The title of this degree work is "Christians and Politics from the View of the New Testamental Texts". The main purpose is to identify various aspects of the view at the political power in the texts of the New Testament, to make a judgement about these texts on the background of its historical and literary context and to look for its common topics. In this thesis we went into details about relatively great number of passages with the goal to attain the global point of view. At the beginning we justified why to look for the inspiration in the life of Jesus Christ. Then we focused on Jesus' political principles. We treated conflicts between John the Baptist and Herod Antipas and conflicts between Jesus and political and religious leaders of his days. We focused mainly on the conflicts connected with the Jewish Law and paying taxes. Then we treated the conflict between Jesus and Pilate, which ended in Jesus' crucifixion. Then we briefly touched on the Paul's point of view and we mentioned several examples of the persecution of the Christians from the pagans. At the end we made an attempt to resume briefly what the New Testament says about the relationship of the Christians to the political power and we joined the short mention about the relationship between the Church and the state in the social doctrine of...

In the world in which we are living today many people, especially Christians, wonder why people should talk about homosexuality. For many past years, the Christian Church, especially in East Africa, considered herself more or less immune from many of the challenges, experienced by the rest of the world, particularly the Western world. However, as the church now continues to grow in numbers and expand its territories, these problems start to appear in the church also all over East Africa. Increasingly the consciousness of the society is being raised concerning social-ethical issues such as women's rights, battered children, single parent families, teenage pregnancy, wife beating and of course homosexuality. As a result such issues are widely discussed within the church and outside, sometimes causing a rift within the church. Such has been the case with homosexuality. Recently at a Seventh-day Adventist Church camp meeting in East Africa, a debate in a Bible study on the ethics of homosexuality as perceived by the Seventh-day Adventist Church paved the way for divisions in the church, which has left church members in four categories (groups) namely: culturalist, rejectionist, reinterpretationist and the reaffirmationist. Unfortunately the debate closed without a definite conclusion as to what should be the normative basis for the theological ethical evaluation of homosexuality by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa. The issue was whether the Bible, culture or both the Bible and culture should be the normative basis and also as to what theological ethical guidance does the Bible provide for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality in the present-day context. The dissertation surveys definitions and causes of sexuality, and traces some of the background from the pre-modem to the postmodern era reflecting on the definitions and causes of homosexuality, and it also traces some of the historical background regarding homosexual practices and views on homosexuality. It also discusses and assesses the Cultural beliefs on homosexuality in East Africa. The study also looks at the Biblical texts that refer to or are thought to refer to homosexuality and "examines" the claims made in much of the "gays" literature with reference to these texts. Other texts used by over-zealous Christians bent on finding condemnation of homosexuality through Scripture. During the East African pre modem era, sexuality, including homosexuality was not publicly discussed. The whole subject was encircled by a halo of secrecy and hedged around by innumerable East African taboos. When this silence is combined with the absence of written documentation on the cultures and histories of many parts of East Africa, the difficulties of accessing traditional understanding of homosexuality and sexuality become immense. One can conclude that it will be a serious mistake for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to make East African culture normative in the ethical evaluation of homosexuality since: (i) Oral East African tradition does not really provide any moral view on homosexuality. To read into the silence on homosexuality the moral condemnation of homosexuality is not acceptable. (ii) Homosexual practices, in a ritualized form, are not foreign to East African culture. (iii) The strong condemnation of homosexuality in East Africa is often politically and ideologically inspired. This dissertation advocates the need for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa to use the Bible alone, Old and New Testament, being the written word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, as the infallible revelation of God's will. The Bible is the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and trustworthy record of God's acts in history and therefore is central in any formulation concerning homosexuality, whether theological or ethical evaluation and therefore should be used as the only normative basis for the ethical evaluation of homosexuality. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

