Thesis (MA (Theology))--University of Stellenbosch, 1919. / 48 leaves printed single pages, hand written on exercise book. Includes bibliography. Digitized at 300 dpi grayscale to pdf using an HPScanjet 8250 Scanner. / Please refer to full text for abstract. No Afrikaans abstract available.

Thesis (MTh (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis endeavours to evaluate influential Reformed perspectives on the work of the Spirit and to search for a constructive framework to understand more fully the work of the Spirit in redemption and creation. For Reformed theology, the work of the Spirit has mainly been interpreted in two ways, namely, redemption-centred and creation-centred. These perspectives have each generated its own focus and consequences for both pneumatology and the Christian faith and life. The result of the different perspectives was the tension between the creative and redemptive activity of the Spirit of God. For both John Calvin and Karl Barth—because of their practical intention and the particular contextual circumstances—the work of the Spirit in redemption became priority and they, subsequently, gave more attention to this particular attribute. The Spirit quickens faith in us, enables us to have faith in the authority of the Scriptures as well as to understand and believe in the reality of God’s self-revelation. It is the primary work of the Spirit to lead us, in Christ, to unity with the Triune God and with the faith community. Abraham Kuyper and Jürgen Moltmann focus on the cosmic, universal work of the Spirit, from whom life is quickened and given, by whom the destiny of creation is perfected, and through whom the Creator inhabits the whole creation. The creation-centred perspective means to positively, yet critically, affirm the world and culture, to extend the Christian life and action to the whole of creation, and to allow us to participate in the cosmic work of the Spirit. Although Reformed theologians tried to understand the unity of the work of the Spirit in redemption and creation, the tension between Spiritus Redemptor and Spiritus Creator is still present and thus, a more satisfying pneumatological framework is needed. Contemporary theological movements hold most insightful implications towards establishing a constructive pneumatology—cosmic, trinitarian, and realistic pneumatology. According to the constructive perspective with which the work of the Spirit can be reflected in a more distinctive, relationally-personalistic, and concrete and realistic way, it is the Spirit—who is a fully divine person in the Trinity—who fulfils salvation for the glory of God, and who calls us to participate in his cosmic, godly, and unexpected work.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Almost all African societies have female initiation rites to mark the process of growing up. Initiation rites signal the transition from one stage in life to another. Between the two levels is “the camp,” the liminal phase, in which the initiate is secluded in order to be initiated into the mysteries of life. Through female initiation rites, positions of power and social relations within the society are demonstrated. The Bemba people of Zambia perform the Chisungu female initiation rites in which young women are initiated into adulthood through the ritual process. Chisungu female initiation rites remain an important source of traditional education on sex and the social and religious leadership roles of women in Zambia although they are now being modified and performed in a shortened form. This study builds on the scholarly work undertaken by African women theologians particularly in the last decade, to engage theologically with the subject of HIV and AIDS on the African continent. Their theoretical insights and analysis provide the critical lenses for this thesis. The objective of the thesis is to offer a gendered analysis of Chisungu initiation rites among the Bemba people, in order to retrieve the values of indigenous female initiation rites which can critique patriarchy in the context of HIV and AIDS. This objective is achieved in the following steps. Firstly the function, the form and the practices of indigenous female Chisungu initiation rites are explained. Secondly, the gendered cultural values of indigenous female Chisungu initiation rites are demonstrated while simultaneously providing details of the symbolic meaning of the rites and the interpretation of the initiation songs and the sacred emblems (imbusa). Thirdly, how gendered cultural values of indigenous Chisungu initiation rites can be retrieved for HIV prevention is illustrated. Finally the importance of inculturating the values of indigenous female Chisungu initiation rites in the UCZ with regards to empowering women in the context of HIV and AIDS is explored. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

When the liberative paradigm of the Bible is given a privileged position in the South African context, then it can function as a tool from which the prophetic church can glean resources. The heart of this thesis, therefore, endeavours to provide a biblical resource for the church in South Africa whose prophetic vision has become dormant in a context where socioeconomic dilemmas are structurally based. This resource is created from the prophetic book of Hosea which has traditionally been treated in isolation from any socioeconomic issues. However, this dominant interpretation of the book of Hosea has been challenged in recent scholarship with favourable results, especially in combination with interdisciplinary approaches. The theoretical framework of Vital Theology has therefore been employed with its interdisciplinary approach, and integrated with a biblical methodology. Focusing on the marriage-harlotry metaphor of Hosea, this thesis demonstrate that a socio-historical and literary reading of the metaphor can provide the church with a prophetic vision to address socioeconomic dilemmas in South Africa, fifteen years after democracy. