Recent literature by several eminent psychotherapists ·such as Bergin and Beutler argues that counsellors' personal values are probably the greatest influence on the success and outcome of therapy and that the counsellor tends to convert the client to the counsellor's values. This literature provided strong support for this researcher's contention of the need for similar studies in pastoral counselling. The researcher was particularly concerned about the role of pastoral counsellors' value systems and moral judgement development in counselling situations. The researcher selected the Rokeach Value Survey and the Rest Defining Issues Test as instruments to test a sample of South African pastoral counsellors in this regard. The research questions addressed were as follows. Firstly, what are the value systems of a sample of pastoral counsellors in the South African context? Secondly, what are the moral judgement development levels of the pastoral counsellors? Thirdly, what is the relationship between the rank ordering of values and pastoral counsellors' levels of moral judgement development? Fourthly, what implications could these variables have for pastoral-client pairing in pastoral counselling? The chief findings were as follows. Firstly, the pastoral counsellors were shown to have conservative value systems with a preference for introspective terminal values over social terminal values. Secondly, the pastoral counsellors had a P score of 39.6 on the Defining Issues Test. This compares favourably with Asian university students who score between 36-40 as opposed to American university students who have a mean P score of 42.6. The researcher concluded that the conservative religious ideology of the sample helped to explain the low P scores somewhat. Thirdly, the Spearman correlational coefficient indicated little correlation between the Rokeach Value Survey and the Rest Defining Issues Test. Fourthly, both instruments indicated that the conservative nature of the pastoral counsellors would no doubt make them very effective counsellors in most denominations. They would tend to counsel in support of the status quo in the church. A major recommendation of the study was the need for further pastoral counsellor education in dealing with moral values issues. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

This dissertation attempts to answer the questions, “What is the most appropriate background for understanding Paul’s views on marriage, celibacy and divorce as found in 1 Corinthians 7?” and “How do we account for the unique features in 1 Corinthians that are not clearly delineated in the Greco-Roman works, Jesus tradition or in other NT writings?” This work argues that Paul derives the substance of his perspective on marriage, celibacy and divorce directly from the Jewish Scriptures (LXX) and the uniquely motivated Jesus tradition to which he was exposed. Paul’s reception of this Jesus tradition can be traced to first generation believers as well as to his own revelatory religious experience. Such a proposal does not preclude Paul from being significantly influenced by his social context, but suggests that he was acutely aware of the philosophical differences between himself and other thinkers of his day. This work follows the contention that Hellenism only affected the ‘outer shell’ of Paul’s brand of Pharisaism (Hengel). What is more, the Apostle openly uses this Jesus tradition when the situations of his missionary churches paralleled those confronted by Jesus and seems to have expanded upon it when he had no explicit tradition from which to draw as new situations arose within his communities. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

This thesis is concerned by the problems of foster care from the view of Christian ethics. It presents interpretation of marriage and family in the Bible, in Christian tradition and at present. It deals with the conception of foster care from history to contemporary form and its valid laws of the Czech Republic. It touches on ethical issues related to foster care. It shows the basic Christian principles, which justify the foster care, however the discussion about its specific shape and form is possible.

