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In the present study, through a close reading of the Confessions , the author explores the concept of love in Saint Augustine as it pertains to the two possibilities of man, being towards the creation and being towards the Creator. He distinguishes two kinds of love corresponding to each one of these possibilities, love of the world (cupiditas) and love of God (caritas), and proceeds to analyze these loves. The main argument of the thesis is that these loves disclose the world to man in two opposed manners. The author argues that cupiditas seeks to find satisfaction in the creation and discloses it as an end in itself, whereas caritas loves the world for the sake of God and discloses it as a means to attaining God.

This thesis seeks to contribute to scholarship on the great Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, and to the ongoing discussion of theology and politics by examining Barth's view of war. / There has so far been only one monograph on Barth's view of war: John Howard Yoder's Karl Barth and the Problem of War (1970). Whereas Yoder's work is restricted to Barth's general discussion of war in his Church Dogmatics, and to a partial glance at his response to World War Two (WWII) and the Cold War, this thesis expands and completes the picture by examining Barths, overall theo-ethical framework, and his attitude to World War I. / Pushing a little further into Barth's theology, I start by re-evaluating the significance of Barth's key ethical concept of the Grenzfall ('extreme case')---particularly his use of it in relation to the problem of war. Briefly, rather than being a 'cop-out' clause (Yoder's thesis), the Grenzfall serves as a descriptive, conceptual short-hand for Barth's contextually-engaged, prophetic stance with regard to war. This is shown most clearly in his responses in word and deed to World War One (WWI---ignored by Yoder), WWII and the Cold War. / Following my examination of the Grenzfall, I chart Barth's path through these three situations: No substantial work has previously been done on Barth's response to WWI, largely because much of it is articulated in a series of sermons which have not yet been translated. Uncovering Barth's thought in these sermons---hitherto largely ignored in both dogmatic and ethical scholarship---I compare Barth's early, middle and later responses to concrete, historical wars, and relate these to his use of the Grenzfall in the ethical discussion of his Dogmatics.

This study examines the communication habits of the pilgrim Church with focus upon Vatican documents on mass media and social communication. Attention is given to the historical context of Vatican Councils I and II. As the Church engaged modernity, it shifted ecclesial organization from closed to become open. This study documents the importance of sociology, especially communication theory and cybernetics for Catholicism today. / It is argued that the pivotal event in the Roman Catholic Church's self-exploration for self-awareness and realization was the Second Vatican Council. At that Council, the Church re-examined itself and its own identity to come to grips with the modern world. The teachings of the Council were concerned mainly with the pastoral dimension of the Church and its self-realization. Reflexivity is an important theme of this study as it speaks about understanding the very identity of the modern Church. It is explained that the process of communication within the Roman Catholic Church is itself linked to this insight of reflexivity. / The first chapter shows that behind the pilgrim Church lies an emerging vision of the threefold offices of priest, prophet, and king. The history behind the Roman Catholic Church's transition from the First to the Second Vatican Council is provided. John Henry Cardinal Newman influenced nineteenth-century Catholic theology with his own study of the threefold office. In chapter four we return to the threefold office and examine the contribution of John Paul II. It includes an analysis of how the politics of the magisterium shapes Catholic social teaching. Chapter two examines the text and context of the Second Vatican Council's pastoral decree "Inter Mirifica". Chapter three provides a documented history of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communication and its teachings. Chapter five develops major tenets of a critical analysis of the communication of the post-Vatican II Church: attention is given to the discursive aspects of religious authority, argumentation, bureaucratization, and market culture. Chapter six takes a step towards examining the pragmatics of contemporary Vatican teaching. / This study concludes that there are three basic sociological and theological aspects of the pilgrim Church. These include a ritual approach to communication, the generational experience of Catholics and their respective attitudes toward Church teaching, and the important link in the faith's praxis between reflexivity and forming habits of communication.

The purpose of the research paper is to study and analyze the criticism expressed by Montaigne on different doxic themes that pervade the social discourse of his time. To do so, we consider two problems connected and coextensive to the second part of the XVI century. / The first one that extends over the first two chapters analyzes the way by which the religious wars of the era have found their justification in God. In the first chapter, we try to analyze the discursive vector of the divine ire whereas in the second chapter, we investigate the relationship between the tide of a battle and the elect sign that is supposed to give to the winner. / The second problem, that deals with various attempts of pacification, forms the third chapter of this paper. It focuses on the efforts undertaken by some "well intentioned" jurists to end "fratricidal" wars by royal by-laws (edits) whose unfortunate results are to stir up hatred among different ideological factions. / The fourth chapter is a reflection on some criticism stated by XVI century thinkers who perceived actual wars as lacking religious foundation, and even as a carnage where nobody really knew why the fighting was going on. / Finally, we put forward some hypotheses on the specificity of the Essais in the sociodiscursive context of this age.

