This thesis argues that the Epistle of James provides the resources that will address the problem of discrimination and exploitation in the Church of the Brethren in Gavva area. In order to argue this, I establish that Gavva area is a peasant society. I argue that the Epistle of James addresses the situation of the peasants in the first century Palestine. The peasants were discriminated against and exploited by the wealthy and the elites in James’ time. This prompts James to condemn the wealthy landowners and the merchants for their attitude toward the peasants. I examine the Epistle against the model of the moral economy developed by Sahlins and modified by Moxnes in The Economy of the Kingdom (1988). They delineate three categories of reciprocity: generalized, balanced and negative reciprocity. These are used as the basis of analysis of James and then extended also to an analysis of the moral economy of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Further empirical study reveals that the poor in Gavva area are living in poverty and are discriminated against because they did not have opportunity to receive early educational training that might have equipped them to hold positions in the church and society. The concepts of poverty of Klaus Nürnberger, Amartya Sen, Bryant Myer and Adarigho-Oriako have also assisted me in evaluating the problem of poverty of Gavva area. Since Gavva area is, like the community to which the Epistle of James is addressed, an analysis of peasants and their moral economy, clientage and patronage, honour and shame are vital to my research. In this respect, the work of James C. Scott in Domination and Art of Resistance: the Hidden Transcript (1990) has proved valuable in my analysis of the way the poor in Gavva area are dominated by the wealthy. The poor develop resistance to the church leadership and the wealthy in their “hidden transcript” developed “off stage.” In this research, I discovered that the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria has official documents on discrimination, poverty, the poor and how to take care of them, which should direct their economic policy. But the church leadership does not enforce the teachings in the documents because of contending socio-economic forces and personal interests. I also find that the problem originated in the circumstances of the merger¹ I have explained what the merger means in chapter 5. which was complicated by tribalism that is present in the church. The major tribes seem to dominate every aspect of the church leadership and its programmes and institutions. As a possible contribution to addressing the problems of discrimination, exploitation and tribalism in the church, I published Bible study material from my research findings with an emphasis on the Epistle of James. The church will use the Bible study outline to conduct Bible study in all the Local Church Councils (LCC) throughout Nigeria. My hope is that the Bible study will bring the wealthy, the poor, the pastors/church leaders and the different tribes together so that church members will come together as one and pastors and church leaders will nolonger give preferential treatment to the wealthy members but see themselves as members of one community and treating one another as equals. The pastors would not give preferential treatment to the wealthy and the wealthy would honour the poor. ¹ I have explained what the merger means in chapter 5. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This thesis addresses the issue of the millennial reign of Christ in Revelation 20: 1-10. It is an attempt to investigate whether the millennium is a future event or already inaugurated. The Apocalypse has been the focus of attention of many end time movements down through the ages. This thesis picks up one of the most popular issues out of such a focus. One of the issues in the Apocalypse of John is the expectation of a thousand year reign of Christ. During the period of early Christianity up to the middle ages the question of the nature of the millennium has been controversial. Recently the debate over the millennial reign of Christ in the Apocalypse has intensified more than ever before. Three major views have been advocated and such views have brought in a greater dilemma, since the reader of the Apocalypse has to choose one of the views. Having grown up in an evangelical religious background, which places emphasis upon apocalyptic ideologies; I found myself becoming more and more attracted to this debate. At last I have entered the wagon with a view to demonstrate, in my own way, that the millennial reign is already actualised rather than expected. This sounds very controversial compared to what has always been thought by many Christians since their early days of Sunday School. This 'territory' has been trod by various scholars so much so that I am not in a position to claim to be a pioneer in this investigation. I endeavour to re-examine the issue of millennium in the light of a sociological analysis from my own perspective. I intend to perceive the other side of the mountain that has been hidden from me all along ( as a hidden transcript of the Apocalypse). After having established the task of rethinking millennium. I wish to go further and look at the East African concept of millennium, even though no comparative study is intended at this level of my research, apart from laying bare the framework, such is very important for the inculturation of theology today. This thesis will be tabulated into three main parts, the first deals with sociology of sects and the Apocalypse, in this part a model will be formulated, which will be applied in the delineation of the Apocalypse community in chapter three. The second part deals with the concept of millennium within the Bible and ends up with an exegesis of the passage that clearly mentions this term. The third part deals with the East African concept of millennium and the conclusion of the whole thesis. All Biblical quotations are from the Revised Standard Version Bible, while all the abbreviations follow Killian (1985). / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Although the Bible was brought to Africa by missionaries as part of the Western European colonial package deat Africans have claimed the book as their ownand have appropriated it from the perspective of their culture, world-view and life experience. It is as though Africans are asking, with the attendants in Jerusalem on Pentecost, "How is it that each of us hears [the wonders of God] in his own native language?" (Acts 2:8ff). In the midst of the stresses caused by poor working conditions, low wages and high cost of living, the African commuter-train worshipper has found the Bible to be an indispensable source of hope, and a source of life itself. In the morning, on the way to work, and in the evening on the way back home, the African commuter can still afford a smile as the Bible promises him/her solutions to all problems. When the problems seem insurmountable, the commuter finds solace in the Biblical beatitude "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20b). The commuter hears blessings pronounced on the hungry and the weeping in the Bible, and he is convinced that these blessings are pronounced on him too. The Bible is an indispensable tool in the hands of the African commuter-train worshipper, who interprets it and appropriates its message in a liberating manner, which the western mind sometimes cannot make sense of. The Bible remains the one book that gives dignity to all the commuter-train worshippers who live in squatter camps and sprawling townships, as it banishes all social inequalities. This study is about the way in which the African commuter-train worshippers read and interpret the Bible. The commuter's use of the Bible is placed within the context of the conventional African Biblical hermeneutical field. The commuter is recognized as an ordinary (untrained) reader whose contribution is highly valued by this author. This piece of work is a modest attempt at bringing to light the emerging phenomenon of commuter reading of the Bible, with the hope that Biblical scholars will take note of this rising phenomenon and give it the attention it deserves. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1987.

