Up to now there has been no attempt by Biblical scholars to compare the book of Psalms in the Old Testament with Pedi psalm-like songs. This study aims to fill that gap in the research and so contribute to the development of the African cultural heritage – especially that of the Pedi culture, by using indigenous knowledge systems. The research commences with a descriptive analysis of the various genres within the Book of Psalms. A variety of psalms types are discussed, including: Hymns of praise; Thanksgiving songs (communal and individual); Laments (communal and individual); Royal psalms; Hymns of Zion; Psalms of Yahweh’s kingship; Wisdom psalms; Liturgical psalms; Entrance liturgies; Judgement liturgies; Psalms of trust; Imprecatory psalms; Creation psalms; Torah (Law)-psalms; and Festival psalms. Each of these genres is described with reference to structural elements, characteristics and function(s). Then follows a descriptive assessment of numerous types and specific examples of Pedi Psalm-like songs via the provisioning of text, translation and a detailed commentary pertaining to contents and function. These include: Songs of Praise (e.g. Kgoparara); Thanksgiving songs (e.g. Mogale wa marumo - thanksgiving birth poem); Lament songs (e.g. Madi a manaba - a funeral song); Royal songs (e.g. Kgoshi - an inauguration song) Liberation songs (Ga e boe Afrika - a liberation song); Wisdom songs (Mokgoronyane - initiation song for boys and Kgogedi - initiation song for girls); Prayers of trust (e.g. Salane - a song of trust); Imprecatory songs (e.g. Leepo - song with irony); Law songs (e.g. Bana ba Modimo, thaetsang melao ya Modimo ka badimo - instruction song); Feasts (e.g. Ngwana malome nnyale - a lobola song and Hela Mmatswale, tlogela dipotwana - a wedding song). Finally the thesis provides a critical comparision between biblical psalms and Pedi psalm-like songs. The research demonstrates that, on the one hand, there are numerous interesting similarities between the two cultures’ songs with regard to a variety of aspects. On the other hand, the assessment also reveals substantial differences between the two musical traditions pertaining to an equally great number of issues. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Biblical and Religious Studies / unrestricted

The term liturgy itself has many expressions in the Old Testament, New Testament, and in English. Among them the liturgy is used as the term that can be applied to all forms of public worship. There are some elements such as preaching, sacrament, prayer et al., in the liturgy. The liturgy was started from Eden in the Old Testament, the liturgy was continued as the form of altar in the Patriarchal age and by the tent and temple in Moses and king David’s ages. In the age of king David, the liturgy of confession of sin and honesty more than the moral perfection was emphasized. After the Diaspora, the synagogue became the place of liturgy of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave the meaning of another new liturgy through his Holy Supper. In early Christianity, the liturgy was the festival, sharing, and relief with the proclamation of the gospel of Christ’s resurrection and his Second coming, the baptism, offering, professing, and prayer. From the Second century the Lord’s Day liturgy was started. After the fourth century, there was some change until the seventh century in the Eastern Church, and all liturgical rites were fixed after the seventh century. In the Western Church, after the ninth century, the liturgical rite was unified by the Roman rite. At the end of the medieval age, the Mass was a play of priests, the believers were spectators. There was not a liturgy for God, and as well it was the starting point of Reformation. The Reformers rejected the Mass and the Transubstantiation of the Roman church, argued for the reformation of liturgy and the liturgy in the mother language. The greatest Reformer John Calvin claims that the object of the liturgy is only the glory to God, the Scripture and the tradition of the early church as the norm of public liturgical rite, the balance between the Word and Sacrament, the eternal and spiritual liturgy. In the European church, although the reformation of liturgy was started by the first Reformer Luther, nearly all churches in European countries got under Calvin’s influence soon. In Switzerland, Zwingli and Farel led the Reformation, and Geneva, under Calvin’s direction, became the most influential city. In the Anglican Church, the Mass became their liturgy till after the Reformation. In Germany, for thirty years many people had to spill blood for the freedom of liturgy. In Scotland, the reformation of liturgy was led by John Knox. Netherlands obtained freedom of liturgy after a long struggling under the conduct of William, Prince of Orange, In France, the Huguenots had to make many religious wars for getting the freedom of faith and liturgy. Francis Turretin is the greatest Orthodox Reformed theologian. He lived as a professor, minister and theologian in his days. He was a loyal successor of Reformer Calvin and a protector of the Orthodox theology in the seventeenth century, the epitomizer of Reformed theology, and the Scholastic theology. His immortal work, ‘Institutes of Elenctic Theology (Institutio Theologiae Elencticae)’, is the eminent illustration of the theology of the seventeenth century, and polemical. His scholastic theology is positively re-examined. With Turretin, the reason only serves for faith, it never possesses or surpasses the faith, God and his Word is the only basis of Turretin’s theology and liturgy. His theology also is in the Calvinism tradition. To Turretin, the liturgy is the higher school of God’s grace, the teaching in the liturgy, the communication with God, God’s commandment, the life itself, and the gospel liturgy by the spirit and truth. The liturgy of the Korean church was started by Underwood, the first missionary of Korea. In the early period of the Korean church, the Nevius methods influenced the Korean mission decisively. The first Directory of the Korean church was published by Moffett. The liturgical rites of the Free Church in America was introduced mainly in Korea, still those forms are functioning widely as the model of liturgical renewal in Korean church. Many Christians in Korea worship for the blessing and the human’s happiness rather than God, and there are many pagan factors in the Christian’s liturgy, and the sacrament is far from the liturgy. It is difficult to find a Christian worshiping with his whole life. On account of the desire for church growth in the Korean church, if the church can increase its numbers, they think that liturgy does not matter. Because the Korean church is disregarding the tradition, object, nature, content, and reason of liturgy according to Turretin, the Korean church needs the continuous effort for the renewal and reformation of liturgy and the right establishment of the liturgical theology. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