Estudos voltados à família, à religião, à escola e ao adolescente têm revelado preocupações nas diversas áreas de atuação das pesquisas sociais, as quais procuram contribuir para o campo científico e para a sociedade em geral. O tema abordado neste trabalho desenvolve a relação entre esses assuntos, uma vez que, na sociedade, as instituições família e escola têm a responsabilidade de contribuir para a formação geral do adolescente e/ou aluno, e a religião, de contribuir para o desenvolvimento espiritual do ser humano, explorando a sua religiosidade. Cada uma dessas áreas procura desempenhar o seu papel, de maneira que o objetivo principal seja alcançado, com um resultado positivo para a sociedade. Assim, este trabalho se propôs a pesquisar e a identificar o papel da família e do Ensino Religioso na formação ética do adolescente, no ensino fundamental II, nas escolas públicas de Boa Vista-Roraima, com foco na transmissão de valores trabalhados no seio da família e reforçados na escola por meio da disciplina Ensino Religioso. Nesse sentido, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo e bibliográfica, com abordagem quali-quantitativa, do tipo exploratório, cuja fonte de coleta e análise de dados foi um questionário misto composto por perguntas abertas e fechadas, destinada aos alunos de escolas públicas de Boa Vista-Roraima e aos pais/responsáveis que colaboram com este trabalho. A amostra da pesquisa revelou que, dos 198 alunos participantes, 83 são do gênero masculino e 115, do gênero feminino; 147 se encontram na faixa etária até 14 anos, e 51 na faixa etária de 15 a 18 anos, todos frequentando a escola regularmente. A participação dos pais foi de 167 sujeitos, sendo 42 do gênero masculino e 125 do gênero feminino. Como resultado da pesquisa, pode-se constatar que o encontro das gerações, pais e filhos, ocorre por meio das necessidades afetivas e dos valores que fortalecem os vínculos familiares. O grande desafio a ser vencido diz respeito à prática desses valores, o saber fazer uso deles, visto que, muitas vezes, a correria, o ativismo da realidade cotidiana, vai tomando espaço, e os valores vão sendo esquecidos e as relações familiares, se fragmentando. A maioria dos alunos, assim como dos pais, concorda que haja a disciplina Ensino Religioso na escola. As justificativas mais preponderantes apresentadas são as seguintes: conhecer, respeitar outras religiões, trabalhar o ensino de valores como respeito, dar valor aos outros, ajudar a ter um equilíbrio entre o bem e o mal, aprender sobre religiosidade e sobre o conhecimento de Deus e ajudar a viver em harmonia para dar continuação ao que se aprende em casa. / Studies focused on family, religion, school and teenagers has been the reason for concerns in several areas of social research, seeking to contribute to the scientific field and to society in general. The issue addressed in this paper develops the relationship between these issues, since the family in the society, the institutions and the school has a responsibility to contribute to the general education of adolescents and the students, and the religion contributes to the spiritual development of the human being through its religiosity. Each one seeking to develop its role, so that the main objective is to materialize as positive for society. Thus, this work proposes to research and identify the role of Family and Religious Education in adolescent ethics training in the Elementary School II, of the public schools of the city of Boa Vista - Roraima, focused on the transmission of values worked in the family and reinforced in school through the Religious Education discipline. In this sense it was carried out a field research and bibliographic, with qualitative and quantitative approach, exploratory, whose source of data collection and analysis, was a mixed questionnaire with open and closed questions, intended for students from public schools in Boa Vista-Roraima, where parents and guardians, collaborate with this work. The sample of the survey revealed that of the 198 students who took to the survey, 83 males and 115 females; 147 are in the age group up to 14 to 51 years are between the ages of 15 to 18 years old, all are attending school regularly. The participation of parents in the study was 167 people, 42 males and 125 females. As a result of the research, we can see the meeting of generations parents and children, are present through affective, where values strengthen family relationships. The big challenge is to practice, learn to use it often involves on the run, the activism of everyday reality is creating space, the values are being forgotten by both, and the relationship will fragmenting. Most students and parents agree that there is the discipline taught in school. The most compelling justifications are: knowledge, to respect other religion, work teaching values such as respect, to give value to others, help to have a balance between good and bad, to learn about religion and the knowledge of God, and to help to live in harmony to follow-up learning at home.

The introduction provides a concise discussion of the confused condition of our Western sexuality. It is noted that this confusion has also manifested itself in ecclesiastical circles, and that the contribution of the church towards the resolution of 'moral' confusion in this sphere is in fact minimal. The study then proceeds to a more empirical investigation of certain phenomena which might enable us to demonstrate the close relationship which exists between the individual's psychological condition, or 'state of consciousness', and the type of theology or ethics he formulates or adopts. The present study was an investigation designed to determine whether Anglican clergy and Pentecostal pastors differed significantly with regard to theological orientation, level of self-actualization or the degree of flexibility they showed in the application of sexual values. Furthermore we were concerned to discover the inter-relation between these various traits. A third group of ordinands from St. Paul's College (C.P.S.A.) was also incorporated into the study. All forty eight subjects completed a series of tests and questionnaires which were scored according to eighteen different scales relating to selfactualzing traits, theological orientation and the application of sexual ethics. In brief the results showed that the Anglican clergy were significantly more self-actualizing, theologically liberal and more flexible in the application of sexual values than were Pentecostal pastors. Little difference was found to exist as a function of age and education, or between Anglican clergy and ordinands. Furthermore theological conservatism, general conservatism, dogmatism and inflexibility in the application of sexual ethics were all shown to correlate negatively with self-actualization. In the discussion of results the writer attempted to demonstrate the close relationship between the churchman's psychological make-up and the way in which he construes his world and formulates his theology and ethics. In the concluding discussion the writer once again widened the scope of concern in order to demonstrate how the findings of the present study can be fitted into the broader context of the life of the church. It has been suggested that the type of approach adopted by churchmen to problems of sexuality is very much determined by their psychological make up. Hence in this sense both the status of the church in modern society and the degree to which the church can assist in the resolution of our culture's problems in the field of human sexuality, is greatly dependent upon the 'states of consciousness' of our clergy.