In this dissertation, I explore the history of research of John 10: 1-18, I attempt to make a contribution to the understanding of this very important chapter in John by using Literary Theory for exegetical purposes, draw some conclusions with regard to the Christology of John and open some avenues of the understanding of the significance of the shepherd metaphor for our own context. In John's own time, this chapter definitely had social, religious as well as political significance. I attempt to determine how these facts interact with Jeremiah 23: 1-8 and Ezekiel 34: 1-6. I also draw some conclusions which may serve as guidelines in our own context and especially our own pastoral needs in the situation of conflict in our society, leaders who lead the flock of God astray and the need of unity among Christians. / Thesis (M.Theol.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1994.

Since the blossoming of the linguistic theories in the Johannine scholarship, interest in the figurative language of John‘s Gospel has increased. In this study on John 20:22, the statement ―Jesus breathed on them‖, that is, on his disciples, is addressed as a metaphor evoking the theme of creation. It is argued that this metaphor is essential in the understanding of the ideo-theological framework of the author of the Fourth Gospel. It plays a key function in the network of Johannine metaphors. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The book of Deuteronomy turns out to be very interesting for the study of passing on religious traditions within family. On the one hand, with a canonical approach — i.e. an approach where the function of a biblical text within the canon is emphasised over die history of this text - Deuteronomy acts like the hermeneutical key explaining how the new generations must face and actualise the Torah — the principles of life and conduct given by the Lord to His people. On the orner hand, the content of Deuteronomy represents the family as the privileged place, or rather die "vehicle" by which die Torah will be handed down to the next generation.

