This study was designed to investigate two hypotheses. The first was to determine if either an individual's epistemic style or Christian maturity were capable of predicting marital satisfaction among couples where at least one spouse was a church attender. The second was to determine if a matching score between spouses on epistemic style and Christian maturity would be able to predict marital satisfaction among couples where at least one spouse was a church attender. The Global Distress Scale (GDS) of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory was used as the dependent variable. The Psycho-Epistemological Profile (PEP) was used to measure epistemic style while the Shepherd Scale was used to measure Christian maturity.Fifty-two couples where at least one spouse was a church attender ultimately participated in the study. These couples were obtained by randomly contacting churches and soliciting the assistance of church representatives to help elicit participation. Ultimately seven of the churches contacted in this manner participated in the study.The results indicate that only the metaphorical epistemic style was a moderate predictor of marital satisfaction accounting for approximately 4% of the variance. Neither the matching score on epistemic style nor on Christian maturity were able to predict marital satisfaction. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This thesis links theological developments in two eras and contexts of Christian history by exploring how the question of Christian identity is dealt with by a number of Christian writers who are chosen for their representative significance in the two contexts. By this approach, the two eras concerned, early Hellenistic Christianity and modern African Christianity, are treated as belonging together within the one entity of Christian history. In a brief Introduction I attempt to establish the case for the methodological principle stated, and also to indicate its importance for understanding modern African theology in particular. Chapter One examines the intellectual and ideological background against which early Hellenistic Christian self-definition was to develop. The attempt is made to show that it was in response to the intellectual and spiritual forces that operated in the Graeco-Roman world, particularly as these affected the "Pagan" perception of Christianity, that the emergent Christian thought developed. The rest of Part One (Chapters Two to Five) examines the viewpoints and achievements of Tatian, Tartullian, Justin and Clement of Alexandria. The emphasis throughout is on how the career and thought of each writer witnesses and responds to the existence of a Christian identity problem. It was in the process of the clarification of Christian identity that theological concerns were also shaped and defined. Part Two deals with the modern African Christian story. Chapter Six examines the legacy of the modern missionary enterprise from Europe and North America as the background to the issues that have gained prominence on the African theological agenda in the post-missionary Church. The rest of Part Two (Chapters Seven to Ten) examines the contributions of four writers - E. Bolaji Idowu, John Mbiti, Mulago gwa Cikala Musharhamina and Byang Kato - towards the definition of African responses to the encounter of the Christian Gospel with African tradition, and towards the development of an African theology. The Conclusion (Chapter Eleven) attempts to use the achievement of the patristic period studied in Part One to clarify some of the areas of theological concern which may yet need to receive attention from African theologians. The presence of an intellectual anti-Christian polemic in Africa, as in the earlier period, is noted as one indication of the need for African theologians to take even more seriously the question of Christian identity in the modern African context. It is as this is done, that the uniquely African contribution to Christian theology will be made.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-221)

Thesis (D. Min.)--Abilene Christian University, 1990. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-172).

Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Washington, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-205).

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Bergen, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [280]-293).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-396).

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Bergen, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [280]-293).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-267).

Les relations intergroupes sont influencées par la manière dont on se perçoit, par la manière dont on perçoit les autres et surtout par la manière dont on pense être perçu. Autrement dit, l'étude de la perception de soi, de la perception sociale et des méta-perceptions est clé à la compréhension des relations intergroupes. Au Québec, la commission de consultation sur les pratiques d'accommodements reliées aux différences culturelles a mis au jour les tensions évidentes qui résultent des relations intergroupes, notamment les groupes religieux. Pourtant, même si la religion de manière générale est un thème qui suscite beaucoup d'intérêt auprès des chercheurs québécois, il y a peu d'études sur la perception de la religion ou des groupes religieux, notamment sur la perception de l'altérité religieuse. Cette recherche vise donc à combler un vide dans le domaine de l'étude de la religion. La littérature montre que la manière dont on pense être perçu, ou la méta-perception est davantage déterminante des relations intergroupes que la perception. Ainsi, cette étude empirique examine la manière dont des universitaires, qui eux-mêmes s'identifient comme chrétiens ou musulmans, perçoivent leur groupe d'appartenance, la manière dont ils perçoivent l'altérité religieuse ainsi que la manière dont ils pensent que les chrétiens et les musulmans sont perçus par la société en général. Cette thèse permet d'obtenir des données concrètes auprès d'acteurs sociaux réels sur les perceptions interreligieuses au Québec, ce qui n'a pas encore été fait. Elle permet d'examiner l'orientation et la nature stéréotypée des perceptions et des méta-perceptions en utilisant surtout des techniques de collecte de données qui privilégient le point de vue des acteurs sociaux interrogés. Nous avons vérifié les hypothèses de la présence de biais de catégorisation et de l'effet de contexte sur les réponses des acteurs. Les résultats montrent que les acteurs chrétiens et musulmans qui ont participé à cette étude sont porteurs de biais de discrimination et d'images stéréotypées, mais que les musulmans sont plus susceptibles d'être victimes de ces biais et des méta-stéréotypes associés à leur groupe d'appartenance. En mettant à jour la nature négative des méta-stéréotypes associés à l'inducteur ± musulmans ¿, cette étude apporte de nouveaux éléments de compréhension aux processus d'inclusion et d'exclusion sociale des membres de la communauté musulmane. Les conséquences de ces résultats ainsi que des propositions de recherches sur l'incidence de la méta-perception négative des musulmans signalés dans ce travail pourront être multiples et significatives.