The aim of this study was to look at the vocation of the Afrikaans-speaking male between 30 and 40 years within the family, church and society. The following procedure was followed: A base theoretical investigation was undertaken to establish Scriptural perspectives on the subject. The model of Zerfass was used. It was found: The male as representative of God on earth must live in an intimate personal relationship with God. He should therefore be peacemaker, acting in love towards all, even his enemies. A man should accompany his wife as his equal with unconditional sacrificial love so that she is able to grow spiritually. His family should be the highest priority in his daily programme. Metatheoretical perspectives were subsequently obtained from the two disciplines, namely Psychology and Sociology. An empirical study was simultaneously undertaken in order to determine the shortcomings in a man's life. The following conclusions were made: The male between 30 and 40 years-old is in a phase where he critically evaluates certain religious systems and values. The male between 30 and 40 years regards his marriage and family as one of his four "enemies" because it feels as if his family expects too much of him. The male between 30 en 40 years also struggles to maintain a balance between time at work and time with his family. Theoretical guidelines from practice were subsequently established by synthesising the above information in an hermeneutical way. The following guidelines were set: Through the love of Christ a man should be "the salt of lie" to counteract perdition and a "light for this world" to indicate direction in life. A husband should make time for his family in order to spend quality time with them. His behaviour and the way that he communicates with them will show them that he loves them, appreciates them and understands them. A man should do his work as if were doing it for Christ, and not for people. This, however, means that he should work in such a way that he does not lose valuable time that he could have spent with his family. A man must be aware of his own sinful nature and continuously profess his sins before God and his neighbour. This study aimed to give men a vision so that they would have a conception of what it means to be a man of God in a troubled world. / Thesis (M.Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The aim of this study was to look at the vocation of the Afrikaans-speaking male between 30 and 40 years within the family, church and society. The following procedure was followed: A base theoretical investigation was undertaken to establish Scriptural perspectives on the subject. The model of Zerfass was used. It was found: The male as representative of God on earth must live in an intimate personal relationship with God. He should therefore be peacemaker, acting in love towards all, even his enemies. A man should accompany his wife as his equal with unconditional sacrificial love so that she is able to grow spiritually. His family should be the highest priority in his daily programme. Metatheoretical perspectives were subsequently obtained from the two disciplines, namely Psychology and Sociology. An empirical study was simultaneously undertaken in order to determine the shortcomings in a man's life. The following conclusions were made: The male between 30 and 40 years-old is in a phase where he critically evaluates certain religious systems and values. The male between 30 and 40 years regards his marriage and family as one of his four "enemies" because it feels as if his family expects too much of him. The male between 30 en 40 years also struggles to maintain a balance between time at work and time with his family. Theoretical guidelines from practice were subsequently established by synthesising the above information in an hermeneutical way. The following guidelines were set: Through the love of Christ a man should be "the salt of lie" to counteract perdition and a "light for this world" to indicate direction in life. A husband should make time for his family in order to spend quality time with them. His behaviour and the way that he communicates with them will show them that he loves them, appreciates them and understands them. A man should do his work as if were doing it for Christ, and not for people. This, however, means that he should work in such a way that he does not lose valuable time that he could have spent with his family. A man must be aware of his own sinful nature and continuously profess his sins before God and his neighbour. This study aimed to give men a vision so that they would have a conception of what it means to be a man of God in a troubled world. / Thesis (M.Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--St. John's College, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [67]-73).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Mich., 1992. / Abstract. Includes the 1991 document, The church in society: a Lutheran perspective by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71).

Thesis (doctoral)--Université Paris IV, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 594-614) and index.

Thèses (M.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2001. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 20 juin 2006). Publié aussi en version papier.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université Paris IV, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 594-614) and index.

Este trabalho de pesquisa está relacionado à área bíblica, com ênfase na vocação e crise profética, centrado em Jeremias, especialmente no texto Jr 20.7-12. A proposta é depreender aspectos importantes da crise e vocação para prática pastoral na atualidade. O trabalho analisa os aspectos envolvidos na vocação profética para entendimento do profeta e da sua missão de anúncio da Palavra de Deus em cumprimento de seu chamado. Busca compreender a crise na vida do profeta Jeremias, como elemento formador da identidade profética e conseqüentemente pastoral, a partir das suas confissões. Realiza uma leitura destes termos fundamentais, extraindo conceitos para prática pastoral no dia-a-dia. / This research is related to the biblical field, with emphasis on the prophetic vocation and the crisis centered on Jeremiah, especially in the text Jr 20.7-12. The proposal is to apprehend important aspects about the crisis and the calling of the prophet for the purpose of pastoral practice in present days. The paper examines the issues involved in prophetic calling in order to understand the prophet and his mission of proclaiming the Gods Word in compliance with his calling. It also tries to understand the crisis in prophet Jeremiahs life as a formative element of prophetic and thus also pastoral identity, starting with his confessions. It tries to come to grips with these fundamental concepts, in order to obtain the knowledge needed for the every day pastoral ministry.