In the world in which we are living today many people, especially Christians, wonder why people should talk about homosexuality. For many past years, the Christian Church, especially in East Africa, considered herself more or less immune from many of the challenges, experienced by the rest of the world, particularly the Western world. However, as the church now continues to grow in numbers and expand its territories, these problems start to appear in the church also all over East Africa. Increasingly the consciousness of the society is being raised concerning social-ethical issues such as women's rights, battered children, single parent families, teenage pregnancy, wife beating and of course homosexuality. As a result such issues are widely discussed within the church and outside, sometimes causing a rift within the church. Such has been the case with homosexuality. Recently at a Seventh-day Adventist Church camp meeting in East Africa, a debate in a Bible study on the ethics of homosexuality as perceived by the Seventh-day Adventist Church paved the way for divisions in the church, which has left church members in four categories (groups) namely: culturalist, rejectionist, reinterpretationist and the reaffirmationist. Unfortunately the debate closed without a definite conclusion as to what should be the normative basis for the theological ethical evaluation of homosexuality by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa. The issue was whether the Bible, culture or both the Bible and culture should be the normative basis and also as to what theological ethical guidance does the Bible provide for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality in the present-day context. The dissertation surveys definitions and causes of sexuality, and traces some of the background from the pre-modem to the postmodern era reflecting on the definitions and causes of homosexuality, and it also traces some of the historical background regarding homosexual practices and views on homosexuality. It also discusses and assesses the Cultural beliefs on homosexuality in East Africa. The study also looks at the Biblical texts that refer to or are thought to refer to homosexuality and "examines" the claims made in much of the "gays" literature with reference to these texts. Other texts used by over-zealous Christians bent on finding condemnation of homosexuality through Scripture. During the East African pre modem era, sexuality, including homosexuality was not publicly discussed. The whole subject was encircled by a halo of secrecy and hedged around by innumerable East African taboos. When this silence is combined with the absence of written documentation on the cultures and histories of many parts of East Africa, the difficulties of accessing traditional understanding of homosexuality and sexuality become immense. One can conclude that it will be a serious mistake for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to make East African culture normative in the ethical evaluation of homosexuality since: (i) Oral East African tradition does not really provide any moral view on homosexuality. To read into the silence on homosexuality the moral condemnation of homosexuality is not acceptable. (ii) Homosexual practices, in a ritualized form, are not foreign to East African culture. (iii) The strong condemnation of homosexuality in East Africa is often politically and ideologically inspired. This dissertation advocates the need for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to use the Bible alone, Old and New Testament, being the written word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, as the infallible revelation of God's will. The Bible is the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and trustworthy record of God's acts in history and therefore is central in any formulation concerning homosexuality, whether theological or ethical evaluation and therefore should be used as the only normative basis for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

The objective of this research is to examine the theological ideas and moral vision of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and to explore how his theology (and theological hermeneutics and ethics) has influenced his politics of solidarity and social activism on behalf of the oppressed and the poor in Haiti in particular, and the wretched of the earth, in general. Through the use of the postcolonial, decolonial, and Liberation Theology paradigms as hermeneutical and theoretical methods of investigation, the project seeks to answer a threefold question: what is the relationship between theology and social activism and transformation in the thought and writings of Jean-Bertrand Aristide? What is the place and function of the community of faith, the poor, the oppressed, hope, and human liberation in the political theology of Jean-Bertrand Aristide? What is the place of (defensive) violence in Aristide’s theology? Our goal in this scholarly investigation is an attempt to provide an answer to these daunting questions above and to explore more fully and intelligently the theology of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. This present study considers Aristide’s democratic and social justice projects and theological reflections and theological intersections in the disciplines of theological anthropology, theological ethics, and political theology, as he himself engages all four simultaneously. The doctoral thesis locates Aristide’s thought and writings within Black intellectual tradition both in continental Africa and the African Diaspora. It establishes shared intellectual ideas and parallelisms, and strong ideological connections between Aristide and Black theologians and thinkers in both continental Africa and the African Diaspora. On one hand, Aristide’s intellectual ideas and political activism should be understood in the context of the struggle for democracy in Haiti; on the other hand, it is suggested the intellectual articulations and propositions of these Black and African thinkers aim at a common vision: the project to make our world new toward the common good. While we do not undermine the problem of violence in Aristide’s theology and political program in the context of Haitian history, the doctoral thesis argues that Aristide’s theological anthropology is a theology of reciprocity and mutuality, and correspondingly, his theological ethics is grounded in the theory of radical interactionality, interconnectedness, and interdependence, and the South African humanism of Ubuntu. It also contends that Aristide’s promotion of a theology of popular violence and aggression in the Haitian society should be understood as a cathartic mechanism and defensive violence aimed at defending the Haitian masses against the Duvalier regime and their oppressors. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / PhD / Unrestricted