This thesis examines the state of Islamic law in the modern context as perceived by the Muslim scholar Abdullahi an-Na`im, assessing its suitability for contemporary society, with particular emphasis upon its relationship to international human rights standards. The first part of this work reviews the impact of the nation-state upon the current international structure and then considers Islamic law as it was classically conceived and developed. The focus of this discussion addresses the importance of clear and definite texts in the Qur'an and the roles of ijtihad and naskh in us&dotbelow;ul al-fiqh, exploring the dimensions of flexibility and change allowed in this system. The second part involves an investigation of the development of international human rights standards and provides an appraisal of their authority and validity by which the Shari'a is today judged. The areas in the Shari'a that are seen to conflict with these modern standards, specifically the status of women and non-Muslims, and criminal punishment, are examined. Finally, the methodology for the reform of Islamic law proposed by an-Na'im is then evaluated, with due consideration given to the importance of hermeneutics and historical context. The value given to the difference between the Meccan and Medinan verses for the construction of a new understanding of the Qur'an within the framework of legal methodology is presented, as are the methodological tools that an-Na'im employs for modern legal reform.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

Beginning with the assumption that HIV and AIDS is a “gendered pandemic,” and that the church is central to the lives of many people in Africa, particularly Tanzania, this study sought to assess the HIV and AIDS intervention programmes of the church. The study used the HIV and AIDS programmes and policy of the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania as a case study, and the central question of this study was: “To what extent have the theological beliefs which under-gird the HIV and AIDS policy and programmes encouraged these programmes to adequately respond to the gender challenges posed by the pandemic?” The hypothesis of this study was that the HIV and AIDS programmes of the ELCT Northern Diocese have not responded adequately to the gender challenges posed by the pandemic among its church members, and that therefore a more gender-sensitive theological response is needed. As such the objectives of this study were: To describe and analyze the HIV and AIDS policy and programmes of the ELCT Northern Diocese; To investigate whether the HIV and AIDS programmes are gender sensitive; To examine to what extent the theological beliefs under-girding the HIV and AIDS programmes and policy encourage gender sensitivity in these programmes; To develop theologies that encourage a more gender sensitive response to HIV and AIDS. The data for the study was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, case studies and documentary sources such as primary health education programme annual reports and policy document. From sketching the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Tanzania in general, the study proceeds to describe and analyze the prevailing HIV and AIDS programmes of the ELCT Northern Diocese, which range from HIV and AIDS education awareness, to the provision of medical care, physical and spiritual care. It then assesses the theological beliefs underpinning the diocese‟s HIV and AIDS programmes/policy, and examines how the Lutheran Church understands and involves itself in the mission of God, pointing to a way forward in this regard by underlining Luther‟s practical response to the bubonic plague in relation to HIV and AIDS programmes. Three theoretical frameworks of analysis were used to assist in the analysis of the data collected. These were: a) the gendered conceptual framework for assessing HIV and AIDS interventions as pioneered by Geeta Rao Gupta; b) Luther‟s theologies of suffering, healing and gender; c) African feminist cultural hermeneutics as pioneered by Musimbi Kanyoro. The study concludes that as long as the church does not consider the gender nature of HIV and AIDS, its efforts to overcome the pandemic will bear little fruit. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study identifies the most popular alternative health therapies among Muslims who live in Kwa-Zulu Natal. It then examines the philosophies underlying these therapies with a view to establish whether there is conflict between these therapies and the fundamental teachings of Islam. Finally, it determines the responses of Muslim therapists and patients respectively to potential areas of conflict. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The study focuses on the National Vision Discussion Document (NVDD) from Zimbabwe, and is a reflection of the need for, and the churches’ approach to, reconciliation in Zimbabwe. The analysis of the social context in which the NVDD was written sets the tone for this study, and provides the basis for discussing and constructing a deeper theology of reconciliation in Zimbabwe. Two criticisms of the NVDD are advanced, namely, the lack for a critical social analysis, and a weak theological reflection. In responding to the first criticism, the study undertakes a detailed analysis of three key areas of enmity, namely, the ethnic conflicts between the Shona and Ndebele, the racial conflicts between white and black centered on land, and the political conflicts between ZANU-PF and civil society and the MDC. In responding to the second criticisms, the theology is deepened through an examination of Miroslav Volf’s, Exclusion and Embrace, John de Gruchy’s, Reconciliation: Restoring Justice, the Kairos Document and the Belhar Confession. Reconciliation was seen to lie at the edge of two parallel truths; justice and forgiveness; truth and reconciliation. In conclusion, the study established the basis for a deeper theology of reconciliation, by focusing on three key areas: social dynamics, theological reflection, and practical and logistical steps to national reconciliation. For a deeper theology of reconciliation, seven levels for reconciliation were suggested: individual, social, cultural, institutional, political, theological and religious. From these seven levels, two strategies for the practice of reconciliation were suggested: ecumenical and strategic partnerships. It should be noted that events in Zimbabwe continue to progress at a rapid rate and the social context changes from week to week. However, these current events suggest that the study remains relevant for national reconciliation and theological praxis because of the abiding issues of conflict that cry out for reconciliation. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.