In this dissertation, I will be looking at the actor as a craftsperson and artist from both a secular and a theological standpoint in order to determine if the labour of acting can be considered both as work, a “proper job”; and as a calling from God, a vocation. The main questions prompting and shaping this dissertation have arisen out of my own personal experience as an actor struggling both in the performing arts business and with my Christian faith. So, the opening chapter will introduce a personal background approach to the dissertation. It will summarize the experiences that brought me to the place of asking these two questions. It will also serve as an introduction to the life of Dorothy L. Sayers, outlining her own life and demonstrating why she is important to our work as actors. Chapter Two will then cover historical data on Anti-Theatrical Prejudice, laying the foundation for the ongoing discomfort with and misunderstanding regarding the actor's craft. Chapters Three and Four will examine separately our notions of work (Three) and then of vocation (Four) in order to gain a broader view of these two terms. At this point, we will have laid the path to reintroduce Dorothy L. Sayers in Chapters Five, Six and Seven, both as a partner in conversation and as one who held this broader understanding of the terms work and vocation and applied them to creative activities, in particular acting. The final chapter will look at acting as connected to the basic features of life. It, among other things, will revisit some of the anti-theatre argument; pick up on ideas such as the imagination's ability to rehearse life; and will examine some uses of acting as a means of human exploration and social change. Finally, we will explore the artistry, technique, and craft of the actor, to firmly establish the place of acting in society as an important task, a “proper job,” and a Christian vocation.

The calling orientation to work represents the seed that has germinated into the exponentially growing ‘work as a calling’ literature. It was first articulated by Robert Bellah, Richard Madsen, William Sullivan, Ann Swidler, and Steven Tipton within Habits of the Heart in the 1980s. The following critical analysis of the ‘work as a calling’ literature, and of the moral foundation of the calling orientation more specifically, is intended for two particular audiences. The first audience broadly includes an interdisciplinary group of scholars working within business ethics, management, organizational psychology, and vocational psychology, among other fields of study. Amidst these scholars’ exponentially increasing interest in the idea of ‘work as a calling,’ the anatomical structure of their research remains remarkably similar. Their notions of ‘work as a calling’ stress that work should provide individuals with a deep sense of personal fulfillment. In particular, they suggest that work should be a therapeutic source of individual meaning. To secure this meaning, they exhibit an apparent centeredness on the self and an emphasis on the unconstrained pursuit of personal preferences. In most cases, scholars within the ‘work as a calling’ literature tend to proffer notions of ‘meaningful work’ that are divorced from moral considerations about ‘good work.’ While this broad group of scholars copiously references the calling orientation within their research on ‘work as a calling,’ a deep-seated misunderstanding pervades the literature to the extent that notions of ‘meaningful work’ have been divorced from notions of ‘good work.’ To this broader audience, I demonstrate herein that they do not realize how antithetical their scholarly literature on ‘work as a calling’ is to the moral foundation of Bellah et al.’s calling orientation. Namely, I argue that the construal of calling as an orientation to work would not exist within the literature if Bellah et al. had not first articulated the calling orientation as a buffer against the unregulated pursuit of personal preferences. Therefore, I claim that this broader group of scholars either needs to abandon the notion of ‘work as a calling’ or engage with the appropriate virtue framework that undergirds the calling orientation. I suspect, however, that several of these scholars will be hesitant to take up the virtue framework that is inextricably linked to the calling orientation. For this reason, much of the work following chapter 2 is devoted to a narrower audience of MacIntyrean business ethicists. It is also dedicated to a few scholars from the broader ‘work as a calling’ group whom I trust will not wish to remain accidental contributors to the language of individualism that pervades the literature once I have unmasked it. Perhaps, in time, they will even become MacIntyrean business ethicists. Indeed, the appropriate moral framework that undergirds the ‘work as a calling’ literature is actively being worked out by a narrower group of MacIntyrean business ethicists, all of whom represent my primary audience for the research herein. To the MacIntyrean community, I hope not only to provide a complete list of tendencies within the ‘work as a calling’ literature that must be resisted, but also a picture of all of the ways that Bellah et al.’s calling orientation is wholly bound up with MacIntyre’s moral philosophy – particularly his theory of the virtues and the common goods that the virtues sustain. Bellah et al.’s calling orientation rests upon a vision of ‘good work,’ and this vision of ‘good work’ hinges on a MacIntyrean account of the virtues that is directed toward the achievement of three distinct types of common goods: (a) the good and worthy ends of workplace practices, (b) the goods of an individual life, and (c) the goods of communities – or, more broadly, the interests of a good society. Furthermore, it will be shown to the MacIntyrean community that visions of ‘good work,’ which are sustained by the calling orientation, are accompanied by a nuanced vision of pluralistic collaboration that MacIntyre and Bellah et al. share. (I anticipate that this will be surprising to many readers who are familiar with the typical and misleading characterization of MacIntyre as a sectarian). Bellah et al. as well as MacIntyre’s vision of pluralism matters for research on the calling orientation because these figures demonstrate that individuals within the late modern workplace are informed by a plurality of religious and humanistic traditions, all of which account for ultimate meaning and goodness in different ways that ought to be recognized. Distinctive religious and humanistic visions of ultimate meaning indeed impact the perceived goodness of one’s calling. Hence, we must attend to the polysemic and multivocal nature of accounting for the goodness of any one particular calling (i.e., a Buddhist doctor within the Western medical tradition is likely to articulate the goodness of his calling differently than a Jewish doctor working within the Western medical tradition). Still, however, Bellah et al. and MacIntyre’s account entails a hopefulness in the possibility of pluralistic, (or, what I shall call inter-traditional) striving for the achievement of common goods that are practical enough to agree upon.