Thesis--Uppsala. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [162]-183).

The postmodern context in which the church currently performs its duties, necessitates a reconsidering of its pastoral practice. This venture is undertaken by introducing the social constructionist paradigm as a thought form for therapeutic and pastoral approaches. The social constructionist perspective proposes a non-referential, non-descriptive and communicational view of language. Language does not mirror the world, but we create the world we know and inhabit through joint communicative action. This constructionist view of language has radical implications for the way we practice therapy and pastoral care. It invites a move away from expert knowledge, professional diagnosis, essentialist thinking and therapeutic master narratives. It encourages a not-knowing position, multiple descriptions of the reality experienced as the problem, a narrative understanding of identity and the development of local meaning in the therapeutic conversation. If the above mentioned implications of social constructionist thought for pastoral practice are taken seriously, the following question emerges: What is the role of the Bible in a pastoral approach which aligns itself with social constructionist commitments? Does this sacred text allow the pastor to hold a not-knowing position and the development of local meaning in conversation? The question is addressed by explicating the Protestant Orthodox view of Scripture as authorative, perspicuous, sufficient and dependable. This view of Scripture is critiqued by reviewing the complex and challenging developments in modern literary criticism, which give rise to generating alternative descriptions of the status and identity of the text we Christians call ‘The Bible’. These alternative descriptions result in a postfoundationalist view of the Bible. In conclusion a set of values for pastoral therapy, as informed by social constructionism, is formulated. A focus group joins the venture by reflecting on the values. The final chapter is a rumination on therapeutic narratives and context. / Thesis (DD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

In the 300 years since the magazine originated, this mass medium has become synonymous with women and their worlds. Today, publications for, by and about women still dominate the global magazine market, and the selection and circulation of women’s magazines increase annually – indicative of the popularity of this mixed medium of information, instruction and entertainment. Since the 1980s, academics from different human sciences branches, such as Joke Hermes and Marloes Hülsken in the Netherlands and Angela Gough-Yates, Margaret Beetham, Ros Ballaster and Marjorie Ferguson in the United Kingdom, have proven the academic worth of women’s magazines, by using them as information sources about women’s social knowledge, positions and roles, their relationships and consumer behaviour in (amongst others) historical, sociological, psychological, mass media and women’s studies research. In South Africa, however, academic research on women’s magazines is still largely unexploited: apart from a few dissertations, information is mostly limited to single paragraphs in larger mass media studies. Magazines for black women have, for example, not been researched yet. In this study, South African and Dutch magazines from 2006 are studied as sociocultural journals: accounts or collections of the major trains of thought representative of a specific context and time frame. When magazine content is viewed as the textual distillation of the shared consciousness or culture of a particular audience, and discourse as ways of acting and thinking underlying this shared consciousness, magazines, by drawing on different discourses, report on the norms, values and habits particular to a specific era – yielding information that can be applied in reconstructing images of reality. This study aimed to research, within the context of current women’s magazines, the way in which women’s presence in the career world is accepted and legitimised as standard practice, and to explore the influence of the pursuit of a career on other female roles. It was assumed that the range of ‘superwoman’ roles (career woman, mother, wife, homemaker, lover, friend …) resonates in the ‘work discourse’ – and that all women experience similar frustrations, fears, dreams and expectations, irrespective of linguistic, cultural and socio-economic