This diploma work deals with Judaism and Jewish attitudes and approaches to some selected chapters of bio-ethics. Theoretical part is devoted to Judaism in general and its directions, summarizes literary sources of Judaism, and describes dialogue between Christians and Jews. Next chapters of this diploma work present holidays in Jewish year and their division to several groups, Jewish family, including subchapter dealing with pregnancy and birth of a child and habits related to these events. In the final section at the conclusion of the theoretical part of this diploma work I have made comparison between three world monotheistic religions as a source of medical ethics and outlined attitude of Judaism to abortion and assisted reproduction. Research has been carried out by applying quantitative method and the students of South Bohemian University ? Faculty of Pedagogy, Faculty of Theology and Medical Social faculty in the city of České Budějovice took part in the research. Technique of data collection was based on anonymous questionnaire. Total number of 300 questionnaires was distributed (100 questionnaires for each of the aforementioned faculties).

1 Summary Diploma thesis "The theological treatise by Master Jacobellus de Misa ‚De usura iudeorum et christianorum' and his reflection of the position of Jews in society" is about the one from the writings of m. Jakoubek of Stříbro. Treatise "Contra usuram" ("Against usury") was written about in the year 1415, and has not yet been translated into Czech. For the use of this theses, I translated the Latin text of Appendix into Czech. The first chapter of advocates selected topic in historical context, that is, the crisis of the turn of the 14. and 15. century, when the high middle ages already continuously paced to the modern era. Our history has been called Czech Hussite reformation and revolution. In the second chapter is introduced by m. Jacob of Mies as a friend, collaborator and successor in the work of m. Jan Hus at the Prague University. Together with m. Nicholas from Dresden initiated the adoption of recovery sub utraque speciae and became a leading theologian utraquists.The subject of the third chapter is the concept of usury, according to the Scriptures, the church fathers and teachers, and the medieval doctrine of the usury and its effects. Usury was all the ecclesiastical authorities, widely dismissed as immoral, forbidden Letters social phenomenon. The fifth chapter deals with the dramatic...

This study was aimed at exploring the impact of spirituality on the well-being of students at Rhodes University in South Africa. The study was conducted within a qualitative research paradigm deploying an interpretive phenomenological analysis strategy for data analysis. The study involved a sample of four female Honours students who were all active Christians. The selected students were interviewed to elicit their experiences of spirituality and how this related to their everyday lives. The study used semi-structured interviews in order to get as much information as possible from the small sample of research participants. Data generated in this study was processed, presented and interpreted inductively and hermeneutically in order to identify emerging superordinate themes. This study found that spirituality was experienced as having a positive impact on well-being by all the four students. The study revealed that belief and faith in God amongst the students resulted in enhanced and positive experiences of hope, optimism and compassion which provided the students with a deeper sense of meaning of life and a source of direction in difficult times. The study further showed that participants experienced spirituality as a regulatory mechanism shaping their lifestyles and behaviours. Participants viewed their spirituality and religiosity as a source of social support helping them to cope with distressful situations. The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies done in the field of psychology and spirituality. The fact that this study has shown that spirituality and religion has a positive impact on student’s well-being may mean that University administrators and psychologists may find the study interesting and valuable

