This thesis aims to clarify the Jesus-Paul relationship with regard to the issue of faith. Two groups of Jesus' sayings ("Faith that can remove mountains" and "Your faith has healed/saved you") are chosen as the starting-point of comparison. Special attention is also paid to Paul's use of Hab 2:4 and Gen 15:6. The picture of the Jesus-Paul relationship that emerges is a complex one. To a great extent the similarity between Jesus and Paul is due to their common Jewish heritage. The early Church plays a part in influencing Paul's concept of faith and Paul himself reinterprets the Jewish Scriptures in an innovative manner. At the same time, Paul is found to be greatly indebted to Jesus for his concept of faith. First, there is evidence that Paul uses the Jesus tradition in his discussion of faith. Jesus' mounting-removing sayings are found to be the most probable source of Paul's statement in 1 Cor 13:2. Second, the distinctive teaching of Paul, namely, his doctrine of justification by faith as exemplified in his use of Gen 15:6, is found in its seminal form in Jesus. Paul's pistis christou is built on Jesus' claims for faith in his own person as expressed in his pronouncement: "Your faith has healed/saved you". Paul's reckoning language echoes Jesus' offer of a salvation that imparts purity to the ritually impure. In conclusion, the present study proposes that Paul should properly be viewed as a follower and interpreter of Jesus rather than as "the second founder of Christianity". With regard to the issue of faith, Paul's contribution lies in his development of the Christological and salvational aspects of faith inherent in the teaching of Jesus while assuming the theological and miraculous aspects of faith which are prominent in Jesus' sayings.

The church finds itself in an evangelical-sacral cocoon. However, this alienation is nothing new, but through the centuries shows the church’s inability to adapt and stay relevant during changing cultural situations (Regele 1995:48). It is however not strange that time and again when there was a big cultural shift, new denominations came into being. In the history, during every cultural revival the Christian theological discourse was reflected on. Postmodernism is the new intellectual climate which is descriptive of a new upcoming culture (Erickson 1998:13). This new intellectual climate caused the church and culture to become more and more estranged. Postmodernism set a “new” sacral-profane dichotomy within the church, which clashes with the modernistic imperialism of the church. Any effort to renewal would be futile if the new upcoming culture is not taken into account. The seeker-sensitive movement originated in the late sixties when an increase in post modernistic thinking in the culture came to life. The methodology was taken over by the Evangelical Reformers who were saturated with modern thinking. The seeker-sensitive model showed strong post-modernistic characteristics, but in its development became more and more closed towards the new upcoming post modernistic culture. I am of the opinion that in its core the seeker-sensitive model is modernistic and that it will not be able to communicate the gospel effectively to a post-modernistic generation. There are clear signs within the kerugma, diakonia, leitourgia and koinonia where the modernistic agenda is revealed. The accentuation of biased aesthetical preferences in any form of culture will lead to exclusivistic churchism which ignores the riches of the postmodern culture. We should rather talk of postmodern cultures and the multiple expressions of diakonia, koinonia and leitourgia which contextualise the gospel. If the seeker-sensitive model within a postmodern society does not move towards a post-dualistic, post-rationalistic, post-individualistic and post-noeticentric methodology, the model will become irrelevant within a postmodern society. The gospel cannot be packaged within a rational persuasive and marketing methodology, but the congregation must live the Missio Dei culture in a relevant way within cognitive, affective, visual, creative and interactive real relations. If the congregation cannot enter into discussion with the postmodern culture, the congregation stays a missiological centre where a person must be culturally circumcised to be able to hear the gospel. Not only the congregation, but the world as well, should become the missiological centre of the church. Most of the concepts were developed in the congregations of Randburg and Stellenbosch where I have ministered during the last 13 years. There we strove to practise praxis-theology where the normal church member could also do theological reflection. I have done a literature study about the subject and Stellenbosch Congregation is used as example to illustrate some of the transitions to the postmodern dispensation. The purpose is not to establish a new model, but to show principles for the development of a missionary relevant approach. There will be an endeavour to practise theology within the praxis of the congregation where members of the congregation can listen to the Word and the world believingly, to be a church that is not only in the world, but also with the world. The purpose of this study was to find parameters with the seeker-sensitive church model in a critical dialogue for the practical-theological ecclesiology which is free or less contaminated, with the ideological bases of modernism. / Dr. G.J. Bosman

