No description available.

Thesis (D. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study deals with Christian revival and specifically Christian revival in the Presbyterian Church of Thailand. Above all, it is an in-depth ecclesiological analysis and evaluation of the Thai revival through John Sung’s campaigns of 1938-1939. This is a first attempt to examine this revival from a holistic point of view. Between 1900 and 1941, missionary work in Thailand was carried on almost exclusively by missionaries of the American Presbyterian Mission (APM), and the revival was confined to the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) with which the missionaries were involved. The APM missionaries’ theology of revival can be understood by surveying the theological controversy over revival within the American Presbyterian Churches. There is a remarkable resemblance between the problems of the Old-New Side split of 1741 in American Presbyterianism and the Thai revival of 1938-1939. The same problems, of ministerial qualifications, differing understandings of the nature of true revival, and the essence of faith, reoccurred two hundred years later in Thailand. The historical, socio-cultural, religious, and political situation in Thailand played an important role in the reception of the gospel among the Thai, as well as in the results of John Sung’s campaigns. This is why the fruit of his ministry was meagre compared to the results of his work in other Southeast Asian countries, even though the campaigns resulted in the greatest revival movement Thailand had yet experienced. John Sung (1901-1944), the greatest evangelist China has ever known, was conservative in his theology. His theology of revival was coincident with Old School American Presbyterianism, but some aspects of his evangelistic methods were identical with those of the New School. Despite his errors, God used him mightily for the Thai church. Forerunners of the revival movement prepared the ground for John Sung’s Thai campaigns. Even though his itinerant ministry was conducted for only six weeks in 1938 and two months in 1939, there was a genuine spiritual revival, as is reflected in general church history, following the phenomena of conviction of sin and repentance, with restored worship and faith in God’s Word, and eagerness for evangelism. The revival had positive and negative results. Nevertheless, the Thai church was prepared for the test of the nationalistic Buddhist movement of 1940-1941 and the people were equipped for the hardships of the Second World War. By using the WestminsterConfession of Faith as a criterion for an ecclesiological evaluation of the campaigns, it is shown that John Sung did not instigate division within the church, even though his followers tried to set themselves apart. But his criticism of the missionaries and Thai church leaders disrupted the work of the officers of the church. When the Thai supporters of the campaigns, out of their hunger for God’s Word, asked for a Bible College to be established, the leaders of the APM, due to their own limitations, rejected the suggestion. In the end the APM and the CCT lost a golden opportunity for church growth. The most important reason was that neither could work in close cooperation with the other. The central issue now is whether the Thai church can learn from the lessons of the past. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie handel oor Christelike herlewing en spesifiek Christelike herlewing in die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van Thailand. Bowenal is dit 'n grondige ekklesiologiese analise en evaluering van die herlewing wat in Thailand deur John Sung se veldtogte in 1938 en 1939 teweeggebring is. Dit is 'n eerste poging om die herlewing vanuit 'n holistiese oogpunt te bestudeer. Tussen 1900 en 1941 is sendingwerk in Thailand feitlik uitsluitlik deur sendelinge van die Amerikaanse Presbiteriaanse Sending (APS) onderneem, en die herlewing was beperk tot die Kerk van Christus in Thailand (KCT) waarin hierdie sendelinge werksaam was. Die APS-sendelinge se herlewingsteologie is begrypbaar wanneer ons die teologiese twispunte oor herlewing binne die Amerikaanse Presbiteriaanse Kerke bestudeer. Daar is merkwaardige ooreenstemming tussen die skeuring van 1741 tussen die Ou en Nuwe Bedeling in Amerikaanse Presbiterianisme en die herlewing van 1938-1939 in Thailand. Dieselfde probleme, te wete die kwalifikasies van bedienaars, verskille in die verstaan van die aard van ware herlewing en die wese van geloof, het twee honderd jaar later ook in Thailand opgeduik. Die historiese, sosio-kulturele en politieke situasie in Thailand het 'n belangrike rol gespeel in die ontvanklikheid vir die evangelie onder die Thai, sowel as in die resultate van John Sung se veldtogte. Dit is hoekom die vrug van sy bediening skamel was in vergelyking met die resultate van sy werk in ander Suidoos-Asiatiese lande, alhoewel die veldtogte wel gelei het tot die grootste herlewingsbeweging wat Thailand ooit beleef het. John Sung (1901-1944), die grootste evangelis wat China ooit geken het, het 'n konserwatiewe teologie beoefen. Sy herlewingsteologie het saamgeval met die Ou Skool van Amerikaanse Presbiterianisme, maar sommige aspekte van sy evangelisasiemetodes was identies aan dié van die Nuwe Skool. Ten spyte van sy foute, het God hom kragtig gebruik in diens van die kerk in Thailand. Voorlopers van die herlewingsbeweging het die land vir John Sung se veldtogte in Thailand voorberei. Alhoewel sy rondreisende bediening slegs oor ses weke in 1938 en twee maande in 1939 gestrek het, was daar 'n ware geestelike herlewing soortgelyk aan wat in die algemene kerkgeskiedenis weerspieël word, wat gevolg het op 'n oortuiging van sonde en inkeer, met hernude aanbidding en geloof in die Woord van God en evangelisasie-ywer. Die herlewing het positiewe sowel as negatiewe gevolge gehad. Dit