The study of pneumatology is important and necessary in theology, and also in the church. What Christians have to know and understand about it must be taught clearly. The nature and work of the Spirit of God should be mastered by every believer in Jesus Christ. In this way, wrong concepts and teachings can be rejected by the Christian way of life, in the church especially in Africa. It is very noticeable that Africans, in their traditional worldview are conscious of the existence of the Supreme Being, spirits, divinities, ancestral spirits and the spiritual world with its diversity. Africans, Christians and non-Christians believe that around them there are invisible spiritual beings and because of this consciousness they are haunted by the wish to discover what is really going on in the invisible world of the spiritual realm. Most Africans consider the existence of the ancestral spirits as a very important matter and they are in daily need to consult them about every event happening among them in their traditional context. In every event they believe there is always somebody, meaning a spirit, behind what is happening. A death or an accident cannot happen without having been caused by a spirit especially an ancestral spirit. The ancestral spirits are thought to be active in the lives of their living descendants on earth. Ancestral spirits are ambivalent in their relation with the living. They can bring good things to their descendants if they are well treated. They harm and molest them when they are angered by their descendants. The fact that Africans have been confronted with the Gospel has had an impact on the lives of Africans. We have to acknowledge that many things in the conduct of African culture have changed or are going to change in the practical lives of Africans. Although the Gospel has had an impact on the people in Africa, it is unfortunately observed that some Africans do not manifest real change. Christian Africans, despite this encounter with the Christian faith, usually revert to traditional practices in case of hardships like accident, incurable diseases and barrenness, for example. The context of religious pluralism which Africans are experiencing, presents an open door to syncretism. Traditional practices are seriously against the biblical teaching and practices. Christians in the church are found (many times) to be involved in these traditional practices where they fear the attacks of their ancestral spirits or the misfortunes by other spirits. The Spirit of God is active in the world and also in Africa. Christians have to rely on God and not on their ancestral spirits for the sustenance and support in different domains of life. The solution to this on-going attitude of Africans to the spirits can only come from the Word of God. It is absolutely important to continue with the proclamation of the Gospel to Africans. This proclamation of the Word of God must be taken seriously by the church and Christians in Africa. It is only the message from the Bible that can free Africans from their belief in the ancestral spiritual world. / PhD (Dogmatics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The study of pneumatology is important and necessary in theology, and also in the church. What Christians have to know and understand about it must be taught clearly. The nature and work of the Spirit of God should be mastered by every believer in Jesus Christ. In this way, wrong concepts and teachings can be rejected by the Christian way of life, in the church especially in Africa. It is very noticeable that Africans, in their traditional worldview are conscious of the existence of the Supreme Being, spirits, divinities, ancestral spirits and the spiritual world with its diversity. Africans, Christians and non-Christians believe that around them there are invisible spiritual beings and because of this consciousness they are haunted by the wish to discover what is really going on in the invisible world of the spiritual realm. Most Africans consider the existence of the ancestral spirits as a very important matter and they are in daily need to consult them about every event happening among them in their traditional context. In every event they believe there is always somebody, meaning a spirit, behind what is happening. A death or an accident cannot happen without having been caused by a spirit especially an ancestral spirit. The ancestral spirits are thought to be active in the lives of their living descendants on earth. Ancestral spirits are ambivalent in their relation with the living. They can bring good things to their descendants if they are well treated. They harm and molest them when they are angered by their descendants. The fact that Africans have been confronted with the Gospel has had an impact on the lives of Africans. We have to acknowledge that many things in the conduct of African culture have changed or are going to change in the practical lives of