Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-08-17T16:22:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan Macedo de Novaes.pdf: 4096992 bytes, checksum: 32899c0334416704d985aa844e1f6421 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T16:22:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan Macedo de Novaes.pdf: 4096992 bytes, checksum: 32899c0334416704d985aa844e1f6421 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo / This thesis seeks to identify and analyze the Adventist thinking about television based on H. Richard Niebuhr’s typology presented in Christ and culture. The research aimed to trace the theological, social and communicational presuppositions behind the Adventist thinking about TV that were inherited from the social history of the denomination. Thus, it was chosen as a corpus of analysis the English-speaking Adventists editorial publications about the relationship between the believer and the television. After a historiagrafic analysis about the Adventism-TV problem and the reading of the Adventist literature about TV a Niebuhrian typology was constructed based in a binomial structure. As research results, it was observed that the responses of the religious movement to Adventism-TV problem are multifaceted and complex, and can be better understood through: (1) the identity marks revealed by the social history of the denomination, which Millerite legacy is very influent and (2) the binary oppositions image-text, demonizationsacralization, autonomy-manipulation, protagonism-assistance and abstinencemoderation. In the analyzed literature, the Adventist thinking between the 1950s until the early 1990s is characterized by strong rejection to the television media, because of the idea of rivalry that is perceived between image and text in a denomination orientated by the text. Furthermore, it is believed that the best option on the interaction with the TV is abstinence because of the belief in the subliminal power and the mind control skill of media. The Adventist thinking was also characterized by the notion that TV is the protagonist of Christian spirituality, being responsible for promoting the sanctification or eternal damnation. Adventist literature justifies the use of television only in a religious context and missionary purposes, mainly due to the eschatological vocation and the religious imperative of the proclamation of Jesus' return to Earth. However, the later books of the corpus, published between 1990 and 2000, represent a shift in the understanding of how should be the believer's interaction with the TV. Despite the prevalence of text on the image endures and the predominance of idea of emergency, other perspectives are privileged, among them the sacredness of the TV, which can now also be used in “secular” context and not exclusively for evangelistic purposes, and moderation as a practical solution to the problem Adventism-TV / A presente tese consiste em identificar e analisar o pensamento adventista sobre a televisão com base na tipologia de H. Richard Niebuhr no clássico Cristo e cultura. A pesquisa objetivou traçar as pressuposições teológicas, sociais e comunicacionais por trás do pensamento adventista acerca da TV e que foram herdadas da história social da denominação. Para tanto, foi escolhido como corpus de análise publicações editoriais adventistas de língua inglesa que discorriam sobre a relação entre o crente e a televisão. A análise documental das publicações se deu por meio de uma tipologia de matriz niebuhriana construída a partir de binômios. Como resultados da pesquisa, foi possível observar que as respostas do movimento ao problema adventismo-televisão são multifacetadas e complexas, e podem ser mais bem compreendidas através: (1) das marcas identitárias reveladas pela história social da denominação, cujo legado milerita é bastante influente, e (2) das oposições binárias imagem-texto, demonização-sacralização, autonomia-manipulação, protagonismo-coadjuvação e abstinência-moderação. Na literatura analisada, o pensamento adventista entre os anos 1950 até início dos anos 1990 é caracterizado por forte rejeição à mídia televisiva, por conta da ideia de rivalidade que se percebe entre imagem e texto em um movimento de orientação textocentrada. Além disso, acredita-se que a melhor opção diante da interação com a TV é a abstinência, por causa da crença no poder subliminar e de manipulação mental da mídia. O pensamento adventista também se caracterizou pela noção de que a TV é protagonista na vida cristã, sendo responsável por promover a santificação ou a condenação eterna. A literatura adventista justifica o uso da televisão apenas em contexto religioso e para fins evangelísticos, principalmente por conta da vocação escatológica e pelo imperativo religioso da proclamação da volta de Jesus à Terra. Contudo, os últimos livros do corpus, publicados entre os anos 1990 e 2000, representam uma mudança na compreensão adventista da TV. Apesar da prevalência do texto sobre a imagem continuar e do predomínio da ideia de urgência, outras perspectivas são privilegiadas, entre elas, a sacralização da TV, que agora pode ser utilizada também em contextos “seculares” e não exclusivamente para propósitos evangelísticos, o enfraquecimento da noção de TV como obstáculo à santificação, e a moderação como solução prática para o problema adventismo-televisão