This thesis explores, through a focused examination of the works of Alan of Lille and Dante Alighieri, the apophatic tradition or via negativa, with particular regard to the issues raised by naming God with human language. Thematic and stylistic reappropriations of Alan are highlighted, the aim is not, however, to establish textual dependency as such, but to explore the historical development of the via negativa, the problems it raises in medieval logic and theology, and the different approaches to the transcendence of the divine reality in the production, both prose and verse, of Alan and Dante. Since divine ineffability crosses a number of disciplinary domains – rhetoric, semantic, logic, metaphysics and theology – the thesis is attentive to all these topics and their interactions. Attention to these fields and to their development over time, both in the period before and after the entry of Aristotelian works at the end of the twelfth century, is employed in order to evaluate more closely the respective treatments of Alan and Dante. Chapter One reconstructs the interactions of Stoic, Augustinian and Aristotelian (by Boethian mediation) sources together with the Neoplatonism of Proclus and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (especially as transmitted by Eriugena) in order to provide a conceptual background for medieval discussion on the heuristic value of signs. In this chapter, attention is paid in particular to the contribution of the Pseudo-Dionysian tradition to medieval thought. Chapter Two provides an in-depth study to the medieval reception of the conceptual background delineated in Chapter One, particularly in relation to the issue of the transformations which human language undergoes when used in the theological field. This chapter assesses the impact of the new translations on the reconfiguration of the relationship between metaphysics and theology and related linguistic questions, illustrating shifts in the way that divine predication is handled and the richness and importance of the medieval understanding of the concept of analogy of being (analogia entis). Chapter Three deploys the historical context set out in the previous two chapters in order to compare Alan of Lille’s and Dante’s treatment of apophatic themes, by showing the different conceptual backgrounds for their reinterpretations of the theory of translatio and of the concept of analogia entis. The analysis thus departs from the extant scholarly concerns with Alan and Dante (namely, the use of figurative and allegorical devices) in order to provide a firmer historical and conceptual basis from which to understand their poetical choices in the De Planctu naturae and the Anticlaudianus and in the Comedy.

The purpose of this research was to look at what sin or sins was human condemnation based on primarily. This study takes a look at the words or concepts, passages, and interpretations of the text and doctrines associated with the terms of sin and condemnation. In concerns to sin, this paper argues that the core of sin is an internal rejection of God. This is shown by looking at key Biblical passages and the words for sin and desire to find out how exactly sin is defined biblically. This section also deals with the historical and different systematic definitions of sin while taking a look at the doctrine of Original Sin and how sin was an inherited state of rejection. The concept of condemnation is also examined and defined in this paper. It is argued that condemnation is the result of God’s judgment on humanity because of their rejection of Him. This is shown through a similar method as defining the concept for sin.

This dissertation examines the Christian doctrine of divine providence and its implications for the laws of nature and problem of induction before contrasting secular and Islamic approaches to these same topics. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of a Christian account of scientific law by citing recent developments in an old understanding of a false dichotomy between religion and science. Chapter 2 discusses several ways the Christian doctrine of divine providence can be positively explained. Chapter 3 highlights theologians, apologists, and scientists in history who have understood the doctrine of divine providence as a basis for science. Chapter 4 focuses on the character of the laws of nature. Chapter 5 discusses the history of the problem of induction, including potential solutions. Chapter 6 acknowledges that even though the doctrine of divine providence, laws of nature, induction, and hence science appear best suited to a Christian worldview, some further issues, such as miracles and competing monotheistic models remain. Chapter 7 concludes the dissertation. This chapter summarizes the arguments made throughout the dissertation.

This thesis explores a long-neglected area of Julian’s work, namely her devotional and pastoral understanding of the nature of sin and the sacrament of penance. Her two texts reveal a deep concern, set within the context of a rise in lay penitential piety, for those devout who continued to experience a sense of shame and dread of sin, even after confession to a priest. By means of a close comparative reading of Julian's short and long texts of A Revelation of Divine Love, and an examination of a wide range of Middle English devotional texts and manuals, as well as a breadth of Julian scholarship to date, I argue that Julian addresses the devotional and ecclesiastical concerns of late fourteenth-century England in the problem of sin and confession for the ordinary believer. By articulating her revelation in the penitential terms of the manuals of the Church, Julian reveals the extent to which the daily devotional life of 'holy moder church' is the means by which the saving love of Christ is realised and made accessible to the penitent. Within her writing Julian seeks to reassure her reader that God has dealt with sin and triumphed over the devil but in order to do this she must alter their understanding of a contrition-centred sacrament. For this reason Julian sets up a crisis of understanding within her long text between the 'common teaching of holy church' and her revelation of love. This conflict is deliberately left unresolved in order that, in scholastic terms, two opposing arguments in opposition may jointly illuminate the necessity of sin and penance in bringing the soul to the proper state of humility and the mercy and grace of the loving Lord in forgiveness. In so doing it is argued that, within Julian’s writing, the pastoral process of penance is integral to those who desire a more intimate relationship with God. The thesis consists of four chapters which first, locates Julian's short and long versions of A Revelation of Divine Love within the climate of the late-fourteenth century; secondly, it charts the rise of the significance of the role of the penitent within the history of penance which led to an increasing lack of confidence within the late fourteenth century in the ability of the confessional encounter to alleviate the sense of sin experienced by some devout souls; thirdly, I analyse the extent to which Julian's short and long version of a Revelation of Divine Love reflect and address this catechetical and penitential climate in her theology of sin and penance; and finally the thesis poses the question of the extent to which Julian's work can be considered as a penitential text which seeks to bring ease and comfort of the assurance of sins forgiven through the everyday practices of the Church. It is concluded that Julian's writing reveals a fascinating and significant contribution to late fourteenth-century thought on penance and brings a fresh reading of Julian's texts.