factors. A selection of sixteen magazines – two issues each of four South African and four Dutch magazine titles, aimed at diverse readerships – were singled out as primary research material. Magazine content was subsequently submitted to close reading, in order to examine as closely as possible the approaches towards women’s deployment in the career world, as made evident in the text. Theoretical concepts from mass media studies, cultural studies, discourse analysis and feminist criticism underpinned the identification of textual patterns, leading to the establishment of links between text and reality and meaningful interpretations of eventual findings. The results indicated that the work discourse in all the examined magazines is informed by three interpretative repertoires – that ultimately determine the way in which this discourse is developed and maintained, both in the magazine content and in everyday life. When the findings resulting from the textual analysis of the work discourse represented in these magazines were compared with actual statistics on the career world, it became obvious, however, that magazine content does not necessarily reflect reality – but that internalising the ambitious, larger-than-life dream aspects contained between a magazine’s covers is precisely the aspect from which readers derive pleasure and satisfaction. / Dissertation (MA (Afrikaans))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / In die veertigerjare het Robert Gordis aanhalings in die boek Prediker uitgewys. Diethelm Michel en Norman Whybray het die aanhalingshipotese ondersteun, terwyl Michael Fox nie ten gunste daarvan was nie. Whybray het kriteria saarngestel op grond waarvan hy aanhalings uit ouer wysheidsmateriaal kon onderskei. Fox kon op grond van sy eie kriteria geen aanhalings identifiseer nie. Om vas te st el of die Prediker we! uit ouer wysheidsmateriaal aanhaal, word eerstens gekyk na hoe die wysheid in Israel ontstaan het en wat die boek Prediker se verhouding tot ander wysheidsgeskrifte is. Hie ma word die histories-kritiese bestudering van die boek onder die loep geneem alvorens die navorsingsgeskiedenis van aanhalings nagegaan word. Prediker 9-11 word ondersoek om te bepaal of die Prediker we! uit vroeere wysheidsmateriaal aanhaal. Ten slotte word die vraag gevra of Bybelvertalings aanhalings moet uitlig ten einde die teks beter verstaanbaar te maak. / In the forties, Robert Gordis pointed out that quotations do occur in the book Ecclesiastes. Diethelm Michel and Norman Whybray endorsed this hypothesis of quotations, while Michael Fox has taken a stance against it. Whybray compiled criteria to distinguish older wisdom sayings in the book Ecclesiastes. Fox applied his own criteria and could not find any quotations. To determine if the author (Qohelet) does quote from older wisdom material, we take a look how the wisdom developed in Israel and what the book's relation was to other wisdom books. Then the contribution of the historical-critical methods to the understanding of the book is surveyed before die research history of quotations is discussed. Ecclesiastes 9-11 is examined to determine if Qohelet really quotes from older wisdom material. Finally, we ask the question whether quotations should be highlighted in Bible translations in order to improve understanding of the text. / Biblical and Ancient studies / M.A.(Biblical Studies)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / In die veertigerjare het Robert Gordis aanhalings in die boek Prediker uitgewys. Diethelm Michel en Norman Whybray het die aanhalingshipotese ondersteun, terwyl Michael Fox nie ten gunste daarvan was nie. Whybray het kriteria saarngestel op grond waarvan hy aanhalings uit ouer wysheidsmateriaal kon onderskei. Fox kon op grond van sy eie kriteria geen aanhalings identifiseer nie. Om vas te st el of die Prediker we! uit ouer wysheidsmateriaal aanhaal, word eerstens gekyk na hoe die wysheid in Israel ontstaan het en wat die boek Prediker se verhouding tot ander wysheidsgeskrifte is. Hie ma word die histories-kritiese bestudering van die boek onder die loep geneem alvorens die navorsingsgeskiedenis van aanhalings nagegaan word. Prediker 9-11 word ondersoek om te bepaal of die Prediker we! uit vroeere wysheidsmateriaal aanhaal. Ten slotte word die vraag gevra of Bybelvertalings aanhalings moet uitlig ten einde die teks beter verstaanbaar te maak. / In the forties, Robert Gordis pointed out that quotations do occur in the book