In the last two decades, Seventh-day Adventist scholars have been attempting to articulate a balanced and distinct ecclesiology, aimed at helping the denomination to retain its global unity, maintain its relevance and enable a more fruitful and meaningful interaction with others. No comprehensive account of the church has been developed yet, however. This thesis is intended to facilitate a more rounded and systematically articulated concept of church from an Adventist perspective. Part I presents a thumbnail history of the denomination and considers the advantages and limitations of its standard claim to be the 'remnant', awaiting a pre-millennial parousia. Part II engages with the ideas of some of the ablest communio ecclesiologists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and considers their ecclesiological system, built around the concept of koinonia, while Part III examines ways in which their theoretical framework can assist the Adventist community to deal with practical ecclesial issues. Four major proposals are made for deepening Adventist understanding of the nature of church. Whereas the formal structure of communio framework can help Adventists move beyond one-sided, single-metaphor communal self-descriptions, the idea of the church as essentially a koinonia of believers in God can supplement their predominantly functionalist portrayal of the church as herald or messenger. Thirdly, the Adventist notion of truth can be enriched by viewing the community of believers not only as a messenger, but also as an organic part of divine revelation. This makes ecclesiology central to the theological enterprise, intrinsic to the grounding of theological claims and the interpretation of biblical texts. Finally, the development of a richer interpretation of the Spirit's activity in the church is seen as one of the key prerequisites for a fuller, more nuanced account of the church's participation in the life of the triune God. The highlighting of these four aspects, hitherto neglected or underdeveloped in Adventism, and the presentation of tentative solutions to its ongoing ecclesiological problems, form the principal contribution of this monograph.

In John Calvin and Ellen G White’s sense making approaches God’s act of redemption and reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ takes the centre stage in the foursome of God’s acts expressed in the biblical historical timeline as creation, reconciliation in Jesus Christ, renewal through the Holy Spirit and fulfilment at the end of time. While the 16th century Calvin emphasised God’s acts of creation and reconciliation in Christ more than God’s acts of renewal and fulfilment, the 19th century White’s emphasis was more on God’s acts of reconciliation in Christ and fulfilment at the end of time than on creation and renewal through the Spirit. With all the differences in their sense making approaches their central perspectival focus in their writings, sayings and doings is the way God and humanity, heaven and earth are closely connected in a unity without being fused and mixed in Jesus Christ. Their central christological theme of ‘God staying God’ and ‘human staying human’ in an interactional substantialist sense in Christ designates the great alternative view that differs on the one hand, from the view of the trans-substantialist option in which the human being Christ Jesus is in a sacramental-sacred way transformed into ‘a divine human being’ –, and on the other hand, the view of the consubstantialist option in which the human being Jesus is permeated and diffused by his divinity, thereby becoming ‘the human God.’ Calvin and White in their reflection operating within the realm of divine historicity that is staying within the biblical historical timeline from Genesis to Revelation were viewed by many as not theologians in the real sense of the word. Calvin and may be to a greater extent White worked and contributed to the new and emerging field of Faith Studies in which a theologian or theorist of faith cannot reflect on God, human beings or the natural cosmic world in three separate avenues as was commonly the case with speculative and scholastic theologies in history. White’s Faith Studies contribution is in the global arena of theology where the omnipresent ‘–logies’ of mainline church theologies such as Christology, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology and Eschatology hold sway.

In John Calvin and Ellen G White’s sense making approaches God’s act of redemption and reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ takes the centre stage in the foursome of God’s acts expressed in the biblical historical timeline as creation, reconciliation in Jesus Christ, renewal through the Holy Spirit and fulfilment at the end of time. While the 16th century Calvin emphasised God’s acts of creation and reconciliation in Christ more than God’s acts of renewal and fulfilment, the 19th century White’s emphasis was more on God’s acts of reconciliation in Christ and fulfilment at the end of time than on creation and renewal through the Spirit. With all the differences in their sense making approaches their central perspectival focus in their writings, sayings and doings is the way God and humanity, heaven and earth are closely connected in a unity without being fused and mixed in Jesus Christ. Their central christological theme of ‘God staying God’ and ‘human staying human’ in an interactional substantialist sense in Christ designates the great alternative view that differs on the one hand, from the view of the trans-substantialist option in which the human being Christ Jesus is in a sacramental-sacred way transformed into ‘a divine human being’ –, and on the other hand, the view of the consubstantialist option in which the human being Jesus is permeated and diffused by his divinity, thereby becoming ‘the human God.’ Calvin and White in their reflection operating within the realm of divine historicity that is staying within the biblical historical timeline from Genesis to Revelation were viewed by many as not theologians in the real sense of the word. Calvin and may be to a greater extent White worked and contributed to the new and emerging field of Faith Studies in which a theologian or theorist of faith cannot reflect on God, human beings or the natural cosmic world in three separate avenues as was commonly the case with speculative and scholastic theologies in history. White’s Faith Studies contribution is in the global arena of theology where the omnipresent ‘–logies’ of mainline church theologies such as Christology, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology and Eschatology hold sway.