The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Church of England’s understanding of ‘episcopal’ episcopacy and ordained ministry, including their ecclesiological implications and ecumenical consequences. Special attention is given to the refusal of interchangeability of ordained ministers with ‘non-episcopal’ churches (whilst allowing inter-communion), on the grounds that they lacked a ‘historic succession’ of bishops (cf. The Meissen Declaration and Agreement). This claim gives the adjective ‘episcopal’ a denominational, (quasi-)sacramental connotation (hence the inverted commas). Official Anglican statements today claim that the concept of episcopacy in a ‘historic succession’ is and always has been an integral part of ‘Anglican’ teaching as part of its ‘Catholic’, pre-Reformation heritage, whereas it appears that before the nineteenth century the Church of England had been defined largely in territorial and institutional terms. This faced challenges both from without and within, with an increasingly secular and multi-denominational context in Britain (with Non-conformists slowly gaining equal social and political rights) and in the face of the emergence of the Anglican Communion (and ecumenism in the twentieth century). This required the Church of England to forge a distinctive, trans-national, denominational identity for itself and for ‘Anglicanism’ (which can be described as the ‘Anglicanization of the Church of England’). In the first half of the nineteenth century, the English episcopate exercised a more active leadership role (the ‘episcopalization of the Church of England’), creating bishoprics in overseas dependencies and strengthening the influence of the Church of England there and also that of the episcopate (a colonial aspect of the ‘Anglicanization’). In the second half of the nineteenth century the bishops established interchangeability of ministers with formerly English, ‘Episcopal’ churches. This development occurred at the high point of Anglo-Catholic and ritualistic influence (which resulted in a ‘Catholicization of the Church of England’, opposed by Evangelicals and High-churchmen of the pre-Tractarian type). The nature of ‘Anglicanism’ was increasingly interpreted as ‘catholic’/‘Catholic’. In the twentieth century the notion of a ‘historic succession’ of bishops eventually appeared in official documents, whereas earlier statements had been insisting on the ‘historic episcopate’, but open to an understanding in the sense of ‘apostolic succession’ or a divinely instituted or sanctioned, or simply ancient form of government (episcopacy as esse, plene esse or bene esse of church). The eventual adoption of the notion of succession, however, the crucial characteristic of the esse model, meant a ‘theologization’ of Anglican ecclesiology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a distinct ‘catholic’ character, which explains the refusal to agree on interchangeability of ministers with ‘Protestant’ churches, now on theological grounds.

Many African Independent Churches emerged during the colonial era in central Kenya and western Nigeria. At times they were opposed by government officials and missionaries. Most scholars have limited the field of enquiry to the flash-points of this encounter, thereby emphasizing the relationship at its most severe. This study questions current assumptions about the encounter which have derived from these studies, arguing that both government and missionary officials in Kenya and Nigeria exhibited a broader range of perspectives and responses to African Independent Churches. To characterize them as mainly hostile to African Independent Churches is inaccurate. This study also explores the various encounters between African Independent Churches and African politicians, clergymen, and local citizens. While some scholars have discussed the positive role of Africans in encouraging the growth of independent Christianity, this study will discuss the history in greater depth and complexity. The investigation will show the importance of understanding the encounter on both a local and national level, and the relationships between the two. It is taken for granted that European officials had authority over African leaders, but in regard to this topic many Africans possessed a largely unrecognized ability to influence and shape European perceptions of new religious movements. Finally, this thesis will discuss how African Independent Churches sometimes provoked negative responses from others through confrontational missionary methods, caustic rhetoric, intimidation and even violence. These three themes resurface throughout the history of the encounter and illustrate how current assumptions can be reinterpreted. This thesis suggests the necessity of expanding the primary scholarly focuses, as well as altering the language and basic assumptions of the previous histories of the encounter.