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This thesis seeks to explore the concepts of humanity within Wesley’s soteriology and African perspectives in response to the call of the leadership of the Methodist church of Southern Africa (MCSA) to develop theology that is informed by our Southern African context. The central problem of the paper attempts to understand how people within the life of the MCSA interact with an understanding of humanity that is formed within the frameworks of Nguni and Sotho culture as well as Christian perspectives. The thesis maps Wesley’s anthropology through his own experience of God and particularly within the trajectory of his soteriology. It also seeks unpack an understanding of humanity within the framework of Ubuntu. In attempt to ground the conversation within the lived experience of the MCSA the paper also draws in data from two focus groups that are comprised of laity and ministers in training, respectively as well as through feedback from questionnaires that the participants in the two focus groups completed. The thesis makes use of an interpretive qualitative approach to explore the interplay of the different world – views in the lives of the participants as they share who they understand themselves to be and why they hold those particular views. The paper concludes with the observation of a pattern within the feedback from the participants that within the lives of the participants there seems to be a difference in their theoretical conception of humanity and their lived experience of their humanity. Within their theoretical understanding the participants were able to draw equally from their cultural perspectives and their Christian understanding, whilst within their lived experience, participants drew their understanding mainly from their Christian perspectives. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This study‟s primary motivation is the domestic and gender based violence (DGBV) that takes place particularly in Christian families and homes. Besides personal encounter that brought awareness that DGBV is for real in Christian homes, it is also affirmed by the scholars and researchers on DGBV. The study has established from the existing literature that DGBV is indeed an indisputable actuality in Christian families that leaves women with psychological, physical and emotional scars that are hard to heal. Some women are even fatally wounded by DGBV incidents. This makes it imperative for the church to revisit its church teachings particularly about marital relationships. The Anglican Communion locally and globally has taken initiatives against this violence. For instance, the Anglican Church in Southern Africa (ACSA) has raised its concerns about this violence through the prophetic voices of its leadership and a number of initiatives in different Anglican dioceses. This demonstrates that ACSA is committed to the attempts of curbing the escalating DGBV. It is for this reason that the Premarital and Marriage Coaching Program (PMCP) is investigated for its relevance in addressing DGBV during its premarital and marriage counselling sessions. This is an Anglican document developed in 2012 in the context of DGBV that has become a pestilence in democratic South Africa which raises a need for its contextual relevance. It is thus vital that its marital teachings meant for “the happily ever after” metaphorically referred to as the bed of roses, premarital sessions should conscientise the couples that the roses have thorns too. The theoretical framework of this study has been coined from the body of knowledge of African Women Theologians and is called Feminist theory of triangulation. As a lens, this theory has helped this study to demonstrate that DGBV cannot be addressed with the exclusion of gender disparity issues which have cogently turned out to be the fundamental course of DGBV. The study has also clearly indicated that without cultural and biblical hermeneutics it would be impossible to address gender sensitive biblical texts and cultural norms, particularly those that elevate men‟s superiority over women in marriage. Regrettably, the PMCP has not attempted any of these hermeneutics, yet it uses some of the scriptures that are highly contested in their interpretation in the marriage context which renders it an accomplice to the repression of women in marriage. Hierarchists might find the PMCP user friendly because it maintains the status quo and does not challenge culture, religious beliefs and gender roles that are life denying to women. On the other hand Egalitarians, whose agenda is equality which was God‟s original purpose for human creation according to Gen. 1:26-27, might be relatively upset with the document. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

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 thesis critically evaluates the experiential missionary practice of Breakthrough International (BCI), an African charismatic Church, from a perspective of Missio Dei, a modem paradigm of mission conceptualized by ecumenical missiology. BCI, within its African world view, where the spiritual is tangibly real, has grown out of its experience of the Spirit, the divine principle of origin and normal experience of faith. Theological academic discourse, bound to an enlightenment concept of truth within a modem Cartesian world view, can reasonably access and evaluate BCl's experience of the divine as proper source for theological discourse through BCl's narrative. Missio Dei, a response to the old church centered paradigm of mission, redefines mission as an activity of God, in which the mission centered church participates. God's mission unfolds in (post)modern history transformed through Christ's coming to an eschatological reality. It is realized as such by the local congregation in (post)secular times, acknowledging God's preferential option for the poor and aims to humanize and liberate the world. God's mission is mediated through culture, and through contextualization creates a polycentric cultural identity of the gospel modeled after Christ's incarnation. It is in as much contextual as it is culture critical. BCI resembles Missio Dei in a very limited fashion. The