Ecclesiastes. Diethelm Michel and Norman Whybray endorsed this hypothesis of quotations, while Michael Fox has taken a stance against it. Whybray compiled criteria to distinguish older wisdom sayings in the book Ecclesiastes. Fox applied his own criteria and could not find any quotations. To determine if the author (Qohelet) does quote from older wisdom material, we take a look how the wisdom developed in Israel and what the book's relation was to other wisdom books. Then the contribution of the historical-critical methods to the understanding of the book is surveyed before die research history of quotations is discussed. Ecclesiastes 9-11 is examined to determine if Qohelet really quotes from older wisdom material. Finally, we ask the question whether quotations should be highlighted in Bible translations in order to improve understanding of the text. / Biblical and Ancient studies / M.A.(Biblical Studies)

Text in Afrikaans, with summaries in Afrikaans and English / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 383-403) / Die woordestryd oor goddelike inspirasie van alles wat in die Bybel staan, as gevolg van die uitgesproke stellings van Johannes Du Plessis, het tot ‘n krisis gelei wat as baken in die annale van die Ned. Geref. Kerk beskou word. Die meeste van sy standpunte word vandag as waarheid aanvaar en hy het bygedra tot die intellektuele debat oor die Bybel as Woord van God wat vandag nog aangaan. Du Plessis se herkoms, opleiding en verdienste as predikant en saakgelastigde van die Kerk word kortliks bespreek. Hy was die talentvolle seun en enigste kind van 'n Afrikaanse predikant en 'n Engelse vrou, die dogter van 'n sendeling van die LMS. Hy word professor aan die Kweekskool en met kennis opgedoen tydens verdere studie oorsee, het hy gewys op dele van die Bybel wat nie aan goddelike inspirasie toegeskryf kan word nie. Hy het dit ook duidelik gestel dat hy as teoloog en leermeester nie kon glo sonder om te probeer verstaan nie. Hy het sy bevindinge bekend gemaak in Het Zoeklicht, 'n maandblad wat bedoel was om as soeklig te dien om verskillende vorms van “duisternis” in beide godsdiens en die politiek, betref, aan die lig te bring. Oortuig van die waarde van die Hoër Kritiek, het hy dit as sy plig geag om wat hy deur wye leeswerk en kritiese ondersoek rakende die oorsprong, vorm en inhoud van die Ou Testamentiese boeke bekom het, bekend te maak. Artikels van dié aard, eers in De Kerkbode en daarna in Het Zoeklicht, het gelei tot beroering onder behoudende lesers wat gekant was teen enige veranderinge in die prediking. Hulle was veral ontstoke oor sy siening dat die belydenisskrifte wat spruit uit die dae van die Hervorming 500 jaar tevore, oop was vir herformulering. Klagtes dat Du Plessis op 'n gevaarlike pad was, was die begin van wat gelei het tot 'n krisis in die Kerk, en uiteindelik tot 'n buitengewone sinode in 1930 toe hy van sy pos onthef is. Die behoudende reaksie van die meerderheid was dat die Bybel die onfeilbare Woord van God is. Die gevolg was dat 'n groot aantal van die leiers van die Kerk, aanhangers van die Nasionale Party wat in 1948 aan bewind gekom het, tekste uit die Bybel gebruik het om die beleid van Apartheid Skriftuurlik te begrond. Ná byna veertig jaar van 'n onkritiese benadering tot die Bybel, is die geloof in 'n foutlose Bybel weer bevraagteken. Tussen die eerlike teoloë wat dit gewaag het om te wys op foute en inkonsekwenthede, was Ferdinand Deist en Willem Vorster. Albei het hulle opleiding as predikante voltooi maar het hulle nie beroepbaar gestel nie omdat hulle met verdere studie voortgegaan het en hulle openlik uitgespreek het teen die misbruik van Bybelse gegewens om apartheid te regverdig. Geskool aan die Kweekskool in Stellenbosch, het Deist hom onderskei as geleerde wat sy drang na dieper ondersoek gepaar het met 'n piëtisme waarop hy uiting gegee het in 'n stortvloed van akademiese en populêre geskrifte ― wat nie altyd gestrook het met sy stelling dat die Woord van God nie met 'n gelyk-aan-teken aan mekaar verbind kan word nie. Vorster, wat sy opleiding aan die Universiteit van Pretoria ontvang het, het ewe bekend geraak en het internasionale erkenning geniet vir sy toepassing van die semantiek op studies van die Nuwe Testament. Daarby het hy sy kennis van die Nabye Oosterse tale toepaslik gevind in sy bydrae tot The New Quest om meer te wete te kom oor die historiese Jesus, 'n Jood en Galileër wat vir 'n kort periode opgetree het as leermeester en eskatologiese profeet. In die