In the world in which we are living today many people, especially Christians, wonder why people should talk about homosexuality. For many past years, the Christian Church, especially in East Africa, considered herself more or less immune from many of the challenges, experienced by the rest of the world, particularly the Western world. However, as the church now continues to grow in numbers and expand its territories, these problems start to appear in the church also all over East Africa. Increasingly the consciousness of the society is being raised concerning social-ethical issues such as women's rights, battered children, single parent families, teenage pregnancy, wife beating and of course homosexuality. As a result such issues are widely discussed within the church and outside, sometimes causing a rift within the church. Such has been the case with homosexuality. Recently at a Seventh-day Adventist Church camp meeting in East Africa, a debate in a Bible study on the ethics of homosexuality as perceived by the Seventh-day Adventist Church paved the way for divisions in the church, which has left church members in four categories (groups) namely: culturalist, rejectionist, reinterpretationist and the reaffirmationist. Unfortunately the debate closed without a definite conclusion as to what should be the normative basis for the theological ethical evaluation of homosexuality by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa. The issue was whether the Bible, culture or both the Bible and culture should be the normative basis and also as to what theological ethical guidance does the Bible provide for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality in the present-day context. The dissertation surveys definitions and causes of sexuality, and traces some of the background from the pre-modem to the postmodern era reflecting on the definitions and causes of homosexuality, and it also traces some of the historical background regarding homosexual practices and views on homosexuality. It also discusses and assesses the Cultural beliefs on homosexuality in East Africa. The study also looks at the Biblical texts that refer to or are thought to refer to homosexuality and "examines" the claims made in much of the "gays" literature with reference to these texts. Other texts used by over-zealous Christians bent on finding condemnation of homosexuality through Scripture. During the East African pre modem era, sexuality, including homosexuality was not publicly discussed. The whole subject was encircled by a halo of secrecy and hedged around by innumerable East African taboos. When this silence is combined with the absence of written documentation on the cultures and histories of many parts of East Africa, the difficulties of accessing traditional understanding of homosexuality and sexuality become immense. One can conclude that it will be a serious mistake for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to make East African culture normative in the ethical evaluation of homosexuality since: (i) Oral East African tradition does not really provide any moral view on homosexuality. To read into the silence on homosexuality the moral condemnation of homosexuality is not acceptable. (ii) Homosexual practices, in a ritualized form, are not foreign to East African culture. (iii) The strong condemnation of homosexuality in East Africa is often politically and ideologically inspired. This dissertation advocates the need for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to use the Bible alone, Old and New Testament, being the written word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, as the infallible revelation of God's will. The Bible is the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and trustworthy record of God's acts in history and therefore is central in any formulation concerning homosexuality, whether theological or ethical evaluation and therefore should be used as the only normative basis for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

1 and 2 Chronicles is a book that solicits many questions and on which neither research nor debate is complete. The reason for this is the discrepancies between the book compared to other books with similar content. The purpose of this dissertation is to: - -- identify the differences between Chronicles and source writings; -- determine which selections were made from the source material, what has been nuanced, omitted, added and emphasized; -- study these selections contextually and determine what its function or purpose would have been; -- determine the Chronicler’s ideology and against this background determine whether the text functioned as discourse of power. The book 1 and 2 Chronicles forms the study field of this dissertation. This book is mainly a narrative that pretends to be a narration of history and covers the period from Adam until after the Babylonian exile. The temple and cult in Jerusalem form the focal point of this narrative. A comparison of the book 1 and 2 Chronicles with the source documents the author(s) used (namely Genesis, Joshua, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings) clearly shows that the Chronicler worked extremely selectively when using the source documents and that he retells the history of Israel and Juda through omissions and additions with his own particular emphasis. The narrative offers a negative judgment of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and all the tribes that lived in that area. On the other hand the Southern Kingdom and the tribes Juda, Levi and Benjamin are described extensively and are judged positively. David is presented as the ideal king. Bar one, all his wayward deeds that are comprehensively reported in the source documents are concealed. The purpose is evidently to create an extremely positive image of him. He is inter alia depicted as the founder of the cult in Jerusalem. In this manner the cult is also legitimized and given the stamp as the only true place of worship of the living God. To have a close connection with the cult in Jerusalem or not thus becomes the criterion to judge all kings after David. The study clearly reveals that 1 and 2 Chronicles functioned as a discourse of power that was aimed at promoting the interests of the post-exilic temple personnel in Jerusalem and legitimizing their control over the cult. As a discourse of power it sets boundaries and excludes different groups that were traditionally part of the people of YHWH. The destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the ending of the cult also meant the end of the purpose of this text as a discourse of power and created the possibility that it could become part of the collection of sacred writings known as the Old Testament. / Thesis (PhD (Old Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted