the Baptists' traditional congregational church polity. The second is the changing approach to the recognition and support of Baptist ministers within the denomination, culminating in the 1916 Baptist Union Ministerial Settlement and Sustentation Scheme. The third is Shakespeare's search for church unity, both within Nonconformity and between Nonconformists and the Church of England, which dominated the post-war period. The formation of the Federal Council of the Evangelical Free Churches, of which Shakespeare was the first Moderator, in 1919, and conversations following the 1920 Lambeth Appeal, were central elements of this search. It had significant implications for Baptist church polity. Shakespeare's approach to the question of women in the ministry, and the circumstances surrounding his resignation, are also described. A final chapter discusses Shakespeare's legacy for Baptists. The institutions he created have played an important part in the subsequent history of Baptists and Nonconformity in general. However, they failed to achieve his objective of stemming numerical decline. They also exacerbated tensions in Baptist church polity between the centralisation of denominational life and Congregationalism. These tensions have been a major factor in Baptist church life throughout the present century.

Thesis (M.A.)--Abilene Christian University, 1999. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-107).

No description available.

The aim of the thesis is to examine how a group’s self-image is created, sustained and if necessary changed during the revolutionary 20th century. The study takes its point of  eparture in the idea that a self-image is essential for an organisation’s cohesion and collective identity. The study object is the Pentecostal Philadelphia church in, Sweden, established in 1910. In concrete terms, the thesis examines the self-image of the church as it is expressed in its narratives and activities from 1910 to 1980. The lf-image is analysed with the aid of the concepts ‘boundaries’ and ‘symbols’ and in relation to social and organisational change processes. In the main the empirical material  onsists of official documents such as jubilee publications, annual reports and the weekly newspaper Evangelii Härold. The main contribution of the thesis is an analysis of the church’s historical narrative. In this narrative the overall theme appears to be the small and faithful group that due to God’s influence and despite opposition became a major  nd significant church -- a success story. The theme also remains the same when the circumstances change. Narrative theory emphasises that the narrative has to be changeable order to be serviceable. However, my study shows that the narration, at least at the level highlighted in the thesis, is inert. The self-image seems to be difficult to change but is not necessarily static. The narrative is shown to include strategies for dealing with internal change processes and changes in society.

No description available.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between evangelicalism and modernity with the Swedish holiness preacher Emil Gustafson (1862–1900) as a case. This is achieved by comparing Gustafson’s spirituality with Charles Taylor’s characterization of modernity. The investigation identifies five central themes in Gustafson’s spirituality: conversion, calling, suffering, sanctification, and spiritual experience. With regard to these themes paral-lels with modernity are noted. For example, the analysis shows that modern individualism influenced Gustafson’s view of conversion, and that instrumental rationality informed his evaluations of his own work as a preacher. But there are also instances where he distanced himself from modernity. He did not embrace a modern optimistic anthropology, or the view of suffering as purely negative. It is concluded that Gustafson is neither anti-modern, nor identical to Taylor’s depiction of modernity. He represents one kind of modernity. One that is theocentric rather than anthropo-centric. In order to uphold this theocentric character Gustafson’s opposition to the basic struc-ture of modernity had to be grounded in social practices. For instance, his negative anthropol-ogy was grounded in the revival-meeting where outsiders were called to repent and rely on God rather than themselves. Based on the results from this study it is suggested that evangelicalism should be inter-preted as neither in conflict with modernity, nor in continuity with it, but rather as a kind of modernity. There are multiple modernities, and evangelicalism is one of them.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis--Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [267]-299).

This essay contributes new knowledge on Sweden’s immigrant- and integration policy during the years 1974–1986 by researching the policy’s treatment of immigrants’ religion and that of their faith communities. This is achieved through an empirical analysis on how immigrants’ religion was understood, argued for and regulated during key points of policy evaluation, as well as how this was expressed in practice by relevant actors and measures. The analysis focusses on the official government investigations that respectively formulated and evaluated Sweden’s integration policy. It furthermore delves into how immigrant faith communities were institutionally represented and allocated state support by the two state-affiliated organizations associated with these tasks, namely the Swedish Free Church Council (SFR) and its Cooperation Committee for State Support to Faith Communities (SFRS/SST). The essay draws its inspiration and theoretical departure points from theories on secularism, bureaucratization and models of immigrant incorporation, which are operationalized using a ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) methodology. The essay’s empirical findings indicate that religion was initially understood to have reduced cultural and societal significance than ethnicity and language. This understanding gradually changed over time and was amended when Swedish integration policy was evaluated during the 1980s. The empirical analysis furthermore shows that immigrant faith communities received reduced state support in relation to immigrant ethnic organizations, which resulted in administrative and representational dependency on SFR and SST. Following the policy’s evaluation during the 1980s, an initiative to increase state support for faith communities and improve their organizational independence was taken by the Swedish state but had not been implemented by 1986.

Text in German / This dissertation shows the possibilities of interdisciplinary application of principles and methods in bible didactics, adult education, school education and learning style research to Christian education in evangelical free churches. The research objective is the establishment and development of a bible didactic methodology for practical teaching in order to convey biblical contents to postmodern adults. This objective is achieved by the practical-theological establishment of the necessity of basic biblical education in free churches, the presentation of the postmodernist church pedagogical framework for bible courses, the elaboration of possible applications of didactic principles of bible didactics, adult education and school education for conveying biblical contents in bible courses, and finally, by the compilation of suitable bible didactic principles and methods for bible courses. The dissertation closes by stating the requirements of pastors and teachers in free churches as well as the challenges of church pedagogy training for future pastors. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)