"We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to Gentiles". In so writing, St. Paul stated in its briefest form the scandal of the Christian faith. To human reason it is nonsense to suppose that a man who grew up and lived like other men, and who ultimately died on a cross, could at the same time be the Son of God, equal to God, eternal like God, and Creator of the world with Him. Contrary to the painfully-evolved and carefully formulated conclusion reached by philosophers, that God is one, and diametrically opposed to the monotheistic divine revelation given to Israel, the belief that Jesus was Son of God and equal to His Father seemed; when it was first postulated, to imply some kind of flaw in the indivisibility of God. Men were being asked to believe that they could see God incarnate, that is, in a being of flesh and blood. Yet all our faith hovers around this precise point.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:19:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Roger Bradbury.pdf: 1632359 bytes, checksum: 6941c9e93a847f98a46de97c423a55a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The results of the literature search corroborate what in religious practice I had already noted, the existence of certain intentional syncretism of apprehension and religious content review, in other words, the matrix Judeo-Christian worldviews impregnated with values and role models that marked the new Spiritualism gender representations, still in France, and later in Brazil. It was found that both in literature and in the spiritist ethos has always been an oscillation between a sexual division of more traditional androcentric with the overvaluation of women as mothers, and men work as providers - and as a consequence the limitation on skills development occurs and competencies of both sexes in the various social institutions (family, work, etc.), including the spiritist institutions on the one hand, and; On the other hand, an alleged defense posture of the progressive liberation (emancipation) of womens rights. This research aimed to analyze the representations of gender in literary-doctrinal productions of contemporary Brazilian Spiritism, from a survey of the historical context that would have influenced the development of the spirit gender representations from a stage prior to the institutionalization of Spiritism, in France and in Brazil, to the present day and how such representations of gender structure the internal organization of Spiritualism, regarding the sexual division of labor. In addition to literature search was performed analysis of the Spiritisms doctrinal literature. / Os resultados da pesquisa bibliográfica corroboram o que na prática religiosa já havia notado, a existência de certo sincretismo intencional de apreensão e revisão de conteúdos religiosos, ou seja, de cosmovisões de matriz judaico-cristã impregnadas de valores e modelos de comportamento que marcaram as novas representações de gênero do Espiritismo, ainda na França, e posteriormente, no Brasil. Constatou-se que tanto na literatura espírita quanto no ethos espírita sempre houve uma oscilação entre uma divisão sexual do trabalho mais tradicional e androcêntrica com a supervalorização das mulheres como mães, e dos homens como provedores e como consequência disto ocorre a limitação do desenvolvimento das habilidades e competências de ambos os sexos nas várias instituições sociais (família, mercado de trabalho, etc.), inclusive nas instituições espíritas, de um lado, e; por outro lado, uma pretensa postura de defesa da progressiva liberação (emancipação) dos direitos da mulher. A presente pesquisa objetivou analisar as representações de gênero nas produções lítero-doutrinárias do Espiritismo brasileiro contemporâneo, a partir de um levantamento do contexto histórico que teria influenciado a elaboração das representações de gênero espíritas, desde uma fase anterior à institucionalização do Espiritismo, na França e no Brasil, aos dias de hoje e como tais representações de gênero estruturam a organização interna do Espiritismo, no que tange a divisão sexual do trabalho. Além de pesquisa bibliográfica foi realizada análise da literatura doutrinária espírita.

Magister Theologiae - MTh / Classic Christian theology regards evil as the product of sin, the emphasis in traditional African religion and culture is on human sin as the result of evil forces. This thesis investigated the way in which African Christian theologians understand the relationship between sin and evil. The question, which was addressed was, does sin lead to evil or evil lead to sin. / South Africa

