This study examined the issues of the interpretation, transmission and appropriation of the doctrine of justification by faith alone within the context of the Lutheran Church in Nigeria, Gongola Diocese. Using contextualization as my main tool in this exploration, I argue that intercultural communication holds the key to unlocking how effectively and appropriately these three engagements with theology are executed within the context of this study. The Lutheran church and indeed most Protestant denominations assert that justification by faith alone is the cardinal doctrine of Christianity. Scholars are however concerned that there is great level of ignorance among members and misappropriation of justification by faith alone in the lives of members of these denominations. Many reasons were advanced as being responsible for this, some of which include: its absence from the preaching agenda of Protestant pulpits, and inadequate teaching from the church, its clergy and theological educators. Other reasons are its failure to be shown to be clearly applicable to lived experiences of the people in their contemporary challenges. The message of justification by faith alone has not been adequately translated into people's social, and religious-cultural world views. The LCCN as an institution subscribes to Luther's teachings as expressed in his writings and taught by the Lutheran Church globally. However, the LCCN is faced with the problem of how to transmit the meaning of justification by faith alone to its members. This study therefore sought to investigate the underlying factors for this development. The question that the study wished to answer was: How does the interpretation of justification by faith alone by the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (as an institution) enhance its understanding and appropriation by members and serves as a guide in this study? In attempting to answer this question three theories were used as framework with which to test the church's interpretation of this doctrine. These theories are: 1) gospel and culture in dialogue; 2) translatability, and 3) contextual theological education programmes for the training of both clergy and laity. This is an empirical qualitative study and was structured into eight chapters. Participants in this study were categorized into five groups: church leaders, seminary lecturers, clergy, seminary students, and lay members. Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with participants, relevant data was generated and analysed manually. The study found that the LCCN's interpretation of justification by faith alone is detached from the religious and cultural world view of its members; this has in turn created a conflict in how it is understood and appropriated in their lived experiences. The message of justification by faith (the gospel) has not been allowed to engage in dialogue with the culture of the people, rather culture is perceived as evil or something to be avoided. Thus, I argue that this failure on the part of the missionaries and the indigenous leadership of the LCCN to employ intercultural communication in transmitting the message of justification by faith alone is the major cause of the problem. Most of the participants including the leaders of the church acknowledged that the church, the seminary and the clergy have not been faithful in transmitting the appropriate message of justification by faith alone. The conclusion of this study therefore, is that the LCCN's interpretation of justification by faith alone does not enhance its understanding and appropriation by members. This thesis proposes that the Lunguda practice of ntsandah provides an entry point for a proper informed interpretation of justification by faith alone. For this to be possible, the gospel and culture must engage in dialogue through viable a contextual theological education programme for the training of both clergy and the laity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This dissertation traces the social-theological history of a German-Lutheran two-kingdoms concept---an often ambiguous social-ethical theory used by German-Lutheran theologians to interpret their social world and to define the relational boundaries for the church's existence in society. This study consists of three parts, each of which represents a fundamental rupture in the German social order: / Part one examines the formation of a two-kingdoms doctrine in the modern world. The opening chapter (chapter two) establishes Martin's Luther's use of a two-kingdoms hermeneutic as way to challenge late-medieval Catholic Church authority and to empower ("sacralize") the social sphere. Chapter three surveys the work of German-Lutheran theologians who found in Luther's two-kingdoms concept a model that corresponded to the modern public-private social structure. The intersection of Luther's concept and modern social theory enabled theologians to understand the social, economic, and political changes taking place in Germany and, wittingly or unwittingly, to validate the status quo. / Part two analyzes various applications and critiques of the two-kingdoms doctrine in Germany from 1919 to 1945. Chapter four focuses on the efforts of Emanuel Hirsch, Paul Althaus, Paul Tillich, and Karl Barth to construct a theology that addressed the crises of modernity: the loss of national identity, the failure of post-Enlightemnent rationalism, and the collapse of traditional political structures. Chapter five examines the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who developed a critical two-kingdoms perspective to (re)define the ethical relationship between the "church for others" and the "world come of age." / Part three considers the reception of the two-kingdoms doctrine in the East German church (1949--1990). The objective of chapter six is to illustrate the various ways in which theologians in the German Democratic Republic nuanced a two-kingdoms concept to make sense of the church's missionary task in socialism. This chapter also demonstrates the links between Bonhoeffer's ethic of responsibility and an East German theological ethic of critical solidarity---a social-ethical theory articulated by pastors and theologians such as Bishop Albrecht Schonherr and Heino Falcke. / This study concludes with a brief discussion of the two-kingdoms doctrine's capacity to protect and to resist the status quo.

