This thesis analyses a diversity of Christian understandings of the Kingdom of God in relation to the church’s mission for social justice. Its central argument is that the Christian praxis of the eschatological reality of the Kingdom is the church’s alternative to philosophical and ethical theories for social justice. Through an in-depth analysis and evaluation of previous scholarship, this study examines secular philosophical and ethical theories of both ancient and modern times as means of transforming the systemic injustices of society, and affirms their inadequacy to attain the highest good for humanity without a true knowledge of the justice of the sovereign God. Through a hermeneutic approach to the biblical material, the study finds the fundamental concept of God’s justice in narrative and thematic form throughout the Bible. God is the source of love, power, righteousness and justice, and practising justice is a divine mandate for believers. Critical analysis of the diversified concept of the Kingdom of God finds that each view of eschatology, whether premillennialism, postmillennialism, or amillennialism, has its unique characteristics and insights, but without a comprehensive, coherent and integrative conceptual framework for the Kingdom, any one view of eschatology poses difficulties and jeopardizes the advancement of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The study finds that the two-kingdom doctrine of Luther and Calvin, together with Barth’s doctrine of Law and Gospel, support an understanding of the universal Lordship of Christ over both the church (the spiritual realm) and the world (the civil realm), that Ladd’s ‘inaugurated eschatology’ appropriately synthesises the views of ‘consistent eschatology’ and ‘realized eschatology’ as ‘one redemptive event in two parts’, and that E. Stanley Jones’ ‘total Kingdom’ concept effectively summarises God’s comprehensive plan for human life. For the last century, however, the evangelical church has been preoccupied with an overemphasis on individual pietistic experience, vertical relationship with God, personal conversion and over-reaction to the social gospel movement. The relative non-participation of the evangelical church in action for social justice evidences an uneasy conscience; their narrow interpretation of the Kingdom of God has resulted in the church’s withdrawing from social involvement as well as obscuring the horizontal relationship between humanity and creation. The study concludes that Christianity is not an abstract concept but is concerned with the eschatological hope of the Kingdom of God and with its embodiment through the church on earth, which implies the formation of a renewed socio-political reality. The church is thus the prototype of the Kingdom of God, with a mandate to display God’s justice as the divine redemptive plan that will culminate in the restoration of the communion of all humanity in God. In seeking a balance between this concept of the Kingdom and the church’s mission of evangelism and social justice, the study finds that there is a need to call the evangelical church to incarnate the Word of God in proclamation and action – an integrated mission of evangelism and social justice. / Thesis (PhD (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2013.

This thesis analyses a diversity of Christian understandings of the Kingdom of God in relation to the church’s mission for social justice. Its central argument is that the Christian praxis of the eschatological reality of the Kingdom is the church’s alternative to philosophical and ethical theories for social justice. Through an in-depth analysis and evaluation of previous scholarship, this study examines secular philosophical and ethical theories of both ancient and modern times as means of transforming the systemic injustices of society, and affirms their inadequacy to attain the highest good for humanity without a true knowledge of the justice of the sovereign God. Through a hermeneutic approach to the biblical material, the study finds the fundamental concept of God’s justice in narrative and thematic form throughout the Bible. God is the source of love, power, righteousness and justice, and practising justice is a divine mandate for believers. Critical analysis of the diversified concept of the Kingdom of God finds that each view of eschatology, whether premillennialism, postmillennialism, or amillennialism, has its unique characteristics and insights, but without a comprehensive, coherent and integrative conceptual framework for the Kingdom, any one view of eschatology poses difficulties and jeopardizes the advancement of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The study finds that the two-kingdom doctrine of Luther and Calvin, together with Barth’s doctrine of Law and Gospel, support an understanding of the universal Lordship of Christ over both the church (the spiritual realm) and the world (the civil realm), that Ladd’s ‘inaugurated eschatology’ appropriately synthesises the views of ‘consistent eschatology’ and ‘realized eschatology’ as ‘one redemptive event in two parts’, and that E. Stanley Jones’ ‘total Kingdom’ concept effectively summarises God’s comprehensive plan for human life. For the last century, however, the evangelical church has been preoccupied with an overemphasis on individual pietistic experience, vertical relationship with God, personal conversion and over-reaction to the social gospel movement. The relative non-participation of the evangelical church in action for social justice evidences an uneasy conscience; their narrow interpretation of the Kingdom of God has resulted in the church’s withdrawing from social involvement as well as obscuring the horizontal relationship between humanity and creation. The study concludes that Christianity is not an abstract concept but is concerned with the eschatological hope of the Kingdom of God and with its embodiment through the church on earth, which implies the formation of a renewed socio-political reality. The church is thus the prototype of the Kingdom of God, with a mandate to display God’s justice as the divine redemptive plan that will culminate in the restoration of the communion of all humanity in God. In seeking a balance between this concept of the Kingdom and the church’s mission of evangelism and social justice, the study finds that there is a need to call the evangelical church to incarnate the Word of God in proclamation and action – an integrated mission of evangelism and social justice. / Thesis (PhD (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus in association with Greenwich School of Theology, U.K., 2013.

