Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Network for African Congregational Theology (NetACT) is a network of theological institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa that are dogmatically Reformed by tradition. It was established that there is a need for more knowledge on the science of curriculum development and a need for an integrated value-driven curriculum framework that will have Reformed principles imbedded in it and that will be contextualised. Through questionnaires and curriculum development workshops, the situations at the different campuses of ten institutions were established. On the campuses of the NetACT institutions a positive learning environment prevails with enthusiastic lecturers and motivated students. The practical work of students in congregations is a high priority. On the other side of the coin, it was established that some key elements are missing – among them, a lack of integrated, value-driven, missional and contextualised curricula. Given the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, one should expect more emphasis on the prevailing poverty, on sensitive gender issues and on youth and children work, to mention a few. Libraries are ill stocked and research by lecturers and the publishing of articles are nearly non-existent. This dissertation addresses these needs by proposing a Reformational, missional and contextualised curriculum framework with as its main aim the development of mature students who will deliver academic work of the highest order. In Chapter 3, the need for an integrated worldview is argued for with Reformed principles such as Christ’s sovereignty in every sphere of life – no dualism between a so-called sacred and profane world should exist. In Chapter 4, an appeal is made to NetACT institutions to be missional by nature and to have a curriculum evaluation to see whether all the subjects have a missional focus. Contextualisation is the theme of Chapter 5 and, among others, a plea is made for curricula to portray true African reconciliation spirituality where worship, anti-racism and anti-tribalism should be an integral part of the official and hidden curricula. Based on these building blocks, a Reformational, African and contextual framework is presented in Chapter 6 with the help of a Transformative Circle that starts with listening to the narratives of the students and ends with a transformative action phase where educational principles are applied. The recommendations in Chapter 7 include the forming of quality control committees, the initiation of workshops on the facilitating process of curriculum design and implementation, the need to be accredited with ACTEA and the considering of the forming of institutes of Christian Higher Education. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Network for African Congregational Theology (NetACT) is 'n netwerk van hoër onderwys teologiese instellings van Gereformeerde oorsprong in sub-Sahara Afrika. Daar is vasgestel dat daar 'n behoefte bestaan by die NetACT instellings aan meer kennis oor die wetenskap van kurrikulumontwikkeling asook 'n behoefte aan 'n geïntegreerde, waardegedrewe kurrikulumraamwerk wat gebou is op Gereformeerde waardes en wat terselfdertyd ook gekontekstualiseerd is. Deur middel van vraelyste en kurrikulumontwikkeling werkswinkels, is die situasie by die verskillende kampusse van tien teologiese instellings bepaal. Op die kampusse van die NetACT instellings heers daar in die algemeen 'n positiewe leeromgewing met entoesiastiese dosente en gemotiveerde studente. Die praktiese werk van studente in gemeentes is 'n hoë prioriteit. Aan die ander kant is vasgestel dat belangrike elemente ontbreek: onder andere 'n gebrek aan geïntegreerde, waardegedrewe, missionale en gekontekstualiseerde kurrikulums. Gegewe die situasie in sub-Sahara Afrika, sou mens meer klem by die NetACT skole verwag het om sake soos die heersende armoede, sensitiewe geslagskwessies en die opvoeding van kinders en die jeug, om maar 'n paar te noem, aan te spreek. Biblioteke het baie gebrekkige voorraad en navorsing deur dosente en die publikasie van artikels bestaan bykans nie. Hierdie verhandeling fokus op hierdie behoeftes en spreek dit aan deur die stel van 'n Reformatoriese, missionale en gekontekstualiseerde kurrikulumraamwerk. Die raamwerk het as hoofdoel die ontwikkeling van geestelike volwassenheid by studente wat akademiese werk van die hoogste standaard sal lewer. In Hoofstuk 3 word die behoefte aan 'n geïntegreerde wêreldbeeld beredeneer met die Gereformeerde beginsel van Christus se soewereiniteit in elke sfeer van die lewe, as ʼn belangrike wegspringpunt. Een gevolgtrekking wat hieruit gemaak kan word, is dat daar geen dualisme behoort te bestaan tussen 'n sogenaamde “heilige” en “profane” wêreld nie. In Hoofstuk 4 word 'n beroep op NetACT instellings gedoen om missionaal van huis uit te wees en om te kontroleer of al die vakke 'n missionêre gerigtheid het. Kontekstualisering is die tema van Hoofstuk 5 en, onder andere, word 'n pleidooi gelewer vir kurrikulums met ʼn ware Afrika versoening spiritualiteit waar aanbidding, anti-rassisme en anti-stamgebondenheid 'n integrale deel van die amptelike en verborge kurrikulums behoort te vorm. Gebaseer op hierdie boustene, word 'n Reformatoriese Afrika en missionale raamwerk voorgestel met die hulp van 'n Transformerende Sirkel wat begin met die luister na die verhale van die studente en eindig met 'n transformerende aksie fase waar opvoedkundige beginsels, soos veral in Hoofstuk 6 beredeneer, prakties toegepas word. Die aanbevelings in Hoofstuk 7 sluit in die vorming van gehaltebeheerkomitees, die inisiëring van werkswinkels oor die fasilitering van kurrikulumontwerp en -implementering, akkreditasie by ACTEA en die oorweging van die vorming van inrigtings vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys.