No description available.

No description available.

Nothing has influenced and affected the Lutheran Church in the U.S.A. in the past century more than the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry. When the first Norwegian immigrants entered the U.S. in the middle of the 19th century, there were not enough Lutheran pastors to minister to the spiritual needs of the people. Some of these immigrants resorted to a practice that had been used in Norway, that of using lay-preachers. This created problems because of a lack of proper theological training. The result was the teaching of false doctrine. Some thought more highly of the lay-preachers than they did of the ordained clergy. Consequently clergy were often viewed with a discerning eye and even despised. This was one of the earliest struggles within the Norwegian Synod. Further controversies involved whether the local congregation is the only form in which the church exists. Another facet of the controversy involves whether or not the ministry includes only the pastoral office; whether or not only ordained clergy do the ministry; whether teachers in the Lutheran schools are involved in the ministry; and whether or not any Christian can participate in the public ministry. Is a missionary, who serves on behalf of the entire church body, a pastor? If only the local congregation can call a pastor, then a missionary cannot be a pastor because he serves the entire church body in establishing new congregations. Is a seminary professor, who trains future pastors, a pastor? If only the local congregation can call a pastor, a seminary professor cannot be a pastor because he is called by the seminary board of control and not one particular congregation. In seeking to develop a statement that clearly defines the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry, a controversy exists within the church body known as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), the successor synod to the Norwegian Synod. The reason for the controversy is that two different views of how to develop a doctrinal statement exist in the ELS. Some go directly to Scripture and set forth a position. Others follow an example found in C.F.W. Walther's theses on Church and Ministry. They misunderstand and misuse this approach that was developed only for use in a controversy against an erring Lutheran pastor, Johannes Grabau of the Buffalo Synod. Many of those who utilize this approach are former members of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), of which Walther was one of the founders. As a result of the two distinct approaches, there has been an inability to unanimously agree on the wording of the statements on the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry. It is the conclusion of the author that it is this reliance on statements made by individuals in previous centuries regarding particular situations that has caused the struggle to develop and serves to prolong it. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Nothing has influenced and affected the Lutheran Church in the U.S.A. in the past century more than the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry. When the first Norwegian immigrants entered the U.S. in the middle of the 19th century, there were not enough Lutheran pastors to minister to the spiritual needs of the people. Some of these immigrants resorted to a practice that had been used in Norway, that of using lay-preachers. This created problems because of a lack of proper theological training. The result was the teaching of false doctrine. Some thought more highly of the lay-preachers than they did of the ordained clergy. Consequently clergy were often viewed with a discerning eye and even despised. This was one of the earliest struggles within the Norwegian Synod. Further controversies involved whether the local congregation is the only form in which the church exists. Another facet of the controversy involves whether or not the ministry includes only the pastoral office; whether or not only ordained clergy do the ministry; whether teachers in the Lutheran schools are involved in the ministry; and whether or not any Christian can participate in the public ministry. Is a missionary, who serves on behalf of the entire church body, a pastor? If only the local congregation can call a pastor, then a missionary cannot be a pastor because he serves the entire church body in establishing new congregations. Is a seminary professor, who trains future pastors, a pastor? If only the local congregation can call a pastor, a seminary professor cannot be a pastor because he is called by the seminary board of control and not one particular congregation. In seeking to develop a statement that clearly defines the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry, a controversy exists within the church body known as the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), the successor synod to the Norwegian Synod. The reason for the controversy is that two different views of how to develop a doctrinal statement exist in the ELS. Some go directly to Scripture and set forth a position. Others follow an example found in C.F.W. Walther's theses on Church and Ministry. They misunderstand and misuse this approach that was developed only for use in a controversy against an erring Lutheran pastor, Johannes Grabau of the Buffalo Synod. Many of those who utilize this approach are former members of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), of which Walther was one of the founders. As a result of the two distinct approaches, there has been an inability to unanimously agree on the wording of the statements on the doctrine of the Church and its Ministry. It is the conclusion of the author that it is this reliance on statements made by individuals in previous centuries regarding particular situations that has caused the struggle to develop and serves to prolong it. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)