Christian joy is identified by linguistic and symbolic, experiential and psychological studies, and by a study of its opposite, sorrow. The final and most comprehensive approach is Biblical and theological. Here, through Judaism and Christianity, the genesis and fulfilment of Christian joy is examined, in life and the gifts of God, in hope, and in union with God. It is defined as "a gift of God's Holy Spirit as man becomes one with Christ in love." Five hypotheses are evaluated and confirmed: - 1. God is perfect joy, 2. God is the source and end of all Christian joy, 3. Jesus Christ is both the most joyful and the most sorrowful of men, 4. The Christian participates in the joy and sorrow of Jesus Christ, 5. Christian joy is eschatological in nature. The need is stressed for a fuller understanding and expression of Christian joy, which is seen as the complement of Christian love, and as a distinguishing characteristic of Christians, because of its primary intentional and ultimate satisfactory nature

Doing a survey of the ministry of inner healing, one is arrested by three salient features: its pragmatic and correlative development, its lay orientation, and the inconsistent and naïve theoretical explanation of the phenomenon. Inner healing, or as it was first known, the healing of the memories, appears to have its roots with Agnes Sanford during the 1940's (Sandford 1982: 3-4). Over a period of time and through a series of events, Sanford experienced what she termed a healing of memories. After some reflection on her experiences she began to teach her views at the School of Pastoral Care started by her husband in 1958, at Camps Farthest Out (CFO), and at numerous churches and conferences.

The study explored the psychological role of homoeroticism in the spiritual growth of priests, using Grounded Theory and James Fowler’s stages of faith development as the basis for the research methodology. Three Anglican priests were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format. The research interview combined Fowler’s Faith Development Interview Guide and a semi-structured interview in order to ascertain the priests’ level of spiritual development, as well as to explore their experience of the homoerotic component to their sexuality, and its influence on their spiritual growth. The interviews and iterative analysis focussed on four major questions: (1) Are priests who experience and actively work at integrating the homoerotic aspect to themselves assisted thereby in their spiritual growth, and if so, how might this be accounted for?; (2) Following Fowler’s model of spiritual development, what processes characterise each priest’s approach to meaning-creation in their lives?; (3) Following Fowler’s model, can the psychological work of engaging with and accepting homoeroticism be conceived of as serving an initiatory function in the emergence of new processes of meaning-creation?; (4) What role does homoeroticism serve in the spiritual growth of priests? The interpretative phase consisted of three stages. A grounded theory analysis of each interview was undertaken, developing a model for understanding the role of homoeroticism in spiritual growth. In the second stage, the priest’s level of spiritual development was ascertained, using Fowler’s Faith Development Guide. The third stage linked each participant’s level of spiritual development (in Fowler’s terms) with their core stories regarding experiences, meanings, and roles of homoeroticism. Finally, an integrative theory of the role of homoeroticism in spiritual growth was developed, using Jungian and post-Jungian theory as a basis for the discussion. The results suggested that homoeroticism did not play any role in spiritual growth and individuation separate to the manner in which it was experienced as having been constructed by society and the Church, and separate to the manner in which each priest in the study expressed, experienced, or engaged with it. In this context the experience of homoeroticism appeared to play a diversity of roles, including representing the collective and personal shadow, the archetypal anima/animus, the archetypal puer/senex constellation, the transcendent function, and thereby, as an expression of these roles, contribute to the emergence of new processes of meaning-creation in the spiritual growth and individuation of priests.

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Thesis (DTh (Practical Theology and Missiology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / In the Reformed tradition the autonomy of the local congregation - as the concrete community of people who interpret the Gospel with their words and deeds - as well as the maturity of the ordinary believers, rest precisely in the fact of their knowledge of and in their being formed by, as well as having been brought up by the Gospel, and that they not stay dependent on the clerical office for ever. It was exactly against any form of sacerdotalism that the Reformation aimed their protest, because they saw that that would estrange ordinary believers from their God-given task to take up their office as believers in God’s interpretative community in the world. It is therefore regrettable in the Dutch Reformed Church19 to have to admit that - after so many centuries - the official church has for the greater part still failed its members in this regard, and are still not trusting them enough and engaging them fully as theologians in their own right into the congregation’s discerning process in general, and the sermon making process in particular. It is our belief that the stagnation of the congregation as the primary hermeneutic of the Gospel20 arises to a great extent from the church's inherited style of pastorship as well as it's process of sermonmaking, being solely the responsibility of the all-knowing and all-doing pastor. The pastor centered homiletical situation exclusively holds the dominee responsible for inter alia the whole sermon making process, the exegesis of the Biblical text, the understanding of the message of the Scriptures, to even discerning the will of God for the congregation! This leads the ordinary church members to sit passively and eventually loose their confidence to personally engage with the Scriptures as a whole. Their participation as theologians in any conversation usually ends up in “the sharing of ignorance by well-intentioned but ill-informed people”21. There is still today, to a great extent, a total lack of handling skills of, as well as a wisdom perspective on the Bible as a whole, although many would be most competent in reciting a number of impressive Bible verses. While biblical scholars have moved into a postmodern and post-structuralistic phase, we find that many ordinary members are still stuck in a pre-modern phase, which makes teaching with regard to their equipment as interpretative community extremely difficult. ...

