This study examines the eschatology of issues related to African folk religion. It argues about the eschatological understanding of time with regard to the afterlife, ancestors and the afterlife, Christ the eschaton and the incarnation of Christ as redeeming of the ancestors. Such a model of local theology can result from a comprehensive reflection based on the Scriptures. As such, this study suggests some principles and praxis that appropriately address mission in the African context. This study also intends to challenge the church in Africa in particular, and cross-cultural workers in general, to redefine their missions and themselves in the face of theological issues, as well as social problems, which occur at all levels of African society. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / Thesis (D. Th. (Missiology))

In this dissertation the phenomenological method together with the hermeneutical concepts of experience, devotion, constant remembrance and transmission focus on yogic transmission in Sahaj Marg of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Sahaj Marg is an adaptation of Raj a Yoga. Sahaj Marg emphasises the practical approach and calls for the aspirant to follow the teachings and methods of the spiritual Master. Yogic transmission is the unique feature of this system. Preceptors have been trained by the Master to aid in the spiritual evolution of humanity. Pranahuti is defined by the Master as a forceless force for the spiritual transformation of humanity. This system can be followed by all aspirants, the only qualification being a willingness to follow the practice. Sahaj Marg has been created for the present day aspirant to achieve liberation in the quickest time possible. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

John Wesley was a well educated son of a cleric, who chose to be a theologian and a minister in the Church of England. His theological distinctive was his insistence on the possibility of entire sanctification in this lifetime. In response to their position on sanctification, Wesley and the Methodists sought to save souls and cure the ills in society because they believed it was divinely mandated. Their love and work for the less fortunate was a response to their love for God and in obedience to His commandments. This is the great success of their work. They were able to serve God and their generation in a balanced yet inseparable way. The result of Wesley's life, direct and indirect, was that the social and spiritual plight of thousands of individuals and families was improved and dozens of church groups, missionary societies and benevolent organisations have emerged / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / Th.M. (Church History)

The Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal movements propose a subsequent to salvation Spirit baptism. This baptism is viewed as an experience in which the Spirit either confers or awakens gifts within the life of the believer. The thesis ofthis paper is that Spirit baptism occurs at conversion. Spirit filling on the other hand is one of many metaphors to describe the work of the eschatological Spirit subsequent to salvation. This distinguishing of Spirit baptism and Spirit filling is different to the Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal idea that Spirit baptism and Spirit filling are synonymous experiences that occur at some point subsequent to salvation. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / Th. M. (Systematic Theology)

Adventists hold various views with regard to their understanding of themselves as a church. They view themselves as the last remnant church of God today. They also believe that they are a part of the general Christendom. Adventists acknowledge the presence of sincere Christians in other churches. In this study, the background to twentieth century Christian ecclesiological self-understanding is examined. The origins and development of the Seventh-day Adventist ecclesiological self-understanding, especially as it relates to the remnant idea is examined. Three different types of the remnant namely historical, faithful and eschatological can be identified. Biblical images/models used in the development of ecclesiology agree with the biblical understanding and application of the remnant idea to God's people. The remnant idea is not limited in its application to organizational entities. Seventh-day Adventists should adopt an open, inclusive and universal view of the remnant concept. / Theology / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th. M. (Systematic Theology)

Text in Afrikaans / In this study certain dt3ficiencies in connection with administrating church membership are being identified by using statistical information from "Kerkspieel Ill". The cause for these deficiencies can not simply be found in only one or even two factors. It constitutes in several factors some of which are easier to evaluate than others. The fact that it is not easy to measure a cause, does not mean that it should be avoided. Therefore, the practice concerning church membership is being examined in an exploring manner as it is an indispensable organisational matter. It is being approached from two dimensions: first the ecclesiology of the church is studied from a systematic-theological and practical-theological viewpoint with the purpose to determine whether that which the Dutch Reformed Church confesses as church clogma is indeed theologically acceptable. Then, with the ecclesiology as background, the structural phenomenon af church membership is investigated to see in what way the current practice in connection with church membership is conducive or perhaps destructive to the practice of the ecclesiology of the church. After identifying certain descrepancies between the church law and regulations and the E!Cclesiological confession on the one hand, and the church law and regulations and the current practice of membership on the other hand, a new practice for membership is designed. The aim of this new practice is to unite the church's ecclesiological confession and its practice on membership in a closer relationship to each other with the goal to lead members of the church to a fuller understanding of the meaning of their membership. This better understanding will serve as motivation for a more dedicated service to God in honor of his Name. The expectation is that other. renewing projects such as liturgical renewal, will be more effective if it is condu·cted in an atmosphere where members have a better understanding of their membership. / In hierdie studie word vanuit statistiese gegewens soos veral in Kerkspieel Ill opgeteken, sekere lee1mtes wat verband hou met lidmaatskap in die kerk ge'identifiseer. Die oorsake vir die leemtes is sekerlik nie simplisties in slegs een of selfs twee faktore te vind nie. Dit hou verband met 'n verskeidenheid van faktore waarvan sommige makliker meetbaar is as ander. Die feit dat 'n saak nie maklik meetbaar is nie, beteken nie dat dit vermy moet word nie. Daarom word hier verkennend gekyk na die hantering van kerklike lidmaatskap as onontbeerlike organisatoriese aangeleentheid. Dit word van twee kante benader: eerstens word gekyk na die kerk se ekklesiologie vanuit 'n sistematies- en prakties-teologiese perspektief met die doel om vas te stel of dit wat in die Ned Geref Kerk oor die kerk geleer word teologies versoenbaar is. Teen hierdie ekklesiologiese agtergrond word die strukturele verskynsel van lidmaatskap bekyk om uiteindelik na te gaan in watter mate die huidige praxis in VE!rband met lidmaatskap bevorderlik of dalk afbrekend inwerl< op die praxis van die ekklesiologie. Nadat bepaalde diskrepansies tussen die kerkordelike bepalinge en die ekklesiologiese belydenis aan die een kant asook tussen die kerkordelike bepalinge en die huidige praxis van lidmaatskap aan die anderkant aangetoon is, word 'n nuwe praxis vir kerklike lidmaatskap aan die hand gedoen. Die bedoeling is om die kerk se ekklesiologiese belydenis en die betekenis van kerklike lidmaatskap nader aan mekaar te bring sodat die lidmate van die kerk daartoe gelei kan wor:d om al beter te verstaan waarom dit in lidmaatskap eintlik gaan en deur hierdie beter begrip daartoe gemotiveer te word om met groter toewyding die Here tot sy eer te dien. Die verwagting is dat ander kerkvernuwende projekte soos oa die vernuwing van die erediens meer effektief sal wees indien dit geskied waar lidmate ' / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical Theology)