Clementine scholarship acknowledges Clement's doctrine of the Incarnation and generally maintains that for Clement the divine Logos assumed human flesh. However, because of Clement's complex logology and three passages suggesting a docetic interpretation of Christ's flesh, scholars tend to move away from addressing the Incarnation and treat either the metaphysics of the multiple logoi theory or the question of Clement's Docetism, or both. Because of this diversion in research, there remains a gap in the literature around Clement's teachings about the Incarnation. This thesis begins to fill the gap by explaining Clement's view of the Incarnation, which he connects to the emergent ‘exchange' doctrine, envisaged as a divine mission. It situates Clement as an heir of the apostolic tradition while he engages with Greek philosophy and Gnostic belief. The research delineates Clement's gnostic tradition, which he considered faithful to the Old Testament and to the teachings of the apostles. The investigation collates Clement's usage of John 1:14 and the term ginomai linked with Logos, anthropos, and sarx. It examines Clement's discussion in Stromateis VII.2, where he claims the Logos assumed flesh susceptible to suffering, emotions, and physical sensibilities. In Clement's teachings, the Logos became both anthropos and sarx so that anthropos might become theos. This thesis outlines Clement's usage of the terms parousia and epiphaneia (appearing), showing they are consequential to the Incarnation. Clement presents the Logos as Saviour, who conquers malevolent powers and death to release humankind from corruption through his sufferings from birth to the cross. Clement also presents the Logos as a Teacher, who during his parousia, interprets precisely the Old Testament, and in his appearing, discloses true gnosis, which guides anthropos to godliness. The evidence demonstrates that Clement bases his path for assimilation to God upon the Incarnation of the Logos.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 880-87).

Strategic level spiritual warfare has been an emerging trend within Evangelical missiology ever since C. Peter Wagner published his Spiritual Power and Church Growth (1986). The distinctive doctrines of Wagner’s SLSW are 1. The doctrine of territorial spirits, which entails the belief that powerful demons control specific geographical territories and its human inhabitants. Through a variety of spiritual warfare techniques such demons can be overcome. 2. The doctrine of territorial defilement. The assumption here is that a territorial spirit can only hold people in a location in bondage if it has obtained the legal right to do so because of sins and evils committed in that locality in the past. Identificational repentance on behalf of the people living in such territories removes the legal right of the territorial spirits. 3. The doctrine of Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare prayer. The underlying assumption is that territorial spirits can only be removed by means of aggressive spiritual warfare in the form of a variety of prayer and exorcism methods for dealing with territorial spirits. (4) The doctrine of territorial commitment. This doctrine justifies the exercise of spiritual power and authority by modern apostles in their communities. Wagner’s missiology has been largely shaped by the church growth movement. In his quest for better techniques to bring about mass conversions Wagner, impressed by the Latin American Pentecostal churches, embraced Pentecostalism and developed SLSW. However, a thorough biblical study demonstrates that SLSW is mostly unbiblical. A study of SLSW in Church history also demonstrates that SLSW was never accepted in orthodox Christianity. From a contextual point of view SLSW turns out to be a North American missiology with nationalist and political biases. Finally, when looking at the potential effects of a SLSW style missiology in the context of Malawi it emerges that Wagner’s SLSW is likely to reinforce rather than diminish the prevalent witchcraft fears in the Malawian society. At the same time SLSW tends to ‘demonize’ other cultures and thus hinders genuine contextualization. In the final analysis SLSW turns out not to be a commendable strategy for Christian Mission in Malawi. / Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:19:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelo Janikian.pdf: 422012 bytes, checksum: c0fc69b4ed7d54164ed653dd2a4c9df2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-02-22 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The present work aims at analyzing the use of marketing techniques by neopentecostal churches, which appeared in the brazilian religious scene between the decades of 1970 and 1980. By using marketing techniques, these churches try to expand their area of influence in the religious field, causing a great competition among the various christian and non-christian churches. Among the neopentecostal churches that appeared in Brazil in that period, we discuss the case of the Renascer em Cristo Apostolic Church, founded in 1986, which head office is located in the City of São Paulo. This particular church was chosen as the object of this project because it contains several elements in its religious practice that allow us to affirm that marketing and religion can perfectly coexist, without prejudice. Studying this religious institution, we found out that marketing has played and important role in the expansion and consolidation of this church in brazilian s religious scene. Estevam Hernandes Filho founder and leader of the Renascer em Cristo Apostolic Church has a great e xperience with marketing techniques, acquired in years of work, in several national and international companies, as a marketing professional. This experience has allowed him to use the same techniques in his current enterprise. As a result, the Renascer em Cristo Apostolic Church posses, until the present, an empire that includes approximately 1,300 temples all around Brazil, radio stations, a TV station, a publishing house, a record studio and the Renascer Foudation, which centralizes all administrative activities of the Church. / Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o uso do marketing pelas igrejas neopentecostais, que surgiram no cenário religioso brasileiro entre as décadas de 70 e 80. A utilização do marketing por tais igrejas tem em vista conquistar espaços cada vez maiores dentro do campo religioso, ocasionando uma acirrada concorrência entre as várias denominações cristãs e outros credos religiosos. Entre as igrejas neopentecostais, que surgiram neste período, destacamos a Igreja Apostólica Renascer em Cristo, fundada no ano de 1986, cuja sede se encontra na cidade de São Paulo. A Igreja Renascer foi escolhida para este trabalho por possuir vários elementos em suas práticas religiosas, que nos dão base para afirmarmos que marketing e religião podem interagir perfeitamente, sem qualquer tipo de preconceito. No estudo desta instituição religiosa constatamos que o marketing desempenha um papel importante em sua própria expansão e consolidação no campo religioso brasileiro. Estevam Hernandes Filho fundador e líder da Igreja Apostólica Renascer em Cristo - traz em seu currículo de executivo uma boa experiência em marketing, adquirida por meio de sua atuação em várias empresas, nacionais e multinacionais, como profissional de marketing, habilitando-o a utilizar esta mesma ferramenta em seu novo empreendimento. Dentro desse contexto, a Igreja Renascer em Cristo construiu, até o presente momento, um império que engloba aproximadamente 1.300 templos espalhados pelo Brasil, emissoras de rádio, TV, editora, gravadora e a Fundação Renascer, que centraliza todas as atividades administrativas da Igreja.

