Thesis (M.A. (History studies)) --University of Limpopo, 1980 / Refer to document

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the Lordship of Christ is a reality in the life and faith of Christians in the South African township of Soshanguve, north-west of Pretoria. The study is based on empirical research conducted in Soshanguve between 1996 and 1999, among members of the following three denominations: the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church, and a group of Pentecostal and charismatic churches. During the first phase the research had a predominantly quantitative nature (survey research). The second phase involved a qualitative research (in depth-interviews, analysis of written documents and sermons). After an introductory chapter and a chapter giving the necessary background, chapter 3 describes the survey research, and chapters 4 to 6 examine the Lordship of Christ as it functions in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church and the Pentecostal/charismatic churches respectively. This research shows that in the faith of many church members the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a vague notion. It is accepted that Jesus Christ has died for our sins in the past, but it is less clear what He is doing presently. The living Christ is a remote figure in the faith of the majority of church members. The gap which is left, is filled by the laws of the church and/or the leadership of the church. Chapter 7 gives an analysis of the results. It appears that several backgrounds have to be taken into account: (1) the influence of African traditional religion, (2) the influence of Western secularism, (3) the influence of specific doctrinal tenets of the given denomination. Chapter 8 offers a Biblical perspective on aspects which have to be dealt with in order to strengthen the notion of the Lordship of Christ in the life and faith of Christians. These are: the concept of God, the concept of salvation, the person of Christ, the Lordship of Christ over the life of the individual believer, and the Lordship of Christ over the world. / Thesis (Th.D.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the Lordship of Christ is a reality in the life and faith of Christians in the South African township of Soshanguve, north-west of Pretoria. The study is based on empirical research conducted in Soshanguve between 1996 and 1999, among members of the following three denominations: the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church, and a group of Pentecostal and charismatic churches. During the first phase the research had a predominantly quantitative nature (survey research). The second phase involved a qualitative research (in depth-interviews, analysis of written documents and sermons). After an introductory chapter and a chapter giving the necessary background, chapter 3 describes the survey research, and chapters 4 to 6 examine the Lordship of Christ as it functions in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church and the Pentecostal/charismatic churches respectively. This research shows that in the faith of many church members the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a vague notion. It is accepted that Jesus Christ has died for our sins in the past, but it is less clear what He is doing presently. The living Christ is a remote figure in the faith of the majority of church members. The gap which is left, is filled by the laws of the church and/or the leadership of the church. Chapter 7 gives an analysis of the results. It appears that several backgrounds have to be taken into account: (1) the influence of African traditional religion, (2) the influence of Western secularism, (3) the influence of specific doctrinal tenets of the given denomination. Chapter 8 offers a Biblical perspective on aspects which have to be dealt with in order to strengthen the notion of the Lordship of Christ in the life and faith of Christians. These are: the concept of God, the concept of salvation, the person of Christ, the Lordship of Christ over the life of the individual believer, and the Lordship of Christ over the world. / Thesis (Th.D.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2001

The upsurge of religious movements and independent churches in the Global South is bringing a new twist to world economic development not anticipated by many theologians and social scientists. With a syncretic soteriology geared toward the liberation of the whole person, religious movements and independent churches of the south are preaching to their adherents, mostly the poor and the marginalized, a message of faith in an omnipotent and compassionate God who is concerned for their weal and woes and who offers them an assured and holistic salvation. By placing their faith in God, the poor and marginalized people are discovering their true selves and are saved/liberated. This assured salvation (certitudo salutis), which is a total liberation of the physical and spiritual world, becomes, in turn, the motivational energy for capital development. The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) soteriological predicament stands at this juncture. Through processes of syncretization and purification, ZCC has managed to deconstruct the European/North American and African Traditional Religions soteriologies to construct a pure soteriology that is relevant to the socio context of its adherents. ZCC deconstructs these soteriologies by broadening, for example, the classic Christian soteriogical theory of Christus Victor in her notion of sin, death and the devil and the African traditional soteriological notion of uBuntu and spirit-power. The purity, or holistic salvation, generated out of these processes serves as grounds for identity and economic empowerment of its adherents. With a holistic salvation that centers on healing, personal integrity and spiritual power, ZCC members have been able to achieve considerable success in the labour market by becoming an army of potential employees. They have also distinguished themselves in their work ethic, where they are seen as hardworking, disciplined, obedient and sober. Empowering its adherents economically through a religious soteriology, the ZCC has become an example of a trend that is shaping the Global South and is reviving the interest of social scientists and theologians to further investigate the impact of religious and theological formulations on the economic conduct of individuals. / Theology / D. Th. (Theological Ethics)

