The maleness of Christ: revelational or cultural? is a biblical-theological investigation of the significance of Christ's maleness. This thesis attempts to answer questions as to the significance and meaning ofJesus' maleness. Is the maleness of Christ revelational of God's being and character; is it foundational for the gospel; is it reflective of an ongoing created order? Is revelation and salvation impossible apart from a male redeemer? Or could Christ have been born a woman in a different time and culture? Chapter one describes the various positions and arguments: complementarian, biblical egalitarian, Christian feminist, and post-Christian feminist. Chapter two examines two related topics to the problem, namely slavery and the Sabbath. This section investigates how the church has decided, regarding other issues, what is revelational or cultural. We consider the various implications that the slavery and Sabbath debates have on our topic. Our subject relating to the significance of Christ's maleness has many interrelated concerns. In answering the questions regarding Jesus' maleness, chapter three organises much of the material under the motif of the sonship of Christ. This structure allows us to remain focused as well as interact with the differing topics affecting our concern, such as innertrinitarian relationships, the relationship between revelation and culture, the so-called subordination of the Son, the truth and status of analogy, inclusive language, and the implications of Christ as the image of God. Also included this chapter is a discussion on the relationship between Jesus and Wisdom and whether we can refer to Christ as "Daughter." The chapter concludes with a section on whether Christ's maleness either relates to an ongoing created order of male headship or allows for the transformation of patriarchy. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

At the incarnation, Jesus Christ assumed the fallen human nature that He found. Having lived a life of perfect obedience in the fallen human flesh that He assumed, He voluntarily and willingly bore the sins of the entire human race and died the second death for, and in our place; thereby paying the penalty for sin. Jesus Christ bore our sins (acts or behaviours) vicariously, while sin as nature or a law residing in the fallen human flesh that He assumed was condemned in that flesh and received eternal destruction on the cross. Thus, on the cross, in Christ, God saved the entire humanity. On the cross, the condemnation that the entire humanity had received by being genetically linked to Adam was reversed in Christ. Thus, the entire human race stands legally justified. But this is a gift, which can either be received or rejected. Therefore, salvation is not automatic. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

The sufficiency of Jesus Christ in the African Church is challenged by the widespread spiritual insecurity in African Christians, prompting them to hold on to ATR. The wholistic securing power of ATR challenges the sufficiency Christ's salvation to Africans. Proposing African Christological motifs alone is inadequate to induce confidence upon Christ. The African worldview must further be transformed inline with the implications of the victory of the Cross over Satan. Indeed, Christ has fully liberated African Christians from Satan's authority, placed them in his kingdom, and transformed them into a glorious state. However, because of the Fall, salvation, before the eschaton can never result in the utopian order envisioned in ATR. Suffering does not necessarily indicate satanic harassment. It is a fact of the fallen world. African Christians stand secured in Christ; therefore, they must hold on to their faith. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Atonement theories have great implications for the soteriological paradigms associated with them, but their significance has not always been recognized in the formulation of theological systems, the lack of dogmatic definition by ecumenical council encouraging diversification and isolation from other doctrinal loci. The strongest coherence between an atonement model and soteriology can be seen in the reformed tradition, and its theory of penal substitution has become the standard accepted by many non-reformed protestant groups, including classical pentecostalism. Tensions persist in the theological system of pentecostalism because of its pairing of penal substitution with the soteriological paradigm of its foundational symbol of faith, the full gospel of Jesus as savior, sanctifier, baptizer with the Spirit, healer, and coming king. This vision of salvation is broader than that of protestant orthodoxy, which through its atonement theory deleteriously separates the death of Christ from his work in life and strictly limits the subjects and nature of salvation, specifically to addressal of elect individuals’ sins. It is proposed that this tension within the pentecostal system be relieved not through a reduction of its soteriology but a retrieval of the Christus victor model, the atonement theory of the ancient and Eastern church. As reintroduced to the Western church by G. Aulén, this model interprets the saving work of Christ along two lines: recapitulation, the summing up and saving of humanity via the incarnation, and ransom, the deliverance of humanity from the hostile powers holding it in bondage. In a contemporary, pentecostal appropriation of this model, aid is taken from K. Barth’s concept of nothingness to partially demythologize the cosmic conflict of the Bible, and pentecostalism reinvigorates the Eastern paradigm of salvation as theosis or Christification via the expectation of the replication of Christ’s ministry in the Christian. The study shows Christus victor can give a more stable base for a broader soteriology that is concerned with the holistic renewal of the human person. To demonstrate the developed model’s vigor and applicability beyond pentecostalism, the study closes by bringing it into conversation with the concerns of three contemporary theological movements. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Michael Servetus (1508 - 1553) and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) are both considered heretics. They share many concepts about the nature of God, especially their rejection of orthodox Nicene and Chalcedonian theology. This thesis explores their respective theologies relating to the Trinity and Christology, with speculation of what sources they may have had in common. While attention is paid to Ignatius, Irenaeus and Tertullian, particular attention is paid to Tertullian, whose work Adversus Praxean lays the foundation of Servetus' ideas and has much in common with Swedenborg's theology. In light of their similarity to Tertullian, the question is asked if Servetus and Swedenborg would have been called heretics prior to Nicaea. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