This dissertation argues that Paul’s apostolic mission to the Gentiles was the definitive expression of his divine vocation as an Israelite, and thus of his Jewish identity. For many of Paul’s Jewish contemporaries, Israel’s divine vocation was to keep and to teach the precepts of the Law of Moses as an exemplary witness to God’s power and wisdom. For Paul, however, Jewish identity was expressed primarily by preaching the gospel of Christ, as the fulfilment of the Law of Moses, to the Gentiles. This is seen most clearly in Paul’s letter to the Romans. In chapter 1, we summarize our methodology: we are seeking to examine Paul’s Jewish identity by reading Paul’s letters (especially Romans), in light of other second-temple Jewish texts, using certain insights from social identity theory. We show that the concept of vocation is an important dimension of Jewish identity, especially in Paul’s letters. We also discuss some prior approaches to the question of Paul’s Jewishness, demonstrating both their value and also their limitations for our purposes. In chapter 2, we survey three key aspects of Paul’s explicit language of Jewish identity in his letters: Jewish distinctiveness, divine revelation and divine vocation. In chapter 3, we demonstrate that Paul deliberately frames his letter to the Romans (Rom 1:1–15, 15:14–33) by presenting his apostolic ministry as the fulfilment of positive scripturally-based eschatological expectations concerning Israel’s divine vocation with respect to the nations. We also compare Paul’s self-presentation in the outer frame of Romans with other first-century expressions of Jewish vocation. In chapter 4, we concentrate on Rom 2:17–29. Contrary to most interpretations which read this passage as a discussion about the nature of (Jewish or Christian) salvation, we argue that Paul deliberately sets this passage in the context of the mainstream Jewish synagogue, in order to contest the nature of Jewish vocation. In chapter 5, we examine Rom 9–11 from the perspective of Jewish vocation. We demonstrate that in Rom 9–11, Paul presents his own apostolic vocation, in various ways, as a contrast to, a fulfilment of, and a means of hope for Israel’s place and role in God’s worldwide purposes.

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This dissertation is a challenge to the Pentecostal churches, particularly, the Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Tumahole, to take an action in meeting the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. This disease, HIV/AIDS, is the latest enemy to human life that the nations are faced with. In the newspapers like Sowetan, there is an article almost daily about HIV and AIDS. In this dissertation, I have tried to show shocking figures of how this disease is spreading in Africa. The seriousness of the disease, unlike other diseases, is its in curability. The secular organisations are far ahead of the churches in as far as the relevant programmes on combating HIV/AIDS are concerned. Despite these massive programmes, the disease is spreading like the wild fire. Deducing from this background, it is no longer the question of whether the Pentecostal churches have any role to play, but what specific role should the church play in this challenge. In this challenging times, many people look at the church as one of the most important institute that would play a positive role in bringing hope to the hopeless. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology (Urban Ministry))

This dissertation is a challenge to the Pentecostal churches, particularly, the Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Tumahole, to take an action in meeting the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. This disease, HIV/AIDS, is the latest enemy to human life that the nations are faced with. In the newspapers like Sowetan, there is an article almost daily about HIV and AIDS. In this dissertation, I have tried to show shocking figures of how this disease is spreading in Africa. The seriousness of the disease, unlike other diseases, is its in curability. The secular organisations are far ahead of the churches in as far as the relevant programmes on combating HIV/AIDS are concerned. Despite these massive programmes, the disease is spreading like the wild fire. Deducing from this background, it is no longer the question of whether the Pentecostal churches have any role to play, but what specific role should the church play in this challenge. In this challenging times, many people look at the church as one of the most important institute that would play a positive role in bringing hope to the hopeless. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology (Urban Ministry))