studie van bydraes van die drie geleerdes tot ons verstaan van die Bybel, is ook aandag geskenk aan 'n ander aspek van die Bybel as problematiese teks: Die nadruk wat skrywers en redaktors van die Bybelse gebeure, geplaas het op mans as vaders en seuns ten koste van vroue, moeders en dogters. Die gevolg was dat meeste van die sogenaamde Kerkvaders genoeg in die Bybel kon vind om hulle te identifiseer met die neerhalende beeld wat in Die Openbaring (14:3-4) geskep word van vroue, opvallend in stryd met die inhoud van Genesis 1:26-31. / The controversy started by Johannes Du Plessis over the question whether everything in the Bible was inspired by God, caused a crisis in the Dutch Reformed Church, which is listed as a beacon in its history. Most of the points he raised are accepted as truth today, and started an intellectual debate that is still going on. Information relating to Du Plessis’ origins, training, and achievements as a minister and church official is briefly noted. He was the talented son, and only child of an Afrikaner father and minister of religion, and an English mother, the daughter of an LMS missionary. He became a professor at the Seminary in Stellenbosch, after his studies overseas had caused him to question parts of the Old Testament text that could not be regarded as divinely inspired. He also made it quite clear that believing without trying to understand was not possible for him as a theologian and teacher. He proclaimed his findings in Het Zoeklicht, a monthly magazine intended to serve as a searchlight and an organ to reveal the “darkness” that was still prevalent in both religion and politics. Aware of the value of Higher Criticism of the Old Testament, he regarded it his duty to make known what he had found in reading widely and in critical research on the origins, form and content of the books of the Bible. Articles to this effect published first in De Kerkbode and then in Het Zoeklicht, caused an outcry from conservative readers who were opposed to any changes in the teaching of the church. They were especially enraged by his view that the confessions drawn up by Reformers 500 years earlier, were open for review. Complaints that Du Plessis was on a dangerous path, marked the beginning of what was regarded as a crisis in the Church, and in the end led to Du Plessis being relieved of his post by a special Synod convened in 1930. The views of the conservative majority, however, prevailed. As a result, a large number of leading ministers and theologians, who openly supported the Nationalist government that came into power in 1948, provided assurance that the concept of separation of racial groups was in accordance with Scripture. After nearly forty years of an uncritical approach to the Bible, the belief in in-errancy was again questioned. Among the few theologians who dared to point out errors and inconsistencies in various texts, were Ferdinand Deist and Willem Vorster. Both trained as ministers, they chose to continue their studies and openly expressed themselves against the abuse of Biblical texts to support the ideology of apartheid. Trained at the Seminary in Stellenbosch, Deist turned out to be a noted scholar who combined his urge for honest critical study with a pietism expressed in a flood of academic and popular publications ― which were not always consistent with his own statement that The Word of God could not be connected to Scripture with an is-equal-to symbol. Vorster, who received his education at the University of Pretoria, became equally well known as a scholar and gained international recognition for his application of semantics in the study of the Gospels. He also applied his knowledge of languages in what came to be known as The New Quest for the historical Jesus who, as a Jew and a Galilean, distinguished himself during a brief period as a teacher and eschatological prophet. In the study of the contributions of these three outstanding men to our understanding of the Bible, another major aspect of the Bible as problematic text is addressed: The emphasis the authors and redactors of the Scriptures placed on the roles of men, fathers and sons, patently to the exclusion of women, mothers and daughters. As a result many of the so-called Church Fathers found in the Bible sufficient material to look down upon women ― the verdict expressed in Revelations 14:3-4 being one of numerous texts pointing to women as objects of derision in glaring contradiction to the contents of Genesis 1:26-31. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Phil. (Biblical Studies)