Submitted to the Faculty of Theology and Religion Studies in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology in the Department of Systematic Theology, Ethics and History of Christianity at the University of Zululand, 2005. / The title "A New Creation in Christ" served as the basis for the examination of the definitive theological and Biblical concepts of the doctrines of creation, humanity, sin and salvation. It integrated the foci of these doctrines, in constructing a paradigm for establishing what is meant by the dissertation title, 'a new creation in creation.' To understand a new creation theology requires a composite structuring of these interrelated doctrines, since no doctrine can be understood vacuously. Humanity was not created in an abstract or theoretical world, and neither were they placed in isolation from creation. Instead, they were very much a part of the created order, and were endowed with specific function or purpose. They interacted with a living world and were accorded the responsibility as its stewards. The consideration of the facets of the doctrine of creation enabled an understanding of humanity’s placement in creation, their purpose and how sin affected creation. This informs the doctrine of humanity in highlighting the biblical emphasis on humanity as the special creation of God. God created humanity in his image, and this image is an intrinsic and indispensable part of humanity's uniqueness and existence. The constitutional nature of humanity lies in its conditional unity of the whole person. Man is a unity of the physical, the psychological and the spiritual, all of which are purposed to enable him, in fulfilling the intentions of the Creator. The doctrine of sin clarified how sin affected the conditional unity of man i.e. the physical, the psychological and the spiritual dimensions. It further demonstrated the domino effect on creation. This precarious position which humanity found themselves in, required the intervention of God, through the incarnation of Christ Salvation is the free gift of God in Christ in dealing with the problem of sin, and the consequences thereof This free gift requires that a human being appropriate salvation in Jesus Christ, through the acceptance of him in faith and repentance. This background established a contextual understanding of a new creation in Christ. The definitive text for our discussion was Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." Paul's statement incorporates two elements of salvation. "If anyone is in Christ" is suggestive of the first element, which is the subjective nature of salvation. This involves the believer's conversion through repentance and faith. The second element is the objective nature of salvation. This is suggested in the next part of the statement "he is a new creation", which is accomplished through the redemptive work of God in Christ. The resident implication of the reference 'a new creation in Christ', is the inauguration of a new humanity that has begun in Christ. A cyclic model for the practical outworking of a new creation theology has been advocated in a threefold consideration of person hood, community and discipleship.

First, this thesis acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the central figure in the plan of salvation, and that the principal doctrine in the young women's curriculum should detail the Lord's atoning sacrifice (see Helaman 5:12). Second, it emphasizes the importance of God's law of witnesses (see Duet 19:15, Matt 18:16, 2 Cor 13:1, D&C 6:28). Third, it discusses the principles of edification within the young women's learning environment. Fourth, it explains the need to focus curriculum on universal and unchanging doctrine. The doctrine is the most crucial component in measuring the young women curriculum according to the latest standards offered by the Church Curriculum Department, the Seminaries and Institutes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint (S&I) and the Young Women Department. Brief histories of how these organizations developed their tools justify their use in this thesis. Finally, I share how the research was conducted and report findings. All of these sections are to aid the reader's vision of the lessons contained in the curriculum designed for young women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This thesis emphasizes lessons rooted in universal and unchanging doctrine in order for young women to formulate timeless and true principles. These principles, if lived, will then allow the young women to obtain testimonies that assist them in safely navigating their course in the spiritually treacherous environment spoken of in scripture (see 2 Tim 3:1). This thesis recognizes the family as the primary focus of gospel instruction, accentuating how the Young Women Department is support to the family. The General Young Women leaders exemplify the virtues requisite in today's faithful young women of the Church, and is it essential to follow their lead in curriculum updates. This thesis is meant to present timeless principles, historical witnesses of these principles (including an abbreviated doctrinal history used in the early organization), an analysis of young women curriculum in an effort to provide the Young Women organization information useful in further developing curriculum that requires minimal updating. In addition, I will offer a simple suggestion to assist in the development of a curriculum proposal which would have the enabling power to successfully teach a world-wide audience of young women.

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When reading the Bible in an independent way, i.e., not through the lenses of any official Church dogma, one is amazed by the many voices that come through to us. Add to this variety the literaiy finds from Nag Hammadi, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls, then the question now confronting many spiritual pilgrims is how it came about that these obviously diverse theologies, represented in the socalled Old and New Testaments, were moulded into only one "orthodox" result. In what way and to what degree were the many Christian groups different and distinctive from one another, as well as from other Jewish groups? Furthermore, what was the influence of other religions, Judaism, the Mysteries, Gnostics and Philosophers on the development, variety of groups and ultimately 021 the consolidation of "orthodox" soteriology? / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

