No abstract available. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 191-212. / This is a study of the National Catholic Federation of Students (NCFS), an organisation that sought to bring together Catholic students on South African university campuses, examining specifically NCFS' political ideas and activities from 1960 to 1987. The underlying supposition of this thesis is that church history ought to be an integral part of the discipline of history, and that there is a need to write church history from "below" from the perspectives of the "people's church", the church that comprises the religious experience of the majority of its members rather than its hierarchy.

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The role of scriptural interpretation in the Monarchian controversy of the early 3rd century C.E. has received relatively little scholarly attention. This oversight is due, in large part, to a persuasive if unstated belief held by many modern scholars that Scripture is a secondary or tertiary factor in the construction of doctrine. This thesis will argue that scriptural interpretation played a primary or generative role in the construction of doctrine. The Proto-Trinitarians and Monarchians believed their position to be superior to that of their opponents’ precisely because it made better sense of the scriptural data. This thesis will argue that the modern view which sees the early church fathers as poor exegetes may have more to do with questionable modern assumptions about the interpretive enterprise (especially when doctrine is considered) than it has to do with any interpretive incompetence of the early Christian interpreters. The introduction will offer a survey of the modern status quo view of patristic interpretation in general and patristic interpretation in a doctrinal context in particular. It will then consider some dissenting voices to the status quo view. Chapter 1 will offer a brief history of the Monarchian movement and examine the Monarchian doctrine of God and its scriptural basis, seeking first to provide an accurate picture of Monarchian belief and secondly to show that the Monarchians took Scripture seriously in their theologizing. Chapters 2 and 3 will consider the two most influential treatises in the demise of Monarchianism, the Contra Noetum (chapter 2) and Tertullian’s Adversus Praxeas (chapter 3). It will be demonstrated that scriptural interpretation was the decisive factor in their theological construction of the nature of God and that the Gospel of John played a decisive role in their rebutting of the Monarchian position.

The outpouring of apocalyptic thought in the late sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries in England has been acknowledged, the sources of these ideas have not been explored sufficiently. The aim of this study is to redress that imbalance by showing the pervasiveness of fear aroused by the Antichrist and the sense of imminent judgment that affected mentalities of the Later Middle Ages and Reformation. Particularly in the case of the Lollards, one finds a heightened sense of the impending "Day of the Lord" because they perceived that the principal foe of Christ, the horrific Antichrist, had seized the Holy See of the established church; hence, Christ must soon appear to vanquish his enemy. The identification of the papacy as the dreaded Antichrist was more than a rhetorical ploy used by the Lollards to cast aspersions on their opponent. They corroborated the historical record of the papacy's rise to power with the absolute standard of the 'law of Christ'. Biblical prophecies of the Antichrist's tactics were confirmed by their experiences before episcopal commissions--at times concluded by death at the stake. In homes and in secret gathering places, they communicated the revolutionary vision that the Antichrist was a 'corporate' entity, not a super-human megalomaniac nor a mere symbol of evil; indeed, the 'Abomination of Desolation' reigned from within the church. Denouncing the Roman church as the " sinagogue of Satan", they resisted the hegemonic control stealthily acquired by the Antichrist, propagated through church law and papal accretions of dogma. They exposed the machinations of the Beast attempting to gain absolute control over secular authorities as well. Thus, the Lollards abrogated the authority claimed by the medieval church as they formed their own concept of church and community. A reform movement, initiated from the 'ivory tower' of Oxford University, penetrated into the fields, villages and towns of late medieval and Reformation England. The measure of its impact is reflected in the concerted effort of church and crown to eradicate Lollardy and in its legacy--that harried Elizabeth I, while it motivated Oliver Cromwell.

This dissertation argues that there are unresolved doctrinal tensions in several Mormon doctrines. While many Mormon scholars have assumed that the same doctrinal views have been taught since the founding of the church in 1830, the weight of historical evidence argues directly against this assumption and indirectly against the church's claim to have exclusive possession of true doctrines. There have been three periods of doctrinal development in the Mormon church. During the first five years of the church's existence, 1830-1835, Joseph Smith taught the doctrines of early Mormonism. From 1835 until the 1950s, the doctrines of traditional Mormonism were taught. Mormon neo-absolutist, which arose in the 1950s and has sometimes been referred to it as Mormon neo-orthodoxy, has attempted to return to the more absolute, infinite view of God early Mormonism. Early Mormons taught that God was completely omniscient and omnipotent. There was no knowledge or power that God did not possess. Traditional Mormons redefined God's nature in light of the emerging unique Mormon metaphysics. Since God exists within an environment of intelligences, matter, time, space, and laws, he cannot be completely omniscient or omnipotent. Mormon neo-absolutist have returned to the early Mormon view that God possesses all knowledge and power without limitations. Early Mormonism taught that humans are finite, fallen, and sinful creatures who must be saved from condemnation primarily through the means of grace. Traditional Mormons embraced Joseph Smith's later teachings that humans have the same ontological status as God; therefore, they developed a more optimistic view of human nature and the potential for human exaltation to divine status. Humans could be exalted primarily through human effort and assisted only to a lesser degree by the grace of God. These historical changes in Mormon doctrines have contributed to a shift in the Mormon view of faith and reason. Until the rise of Mormon neo-absolutism, Mormons believed that their faith was rational and reconcilable with science. Because neo-absolutists have not been able to reconcile their views of God with the unique Mormon metaphysics, they have diminished the value of reason, science, and education for faith. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

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Montague, Melody Grace. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-148). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgments --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii-v / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction: Why Sanyuan? --- p.1-3 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Surveying the Field and Mapping the Course: Historiography, Methodology and Sources" --- p.4-21 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Setting the Stage: The Sanyuan Mission Story --- p.22-57 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Meeting the Chinese Church: Sanyuan Christians Up Close --- p.58-113 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Reevaluating the Big Picture: Portrait of a Chinese Church --- p.114-139 / Appendix Maps --- p.140-141 / Bibliography --- p.142-148