The sufficiency of Jesus Christ in the African Church is challenged by the widespread spiritual insecurity in African Christians, prompting them to hold on to ATR. The wholistic securing power of ATR challenges the sufficiency Christ's salvation to Africans. Proposing African Christological motifs alone is inadequate to induce confidence upon Christ. The African worldview must further be transformed inline with the implications of the victory of the Cross over Satan. Indeed, Christ has fully liberated African Christians from Satan's authority, placed them in his kingdom, and transformed them into a glorious state. However, because of the Fall, salvation, before the eschaton can never result in the utopian order envisioned in ATR. Suffering does not necessarily indicate satanic harassment. It is a fact of the fallen world. African Christians stand secured in Christ; therefore, they must hold on to their faith. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Atonement theories have great implications for the soteriological paradigms associated with them, but their significance has not always been recognized in the formulation of theological systems, the lack of dogmatic definition by ecumenical council encouraging diversification and isolation from other doctrinal loci. The strongest coherence between an atonement model and soteriology can be seen in the reformed tradition, and its theory of penal substitution has become the standard accepted by many non-reformed protestant groups, including classical pentecostalism. Tensions persist in the theological system of pentecostalism because of its pairing of penal substitution with the soteriological paradigm of its foundational symbol of faith, the full gospel of Jesus as savior, sanctifier, baptizer with the Spirit, healer, and coming king. This vision of salvation is broader than that of protestant orthodoxy, which through its atonement theory deleteriously separates the death of Christ from his work in life and strictly limits the subjects and nature of salvation, specifically to addressal of elect individuals’ sins. It is proposed that this tension within the pentecostal system be relieved not through a reduction of its soteriology but a retrieval of the Christus victor model, the atonement theory of the ancient and Eastern church. As reintroduced to the Western church by G. Aulén, this model interprets the saving work of Christ along two lines: recapitulation, the summing up and saving of humanity via the incarnation, and ransom, the deliverance of humanity from the hostile powers holding it in bondage. In a contemporary, pentecostal appropriation of this model, aid is taken from K. Barth’s concept of nothingness to partially demythologize the cosmic conflict of the Bible, and pentecostalism reinvigorates the Eastern paradigm of salvation as theosis or Christification via the expectation of the replication of Christ’s ministry in the Christian. The study shows Christus victor can give a more stable base for a broader soteriology that is concerned with the holistic renewal of the human person. To demonstrate the developed model’s vigor and applicability beyond pentecostalism, the study closes by bringing it into conversation with the concerns of three contemporary theological movements. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Michael Servetus (1508 - 1553) and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) are both considered heretics. They share many concepts about the nature of God, especially their rejection of orthodox Nicene and Chalcedonian theology. This thesis explores their respective theologies relating to the Trinity and Christology, with speculation of what sources they may have had in common. While attention is paid to Ignatius, Irenaeus and Tertullian, particular attention is paid to Tertullian, whose work Adversus Praxean lays the foundation of Servetus' ideas and has much in common with Swedenborg's theology. In light of their similarity to Tertullian, the question is asked if Servetus and Swedenborg would have been called heretics prior to Nicaea. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

