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Christ can be understood as a mirror, connecting humanity and God in his image into a hybrid entity, without eliminating the difference. The complex reality is mirrored through Christ transcending the border between subjectivity and objectivity, human and God, ourselves and others. This study is a form of constructive theology that aims to construct a transformative christological conceptual model, which can contribute to theology as a power critical epistemological deconstruction. It does this through the method of critical and comparative text analysis.  The study consists of two main sections, analysis and the discussion. The analysis section seeks to develop a theoretical frame, in which to generate a conversation between critical theorists Theodor Adorno and Gloria Anzaldúa on their view on epistemological oppression and liberation. The result is the development of an analytical concept called dialectics of the borders that exposes epistemological oppression as understood through the critical terms of oppression of objectivism and the suppressed gap. As an answer to the dialectics of border the analysis section develops the phrase dialectics of the gap, as an expression of epistemological liberation, which relies on such concepts as the shape of the gap, epistemological deconstruction, the hybrid entity, and transformative hybridity. The discussion section applies this theoretical frame to various christological concepts in order to create a new useful conceptual model. The constructed conceptual model is called incarnational epistemology and expresses an empowering critical epistemological reconstruction in Christ. The cross is understood as the explicit border between God and humanity, which is expressed by man's colonialization of dialectics. In Christ God transcends these epistemological borders and embodies the gap, as an expression for dialectics of the gap. For example it is demonstrated with the understanding of the body of Christ as the hybridization between subjectivity and objectivity and the sanctification as a reversed incarnation by the collective reconstruction of Christ in the border between subjectivity and objectivity. Hence, humanity as the body of Christ through sanctification can be understood as the mirrored image of Christ incarnating this epistemological reconstruction.

Project North (PN) est une coalition œcuménique active de 1975 à 1987. À son apogée, elle est composée de 12 Églises chrétiennes. Formée dans la lignée d’un renouveau théologique et œcuménique, PN est un acteur central dans le Canada des années 1970 et 1980. Jamais explorée extensivement dans l’historiographie, PN s’inscrit à la jonction de quatre champs d’études : l’histoire du Nord, l’histoire autochtone, l’histoire religieuse et l’histoire des ressources naturelles. Au fil de son histoire, PN collabore avec plus d’une vingtaine d’organisations autochtones locales, régionales et nationales sur une multitude d’enjeux marquants de l’époque. En entretenant des liens de confiance avec celles-ci, PN contribue à la transmission et à la diffusion de leurs revendications à un large auditoire. Son rôle dans l’évolution d’enjeux nordiques a été essentiel et ne peut pas être mis en veilleuse, tout particulièrement dans le cadre de la Convention de la Baie-James et du Nord québécois, de la Commission Berger et de la Northern Native Rights Campaign. L’étude détaillée de son histoire administrative montre toutefois que PN agit selon une optique de nordicité religieuse, c’est-à-dire une vision chrétienne du Nord influencée par une théologie structurée et complexe. Le Nord de PN est un Nord chrétien, vierge de péchés sociaux et de vastes projets de développement de ressources naturelles. Ceci l’amène à entretenir des relations indifférentes, voire hostiles, avec certaines organisations autochtones dont les finalités souhaitées divergent de celles de la coalition. / Project North (PN) was an ecumenical coalition active from 1975 to 1987. At its peak, it comprised 12 different Christian churches. Formed in the wake of theological and ecumenical renewal, PN was a central player in Canada in the 1970s and 1980s. Never explored extensively in the historiography, PN stands at the junction of four fields of study: northern history, Indigenous history, religious history and natural resources history. Throughout its history, PN collaborated with more than twenty local, regional, and national Indigenous organizations on a multitude of pressing issues of the time. By maintaining a relationship of trust with these organizations, PN contributed to the transmission and publicization of their demands to a wide audience. Its role in the evolution of northern issues was essential and cannot be overlooked, especially during the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the Berger Commission and the Northern Native Rights Campaign. A detailed study of its administrative history reveals, however, that PN acted according to a religious nordicity, that is a Christian vision of the North influenced by a structured and complex theology. PN's North was Christian, untouched by social sins and by vast natural resource development projects. This led the coalition to maintain indifferent, even hostile, relations with certain Indigenous organizations whose ends diverged from those of the coalition.