Based on the missional experiences of the Wolaita Zone Kale Heywet Church (WZKHC) in Southern Ethiopia, this dissertation argues the indispensable nature of the holistic approach to mission in order to fulfil the missional responsibility of the church effectively. Balance must be kept between the two aspects of mission (evangelism and social concern) and they need to be integrated as working towards a single goal of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In other words, neither of the two aspects of mission may to be magnified at the expense of the other nor should they be dichotomized as two unrelated parts. Mission emerges from the nature of God. Ever since the creation of the universe God has been at work and the church takes part in what he is doing. God's mission is holistic. Through Jesus Christ, He is working towards the redemption of the whole creation to its originally intended state. The research attempts to give attention to this concept as the Kingdom-oriented (Messio Dei) mission versus church-centered mission in light of holistic approach. To weigh the experience of the church (WZKHC) from the perspective of the Scripture, OT and NT analysis will be done in detail. Furthermore, the eschatological views pertinent to the final state of the creation and millennium will also be assessed in order to find out their contribution as a root of imbalance or polarization between evangelism and social concern. The aim of the study is to find out the factors that contribute to the imbalanced and non integrated approach to mission in the WZKHC in order to help the church regain the holistic perspective. This would be done mainly through qualitative research method, although quantitative approach is also employed rarely. / Thesis (M.A. (Missiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Based on the missional experiences of the Wolaita Zone Kale Heywet Church (WZKHC) in Southern Ethiopia, this dissertation argues the indispensable nature of the holistic approach to mission in order to fulfil the missional responsibility of the church effectively. Balance must be kept between the two aspects of mission (evangelism and social concern) and they need to be integrated as working towards a single goal of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In other words, neither of the two aspects of mission may to be magnified at the expense of the other nor should they be dichotomized as two unrelated parts. Mission emerges from the nature of God. Ever since the creation of the universe God has been at work and the church takes part in what he is doing. God's mission is holistic. Through Jesus Christ, He is working towards the redemption of the whole creation to its originally intended state. The research attempts to give attention to this concept as the Kingdom-oriented (Messio Dei) mission versus church-centered mission in light of holistic approach. To weigh the experience of the church (WZKHC) from the perspective of the Scripture, OT and NT analysis will be done in detail. Furthermore, the eschatological views pertinent to the final state of the creation and millennium will also be assessed in order to find out their contribution as a root of imbalance or polarization between evangelism and social concern. The aim of the study is to find out the factors that contribute to the imbalanced and non integrated approach to mission in the WZKHC in order to help the church regain the holistic perspective. This would be done mainly through qualitative research method, although quantitative approach is also employed rarely. / Thesis (M.A. (Missiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (Th. D.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1958. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 252-257).

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1993. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [48]-49).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-123).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1989. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-245).

Thesis (M.A.)--Abilene Christian University, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-156).

Thesis (M.A.)--St. Bernard's Institute, 1999. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [131-134]).