difference in world views, and its focus on personal experience, creates an uncritical paradigm of mission aiming to save the believer not the world. With little regard for the history of mission BCI wants to rewrite personal (hi)story without involving itself in world history imposing a spiritual agenda upon the world from the perspective of those who are victimized by history. Though it represents the poor it doesn't grasp Christ's incarnation and its implications for an understanding of the struggle of the poor as an issue of theology proper. Poverty is spiritualized to a matter of personal piety. BCI does not appreciate the contextuality of the gospel but understanding it as above culture. It creates a Christian subculture in limited corrilliunion with the church universal, very reluctant to involve itself in the public domain. Our dialogue with BCl's narrative form of theology acknowledges that modem, ecumenical missiology needs to rediscover the experience of the Spirit as source of mission; yet BCI needs to develop a theology which makes use of scripture, tradition, and reason in order to find a broader and sustainable understanding of its experience of the divine. As required by university regulations, I hereby state unambiguously that this study, unless specifically indicated to the contrary in the text, is my own original work. In accordance with the regulations of the University I request to take note that this thesis exceeds the recommended length for a doctoral dissertation. This has been unavoidable since the central question of this study deals with the experience of the Spirit in an African world view and assesses this experience from a modem Cartesian academic world view with special reference to Missio Dei. I have spelled out in detail (cf. pages 11-15 "The plan of the thesis") how incompatible those two world views are and that this incompatibility requires an intensive discussions with respect to the central issues of this thesis (especially Epistemology and Missio Dei). I therefore request the reader to bear with me as I try to move through the problems posed by the complexity of the main question. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Despite the fact that partnership has be en a pronounced goal in ecumenical relationships for over eighty years, the realization of mutuality, solidarity, and koinonia has, even until present times, proven to be illusive. This fact raises a number of questions. First, why is this so? What wer e the historical antecedents that led to the concept of partnership? What were the original secular and religious contexts in which the term partnership was used, and how has its meaning been understood and contested over time? And secondly, what can we learn from this history? Are there any problematic issues or themes that repeatedly appear in the narrative, causing churches to continually fall short in these relationships? In seeking to answer these questions, this thesis will trace the history of ecu menical partnerships from its antecedents, found in the beginning of the modern Protestant missionary movement, through to current times, focusing on the relationships between churches historically involved in the International Missionary Council (IMC) and , after 1961 when the IMC integrated with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). Importantly, Lamin Sanneh’s typology of churches as either Global (the churches of the North or Western world, also forme rly known as ‘sending’ or ‘older’ churches) or World (the churches of the South and East, formerly known as ‘receiving’ or ‘younger’ churches) will be the lens used to understand these ecumenical relationships. Using this typology, each of the chapters th at form the main body of this research focuses on a different era of history and will follow a similar pattern. The first section of each chapter serves to situate the church’s partnership discourse in its secular setting, paying special attention to issu es pertaining to North/South political and economic power, as well as how power has been contested. The remainder of each chapter will trace the ecumenical history of partnership, focusing especially on the discussions and findings of world ecumenical mis sion meetings, starting with The Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions in New York in 1900. While the main emphasis will be on these ecumenical meetings and their findings, attention will also be given to individuals and events that played significant roles in the development of the understanding and practice of partnership. Significantly, at the conclusion of each chapter four prominent themes or issues will be traced which continually reappear in the narrative and make partnership difficult to reali ze. When reviewing this history, it is evident that the term partnership was a product of colonial times and therefore captive to colonial and, later, neocolonial interpretations. However, it is also clear that from the very beginnings of the moder n Protestant missionary movement some church and missionary leaders, from both the Global and World churches, have sought to ground partnership in Biblical, egalitarian, and liberationist understandings. While this can serve to encourage those involved in partnership today, the historical analysis also shows plainly four key themes or issues that continually make the attainment of equitable relationships impossible to realize; namely, the home base , humanitarianism and development , authority , and rhetoric and reality . It is clear that the differences in worldviews, as described by Sanneh’s typology, have had and continue to have detrimental effects on the relationships between the churches of Global and World Christianity. Given this history, it is assert ed in this thesis that for ecumenical partnerships to have any chance of overcoming these issues, the churches of Global Christianity must stop seeing mission as expansion and lose the desire to remake others in their image; in short, they must become, in their worldview and ethos, World churches. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.