The research work has engaged in a critical missional reflection on the effectiveness of Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nigeria (TEKAN) as an ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos, a central area in Northern Nigeria that has been bedevilled with violent conflicts commonly associated with religio-cultural and socio-political factors. The scope of this study is limited to a conceptual exploration of the issues. In the critique of TEKAN, an inherent contradiction is identified within its identity, vocation and witness. The theoretical framework that guided this study embraced an interdisciplinary approach on issues about God’s mission (Missio Dei) through the Church (Missio Ecclesia) that propels Ecumenical engagement (Oikoumene) and leads to the quest of Justice and Peace (Dikaiosune & Shalom) for all humanity. The ecumenical witness of TEKAN within the environment of Jos calls into question its effectives as a tool of transformation in a multi-political and religious environment plagued by violence. The data gathered by various commissions of inquiry into the crises of Jos seems to suggest that a study approach to problems of justice and peace will not resolve the deeply entrenched problems. Therefore, the ultimate test of whether TEKAN will develop into an effective missional and ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos will be dependent on taking radical steps that embrace a genuine mission audit of its identity, vocation and witness that will empower the organization to meet the deep challenges of the people of Jos and their quest for authentic human development built on justice and peace. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This thesis focuses on the question of “how can the Keiskamma Art Project, its processes and art, be understood in relation to a contextual ecofeminist spirituality?” This study is concerned with women’s experience and expression of the divine through their creativity. It explores how women’s art projects contribute to their aesthetic and creative development and the impact it has on their lives. The study argues that the “Spirit” which manifests as the power of divine creative energy which is released through human creativity can promote full life for women in South Africa. It also explores how the creative process offers a catalyst towards change which affects both personal and communal transformation. Protest art is presented and examples of its historical use both locally and internationally are sited. The discussion offers an understanding of why subordinates in society need to find a safe place to express their protest. Art projects are presented as ‘safe’ sites for women who find themselves oppressed by their societal circumstances to find opportunity for the exploration of their ideas and personal development. Ecofeminism is presented as a contemporary protest movement and the study engages with some of the work of three key ecofeminist theologians; Rosemary Radford Ruether, Ivone Gebara and Sallie McFague. Themes are developed which best describe the characteristics of an emerging ecofeminist spirituality. The focus of the case study is on the Keiskamma Art Project, its processes and art, with specific focus on the Keiskamma Altarpiece. The process of dialogue and consultation which preceded the art making and the artwork are discussed in detail. The context of the Keiskamma Art Project is explored in location in the Eastern Cape in the rural and coastal town of Hamburg. The socio-economic context of the Keiskamma Art Project is outlined, indicating the lived reality of women engaged in this Art Project. In conclusion, the study argues that an emerging contextual ecofeminist spirituality is evidenced through the women’s art, the Keiskamma Altarpiece and the Keiskamma Art Project and has contributed towards the empowerment of local women and helped them articulate a sustainable life giving vision of hope for the future. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This thesis argues that human land use is a decisive yet commonly overlooked indication of the sort of people we are. As such, to grasp that we live in a world in 'ecological crisis' requires grappling with the moral, spiritual and narrative underpinnings and effects of those twentieth century shifts in urban/suburban development and farming practices that have so dramatically altered the North American cultural and geographical landscape. In particular, this dilemma is approached from a biblically informed Christian perspective. Chapter 1 proposes that understanding and experiencing the world as Creation requires accounting for the embodied and wondrous character of existence. Chapter 2 examines aspects of the biblical narrative that provide resources for rethinking destructive land use patterns. In conversation with agrarians and new urbanists, Chapter 3 provides an agrarian ethic for urbanites; a vision rooted in agrarianism that acknowledges how deeply the fate and health of cities and farms are intertwined.