het nogtans die kerk in Thailand voorberei vir die toets van die nasionalistiese Boeddhistiese beweging van 1940-1941 en het mense toegerusvir die swaarkry van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog. Aan die hand van die Geloofsbelydenis van Westminster as 'n kriterium vir die ekklesiologiese evaluering van John Sung se veldtogte, word getoon dat hy nie verdeeldheid in die kerk aangespoor het nie, alhoewel sy volgelinge probeer het om hulself af te sonder. Sy kritiek op die sendelinge en kerkleiers in die kerk het egter die werk van die kerkbeamptes ontwrig. Toe die Thailandse ondersteuners van die veldtogte uit hul honger na die Woord van God die oprigting van 'n Bybelkollege versoek het, het die leiers van die APS die voorstel vanweë hul eie tekortkominge van die hand gewys. So het die APS en die KCT 'n gulde geleentheid vir kerkgroei verloor. Die vernaamste rede hiervoor was die onvermoë van beide om met mekaar saam te werk. Tans is die sentrale vraagstuk of die kerk in Thailand uit die lesse van die verlede kan leer.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), drawn up in London in the 1640s, has been one of the most influential confessions in the history of Reformed theology. It has occupied a very significant place in the life of a great many Protestant churches since the seventeenth century, and continues to serve as a chief subordinate standard in several major denominations today. In the opening chapter of the Confession, the divines of Westminster included a clause which implied that there would no longer be any supernatural revelation from God for showing humankind the way of salvation. Means by which God had once communicated the divine will concerning salvation, such as dreams, visions, and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, were said to be no longer applicable. However, many of the authors of the WCF accepted that "prophecy" continued in their time, and a number of them apparently believed that disclosure of God�s will through dreams, visions, and angelic communication remained possible. How is the "cessationist" clause of WCF 1:1 to be read in the light of these facts? Was it intended as a strict denial of the possibility that any supernatural revelation for the purposes of salvation could take place after the apostolic period, or did its authors, as some modern scholars have argued, allow for a more flexible view, in which such divine revelation through extraordinary means might still take place? This thesis explores these questions in the light of the modern debates over the interpretation of the Confession�s language and its implications for the church today. It considers the difference between "mediate" and "immediate" revelation as understood by the Westminster divines, and attempts to show that only "immediate" revelation was considered to have ceased, while "mediate" revelation, which always involved Scripture, was held to continue. A detailed analysis of the writings of the Westminster divines reveals that these churchmen possessed both a strong desire to maintain the unity of Word and Spirit and a concern to safeguard the freedom of the Holy Spirit to speak to particular circumstances through the language and principles of Scripture. God still enabled predictive prophecy and spoke to individuals in extraordinary ways, but contemporary prophecy was held to be something distinct from the prophecy of New Testament figures. In the minds of both the Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans, prophecy was considered to be an application of Scripture for a specific situation, not an announcement of new information not contained within the Bible. The Scriptures always remained essential for the process of discerning God�s will. The Introduction to the thesis considers the debate over WCF 1:1 in its modern setting. Chapter One outlines the socio-political and theological context of the Westminster Assembly, and discusses the question of how to assess the respective contributions of the divines to the documents it produced. Chapter Two investigates the Westminster view of the necessity and scope of special revelation, and discusses the nature of the "salvation" which was conveyed by this means. Chapter Three surveys the exegetical traditions underpinning the teaching that former modalities of supernatural revelation had ceased. Chapter Four seeks to respond to modern claims that Puritan theology allowed for a "continuationist" position, by canvassing evidence both from seventeenth-century Reformed thinkers themselves and from their critics, who maintained that Westminster orthodoxy was indeed cessationist in style. Chapters Five and Six explore the claims to and explanations for "prophecy" in Reformed theology in both England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. Chapter Seven examines the question of the theological status of the Westminster Confession in its own time. To what extent were subscription requirements envisaged by the Assembly and the governments of the day, and what form did these requirements take? The thesis concludes that the Westminster divines intended the cessationist clause to affirm that there was to be no more extra-biblical, "immediate" revelation for any purpose now that the church possessed the completed Scriptures. The written Word of God was fully capable of showing the way of "salvation" in its wider scope as either temporal or eternal deliverance. At the same time the divines did not intend to deny that God could still speak through special providences that might involve dreams or the ministry of angels, for example, but such revelation was always to be considered "mediate". The primary means was held to be the written Scriptures, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The unity of the Word and Spirit was maintained, and God�s freedom to address individual circumstances remained intact.

