Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes final project proposal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-169, 48-56).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-247).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-247).

Thesis (M.P.A. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2006. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2933. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 1 leaf (3). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-69).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes final project proposal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-169, 48-56).

This thesis is an evaluation of the members of the missionary religious Congregation of the Holy Spirits' understanding of their mission to the poor in the Dioceses of Bethlehem and Durban in South Africa. The Congregation of the Holy Spirit was founded on 27th May, 1703, Feast of Pentecost. A group of poor clerical students knelt before the statue of the Black Virgin of Paris (Our Lady of Deliverance) in the Church of St. Etienne-des-Gres. Their friend and leader was Poullart des Places. This small group of young men consecrated themselves to the Holy Spirit so marking the foundation of the Congregation. In the year 1848 some forty missionaries of the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary founded by Francis Libermann in 1841 were integrated into the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. From its foundation, the mission of the Congregation has always been the "evangelization of the poor" (Luke 4:18). For the founders, the poor meant those who were oppressed and marginalized among whom were the poor students and slaves in the colonies. My particular concern, however, is to evaluate the members of the Holy Spirits' understanding of their mission to the poor in the Dioceses of Bethlehem and Durban in South Africa. How do Spiritans in these two dioceses understand or interpret "the poor" whom they serve? How does this contemporary South African Spiritan understanding of the poor match with that of the founders or constitution of the Congregation? My response to these questions is an affirmation. In the evaluation, we will discover that the poor in the dioceses of Bethlehem and Durban include those who are unemployed, HIV/AIDS patients, orphans, children and women who are abused, refugees / asylum seekers, street children and many others. In summary, it is noted that the poor are those who lack physical necessities, socially oppressed and spiritually poor. In faithfulness to the intuition of the founders, it is observed that Spiritans in both Bethlehem and Durban Dioceses are attempting to be at the service of the poor. They are serving the poor through the proclamation of the Word, administration of the Sacraments, visitation of people in their own homes, attending to those who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS pandemic, promoting the values of the Kingdom of God through justice and peace ministries and finally, Spiritans are working among the refugees, prisoners and hostel dwellers. Looking at these Spiritan ministries, it is noted that their choices of works are in accordance with the vision of the founders a well as what is in the Spiritan Rule of Life or constitution. Spiritans in both Bethlehem and Durban perceive their vocation as being at the service of these people. However, as religious, there are other elements which should be taken into consideration, such as prayer, community life and missionary spirituality. These are essential elements in the life of the members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. In general, the interviews show a lack of community life among members of the Congregation. This lack of community life affects prayer life as well. Other important elements include the need to revisit the idea of education and recovery of prophetic dimension of the Congregation where its members are always at the frontier situations. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1990. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2934. Abstract precedes thesis as [4] preliminary leaves. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-94).

CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of International Studies Elisabeth Anna Hobl Changing the interpretation of monuments for the purpose of influencing the Czechoslovak collective identity through Rudé Právo and presidential speeches (1948-1957) Masters thesis Prague 2015 Abstract The Communist Party of Czechoslovak (KSČ) tried self-servingly to shape the interpretation of Czechoslovak history. National identity can theoretically change over time by adapting amongst others collective memory. As collective memory also consists of several components the thesis focuses on early attempts to influence Czechoslovak national identity by altering the meaning of certain historical events represented by specific monuments in the period 1948- 1957. A monument's meaning derives from discourse and traditions. The analysis shows that Rudé Právo articles and Presidential speeches were part of a discourse used to influence the meaning of monuments. The case studies: Bethlehem Chapel was to symbolize the historical Hussite legacy continued by the KSČ; the Monument of National Liberation was to commemorate World War Two soldiers and important communists; the Monument of the Soviet Tank Drivers was to commemorate the Red Army as Czechoslovakia's sole liberator. These interpretations were meant...

Palestine is known as the birthplace of Christianity. However the Christian population of this land is relatively insignificant today, despite the continuing institutional legacy that the 19th century Western missionary focus on the region created. Palestinian Christians are often forced to employ politically astute as well as theologically radical means in their efforts to appear relevant within an increasingly Islamist-oriented society. My thesis focuses on two ecumenical Christian organisations within Palestine, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre in Jerusalem (headed by the Anglican cleric Naim Stifan Ateek) and Dar Annadwa Addawliyya (the International Centre of Bethlehem-ICB, directed by the Lutheran theologian Mitri Raheb). Based on my field work (consisting of an in-depth familiarisation with the two organisations in Palestine and interviews with their directors, office-staff and supporters worldwide, as well as data analyses based on an extensive literature review), I argue that the grassroots-oriented educational, humanitarian, cultural and contextual theological approach favoured by the ICB in Bethlehem is more relevant to the Palestinian situation, than the more sectarian and Western-oriented approach of the Sabeel Centre. These two groups are analysed primarily according to their theological-political approaches. One, (Sabeel), has sought to develop a critical Christian response to the Palestine-Israel conflict using the politico-theological tool of liberation theology, albeit with a strongly ecumenical Western-oriented focus, while the other (ICB), insists that its theological orientation draws primarily from the Levantine Christian (and in their particular case, the Palestinian Lutheran) context in which Christians in Israel-Palestine are placed. Raheb of the ICB has tried to develop a contextual theology that seeks to root the political and cultural development of the Palestinian people within their own Eastern Christian context and in light of their peculiarly restricted life under an Israeli occupation regime of over 40 years. In the process, I argue that the ICB has sought to be much more situationally relevant to the needs of the Palestinian people in the West Bank, given the employment, socio-cultural and humanitarian-health opportunities opened up by the practical-institution building efforts of this organisation in Bethlehem.