Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-281) / Using a text-immanent multi-dimensional methodology that combines impulses from both synchronic and diachronic reading of a text, this study focuses on understanding the spirituality embedded in ‘seeing him as he is’ in 1 John 3:2. Discourse analysis has provided the structure of the entire research by identifying the different semantic networks that enhance better understanding and dynamic interaction between text and reader.it has also helped in determining the argument and rhetoric of the Elder, assisting in constructing the bigger picture by means of semantic networks that create coherent mind maps and also relating what has been read with what is still to be read. The environs of the pericope under investigation have been used as a backdrop in order to arrive at an understanding of this envisaged eschatological phenomenon. These environs include the window provided by Judaism through the Old Testament, Hellenistic and Palestinian Judaism, extra-biblical literature, the Graeco-Roman world, mystery religions, philosophies, and the New Testament. These environs have pointed to the use of intermediaries in the visio-Dei. While ‘seeing him as he is’ in 1 John 3:2 involves both the Father and the Son, this eschatological expectation is weaved into a matrix of discourse that the Elder used to cushion the adherents in view of the pending apostasy. The adherents’ status as ‘children of God’ is the axis from which the Elder builds his entire discourse. They will experience love (1 Jn 4:16), his purity (1 Jn 3:3), his righteousness (1 Jn 2:1), his truth (1 Jn 5:20), and his glory (Jn 17:24). Although the adherents were already experiencing all these, it would be experienced completely after the Parousia, when they ‘see him as he is’. This study contributes towards a Johannine understanding of perceiving the divine, and reveals the climactic involvement of the Son in both the past and future perceptions including ‘seeing him as he is’ in 1 John 3:2. This study has identified the object of the Visio-Dei as Christ. It is He through whom believers will see the Father. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Phil. (Christian Spirituality)

This thesis finds out how the concepts of the divine in African Traditional Religions are similar or different, particularly in Ghana and Lesotho and in other parts of Africa in general. In doing so, the researcher combines literature review of eminent scholars who have studied the religious and socio-cultural life of the people of Ghana and Lesotho in particular and Africa in general, with personal field study through dissemination of questionnaires, interviews and personal observations. Through this approach he finds out the various religious phenomena that reveal the concept of the divine in the two countries concerned and in other African countries through comparison of their worships and socio-cultural activities in order to come out with the differences and the similarities that may call for synthesis of the concept in Africa. He also finds out how the concept of the divine in Africa has been influenced by foreign religions and culture particularly Christianity, Islam, Western culture and Education. And how their services and disservices have affected the concept of the divine in Africa. The researcher also looks at the issue of monotheism as against polytheism in African religious perspective to find out whether the African Traditional Religions are polytheistic, monotheistic or monolatry. The study reveals that the concept of the divine, in the two countries under study, ends up in one Supreme deity-God- .but that the approach to the concept is not always the same. There are some differences and similarities, which also prevail in other African Traditional Religions and in Christianity. There is also a look into whether the term "African Traditional Religions" is appropriate for the religious belief and practices found in Africa, and whether a synthesis of religious practices in Africa would be possible in future. In the final analysis the study reveals that the African concept of the divine as pertains in the two countries is not different from that of Christianity and Islam but that the approach to the concept differs due to differences in the perception of the divine through sociocultural and religious milieus. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Michael Servetus (1508 - 1553) and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) are both considered heretics. They share many concepts about the nature of God, especially their rejection orthodox Nicene and Chalcedonian theology. This thesis explores their respective theologies relating to the Trinity and Christology, with speculation of what sources they may have had in common. While attention is paid to Ignatius, Irenaeus and Tertullian, particular attention is paid to Tertullian, whose work Adversus Praxean lays the foundation of Servetus' ideas and has much in common with Swedenborg's theology. In light of their similarity to Tertullian, the question is asked if Servetus and Swedenborg would have been called heretics prior to Nicaea. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

Bibliographical references at end of each chapter / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)