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux collaborations et au partage du savoir entre intellectuels juifs et chrétiens, en France, durant les XIIIe et XIVe siècles et propose une analyse comparative des différents échanges, dans trois domaines distincts : théologie, philosophie et astronomie. En prenant en compte les sources latines et hébraïques qui témoignent de cette transmission du savoir, nous proposons une étude approfondie divisée en deux parties. La première s’intéresse à l’évolution de l’enseignement dans les communautés juives et dans la société chrétienne. La seconde analyse le contexte de rédaction des Extractiones de Talmut, la transmission du savoir entre Maïmonide et Thomas d’Aquin, la collaboration étroite entre Jacob ben Makhir et Armengaud Blaise, ainsi que l’échange intellectuel significatif entre Gersonide et ses confrères chrétiens. Notre objectif est de répondre aux questions suivantes : les savants chrétiens et juifs recevaient-ils l’information selon leur propre valeur intellectuelle, ne tenant pas compte de leur provenance ? Et existait-il une influence directe de l’un et de l’autre ? Cette étude tente ainsi de montrer les différents motifs de ces échanges à travers un champ contextuel constitué par un événement intellectuel précis. Nous verrons ainsi que ces relations vacillent entre méfiance et admiration. / This thesis sheds lights on collaborations and transfer of knowledge between Jewish and Christian scholars in France during the 13th and 14th centuries. We propose a comparative analysis of different exchanges, in three distinct areas: theological, philosophical and astronomical. Taking into account the Latin and Hebrew sources that testify this transmission of knowledge, we propose an in-depth study, dividing in two sections. The first part narrates the evolution of education in the Jewish communities and in Christian society. The second part analyses the context of the Extractiones de Talmut, the transmission of knowledge between Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas, the close collaboration between Jacob ben Makhir and Armengaud Blaise, as well as the significant intellectual exchange between Gersonides and his fellow Christians. Our objective is to answer the following questions: did Christian and Jewish scholars receive information according to their own intellectual value, ignoring their source? And was there a direct influence from one scholar towards the other? Thus, this study demonstrates the different motives of these exchanges through a contextual field constituted by a specific intellectual event. We will perceive that these relations vacillate between mistrust and admiration.

China is a world force. Not only is China seen in the daily news but it has produced the largest church in the world. The church is 100 million people strong (Hattaway 2003:13). Since 1978, modern China has begun to populate the world community with her immigrants. Vast Diaspora communities have been created. The church in China shows all the signs of a Jesus People movement. In 1949 the communist came into power. They ordered all Christian missionaries to leave the country (Aikman 2003:44). By 1953 the last missionary had left (Thompson 1978:186). Mao closed the churches, confiscated property, burned books and bibles and had leaders sent to re-education camps. A time of persecution had begun. Rather than destroy the church, this made it stronger. The church grew from 750,000 to 100 million today. Can this Jesus People movement be experienced in the Diaspora community in South Africa? To evaluate this we use Allan Hirsch’s “The Forgotten Ways” (2006). In this he speaks of Apostolic Genius and the six elements that compose it. Thos elements are Jesus is Lord, Making Disciples, Missional-Incarnational Impulse, Apostolic Environment, Organic Systems and Communitas. These six elements are found expressed within a Jesus people movement. When they are all fully involved, a Jesus People movement is underway. There are 14 Chinese Christian churches in South Africa. The Chinese Diaspora community is 300-350,000 people. The Chinese mostly come from the Fujian province in China. Seventy percent are entrepreneurs and businessmen running shops selling Chinese goods. The researcher has found that the leadership of the churches is from Taiwan. Bringing everything together, the researcher finds the churches are growing at a moderate rate. The expected explosive growth of the church in China is not found in South Africa. The elements of Apostolic Genius are present but only partially expressed. There continues to be potential for the Chinese House church movement to field workers in South Africa. There has been some expressed interest. The Back To Jerusalem Movement is putting missionaries all over the Middle East (Hattaway 2003). It is the opinion of the researcher that putting workers in the Diaspora communities would be a natural extension of that that effort. / Dissertation (MA Theol)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