This study focused on the ‘silence of the prophets’ in the post-apartheid era. It sought to understand why the prophets, who spoke out so vehemently against the injustices of apartheid, did not speak out against the injustices of the government after 1994 even when it became blatantly apparent that corruption was beginning to unfold on various levels, especially with the introduction of the so-called Arms Deal. Accordingly, the study singles out Drs Allan Boesak and Frank Chikane who were among the fiercest opponents of the apartheid regime before 1994. The study traced the impact of the ideological forces that influenced Boesak and Chikane’s ideological thinking from the early Slave Religion, Black Theology in the USA and Liberation Theology in Latin America. Black Theology and Black Consciousness first made their appearance in South Africa in the 1970s, with Boesak and Chikane, among others, as early advocates of these movements. In 1983, Boesak and Chikane took part in the launch of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. This movement became the voice of the voiceless in an era when the members of the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan African Congress (PAC) had been sent into exile. It also signalled a more inclusive and reconciliatory shift in Boesak and Chikane’s Ideological thinking. Whereas Black Consciousness sought to exclude white people from participating in the struggle for liberation, the UDF united all under one banner without consideration for colour, race, religion or creed. After the advent of liberation in South Africa in 1994, it became increasingly obvious that corruption was infiltrating many levels of the new government. But the prophets were silent. Why were they silent? The study presents an analysis of the possible reasons for this silence based on interviews with Boesak and Chikane as role players and draws conclusions based on their writings both before and after 1994. Overall, the study concluded that they were silent because they had become part of the new political structures that had taken over power. To sum up, the study demonstrates the irony of prophetic oscillation and concludes that no prophet is a prophet for all times. Thus, as a new democracy unfolds in South Africa, the situation demands new prophets with a new message. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Phil. (Theology)

The present work examines the crossroads of social transformation from the contextual standpoint of the "Second World" - a political and socioeconomic term descriptively pointing to the unique location of the Former Eastern-European Block countries - in between worlds. The work involves in a dialogue some of the major trends within the contemporary Eastern-European philosophical environment: dichotomized between Neo-Marxism and Neo-Freudianism on the one hand, and Postmodernism on the other. While examining the most significant elements between the dialectical paradigms for social change of the above theories (and their ethical foundations), the text strives towards a theological paradigmatic formulation for an authentic social transformation that draws its dialectical content and passion from the hopeful eschatological vision of Christ and the Kingdom as an embodiment of the Christian alternative for human emancipation and liberation. In light of this, the work attempts to establish the following thesis: the radical Christian praxis of the eschatological reality of the Kingdom in light of the Cross is the Church’s alternative to contemporary philosophies and initiatives for social transformation. This praxis affirms the revolutionary, history-shaping force which makes Christianity relevant to the problems of Modernity and Postmodernity through its self-identification with the Crucified God. It marks the moment of conception of an authentic, liberating, life giving, transforming hope as a source of humanization and redemption of social order. Christianity is concerned with the birth and formation of a new socio-political reality - the Kingdom of God, and its embodiment on earth (through the Holy Spirit) in a new ethnos: the Church, the Body of Christ, the communion of the saints. Therefore, it is the Church's calling and obligation to exemplify the reality of the Kingdom, being a living extension of the living Christ and thus, the incarnation of the eschatological future of the world and its hopeful horizon in the midst of the present. Recognizing the vital need for a relevant Christian response to the spiritual demands of the Post-modern human being and his/her desacralized, pluralistic socio­ political context, the work concludes with a conceptual outline offering a strategy for the Church in the Postmodern setting. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Theological Ethics)

African-American and Zimbabwean women live and do theology from different cultural and contextual worldviews, although they share the same skin colour. The narrative stories of three Zimbabwean and one African-American Christian women and how they share inter culturally the struggle of identity, identity-formation and survival/liberation while maintaining their cultural uniqueness form die basis of this research project. These shared experiences can offer significant contributions to the broader feminist liberation theology. The Christian faith has served as a shared source of sustenance, resilience, healing and renewal as well as a shared source for constructive and affirming identity-formation for Zimbabwean and African-American women. Consequently, building strong relationships that address contextual issues facing women of Africa and the Diaspora, as suggested by this research, offers significant opportunities for eliminating some of the barriers and boundaries that prevent Zimbabwean and African- American women from enjoying the quality of life that God meant for everyone. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

This study is a focus on a small minority group within Australian society. This study attempts to explore and expose the inherent injustices experienced by this Aboriginal group since colonization. Its major focus is the loss of their land and their human rights and dignity subsequent to this invasion/ colonization. It also attempts, subsequent to the High Court decision in favour of Aboriginal land ownership, to also theologically support that stance. This study exposes the heretical nature of the traditional theology and religious practices of the dominant white population. It also tries to show the correlation with the experience of the Maori people in New Zealand and how they lost their land to the British Monarch. It then attempts some directives for reconciliation between these peoples and what could be done to restore the damage done since 1788. / Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Text in English / The phenomenon of the 2007/8 post-election violence in Kenya is complex and has numerous facets. This is because of the historical and socio-political dimensions connected with it, some of which the present study has attempted to discuss. The main objective of this research is to develop a missiological model of reconciliation by understanding and addressing the underlying causes of the 2007/8 post-election violence through an interpretive and missiological reading of the 2008 report of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. The concepts of politics, ethnicity, human rights and violence are chosen as analytical units for this study and through an integrated approach to their interconnectedness, a more adequate framework to identify and analyze the causes of violence is created. The churches in Kenya have played ambiguous roles in the social-political arena and this study surveys these roles and suggests different missional approaches through which the churches in Kenya can participate in the mission of reconciliation. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)