This study deals with the character of Jesus in the Gospel of John and follows the social-scientific approach and aims to correct the traditional views regarding the personality of Jesus. The aim is not a personality analysis but to situate Jesus as a typical person who was a part of and functioned in the first Mediterranean world. The pivotal values of the ancient world such as honor/shame; collectivistic/dyadic personality; family and group orientation; kinship; the patronage system with the patron/broker/client relationship and the purity system are applied to reach the aim of my thesis. It is found that Jesus was a collectivistic/dyadic personality. He functioned in this family orientated as well as in a group orientated community and socially structured patronage system as a broker, totally the contrary to contemporary personality drawings of Jesus found in modern literature. / In hierdie studie, wat 'n skripsie van beperkte omvang is, word nie gepoog om 'n persoonlikheidsanalise van Jesus te doen nie. Die studie wil die probleem van die toepassings en interpretasies van Jesus in populere literatuur aanspreek. Jesus word deur moderne mense en teoloe in prentjies en idees van 'n moderne mens met moderne kategoriee, denke en perspektiewe, waardes en oordele beskryf, geteken en geinterpreteer, en dit is nie 'n werklike getroue en realistiese weergawe van Jesus as historiese mens nie. Jesus word in populere literatuur as 'n individualis geteken; sy persoon en emosies word alleenlik in moderne denke en kategoriee geinterpreteer en dit word slegs op grond van moderne individuele ervaring gedoen. Hierdie interpretasies is nie tipies van die kollektiwistiese, groep-georienteerde eerste-eeuse mediterreense persoon nie. Afsydigheid en terughoudendheid (4:9, 10; 13:36-38) is kenmerkend van persone in hierdie samelewing waar warmte in verhoudings ontbreek het (2:16; 9:16)'. Emosies soos 'liefde' wat Jesus toon, is nie 'n emosionele konnotasie wat in die moderne samelewing dui op die gevoelslewe van die mens nie. In hierdie antieke samelewing het 'liefde' gedui op lojaliteit, solidariteit en groepgebondenheid en as Jesus die blinde man sy sig teruggee (9:7), herstel hy nie hier die geneesde man se plek as individu in terme van die moderne samelewing nie, maar hy herstel die sieke in sy regmatige, groep-georienteerde sosiale plek in die antieke samelewing waarin hy - weens sy siekte - as 'buitestaander' geetiketteer is en dus geen deel in die groep gehad het nie. In hierdie antieke eerste-eeuse mediterreense samelewing het ander spilpuntwaardes as in ons moderne samelewing gegeld. In hierdie kollektiwistiese en groepgebonde kultuur het persone gedeel in 'n gemeenskap met die spilpuntwaardes, norme en ingestelde sosiale reels van hierdie spesifieke kultuur en aspekte wat vormend op hulle ingewerk het. Jesus se persoon en optrede moet nagevors word in hierdie sosiale sisteem waar mag deur simbole daargestel is, en waar mense, dinge en gebeure elkeen 'n simboliese werklikheid verteenwoordig het. / New Testament / M. A. (Biblical Studies)

Michael Servetus (1508 - 1553) and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) are both considered heretics. They share many concepts about the nature of God, especially their rejection orthodox Nicene and Chalcedonian theology. This thesis explores their respective theologies relating to the Trinity and Christology, with speculation of what sources they may have had in common. While attention is paid to Ignatius, Irenaeus and Tertullian, particular attention is paid to Tertullian, whose work Adversus Praxean lays the foundation of Servetus' ideas and has much in common with Swedenborg's theology. In light of their similarity to Tertullian, the question is asked if Servetus and Swedenborg would have been called heretics prior to Nicaea. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)