Significant differences as well as similarities between Islam and Christianity in the areas of the transcendence of God is the main discussion of the thesis. The investigation of the transcendence of God in the Bible and the Qur’an is within the limits of corresponding relationship accounts of God with Adam, Abraham, and Moses. Selected passages are used as examples to fulfil the aim of the study. Through this study an attempt is also made to determine what constitutes different aspects of theologies and practices of Christianity and Islam. The preliminary preparation of the study and the orientation of the readers into the transcendence of God are dealt with in the first three chapters: Chapter 1 presents an overview of the research as well as the various aspects of research methodology, chapter 2 describes the similarities and differences of the Qur’an and the Bible in order to present an appropriate approach to the exegesis of the selected passages, and chapter 3 establishes the theological issues of the transcendence of God from the views of both Christian and Muslim scholars. The main discussion of the transcendence of God unfolds in chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 investigates how God reveals his will in respect to the Qur’an and the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, and describes and analyses the transcendence of God revealed in the Old Testament and the Qur’an within the limits of the parallel passages dealing with Adam, Abraham, and Moses. Chapter 5 carries over the results of chapter 4 to find the cause of the differences between the corresponding episodes of the Old Testament and the Qur’an with regard to the transcendence of God, and analyses the implications of the transcendence of God with regard to the differences in Christianity and Islam theology. Finally, chapter 6 concludes the study as well as presents implications and solutions for the Christian-Muslim conflicts and the necessity for further studies. In conclusion, the exegesis of identical passages concerning God’s relationship with man found in both the Qur’an and the Bible establishes that the Qur’an presupposes that God, maintaining absolute transcendence from creation, will not allow his immanent state with man. Thus, Muslims can only have a transcendent relationship with God, which diminishes their ability to know God, and closes the door to personal relationships between God and man. The lack of God’s personal relationship with man has been a key factor in shaping the theology of Islam. In the Bible, on the other hand, God’s relationship with man is expressed in both his transcendence and immanence. God first wanted his immanent state with man, but due to man’s sinful state the ontological transcendent relationship has been established. God, in turn, uses his transcendence as a method of immanence with man. This transcendence-immanence of God is evident through Christian theology which can be expressed as God’s horizontal-vertical relationship compared to the vertical relationship of God in Islam. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Biblical and Religious Studies / unrestricted

In the form of a theory testing case study based upon the seminal works of Kenneth Waltz and Stephen Walt, this thesis seeks to uncover whether defensive realism can be applied with focus on Israeli international conduct. This is defined by their wartime actions as well as their peacekeeping efforts. The paper analyses two major historical events; namely the six-day-war and the recent Israeli-Arab peace treaties. Thereafter it delves into the preexisting conditions of each combattant in the war, then reviews the events unfolding during the conflict in the first part of the analysis, followed by the second part examining the contents of the Abraham Accords, as well as the official statements of Bahrain and Sudan regarding peace with Israel.  Following this, the thesis examines the details and terms of the Abraham Accords and treaties between Israel, Bahrain and Sudan. A hypothesis is presented predicting that both tenets of defensive realism will be applicable to their respective parts of Israeli history. It is subsequently found that the first tenet of defensive realism has explanatory value with regards to the six-day-war, the second tenet of defensive realism that follows also proves to hold significant merit, and the thesis concludes that the given hypothesis therefore is correct. Both tenets of defensive realism are applicable to respective units of analysis on Israel, which therefore suggests that the theory of defensive realism offers a good framework for explaining the actions of the Israeli state.

No description available.

The Abraham Solvation Parameter Model (ASPM) is a linear, free-energy relationship that can be used to predict various solute properties based on solute-solvent interactions. The ASPM has been used to predict log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) values, as well as log (P or Cs,organic/Cs,water) values for solute transfer into the following organic solvents: 2-methoxyethanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-propoxyethanol, 2-isopropoxyethanol and 2-butoxyethanol. The derived log (K or Cs,organic/Cs,gas) correlations describe the experimental data to within 0.14 log units (or less). The derived log (P or Cs,organic/Cs,water) correlations describe the experimental data to within 0.16 log units (or less). The ASPM has also been used to predict the enthalpies of solvation of organic solutes dissolved in the following solvents: acetic acid, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol. The derived enthalpy of solvation correlations, using the L solute descriptor, describe the experimental data to within 2.50 log units (or less). The derived enthalpy of solvation correlations, using the V solute descriptor, describe the experimental data to within 3.10 log units (or less). Validation analyses have been performed on several of the correlations; and, as long as the solute descriptors fall within the given ranges as reported, the original correlations show good predictive ability for determining 1) solute transfer into, and 2) enthalpy of solvation for the aforementioned solvents.

