The motif of judgment pervades the Hebrew bible and it is generally accepted that one of the functions of deity is judgment. Within the Book of Judges, this motif logically surfaces through the various pericopes describing premonarchic Israel. The prologue to the book includes paradigmatic formulae for the pattern of this judgment and the institution of a deliverer. Commonly, it has been accepted that a cyclical pattern exists in the book in which the Israelites begin in a proper relationship with YHWH. This disintegrates into their apostasy resulting in YHWH empowering an oppressive force to subdue them as an element of His judgment. At some point in the subjection, Israel cries out to YHWH and He raises up a deliverer. The deliverer acts as the divine representative to remove the oppressor and he restores peace and stability as long as he lives. The pattern returns again after the death of the deliverer. The study begins with an examination of the Israelite deity and the object and subject of His judgment. The next chapter explores the themes of judgment from a diachronic perspective to determine how the critical methodologies of canonical, textual, source, form, redaction, social-scientific, and historiographical criticism either support or refute the idea that YHWH operates based on the anthropocentric paradigm of judgment from the Judges prologue. The following chapter continues that examination from a synchronic perspective employing a close reading of the text through rhetorical and narrative criticism. The fifth chapter examines the idea of the anthropocentric cycle of judgment and its constituent elements. The study concludes that while the elements of this cycle are present throughout the book; nevertheless, they are not present consistently throughout the entirety of each circumstance of judgment. As the hypothesis of this paradigm is rejected, the study examines whether the cyclical elements should be considered from a theocentric perspective. This hypothesis is also rejected. The study considers whether there is a complementary approach that embodies the two other paradigmatic structures. Ultimately, that hypothesis is rejected also. The study concludes that both diachronic and synchronic methodologies are helpful in making this evaluation; however, only those that focus on a close reading of the text are the most beneficial for validating the hypothesis. Since the hypothesis that YHWH is bound by the anthropocentric cycle must be rejected another conclusion is required. Through the Judges narrative, it becomes apparent that although peculiar and distinct methods of divine judgment on behalf of and against Israel have a general form; YHWH is by no means bound to function according to a prescribed ritual. Even though judgment is often initiated because of Israelite apostasy, it is not Israelite repentance that brings judgment through deliverance; but, rather it is the mercy, compassion, and love of YHWH that controls and initiates His peculiar judgment. The judgment on YHWH's people is indeed peculiar because it occurs within the context of divine justice. / Thesis (D. Phil.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

No abstract available. / Thesis (D.Th.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1987.

The importance of the Qur'an can be gauged from the fact that it was the first book which Muslim scholars concerned themselves with and by virtue of the belief of Muslims in general that it is the verbatim Word of Alllih culminated in their associating utmost reverence to the Qur'an in its written form and oral recitation. Thus, it is for this very reason that great concern was directed to the correct reading and pronunciation of the Arabic Qur'anic text Moreover, in view of the fact that there were several Arabic dialects and no declensions were at that time assigned to the text of the Qur'an, scholars of the Qur'an found it imperative to assign correct reading and recitation of the Arabic text of the Qur'an. Scholars before al-JazarI's time assigned several rules for the correct rendering of the Qur' anic recitation. This was necessary because incorrect reading, recitation and pronunciation of the text of the Qur'an could result in changing the meaning of the text thus nullifying what was originally intended. , lmiim lbn al-Jazari's main contribution in this field is that after surveying the previous works on the subject, further refined and articulated the discipline of reading and recitation of the Qur'an. Hence, lmiim lbn al-Jazarf's works on this important discipline made an everlasting impact ,on the later history of discipline of the recitation of the Qur'an. Several of Imdm lbn al-Jazarf's works were published and there are still several of them which have been preserved in manuscript forms in various libraries throughout the 2 Muslim world, suchas in Turkey, Syria, Iran andEgypt Thesemanuscripts are not easily accessible to the general publicin our present times. The objectives of this studyare to: 1. trace the origin and development of 'ilm al-Qirli'at (the Science of Qur'anic Recitation); 2. give an account of the life ofImam Ibn al-Jazarf; 3. survey the worksImdm Ibn al-Jazari; and 4. to examine and evaluate the contributions of lmiim Ibn al-Jazari on later scholars/works. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

This study is a critical assessment of the degree of political consciousness of the Zimbabwean Wesleyan Methodist indigenous ministers from 1891 to 1980. It documents the nature of the domination that the Wesleyan Methodist indigenous ministers experienced. It also documents and analyses how the indigenous ministers responded to the domination. The study relies upon primary documents from the National Archives of Zimbabwe, the Methodist Connexional Archives and other private archives. Information found in these archives includes minutes of synods, minutes of quarterly meetings, minutes of conferences, ministers' personal files and many other documents. The thesis also depends on interviews and other secondary material relevant to the study. Additionally, this thesis explores the training of the indigenous ministers. It emerges that the theological training of the indigenous ministers brought about some form of political radicalism. This was strengthened by the fact that the stipends and working conditions were not attractive. This thesis argues that the indigenous ministers had no clear position with regard to the significance of African culture. They oscillated between its rejection and acceptance. When they were politically inspired they rejected African culture to embrace it when it seemed expedient to do. It is further observed that the indigenous ministers contributed immensely to the liberation struggle. Using, Of Revelation and Revolution, Peasant Consciousness, Domination and the Arts of Resistance and Savage Systems as theoretical frameworks, this thesis concludes that the level of political consciousness of the indigenous ministers increased phenomenally in the second half of the 20th century. This was because of a number of reasons including the role played by mission churches in education, the impact of the Second World War, and adherence to certain constructions of John Wesley particularly those with liberation emphasis and many more. It also emerges that, although the political consciousness of the indigenous clergy was high, quite a number of them oscillated between two poles of patriotism and expediency. Put differently, the indigenous clergy were sometimes ambivalent in terms of what they adhered to. This was particularly so in cases to do with African culture. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study utilizes a systematic review method to assess literature about the Protestant Christian tradition to enhance theological education in the African context. It explores the development and transformation of African theological education in the period 1910 to 2012. A ‘follow the money trail method of investigation’ was utilized to expose the theological issues that African theologians fundraised for African theological education through the Theological Education Fund/Ecumenical Theological Education of World Council of Churches. These were perceived as crucial in developing an African theological education that promotes the principles of a just and equitable African Christian community. The primary data was extracted by utilizing an approach that demanded searching various media sources which included electronic databases. The search strategy for electronic databases was developed from the key words and phrases of the research question. The search yielded about 10, 821 results and having carefully perused through them, 169 primary sources were included in this study. This was significant as it helped make sense of a large body of literature and was a means of isolating and synthesising the main theories and pragmatics of African theological education. The insights gained from this study are significant as a contribution to the current search for a vision of African theological education that promotes the principles of a just and equitable African Christian community in the twenty-first century. The study makes two unique contributions in the search and vision for African theological education. The contribution lies in constructing an example of an African pedagogy of community of life which is based on education for life-giving. This pedagogy is based on the Bemba understanding of insaka which is a process of life-giving-learning methodology. This theme is as relevant for global Christianity as it is to the Bemba people in their quest for life-giving theological education. Another critical contribution lies in the understanding that through Africanization, African theological education has been in a process of acquiring its own unique character or theological identity. African theological education has shifted from a merely dogmatic orientation to praxis orientation. This is based on a theological pedagogy that recognises that doing theological education involves critical engagement in a missional process of liberation—of seeking fullness of life in its interpenetrative dimensions as spiritual-material starting with the least of the community, but embracing the whole of God’s creation. To achieve this, theological education has to cut across denominational allegiances, privileging of academic disciplines, and embracing the insaka pedagogy of life through ecumenical and trans-disciplinary approaches. The viability of African theological education resides in its critical engagement with the concrete societal challenges of the African peoples. As a result, this study argues that creating a just and equitable African Christian community to a large extent depends on embracing the life-giving pedagogy as an imperative in African theological education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This study examined the issues of the interpretation, transmission and appropriation of the doctrine of justification by faith alone within the context of the Lutheran Church in Nigeria, Gongola Diocese. Using contextualization as my main tool in this exploration, I argue that intercultural communication holds the key to unlocking how effectively and appropriately these three engagements with theology are executed within the context of this study. The Lutheran church and indeed most Protestant denominations assert that justification by faith alone is the cardinal doctrine of Christianity. Scholars are however concerned that there is great level of ignorance among members and misappropriation of justification by faith alone in the lives of members of these denominations. Many reasons were advanced as being responsible for this, some of which include: its absence from the preaching agenda of Protestant pulpits, and inadequate teaching from the church, its clergy and theological educators. Other reasons are its failure to be shown to be clearly applicable to lived experiences of the people in their contemporary challenges. The message of justification by faith alone has not been adequately translated into people's social, and religious-cultural world views. The LCCN as an institution subscribes to Luther's teachings as expressed in his writings and taught by the Lutheran Church globally. However, the LCCN is faced with the problem of how to transmit the meaning of justification by faith alone to its members. This study therefore sought to investigate the underlying factors for this development. The question that the study wished to answer was: How does the interpretation of justification by faith alone by the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (as an institution) enhance its understanding and appropriation by members and serves as a guide in this study? In attempting to answer this question three theories were used as framework with which to test the church's interpretation of this doctrine. These theories are: 1) gospel and culture in dialogue; 2) translatability, and 3) contextual theological education programmes for the training of both clergy and laity. This is an empirical qualitative study and was structured into eight chapters. Participants in this study were categorized into five groups: church leaders, seminary lecturers, clergy, seminary students, and lay members. Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with participants, relevant data was generated and analysed manually. The study found that the LCCN's interpretation of justification by faith alone is detached from the religious and cultural world view of its members; this has in turn created a conflict in how it is understood and appropriated in their lived experiences. The message of justification by faith (the gospel) has not been allowed to engage in dialogue with the culture of the people, rather culture is perceived as evil or something to be avoided. Thus, I argue that this failure on the part of the missionaries and the indigenous leadership of the LCCN to employ intercultural communication in transmitting the message of justification by faith alone is the major cause of the problem. Most of the participants including the leaders of the church acknowledged that the church, the seminary and the clergy have not been faithful in transmitting the appropriate message of justification by faith alone. The conclusion of this study therefore, is that the LCCN's interpretation of justification by faith alone does not enhance its understanding and appropriation by members. This thesis proposes that the Lunguda practice of ntsandah provides an entry point for a proper informed interpretation of justification by faith alone. For this to be possible, the gospel and culture must engage in dialogue through viable a contextual theological education programme for the training of both clergy and the laity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The thesis is concerned about the postcolonial context of the minority tribal people, the Taiwan Yuen-Chu-Min (台灣原住民, TYCM), in Taiwan. The argument of this thesis includes two parts: Part one provides the background to develop the foundation for the contextualization of the TYCM tribal people’s colonized experience and postcolonial discourse in light of their contextual concerns－tribal mother tongue, tribal texts, and ordinary tribal people; Part two draws connections between these TYCM tribal people’s postcolonial concerns and biblical interpretation, which is called “TYCM Tribal Biblical Interpretation”, and practices reading Gen 2:4b-25 with the subaltern people, TYCM ordinary tribal people, through the Five Step Reading Process in a group collaborative effort with 14 tribal reading groups. The project of TYCM Tribal Biblical Interpretation, as practiced through the Five Step Reading Process, is committed to create decolonization strategies to connect with the colonized experience of tribal people to help them play their traditional role of the Prrngawan to facilitate ordinary tribal people to become the “real” and “flesh-and-blood” readers of their tribal texts and biblical texts through their mother-tongue to freely participate in constructing and in continuing to restore their tribal spirituality, worldviews, and appropriation readings to highlight de-colonized biblical readings in their struggles of their postcolonial context in present day Taiwan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This thesis examines the Anglican Church in Northern Nigeria under the episcopacy of Bishop Titus Eyiolorunsefunmi Ogbonyomi from 1976 to 1996. Northern Nigeria is a predominantly Muslim area, with Christians and those involved in traditional worship constituting the remaining of the population. Bishop Ogbonyomi through his charges pointed out that Christians in Northern Nigeria have long complained of discrimination and religious violence. Furthermore, he noted that the economy of the country, corruption, secret societies, creation of dioceses out of the diocese of Northern Nigeria, education, ethnicity in the political life of Nigerians and the issues of women ordination and polygamy were also issues that had effected the Christians in Northern Nigeria negatively. Bishop Ogbonyomi was not happy with the situation the Christians in that part of the country were passing through. During his episcopacy, he saw corruption, religious violence, poverty among the other issues mentioned above as a disgraceful situation the country found itself. He used much space in his charges to speak against those that were the perpetrators of such behaviours. The statistics of the content of the charges show that among the issues he discussed, economic issue was reflected in all his twenty-one charges, except that of 1995, thus making it the bishop's first and most consistent priority during his episcopacy. Though the issue of Islam has the highest space-percentage according to the statistics, it did not appear in the charges as often as the issue of the economy. Again, though the economic issue was his first priority, the statistics show that the amount of space devoted to it in the charges is quite low in some years. This indicated when the bishop had an increased or decreased interest in the topic, and when his focus was shifted to other issues. On the issue of secret societies, though the bishop indicated that these societies were already in existence during his episcopacy and that their effects on Nigerians were destructive, did not give a clear explanation of what such societies mean in Nigeria. The thesis is of the opinion that the very fact that secret societies are so difficult to define and VI thus deal with, highlights the need for a deeper investigation than that provided by Bishop Ogbonyomi. In addition, the bishop's attitude toward the issues of women ordination and polygamy in the Anglican Church in Nigeria indicated the topic to be of the least interest to the bishop. It appeared only in three of his charges (1989, 1994 and 1995) and, whenever it appeared, it did so with less concentration than other topics. The position of the bishop on women ordination was not very clear, though he referred to the non-inclusion of a woman among Jesus' apostles as a reason to approve the omission of women from ordination in the church. However, he was very negative about polygamy in the church. In conclusion the researcher argues that for a peaceful and successful society to be achieved in the area of study, a normative framework based on the concept of social justice needs to be developed, which should form the basis for evaluating the legacies of protracted injustice, and acts of social and moral indiscipline that were rampant in the area. VB thus deal with, highlights the need for a deeper investigation than that provided by Bishop Ogbonyomi. In addition, the bishop's attitude toward the issues of women ordination and polygamy in the Anglican Church in Nigeria indicated the topic to be of the least interest to the bishop. It appeared only in three of his charges (1989, 1994 and 1995) and, whenever it appeared, it did so with less concentration than other topics. The position of the bishop on women ordination was not very clear, though he referred to the non-inclusion of a woman among Jesus' apostles as a reason to approve the omission of women from ordination in the church. However, he was very negative about polygamy in the church. In conclusion the researcher argues that for a peaceful and successful society to be achieved in the area of study, a normative framework based on the concept of social justice needs to be developed, which should form the basis for evaluating the legacies of protracted injustice, and acts of social and moral indiscipline that were rampant in the area. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

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.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.