The dissertation is a biographical ethnography of an individual, ordinary musician and Mamelodi township dweller, Lesiba Samuel Kadiaka (*1962) in South Africa. It is based largely on fieldwork totalling more than 12 months conducted in five periods over six years between 2006 and 2011. It examines the possibilities of studying an average (rather than 'leading') musician ethnographically and their implications and consequences for wider ethnomusicological and South African music research. It makes a practical contribution to the wider debate about the relationship between individual, social, and cultural structures, and breaks new ground in its focus on the previously little known music and practices of Mr. Kadiaka's church, the Zion Christian Church. The research consisted mainly of ethnographic observations of various kinds of musical activities in which Mr. L. S. Kadiaka was involved in as a solo musician (songwriter and song singer) and as a member of the ZCC, on the one hand, and of deep interviews over the time span of six years, on the other. It consists of a biographical part dealing with his narratives about childhood in rural Ga-Mphahlele and his later life in Mamelodi township. Iconographic historical sources of a private nature are use too. The second part describes in three large...

The upsurge of religious movements and independent churches in the Global South is bringing a new twist to world economic development not anticipated by many theologians and social scientists. With a syncretic soteriology geared toward the liberation of the whole person, religious movements and independent churches of the south are preaching to their adherents, mostly the poor and the marginalized, a message of faith in an omnipotent and compassionate God who is concerned for their weal and woes and who offers them an assured and holistic salvation. By placing their faith in God, the poor and marginalized people are discovering their true selves and are saved/liberated. This assured salvation (certitudo salutis), which is a total liberation of the physical and spiritual world, becomes, in turn, the motivational energy for capital development. The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) soteriological predicament stands at this juncture. Through processes of syncretization and purification, ZCC has managed to deconstruct the European/North American and African Traditional Religions soteriologies to construct a pure soteriology that is relevant to the socio context of its adherents. ZCC deconstructs these soteriologies by broadening, for example, the classic Christian soteriogical theory of Christus Victor in her notion of sin, death and the devil and the African traditional soteriological notion of uBuntu and spirit-power. The purity, or holistic salvation, generated out of these processes serves as grounds for identity and economic empowerment of its adherents. With a holistic salvation that centers on healing, personal integrity and spiritual power, ZCC members have been able to achieve considerable success in the labour market by becoming an army of potential employees. They have also distinguished themselves in their work ethic, where they are seen as hardworking, disciplined, obedient and sober. Empowering its adherents economically through a religious soteriology, the ZCC has become an example of a trend that is shaping the Global South and is reviving the interest of social scientists and theologians to further investigate the impact of religious and theological formulations on the economic conduct of individuals. / Theology / D. Th. (Theological Ethics)

This study encompasses an anthropological investigation of healing practices in the Zion Christian Church with reference to the Marabastad congregation in Pretoria (Tshwane), South Africa. The Zion Christian Church functions as an extremely successful healing ministry, and can thus be characterised as a spirit-type African Initiated Church, a type known to attract members through healing activities. The concepts of ill-health, health, healing and curing are crucial to understanding the church’s role, as all activities at the Zion Christian Church revolve around the attainment of absolute health. The embedded nature of healing in the church is explored through an analysis of the spatial and material aspects of the church’s healing practices, including codes of conduct, roles of participants, religious services, and intangible and tangible instruments of healing. The study is further contextualised against the broader history of the emergence and growth of African Initiated Churches from the late 19th century onwards / Anthropology & Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

This study encompasses an anthropological investigation of healing practices in the Zion Christian Church with reference to the Marabastad congregation in Pretoria (Tshwane), South Africa. The Zion Christian Church functions as an extremely successful healing ministry, and can thus be characterised as a spirit-type African Initiated Church, a type known to attract members through healing activities. The concepts of ill-health, health, healing and curing are crucial to understanding the church’s role, as all activities at the Zion Christian Church revolve around the attainment of absolute health. The embedded nature of healing in the church is explored through an analysis of the spatial and material aspects of the church’s healing practices, including codes of conduct, roles of participants, religious services, and intangible and tangible instruments of healing. The study is further contextualised against the broader history of the emergence and growth of African Initiated Churches from the late 19th century onwards / Anthropology and Archaeology / M. A. (Anthropology)