Under 2015 drabbade Sverige av en migrationskris, även kallad den syriska flyktingvågen. 160 000 syriska migranter ansökte om asyl under samma år. Syftet med denna uppsats, är att undersöka vuxna syriers upplevelser som har flytt sitt hemland på grund av inbördeskriget, där de har migrerat till Sverige. Studien har gjorts med hjälp av fem deltagande respondenter, som är födda, uppväxta och var bosatta i Syrien, men som har migrerats till Sverige sedan kriget utlöstes under mars 2011. Tre av respondenterna är kvinnor och två är män. Studien valdes att göras genom en kvalitativ ansats, där en semistrukturerad intervju användes för att få bättre förståelse för respondenternas åsikter samt för att få svar på forskningsfrågorna. Resultatet visar att syriska migranters åsikter av delaktighetsbegreppet förknippas med begreppen gemenskap, trygghet och acceptans. Studien utvisar på de vanliga utmaningarna med att migrera till ett nytt land, som att lära sig det nya språket, människor, arbete, den nya samhällets kultur, lagar och regler. Det även visar att syriska migranter blir segregerade från restenav samhället och känner sig i utanförskap i stället att vara delaktiga i det nya samhället. Studien uppvisar också att varje enskild syrisk migrant har en skyldighet att ta ansvar och utvecklas och försöka sitt bästa med att förhålla sig till den svenska samhället.

No description available.

No description available.

The aim of this essay is to show that the protagonist of the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment is more open to change in his life than is often assumed by commentators. In the end of the novel the student Raskolnikov confesses the murder of two women, and he is sentenced to eight years in a prison colony. In a short scene Raskolnikov seems to experience a spiritual awakening, a "resurrection", with the words of the original text. The genuineness of that conversion, foretold in the epilogue, has been contested by critics. That negative assessment is a starting point for this essay. Is a new beginning, a spiritual restoration or even a resurrection, like in the biblical tradition, at all imaginable for Raskolnikov? I propose it is, based on my reading of the novel. I will especially look back on an episode before the main action of the novel starts. It concerns Raskolnikov's engagement to a young girl who died before the couple could get married. The story about the fiancée suggests that a more purposeful future for the main character - in contrast to who he seems to be in the novel - cannot be dismissed. One main argument for the spiritual transformation of Raskolnikov is an experience he has in the minutes before the resurrection scene. He envisions the biblical patriarche Abraham on his fields with grazing herds. I interpret this as a myth about possibilities. Abraham lives in the beginning of time and God gave him a mission. Abraham lives a long and full life. Life does not have to end in misery but can be meaningful and long also for Raskolnikov.

This thesis studies the relationship of irony, as defined in Kierkegaard's The Concept of Irony to the text and subject of Fear and Trembling. Irony is interpreted in this thesis as negative space, which both binds and separates and which assumes meaning equal to or greater than the positive space that binds it. This definition applies to Kierkegaard's Socrates who lived ironically in the space between actuality and ideality. This thesis considers how Abraham also lived in ironic space and why ironic space is a prerequisite for faith. Unlike Socrates, Abraham did not stop with irony, but used irony to open ironic space in which a knight of faith can be both separated from and reconciled to his actuality. Because in Fear and Trembling the Virgin Mary is compared to Abraham, this thesis examines at length how irony is related to Mary both in terms of her faithfulness and her maternity. Irony can then be seen as a necessary circumstance of maternity. The negative space of the female anatomy becomes ironic because it can take on more meaning than it can have alone, particularly in its ability to create (an)other person. Faith and maternity share irony as a requirement for their modes of living because both require an ironic separation from the masculine sphere. Applying the relationship of irony to faith and the maternal offers a interpretive possibilities for the knight of faith that otherwise go unnoticed.

This study involves an analysis and evaluation of criticisms made of some of the work of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, and a reevaluation of his work and character in the light of the findings of the study. The criticisms were concerned in particular with the method used in translating into English certain material from the language of the original source found on papyrus in an Egyptian tomb. This material is part of a book known as "The Book of Abraham." In general the criticisms dealt with the life's work and character of Joseph.