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Thesis (D. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Christian confessions are frequently seen as Christian documents that have nothing to do with the subject of politics. This study endeavours to investigate the relationship between Christian confessions and politics, looking particularly at how the relationship between them has been construed in the theology of Karl Barth, the Barmen Declaration and the Belhar Confession. It concludes that a relationship between confession and politics is unavoidable, yet this relationship is only best comprehended when one looks at it in a confessional manner. A ‘confessional manner’ of reading Karl Barth’s theology is explained. Issues such as the primacy of the Word of God, the church as the subject of theology, the public witness of Christ to the world, the political context in which this theology takes place, as well as the ethical implications which emanates from this theology characterises confessional theology. The usage of the concept “confession” is informed by Barth’s observation that as Christians we are obliged to speak about God, but we are human beings and therefore cannot speak about God in an manner that suggest that God is fully comprehensible. By confining itself not merely to his monumental work – the Church Dogmatics – but also to Barth’s preceding and succeeding works, this research is able to render a detailed illustration of how Barth viewed the relationship of confessions to politics. Chapter 1 establishes the confessional nature of his theology. This chapter traces the most influential people and events that shaped the confessional nature of Barth’s theology. These include Luther, Kant, the Blumhardts, as well as Calvin and the Reformed theology in particular. Chapter 2 investigates whether Barth was true to his 1925 understanding of what constituted a Reformed confession when he was confronted with the need to confess in 1934. The historicity of the Barmen Theological Declaration is explored to illustrate that Barth continued to view theology in a confessional manner. Chapter 3 deals with Barth’s Church Dogmatics, illustrating that Barth never wanted his work to be seen as a complete event, but preferred to see it as a process. It argues that contrary to the 1930s where Barth’s theology insisted on the essence of confessional theology, the entire Church Dogmatics (especially the parts that proceeds the era indicated) should be read as confessional theology. Chapter 4 deals with the Belhar Confession that was adopted in South African in 1986. Admitting that the Belhar Confession was influenced by the theology of Barth, the characteristics of confessional theology are also explored in this Confession. It is argued that many have failed to see the Belhar Confession’s call for embodiment, because they have interpreted this Confession without regard for the new church order. Finally, it is argued that the confessional nature of Belhar allows this Confession to contribute positively to the current democratic dispensation in South Africa. It is admitted that the Belhar Confession is a confession of its time and. It is also argued that a confessional theology can be a suitable theological alternative that can contribute to the current theological deliberations. Additionally a confessional theology can provide a platform of discussing ways in which theology and politics, which remain intertwined, can both exist side by side, without the one dictating to the other. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Christelike belydenisse word dikwels beskou as Christelike verklarings wat geen verband met die politiek het nie. Gevolglik is daar 'n neiging om hierdie dokumente bloot te sien as teologies maar nie polities nie. Hierdie navorsing bespreek dié siening, maar voer aan dat, hoewel hierdie dokumente nie as sodanig polities is nie, ons tog nie die politieke kontekste waaruit hulle voortspruit, kan ignoreer nie. Twee belydenisse word gebruik om hierdie punt te illustreer, naamlik die Barmen Teologiese Verklaring (1934) in Nazi-Duitsland, en die Belharbelydenis (1986) gedurende die apartheidsregering in Suid-Afrika. Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie is dat daar in die teologie van Karl Barth én die Belhar Belydenis 'n onvermydelike verhouding tussen die Christelike belydenis en politiek bestaan. Die woord ”belydenis” word hier in verband gebring met Barth se interpretasie van die opdrag om oor God te praat uit hoofde van ons Christelike oortuigings, en ons onvermoë om oor God te praat weens ons menslike feilbaarheid. Hiervolgens is belydende teologie gekant teen neigings om oor God te praat op 'n manier wat voorgee dat God in sy volheid aan ons bekend is. Vyf opsigtelike kenmerke in die teologie van Barth word ondersoek. Hierdie kenmerke illustreer die mate waartoe teologie en politiek aan mekaar verwant is, en dat politiek altyd in Barth se teologie geïmpliseer word. Die studie voer ook aan dat Barth se teologie relevant is omdat dit probeer om die Woord op 'n ander manier te interpreteer na aanleiding van die spesifieke konteks waarbinne daar oor God gepraat word. Die studie beweer verder dat Barth se hele teologie as belydende teologie gelees moet word. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat belydende teologie verskil van “konfessionalisme” en altyd die beliggaming van dít wat bely word, impliseer. Deur hierdie kenmerke van belydende teologie in die teologie van Barth waar te neem, word daar besef dat sy teologie steeds ‘n deurslaggewende rol in ander teologiese kontekste speel. Om hierdie rede word daar aangevoer dat die Belharbelydenis grootliks deur die teologie van Barth beïnvloed is. Die debat oor die Belharbelydenis bring ook belangrike vrae oor die teologiese situasie in Suid-Afrika na vore. Ten slotte word daar aangevoer dat belydende teologie 'n nuttige teologie is wat teologie in die algemeen kan beskerm teen die kloue van “geteologiseerde politiek”. Hierdie teologie kan dus steeds 'n konstruktiewe bydrae tot die huidige teologiese debatte in 'n demokratiese Suid-Afrika lewer.