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Dan Simmons's far-future science fiction epic Hyperion Cantos, in which seven disparate individuals become enmeshed in a convoluted plot to enslave humanity, provides extensive support for British theologian John Hick's theory of transcendental pluralism. Using the central figures of the Shrike, a mysterious killing machine, and the Technocore, a collective of autonomous artificial intelligences, Simmons demonstrates Hick's postulation that all major Western religions actually focus on the same divine being (God) by creating a negative divine being, akin to Satan, to which characters of various religions react in similar ways. Simmons's pilgrims each represent a particular spiritual outlook, from specific organized religions to less-defined positions such as secularism and agnosticism, but each pilgrim's tale contributes to the evidence of transcendental pluralism. This thesis explores each characters' experiences as they relate to the Shrike, the Technocore, and, ultimately the theory of transcendental pluralism. / by Zachary Stewart. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Bzhad pa'i rdo rje (1697-1740), the Fifth Sle lung Rin po che, was a religiously and politically controversial figure and an incredibly prolific author, having written or compiled over 46 volumes worth of mainly religious texts. A high-ranking Dge lugs pa sprul sku, Sle lung is seen as having gradually "defected" to the Rnying ma school, although he self-identified as a follower of the "non-sectarian" (ris med) perspective. Sle lung also acted as a spiritual advisor to most of the major central Tibetan rulers during the course of his life, most significantly Mi dbang Pho lha nas (r. 1729-1747). But despite numerous features of fascinating interest, Sle lung and his writings have received very little scholarly attention, and this thesis is intended to fill this unfortunate lacuna. The present study begins with an extended biographical examination of Sle lung's life, and the political and religious unrest in central Tibet at the time in which he was deeply invested. I pay special attention to the controversies that surrounded him, particularly his purported sexual licentiousness and his ecumenical work which was unpopular among his more sectarian Dge lugs pa critics. This opening biography provides critical historical context as I move on to examine two of Sle lung's most important literary works. The first is the sixteen-volume Gsang ba ye shes chos skor, a massive cycle of teachings by Sle lung and his students that integrates tantric theories derived from Sle lung's experience with Gsar ma (specifically Dge lugs pa) teachings. The second work is the Bstan srung rgya mtsho'i rnam thar, a unique text in Tibetan literature which consists of an apparently unprecedented compilation of Tibetan Buddhist protector deity (bstan srung, chos skyong) origin myths. I will make sense of key features of these two works within the larger context of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the political and personal concerns of Sle lung himself.

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Thesis (M.A. (African Languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2013