For my PhD thesis I conducted qualitative field research in a Chinese Christian community in Germany for two and a half years. The research was to explore what functions are fulfilled when Chinese students in Germany convert to Christianity. This survey is therefore not considered to be a contribution to the investigation of the reasons for conversion; instead, the approach is a functional one. From this premise arises the assumption that conversion is only one creative coping strategy amongst many in dealing with problems which confront every person. From the observed strategies for solving problems used by the protagonists, conclusions about the corresponding problem areas could be drawn. In this way it was possible to extract the most important motives for conversion.:0. Einleitung, S. 1 0.1 Forschungsgegenstand, S. 1 0.2 Angewandte ethnografische Methoden, S. 2 0.3 Aufbau der Arbeit, S. 5 1. Historischer Hintergrund: Christentum in China, chinesische Christ(inn)en in den USA und Deutschland, S. 7 1.1 Geschichte der christlichen Mission in China, S. 7 1.1.1 Protestantische Mission von 1800 bis 1949, S. 7 1.1.2 Das protestantische Christentum in China von 1949 bis heute, S. 14 1.2 Konversion in China: Das Problem der chinesischen Termini und der gegenwärtige chinesische Forschungsstand zu Konversionsmotiven, S. 20 1.3 Konversion von Chines(inn)en zum Christentum in den USA: Gegenwärtiger Forschungsstand, S. 28 1.4 Chinesische Christen in Deutschland, S. 43 1.4.1 Geschichte der Chines(inn)en in Deutschland, S. 43 1.4.2 Allgemeines zur Chinesischen Evangelischen Gemeinde (CEG), S. 48 2. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Konversion, S. 54 2.1 Klassische psychologische Ansätze, S. 54 2.2 „Gehirnwäsche“, S. 61 2.3 Soziologische Konversionsforschung, S. 64 2.4 Rational-Choice-Theorie, S. 79 2.5 Erweiterung des funktionalistischen Ansatzes um Konzepte des religiösen Coping, S. 85 3. Familiäre Strukturen, Normen und Ideale der Chinesischen Evangelischen Gemeinde, S. 94 3.1 Die chinesische Familie: Struktur, Wandel, Relikte, S. 95 3.1.1 Traditionelle Familienstrukturen und konfuzianische Familienideale, S. 95 3.1.2 Die Transformation der traditionellen Familienstrukturen, S. 99 3.1.3 Die partielle „Restauration“ der traditionellen Familienstrukturen, S. 102 3.2 Die Chinesische Evangelische Gemeinde als christliche Familie, S. 109 3.2.1 Die Familienstruktur der CEG und damit verbundene Normen und Ideale, S. 110 3.2.2 Offizielle Familiennormen in der CEG und ihre Rezeption bei den Akteuren, S. 128 4. Funktionen der Konversion in der Chinesischen Evangelischen Gemeinde, S. 135 4.1 Methodische Reflexion, S. 135 4.2 Äußerer Rahmen: Hinführung, Bekenntnis, Taufe, S. 137 4.3 Ergebnisse der teilnehmenden Beobachtung, S. 140 4.3.1 Konversion als Realisation von Geborgenheit, S. 142 4.3.2 Konversion als Realisation von Sicherheit, S. 159 4.3.3 Konversion als Realisation von Heilung, S. 180 4.4 Auswertung der Bekehrungserzählungen und Interviews, S. 197 4.4.1 Konversion als Realisation von Geborgenheit, S. 198 4.4.2 Konversion als Realisation von Sicherheit, S. 224 4.4.3 Konversion als Realisation von Heilung, S. 252 5. Die Konversion chinesischer Studierender in Deutschland zum Christentum als familienorientierte Coping-Strategie zur Realisation von Geborgenheit, Sicherheit und Heilung, S. 271 5.1 Realisation von Geborgenheit zur Milderung von Einsamkeit und familiärer Disharmonie, S. 275 5.2 Realisation von Sicherheit zur Milderung von Überforderung, S. 281 5.3 Realisation von Heilung zur Milderung von Stressreaktionen auf äußere Schwierigkeiten sowie von psychischen Problemen, S. 283 6. Literaturverzeichnis, S. 288 7. Anhang, S. 313

この研究は、三人の日本自由メスジスト教団指導者たち（柿原正次、河邊貞吉、土山鐵次）の宣教活動を辿り、一国家の市民であることと宗教共同体の一員であることとの接点を探求する。彼らはそれぞれ、日本人キリスト者が同胞へのキリスト教伝道者となり得ること、さらには同胞のみならずアメリカ人や中国人への伝道者にもなり得ることを証明しようとし、キリスト教を「西洋の」宗教ではなく、「日本の」宗教であると同時に国境を越えた宗教であると再定義を試みた。 / Tracing the missionary activities of three Japanese Free Methodist leaders–Kakihara Masaji, Kawabe Teikichi, and Tsuchiyama Tetsuji–in three developing phases, this study explores these Japanese Free Methodists' attempts to make Christianity simultaneously "Japanese" and transnational, challenging assumptions that Christianity and Christian missionaries were "Western." It demonstrates how they skillfully navigated competing national and religious borders and how they shared their spiritual power with American and Chinese Christians. By pointing out the uncertain ground of national, cultural, and religious identity, this study suggests Christianity's possibilities and limitations as a way of bringing people together across boundaries of politics and nation. / 博士(アメリカ研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