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-131) / Text in English with summaries in English and Afrikaans / There are certain influences from the eighteenth and nineteenth century English and German romantic Zeitgeist that can be discerned in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. The role of the imagination stands out as a particularly dominant notion of the romantic period as opposed to the emphasis on reason during the Enlightenment. It is this romantic influence that Andersen’s tales especially exemplify. For him the imagination is transcendent – one can overcome the mystery and hardship of an earthly existence by recasting situations imaginatively and one can even be elevated to a higher, spiritual realm by its power. The transcendent power of the imagination is best understood by viewing it through the lens of negative capability, a concept put forward by romantic poet, John Keats. The concept implies an “imaginative openness” to what is, which allows one to tolerate life’s uncertainties and the inexplicable suffering that forms part of one’s earthly existence by using the imagination to open up new potential within trying circumstances. In selected fairy tales, Andersen’s child protagonists transcend their circumstances by the power of their imagination. In other tales, nature is instrumental in this imaginative transcendence. The natural world conveys spiritual truths and has a moralising influence on the characters, bringing them closer to the Ultimate Creator. This follows the philosophy of German Naturphilosophie, as well as that of English romantics like Coleridge and Wordsworth, for whom nature functions as a portal to the spiritual world. The concept of the “sublime” underpins this philosophy. If nature is viewed through an imaginative, instead of an empirical lens, it becomes the means by which the temporal world can be transcended. It is a message of hope and as such is in keeping with Andersen’s self professed calling as visionary who uses his art to uplift mankind. In this he is the ultimate romantic hero or outsider who, while standing on the periphery of society, observes its shortcomings and feels called upon to show the way to a better world. / Sekere invloede van agtiende- en negentiende eeuse Engelse en Duitse romantisisme kan in Hans Christian Andersen se feëverhale bespeur word. Veral die rol van die verbeelding staan uit as ‘n dominante invloed van romantisisme, in teenstelling met die laat sewentien- en vroeë agtiende eeuse fokus op rasionaliteit. Dit is hierdie romantiese invloed wat Andersen se verhale veral versinnebeeld. Vir hom is die verbeelding transendentaal – ‘n mens kan die misterie en swaarkry van jou aardse bestaan oorkom deur situasies deur die oog van die verbeelding te bejeën en kan selfs deur die mag van die verbeelding opgehef word na ‘n hoër, meer spirituele vlak. Die transendentale mag van die verbeelding kan beter begryp word wanneer dit deur die lens van “negative capability” gesien word. Hierdie konsep is deur die romantiese digter, John Keats, voorgestel. Die konsep impliseer ‘n verbeeldingryke openheid in die aangesig van aardse onsekerheid en swaarkry, wat die mens uiteindelik in staat stel om nuwe potensiaal in moeilike omstandighede raak te sien. In uitgekose feëverhale, oorkom Andersen se kinderprotagoniste hul moeilike omstandighede deur die mag van die verbeelding. In ander verhale is die natuur deurslaggewend in dié transendentale verbeeldingsreis. Nie net dra die natuur geestelike waarhede oor nie, maar dit het ook ‘n moraliserende invloed op die karakters, wat hulle nader aan ‘n Opperwese bring. Dit herinner aan die Duitse Naturphilosophie, asook die sienswyse van Engelse romantikusse soos Coleridge en Wordsworth, vir wie die natuur ‘n deurgangsroete na die geestelike wêreld is. Die idee van die “sublime” is onderliggend aan hierdie filosofie. As die natuur deur middel van die verbeeldingslens, in plaas van deur ‘n empiriese lens bejeën word, kan dit ‘n manier word om die aardse te oorkom. Dit is dus ‘n boodskap van hoop wat in lyn is met Andersen se selfopgelegde taak as profeet wat sy kuns gebruik om die mensdom op te hef. In hierdie opsig is hy die absolute romantiese held of buitestaander, wat, ofskoon hy aan die buitewyke van die samelewing staan, tóg tekortkominge raaksien en geroepe voel om die weg na ‘n beter wêreld te wys. / English Studies / M.A. (English)