The question guiding the argument of my thesis is whether it is possible to articulate a political theology in terms of the idea of freedom. This possibility is explored through an analysis and evaluation of the political dimension of the theologies of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Gustavo Gutiérrez. For both these theologians, the idea of freedom emerges from reflection on the process of historical experience, which itself delimits the horizon of political activity. The relevance of theology for politics consists in its competence in interpreting the individual desire for liberty within the context of our created finitude, whose deepest meaning is revealed only in God’s work of salvation. In discerning the concrete possibilities of freedom, theology has therefore to consider the role of the church as the community for learning freedom, a role already identified as part of its mission in Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. In a further step, it has to consider more directly the nature of political authority and its conditioning of the actualization of human freedom through concrete practices in the life of societies and states. In this respect it is the task of theology to establish the creaturely and eschatological contexts of political life in such a way as to ground a morality of political justice. This triple structure, because it finds material justification with both theologians, creates the possibility of a fair and balanced comparison between two visions which share theoretical concerns to a surprising extent, enriching the scope of the dialogue, yet differ radically in practical orientation and commitments. This marked divergence will allow some reflection on the role of intra-theological debate in the self-definition of theological tradition against the political with regard to the competence of interpreting human freedom.

This study investigates the Native Baptists and the dynamics between their Biblical hermeneutic and the 1865 Native Baptist War. This work outlines, for the first time, the origin, structure and development of the Native Baptists. This study also discerns the main themes of the Native Baptists as equality and justice and their Biblical hermeneutic as a hermeneutic of liberation. The main thesis is that the Native Baptists' interpretation of Scriptures and Scripture -related sources influenced the nature and scope of the 1865 Native Baptist War. To achieve the goals of this study, this writer relied heavily on archival and contemporary documents. One of the major features of this study is that, for the first time, it provides an in-depth analysis of a major original source, which the first Native Baptists wrote about themselves. Another unique feature is the meticulous analysis of Paul Bogle's marked hymns, letter and speech and George William Gordon' s speeches in the House of Assembly. In order to examine and outline the origin, structure and development of the Native Baptists, this writer was informed by the social history of religion approach. And to reflect on their themes and Biblical hermeneutic this writer attributed the use of the Reader -Response approach to the Native Baptists. Using these approaches, this writer discovered, contrary to the dominant position in scholarly writings on Native Baptists, that the Native Baptists were orthodox, well organized, engaged in marches for justice and desired the liberation of the oppressed and the oppressors. This work gives a more accurate picture of who the Native Baptists were and how their interpretation of the Bible and sacred literature contributed to the way things happened in the 1865 Native Baptist War. A further study of the Native Baptists needs to determine if there is a co-relationship between the demise of the Native Baptists' institutional structures and the seeming retreat of present-day Baptists from political activism.

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of devising methods to assist teachers of Christianity in reaching and attracting a fast-growing and enlightened country. The Adventist church, along with other churches, is being challenged in communicating its message to a populace consisting of varied ethnic groups. This investigation has a two-fold purpose: (1) to study intercultural communications in order to locate principles which are applicable to missionary endeavors, and (2) to place these principles at the disposal of missionary personnel for their selective use in disseminating the beliefs of Christianity.

This comic romantic novel engages the question of how the Christianity of the southern, fundamentalist world of the Texas bible belt, finding its primary cultural assumptions about human existence challenged by the more confusing elements of a modern sensibility, a sensibility over-laden with strange-attractors, mechanistic psychologies, relativistic physics and ethics, evolutionary premises, newly proclaimed rights and freedoms, a deterioration in cultural political naivete, and the advent of an increasingly incomprehensible set of technologies, can survive. The "central" character is a young, slightly deformed man raised by his ostensibly "Christian" grandparents who, through a rather odd set of legal circumstances and physical events, not only become wealthy, but somewhat powerful in their immediate community. He finds himself involved with a young woman, raised in an equally "Christian" household, but, as is true of any romantic plot, the relationship between the two is destined, by virtue of circumstance and the meddling of other characters, to struggle and mishap. In the end, the text, in its own fashion, asserts that the Christian impulse can survive the modern era by virtue of one of its central tenets: faith, in the Christian world, is very much the same as life itself, a process of waiting and expecting. Its greatest threat, rather than something intrinsic to the modern period, is perhaps that of the dogmatism and misunderstanding of the characters who most loudly proclaim it to others.