This dissertation explores the traditional Ba Venda concept of the after-life vis-a-vis the Ba Venda Christian understanding of eternal life. In this dissertation a historical background of the traditional Ba Venda and how there were reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ will be given. A comparative study of the traditional Ba Venda and Christian Ba Venda beliefs and practices is given. It will be noted that the Ba Venda Christians of BeitBridge district revert to traditional beliefs and practices concerning the dead. These rituals carried out by the Ba Venda Christians show the syncretistic elements practiced. A central question therefore is "Are the Ba Venda Christians operating on the basis of Christian concept of death and hereafter?" It is argued in this dissertation that the Ba Venda Christian concept of death and after life is the blending of Ba Venda Christian and Ba Venda traditional beliefs and practices, particularly when it comes to death and burial practices. / Religious studies / M.A.(Religious)

Text in Afrikaans / I wanted to investigate the way people experienced confessional pastoral therapy by conducting a qualitative research study. The role of the pastor were examined as well as the effect of discourses of power and ethics in pastoral counseling. I interviewed clients who were counseled by pastors of the AFM Church (Apostolic Faith Mission). The research supposes that knowledge and power discourses have a major influence in pastoral counseling which is often not accounted for. I wanted to see how clients experienced the effects of these discourses of power and ethics. I furthermore wanted to see how these power discourses could result in clients feeling subordinate to the pastor and his knowledge and the effect that these feelings might have on them. The purpose of this study was not to generalize the experiences of the participants, but rather to set a contextual background of the experiences of power in confessional pastoral counseling. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastorale Terapie)

The subject of this study is Christian education in the church. This practical-theological work starts from the premise of the relevance of a commitment experience for the faith development of the individual and studies the formats and contents of continuing formal faith education of young Christians in evangelical free churches in a postmodern-urban milieu in Frankfurt. Its aim is to find out how well the New Testament discipleship topics of Jesus are integrated into the faith education in the church, and what reception difficulties and chances they experience in regard to the Zeitgeist. Are the New Testament discipleship topics still the basic guidelines with regard to content? The relationship between faith development, faith education and the local church is presented within a religion- and church-pedagogical approach and a connection to education for discipleship is made. The biblical premise is the discipleship commission of Jesus (Mt 28:18-20) and its church-pedagogical reply. / Der Untersuchungsgegenstand ist die christliche Erziehung in der Gemeinde. Diese praktisch-theologische Arbeit geht aus von der Bedeutung einer Commitment-Erfahrung für die Glaubensentwicklung des Einzelnen und untersucht die Formate und Inhalte der weiterführenden formalen Glaubenserziehung junger Christen in evangelikal-freikirchlichen Gemeinden im postmodern-urbanen Umfeld in Frankfurt. Ihr Ziel ist es, herauszufinden, inwiefern heute die neutestamentlichen Nachfolgethemen Jesu in der gemeindlichen Glaubenserziehung behandelt werden und welche Rezeptionsschwierigkeiten und Chancen sie im heutigen Zeitgeist haben. Sind dabei die neutestamentlichen Nachfolgethemen Jesu noch die inhaltlichen Grundrichtlinien? In einem religions- und gemeindepädagogischen Zugang wird die Beziehung von Glaubensentwicklung, Glaubenserziehung und der Ortsgemeinde gezeigt und mit der Erziehung zur Nachfolge verknüpft. Der biblische Ausgangspunkt ist der Jüngerschaftsauftrag Jesu (Mt 28,18-20) und dessen gemeindepädagogische Antwort. / Practical Theology / M. Th.(Practical Theology)