This dissertation explores the use of romance across religious poetry in late medieval England. Medieval devotional poems frequently borrow motifs and devices from romance; they might, for example, figure Jesus as a knight jousting with the devil or adopt the romance technique of interlace to narrate the Passion. Critics most frequently read these borrowings as a popularizing method, arguing that the poets of these religious texts turn to romance in order to appeal to their secular audience. I argue instead that late 14th century Middle English poets use romance to explore difficult theological paradoxes and Christian practices. In Pearl, the romance descriptio personae helps articulate the paradoxes of divine reward, at once hierarchical and egalitarian. In Piers Plowman, the romance incognito demonstrates the shifting and multivalent nature of the Trinity. In St. Erkenwald, the slow indulgence of romance wonder stands in contrast to God’s time, which is simultaneously immediate and drawn-out. In the Canterbury Tales, the romance parody of Thopas primes the reader for the prudential lessons of Melibee. This dissertation adds to a growing body of scholarship that reads medieval romance, and in particular Middle English romance, as a genre that does not simply entertain audiences but also interrogates, challenges, or reiterates medieval values and ideas. However, this project adds to current scholarship by examining romance out of its native context and inside or beside religious genres instead. In the first three chapters, I argue that by triggering a romantic reading, the Middle English poems Pearl, Piers Plowman, and St. Erkenwald enact and demonstrate the conceptual difficulties of certain theological paradoxes. In these poems, romance serves as a contemplative tool by demonstrating the reader’s comprehensive limits in the face of the divine. My fourth chapter, which explores Chaucer’s romance parody Sir Thopas alongside his pedagogical treatise Melibee, instead considers the Christian virtue of prudence; here, the exaggerated romance tropes of Sir Thopas prepare the pilgrims to pay penance prudentially by feeling and contemplating time in daily Christian life. While romance does not articulate a paradox about God in Thopas-Melibee, it still prompts contemplation about a difficult Christian virtue, prudence. In all four chapters, I find that romance serves as a vehicle for spiritual contemplation because of its own modes of thinking, whether that be social, economic, or temporal. Whether romance is set within or beside devotional texts, the secular genre allows the reader to contemplate difficult Christian theology and practices and to experience them as difficult in contemplation. Romance, I argue, is a critical tool in the vernacular theologian’s toolkit.

[pt] Teologia moral contemporânea: Status questionis, ética e hermenêutica em 1Jo 2,15-17 propõe uma reflexão acerca das questões morais que assolam a humanidade, de Sócrates aos seres humanos contemporâneos. Faz um estudo filosófico do campo que alguns nomeiam de ética e outros, de moral para propor uma reflexão acerca da teologia moral e/ou da ética religiosa. Essa dissertação inicia pelo estado da questão, para perceber o fundamento filosófico presente em toda teologia moral. Realiza uma síntese da ética filosófica, destacando seus horizontes e as principais correntes éticas contemporâneas. Apresenta uma fundamentação histórica da teologia moral, do horizonte tridentino ao contexto pós-Vaticano II, procurando demonstrar que ela sempre esteve a reboque dos acontecimentos, e não diante deles, acenando por qual caminho o cristão pode e deve enveredar-se. Na sequência, faz uma tentativa de refletir acerca do possível substrato bíblico da teologia moral, expondo os pontos essenciais do documento da Pontifícia Comissão Bíblica, denominado Bíblia e Moral. Por fim, traça rotas de investigação para a compreensão da moral nos livros bíblicos, detendo-se nas Cartas Católicas – aspectos principais da primeira Epístola de João – e realiza uma análise particular da ética na hermenêutica de 1Jo 2,15-17, a fim de poder demonstrar que o papel da teologia moral católica na contemporaneidade é o de humanizar o ser humano, reafirmando que não há outro modelo a ser seguido a não ser Jesus Cristo. / [en] Contemporary moral theology: Status questionis, ethics and hermeneutics in 1Jo 2,15-17 addresses the moral issues that plague humanity, from Socrates to contemporary human beings. It performs a philosophical study of the field named by some as ethics or as moral by others, in order to propose a reflection on moral theology and / or religious ethics. This dissertation begins with the state of the investigation, highlighting the philosophical foundation of all moral theology. A synthesis of the philosophical ethics follows, highlighting its horizons and the main contemporary ethical currents. It then engages on a historical view of the foundation of moral theology, from the Tridentine horizon to the post-Vatican II context, demonstrating that moral theology has always been in the wake of the events, and not before them, indicating the direction Christians can and should take. At this point, a study on the possible biblical substratum of moral theology is offered, exposing the essential points of the Pontifical Biblical Commission s Bible and Moral document. Finally, it identifies investigation trends for the understanding of morality in the biblical books, dwelling on the Catholic Letters, major elements John s first Letter. In particular, it accomplishes a specific analysis of the ethics in the hermeneutics of 1 John 2: 15-17 in order to be able to demonstrate that the role of Catholic moral theology today is to humanize the human being, reasserting that no other model is to be followed except for Jesus Christ.

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