This study of the governance of theological education examines significant policy and management decisions within Presbyterian ministry training in New Zealand between 1961 and 1997 in the light of Edward Farley�s integrated goal for theological education, theologia. Edward Farley�s argument that theologia, integration of theology (scientia) and theology (habitus), was fragmented from the first use of modern research university education as professional education for ordained ministry in the 1880s, provides a theoretical framework for analysing the influence of governance on theologia, through its effect on institutional organisation, structure and curricula. International unease about theological education is reflected in New Zealand Presbyterian ministry formation, though little sustained critical analysis is yet published in New Zealand. The period under study begins in 1961 when the Special Committee on Theological Training called for a Chair in Pastoral Theology to 1997 when the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand opened its Centre for Advanced Ministry Studies, later renamed the School of Ministry. Criteria signifying recovery and/or fragmentation of theologia drawn from Farley�s arguments are searched for in the beginning of University theology at Berlin and the beginning of ministry formation in Dunedin, New Zealand. The intervening time till 1960 is similarly analysed. Governance decisions about Pastoral Theology in the first case study and governance decisions about University, church and theology in the second, are then assessed. Constant rearranging of pastoral theology programmes symptomises increasing fragmentation of theologia as does the creation of a Pastoral Chair. Pastoral theology is left with the integrative responsibility, rendering other disciplines more scientific as feared by some Theological Hall teachers. Outside the University from 1876-1946, New Zealand Presbyterian ministry formation was still influenced by University expectations from Scotland and Berlin. After 1946, teaching within the University of Otago Faculty of Theology, Presbyterian teachers enjoyed considerable opportunities for integrated teaching. Fragmentation of theologia was therefore delayed and to some extent retarded. Increased University influence from 1992 meant these opportunities were lost. Finally, around the 1996 withdrawal of direct University engagement with Presbyterian ministry formation, formational goals were set for the Church�s new Centre of Advanced Ministry Studies. These aimed to integrate theology (scientia) and theology (habitus) retrospectively for ordinands after foundational theological education elsewhere. Earlier 1990s governance decisions affected achievement of these goals. This work argues that between 1961 and 1997 most governance decisions in New Zealand Presbyterian ministry formation exacerbated existing structural fragmentation of theologia. Differing arrangements to alleviate this were attempted, and integration of (scientia) and (habitus) occurred for some students and at different periods. Structurally, however, the University-approved four-fold programme continued, making pastoral theology�s role remained ambiguous and theologia�s fragmentation inevitable. While the New Zealand Presbyterian Church set its own ministry formation goals from 1961-1997, finance, prestige and educational philosophy prevented development of its own programme. Time and money were put into supporting University theology instead, and the University used to produce an educated ministry. It is now inevitable that the Church has to integrate theology (scientia) and theology (habitus) retrospectively for its students after theological education elsewhere.

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-157).

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-88).

Project (D. Min.)--Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, 1986. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 349-354).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 259-263).