Africans. Although the Gospel has had an impact on the people in Africa, it is unfortunately observed that some Africans do not manifest real change. Christian Africans, despite this encounter with the Christian faith, usually revert to traditional practices in case of hardships like accident, incurable diseases and barrenness, for example. The context of religious pluralism which Africans are experiencing, presents an open door to syncretism. Traditional practices are seriously against the biblical teaching and practices. Christians in the church are found (many times) to be involved in these traditional practices where they fear the attacks of their ancestral spirits or the misfortunes by other spirits. The Spirit of God is active in the world and also in Africa. Christians have to rely on God and not on their ancestral spirits for the sustenance and support in different domains of life. The solution to this on-going attitude of Africans to the spirits can only come from the Word of God. It is absolutely important to continue with the proclamation of the Gospel to Africans. This proclamation of the Word of God must be taken seriously by the church and Christians in Africa. It is only the message from the Bible that can free Africans from their belief in the ancestral spiritual world. / PhD (Dogmatics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Die Bybel is die boek wat die meeste gelees word en tog is dit moeilik om die leefwêreld van daardie era te verstaan. My doel is om ’n nuwe blik te gee op ’n paar Ou-Testamentiese simbole. Die ontdekking van ivoorobjekte in die middel negentiende eeu in Nimrud se paleise het tot groot opwinding gelei, aangesien dit met die literatuur ooreenstem. Die ivoorstukke het ’n “verhaal” kom vertel. Deur die streke se kuns te bestudeer kan ons ’n prentjie vorm van die kuns wat in die Ystertydperk in Mesopotamië en Palestina se paleise en welaf huise voorgekom het. Die ikonografie word ontrafel deur ’n paar ivoorstukke te “lees.” Ikonografie is die beskrywing en verklaring van beelde wat op bepaalde onderwerpe betrekking het. Sekere beelde kom herhaaldelik voor in Mesopotamië. In dié studie word hoofsaaklik die Gevleuelde Wesens, die Boom van Lewe, die Gevleuelde Sonskyf asook Rosette beskryf. / The Bible is widely read but it is difficult to understand the world and culture of the era that it is set in. It is my aim to provide new insight into a few Old Testament verses with their symbolic meaning. When ivory was discovered at Nimrud the discovery elicited huge excitement. The ivory pieces came to tell a story. Through studying the art of the different cultures a picture begins to appear of the palaces and homes of the wealthy in the Levant. The iconography could be “read.” Iconography is the science of interpreting the message the art wants to convey to the viewer. A few images are repeatedly showing up in the Levant during the Iron Age. In this study I am focusing mainly on The Tree of Life, the Winged Disc, the Rosette and Winged Spiritual Beings. I am attempting to discern the meaning behind these images. / Biblical & Ancient Studies / M.A. (Ou Nabye-Oosterse Studies)

Die Bybel is die boek wat die meeste gelees word en tog is dit moeilik om die leefwêreld van daardie era te verstaan. My doel is om ’n nuwe blik te gee op ’n paar Ou-Testamentiese simbole. Die ontdekking van ivoorobjekte in die middel negentiende eeu in Nimrud se paleise het tot groot opwinding gelei, aangesien dit met die literatuur ooreenstem. Die ivoorstukke het ’n “verhaal” kom vertel. Deur die streke se kuns te bestudeer kan ons ’n prentjie vorm van die kuns wat in die Ystertydperk in Mesopotamië en Palestina se paleise en welaf huise voorgekom het. Die ikonografie word ontrafel deur ’n paar ivoorstukke te “lees.” Ikonografie is die beskrywing en verklaring van beelde wat op bepaalde onderwerpe betrekking het. Sekere beelde kom herhaaldelik voor in Mesopotamië. In dié studie word hoofsaaklik die Gevleuelde Wesens, die Boom van Lewe, die Gevleuelde Sonskyf asook Rosette beskryf. / The Bible is widely read but it is difficult to understand the world and culture of the era that it is set in. It is my aim to provide new insight into a few Old Testament verses with their symbolic meaning. When ivory was discovered at Nimrud the discovery elicited huge excitement. The ivory pieces came to tell a story. Through studying the art of the different cultures a picture begins to appear of the palaces and homes of the wealthy in the Levant. The iconography could be “read.” Iconography is the science of interpreting the message the art wants to convey to the viewer. A few images are repeatedly showing up in the Levant during the Iron Age. In this study I am focusing mainly on The Tree of Life, the Winged Disc, the Rosette and Winged Spiritual Beings. I am attempting to discern the meaning behind these images. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Ou Nabye-Oosterse Studies)