This thesis examines Ratnakarasanti's (ca. 970-1045 C.E.) explication of Prajnaparamita in his doxographical works and his Saratama. Based on extant Sanskrit and Tibetan primary sources, it argues that Ratnakarasanti's main teacher was Dharmakirtisri (late 10th C.E.) and that Ratnakarasanti's Saratama sought to replace his teacher's Yogacara-Madhyamika framework with a causal explanation of Prajnaparamita through redefining the term Prajnaparamita as the path to awakening, rather than its goal. By unpacking that causal explanation in light of his broader system, the thesis demonstrates the way that Ratnakarasanti's own version of Nirakaravadin-Yogacara-Madhyamika refutes cognitive images (akara) as unreal ultimately, but claims they are still perceived by buddhas out of compassion. This conclusion debunks the long-standing theory that Ratnakarasanti was an Indian proponent of the controversial Tibetan gZhan-stong despite later gZhan-stong propon-ents' attempts to claim him as their own. There are two parts to the study. The first part introduces Ratnakarasanti's life, philosophy and doxography based upon evidence from a Tibetan colophon to his Madhyamika commentary and the Tibetan hagiography of his student Adhisa (a.k.a. Atisa) and upon a comparative analysis of his doxographical works that are prerequisites for reading his Saratama. The second part consists of an annotated translation of the Saratama's introductory section, contrasted with the prior standard interpretation by Haribhadra's (9th century C.E.). In the two appendices are included a Tibetan critical edition and a separate hybrid Sanskrit and Tibetan critical edition of the Saratama's first parivarta based on the extant 11th and 13th century incomplete MSS and on the Tibetan translations in the sDe dge, Peking and sNarthang editions. The hybrid edition also includes my provisional critical edition of the root text - i.e. the first parivarta of the Aryasta - sahasrikaprajnaparamitasutra - and my own translation of two small sample sections of the Saratama, which are extant only in Tibetan, back into Sanskrit.

Using the framework set up by rhetorical critic Thomas M. Lessl in his article "Heresy, Orthodoxy, And The Politics Of Science", this study examines the ways in which heretical discourse defines community boundaries and shapes perceptions of right belief. Specifically, this study analyzes the historic conflict in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which produced the doctrinal statement "A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles". Comparison is made between this event and other "heretical" conflicts in other discourse communities. This study concludes that community boundaries must be drawn, and that a doctrinal or policy statement is a useful rhetorical tool to accomplish such a task. Rhetorical critics may assist in this by examining heretical conflicts as historical trends, rather than emotional dissonance.

In fourteenth-century England, a form of lay spirituality emerged, influenced by the writings and example of the famous mystics, both English and continental, of that period, but much affected by other developments as well. Against the background of socio-economic and political change, the emergence of lay spirituality is examined, with particular emphasis upon continuity and change within the church, the religious instruction of the age, and the spirituality of the English mystics. Finally, the sole surviving written record of lay spirituality of the period, The Book of Margery Kempe, is investigated, along with its author, Margery Kempe - pilgrim, visionary, and aspiring mystic.

This dissertation argues that Samuel Davies' theology of and vision for the Christian life were inseparable. Although his contribution to American Evangelicalism was not as original nor as widely remembered as that of his contemporaries, Samuel Davies' insistence on vital Christian piety was far more central to his ministry than was religious toleration or patriotic duty, which are more commonly remembered emphases of his legacy. Chapter 2 recounts the contours of Davies' life and world. Chapter 3 argues that Samuel Davies' vision of the Christian life was grounded in the divine revelation of Scripture. The Bible was essential to a life of godliness. Samuel Davies believed that Jesus Christ communicated and sustained divine life in people and that this life marked the beginning of genuine piety. Chapter 4 shows that Davies' emphasis on conversion is grounded in the Puritan tradition yet evinces an emerging Evangelical theology. Chapter 5 argues that Davies saw gospel holiness as the animating principle of spiritual life, that which separated it from worldly, even religious counterfeits. Chapter 6 demonstrates that Davies believed that spiritual life was maintained through the conscientious practice of various religious duties, especially through private prayer and public communion.