This dissertation examines ethnohermeneutics theories and proposes an alternative view to cross-cultural interpretation. Chapter 1 introduces the study by examining the topic of ethnohermeneutics and its development out of the indigenous movement. For the sake of clarity, key terms are defined. The project background, methodology, and the limitations and delimitations are also stated in this chapter. Chapter 2 gives a history of the ethnohermeneutics theories of interpretation. This chapter examines the modern hermeneutics theories and the contemporary missiological discussions related to indigenization and contextualization that laid the groundwork for the development of theories related to ethnohermeneutics. Chapter 3 is an evaluation of ethnohermeneutics theories of interpretation. It provides an overview of these theories by examining the writings of the major proponents and stating the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. Chapter 4 provides an alternative model for cross-cultural hermeneutics. This chapter explains the importance of authorial intent to biblical interpretation. It examines the steps involved in determining and applying the author's meaning and an interpreter undertakes those steps in places where there is a lack of resources or the people are primary oral learners. Chapter 5 applies the alternative model to the East Asian context. It examines the East Asian context and the difficulties that arise when conducting biblical interpretation in this region of the world, and then the model for cross-cultural interpretation will be implemented by examining three texts of Scripture and the ways they apply in this context. Chapter 6 serves as the conclusion and summarizes the study. It discusses why training in hermeneutics is important to discipleship in missiological contexts and explains the implications of this study to other areas of hermeneutics. / This dissertation is under embargo until 2013-12-13.

This study presents a systematic analysis of motifs, literary devices, and language in the Fourth Gospel that resemble similar motifs, literary devices, and language in Socratic tradition. The persistent recurrence of words and patterns of thought in the Fourth Gospel which are common to Platonic philosophy, Socratic progymnasmata, and well-known descriptions of Socrates’ moral heroism and martyr’s death lead me to conclude that the Johannine authors imagined Socrates’ life as a “pagan prophetic theme” which Jesus fulfilled; their use of Socratic tradition in the Fourth Gospel is subtle but obvious, and was used to appeal to a pagan or highly hellenized audience intimately familiar with Socratic tradition as the embodiment and articulation of social and religious values in the Hellenistic period. Much of the study is devoted to literary analysis of the Fourth Gospel, and draws upon the rhetorical criticism models developed by George Kennedy. Through rhetorical criticism the educational background of the Johannine writers becomes clear, as do their evangelical motives in appropriating Socratic tradition for their invention of Jesus’ speeches and martyrdom. / Department of Modern Languages and Classics

The "self-disclosures" in Jeremiah, including not only the so-called "confessions" but also other first person material which seems to express the prophet's inner feelings, are examined in a detailed, exegetical fashion with careful attention to-both the ancient versions and the subsequent history of exegesis. Special attention is given to the works of Rashi and Kimchi. Three basic questions are asked: 1) What do the "self-disclosures" represent? 2) To what degree can the "self-disclosures" be said to portray the historical Jeremiah? 3) Why are the "self-disclosures" included in the corpus of Jeremianic literature? These questions are approached by examining the relevant passages against the backdrop of the prophetic orthodoxy of the late 7th century B. C., which is seen to consist of commonly held notions of the role, message, and perhaps even temperament of the prophet within the current socio-religious framework. This orthodoxy is viewed as having initially defined Jeremiah's understanding of the prophetic office. But in the "self-disclosures" Jeremiah wrestles with the other side of his experience as a prophet, the painful and mysterious side, and attempts to forge a new understanding of the prophetic vocation. In the end, the fundamental element of the prophetic vocation for Jeremiah is seen as the "Word of the Lord." The prophet's conviction that he had been entrusted with the powerful, efficacious "Word" became the touchstone of both his vocational self-understanding and his authentication against the false prophets who represented prophetic orthodoxy. And the "Word" was ultimately the source of his suffering. All of these elements may be seen in the call-narrative which is examined in detail as the introduction to the entire book. The closing chapter of the thesis takes a closer look at the theological kerygma of the "self-disclosures," particularly in relation to the problem of suffering.