'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.' [Rom 12:2] Hans Urs von Balthasar and Eberhard Jungel are profound and imaginative thinkers who unreservedly ground their theologies in revelation as God�s self-disclosure. This thesis asks what resources such revelation-centred authors, from different traditions, may contribute to a theological understanding of the human imagination. Although theology has often been more interested in the constructive capacities of the imagination, it is the responsive quality of the imagination that is of particular interest to this thesis. Can the imagination contribute to a theological understanding which comprehends the action and speech of God as antecedent to human response? This thesis examines the epistemological issues that are related both to the imagination and to revelation as the self-communication and self-interpretation of God. The imagination is conceived of as essential to perception and understanding; it allows for both recognition and re-cognition. Through the imagination we can rethink the patterns or paradigms that shape our lives. The renewing of the mind can be said to involve the imagination. However, spiritual transformation requires more than a notion of the imagination as a spontaneous mental act which determines its own content. Balthasar and Jungel, while thinking in lively and narrative ways, are constrained by divine self-disclosure. God�s self-revelation provides the content of the paradigm or pattern by which the Christian believer is to live. The imagination can be said to act as the context or locus of revelation. This thesis demonstrates that the three days of Easter are central to Balthasar�s and Jungel�s respective understandings of God. For Balthasar and Jungel, the triduum mortis is where the self-revelation of God is most apparent; it is here that God is understood to be self-giving love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While quite distinct in their approaches, both authors work within trinitarian, and therefore relational, frameworks. This thesis traces the motifs that not only express their understandings of the paschal mystery in relational terms but also ground their respective understandings of renewed existence; for Balthasar, the motifs of mission and kenosis, and for Jungel, those of identification and justification. For both Balthasar and Jungel, the events of the triduum mortis can be said to provide the content of, and act as a boundary to, our conception of God. Nonetheless, it is proposed that, within their respective understandings of divine prevenience, Balthasar and Jungel leave room for the exercise of the imagination. God is mystery; God is not a fixed or completed concept.

Trip planning is a well cited problem for which various solutions have been reported in the literature. This problem has been typically addressed, to a large extent, as a shortest distance path planning problem. In some scenarios, the concept of shortest path is extended to reflect temporal objectives and/or constraints. This work takes an alternative perspective to the trip planning problem in the sense it being situation aware. Thus, allowing multitudes of traveler centric objectives and constraints, as well as aspects of the environment as they pertain to the trip and the traveler. The work in this thesis introduces TSADA (Traveler Situation Awareness and Decision Aid) system. TSADA is designed as a modular system that combines linguistic situation assessment with user-centric decision-making. The trip planning problem is modeled as a graph G. The objective is to find a route with the minimum cost. Both hard and soft objective/attributes are incorporated. Soft objective/attributes such as safety, speed and driving comfortability are described using a linguistic framework and processed using hierarchical fuzzy inference engine. A user centric situation assessment is used to compute feasible routes and map them into route recommendation scheme: recommended, marginally recommended, and not recommended. In this work, we introduce traveler's doctrines concept. This concept is proposed to make the process of situation assessment user centric by being driven by the doctrine that synthesizes the user's specific demands. Hard attributes/objectives, such as the time window and trip monitory allowances, are included in the process of determining the final decision about the trip. We present the underline mathematical formulation for this system and explain the working of the proposed system to achieve optimal performance. Results are introduced to show how the system performs under a wide range of scenarios. The thesis is concluded with a discussion on findings and recommendations for future work.

This dissertation traces the social-theological history of a German-Lutheran two-kingdoms concept---an often ambiguous social-ethical theory used by German-Lutheran theologians to interpret their social world and to define the relational boundaries for the church's existence in society. This study consists of three parts, each of which represents a fundamental rupture in the German social order: / Part one examines the formation of a two-kingdoms doctrine in the modern world. The opening chapter (chapter two) establishes Martin's Luther's use of a two-kingdoms hermeneutic as way to challenge late-medieval Catholic Church authority and to empower ("sacralize") the social sphere. Chapter three surveys the work of German-Lutheran theologians who found in Luther's two-kingdoms concept a model that corresponded to the modern public-private social structure. The intersection of Luther's concept and modern social theory enabled theologians to understand the social, economic, and political changes taking place in Germany and, wittingly or unwittingly, to validate the status quo. / Part two analyzes various applications and critiques of the two-kingdoms doctrine in Germany from 1919 to 1945. Chapter four focuses on the efforts of Emanuel Hirsch, Paul Althaus, Paul Tillich, and Karl Barth to construct a theology that addressed the crises of modernity: the loss of national identity, the failure of post-Enlightemnent rationalism, and the collapse of traditional political structures. Chapter five examines the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who developed a critical two-kingdoms perspective to (re)define the ethical relationship between the "church for others" and the "world come of age." / Part three considers the reception of the two-kingdoms doctrine in the East German church (1949--1990). The objective of chapter six is to illustrate the various ways in which theologians in the German Democratic Republic nuanced a two-kingdoms concept to make sense of the church's missionary task in socialism. This chapter also demonstrates the links between Bonhoeffer's ethic of responsibility and an East German theological ethic of critical solidarity---a social-ethical theory articulated by pastors and theologians such as Bishop Albrecht Schonherr and Heino Falcke. / This study concludes with a brief discussion of the two-kingdoms doctrine's capacity to protect and to resist the status quo.