This study investigated the state of leadership mentoring and succession planning in the Charismatic Churches in Bushbuckridge. In order to gain a full understanding of the Charismatic Movement which emerged in Bushbuckridge only four decades ago, it was necessary to trace its origin from the Azusa Street Revival which gave birth to Pentecostalism almost a century ago. The Charismatic Movement emerged as a distinct movement only five decades later following the birth of the Pentecostal Movement. The reviewed literature revealed that the Charismatic Movement is a child of the marriage between the Pentecostal Movement and traditional denominations. The main watermark distinction between the theologies of the two movements is based on the fact that the Pentecostal Movement emphasises speaking in tongues while the Charismatic Movement places emphasis on the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. By virtue of their one-man-founder, Charismatic Churches are likely to experience the same leadership mentoring and succession problems that are common to family businesses. An assessment of leadership mentoring and succession practices in the business world proved that the concept has been researched, practiced, and perfected more in the secular world than in the world of religious and biblical studies. Although this study uncovered some exceptionally successful mentoring relationships in both the New and the Old Testaments, they do not provide details of what those who were involved in the mentoring relationships did for them to be successful. It is in the secular world that mentoring relationships, stages and models have been researched and practiced. It is when mentors and protégés are pared correctly and their relationships managed properly throughout all the mentoring stages that organisations can be assured of smooth leadership transitions. A triangulation of the qualitative and the quantitative methods was used to collect data in this study. On the qualitative side of the research, data was collected by means of interviews and focus group studies. Interviews with the apostolic fathers of the Charismatic Movement in South Africa raised a concern over the lack of leadership mentoring and succession programmes, especially amongst the younger generation of churches. The concern was confirmed in all the focus group studies which were conducted in Bushbuckridge. The data which was collected from the qualitative side of the study provided a basis for the content of the questionnaire the researcher drew up for the quantitative side of the study. This side of the study contradicted the views of the participants in interviews and focus groups in that it reported that many Charismatic Churches in Bushbuckridge do in fact have leadership mentoring and succession programmes (85% and 72% respectively). The quantitative side of the study further revealed that education levels and gender have a statistically significant effect in leadership mentoring, while location does not. The researcher suggests that the contradiction in the outcomes of the two research methods deserve a follow-up study. This study presents to Charismatic Church leaders in Bushbuckridge lessons drawn from the leadership mentoring and succession practices of both the biblical and secular worlds. This study would be incomplete without the bringing to the fore of an illustrative text in the 2 Timothy 2:1-3. Generally speaking, adherents in the Charismatic Churches read and interpret the bible as authoritative for faith and life. The participants‘ call for the introduction or/and enhancement of leadership mentoring and succession is therefore harnessed by the biblical message in 2 Timothy 2:1-3. Such model of leadership could serve as an important and significant form of discourse in Africa in the context of leadership. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

This study explores the application of computational linguistic methods for the semantic analysis of textual data to the text of the Greek New Testament. After an in-depth discussion of the author's computational application of distributional semantics, he moves on to use these methods to explore three different areas which are of great interest in New Testament studies: lexicography, translation, and exegesis. In terms of lexicography, Munson carefully examines the differences in semantic relationships published in 'The Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains' and those returned by his own methods. He focuses primarily on what the biblical exegete can learn from each of these sources both by themselves and in tandem. The focus then shifts to the translation of the Greek word 'ekklesia', which is normally translated as 'church' in English. His methods here reveal a close relationship between the use of 'ekklesia' in the New Testament and in the writings of Philo of Alexandria. Munson then discusses these findings in relation to the translation of this theologically laden term. And finally, Munson takes up the nearly stagnated debate revolving around the phrase 'pistis Iesou Christou', which can be literally translated as 'faith of Jesus Christ.' The new forms of data produced by computational methods for semantic and syntactic analysis lead Munson to the conclusion that this phrase refers to belief in the trustworthiness of God's promises, a trustworthiness which, for St. Paul, was demonstrated clearly in God's resurrection of the faithful Jesus Christ.

The essay draws on Angela Standhartingers article ”Frauen in Mahlgemeinschaften. Diskurs und Wirklichkeit einer antiken, frühjüdischen und frühchristlichen Mahlpraxis” which examines the representation of women in the ancient tradition of symposia. This thesis studies how Luke and Paul represent women at The Last Supper τὸ πάσχα and the Lord’s Supper κυριακὸν δεῖπνον, and therefore focusses on the pericopes Luke 22:7-30 as well as 1 Cor. 11. Even though these biblical texts are written by men from an androcentric perspective, they show spaces - gaps which are opposed to what the texts seem to convey. Thus, it is possible to break through the patriarchal discourse to render women visible in the texts.   I argue that Luke and Paul represent women in their roles and positions both out of their personal experiences and social ideology. Yet, reflecting on a Christan social order, there can be noticed an earthly approach, relating to the cultural order, in Luke 22:7-30 in distinction from a cosmic approach in 1 Cor. 11.

With the rising popularity of Mary's mother, St. Anne, Birth of the Virgin images proliferated at the beginning of the sixteenth century. However, these images have not been analyzed in great depth by any previous art historical scholarship. This thesis indicates the broader significance of these images by considering Birth of the Virgin compositions by Jan de Beer, Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, and Adriaen van Overbeke. First, this thesis considers how these artists derived iconography from Robert Campin to connect Mary's nativity to the birth of her son. Thus, the artists invite the viewer to witness the significance and purity of both babies. Next, I argue that the sacrificial imagery of these panels cultivates a sacerdotal space, in which midwives become pseudo-priests and everyday objects are conflated with ritual material culture. These panels, which draw upon Old and New Testament covenants, present Mary as co-sacrifice, indicating a sixteenth-century expansion of the Virgin's co-redemptive role alongside Christ. The paintings emphasize the beginnings of the Virgin's life to explore the life-giving quality of mankind's redemption. Finally, I explore the viewership possibilities of these paintings for a lay audience, who could interpret their own experiences with birth through these images. Many of the objects in the artworks bear similarities not only to priestly objects but also to the material culture associated with birth. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the important role that Birth of the Virgin images played in interpreting the role of the Virgin Mary and her mother Anne in increasingly affective piety. The subject matter was a way to explore the doctrinal implications of Mary's sacrificial, life-giving power even as it invited viewers to frame their own day-to-day experiences with childbirth in more religious terms.

This study aims to show all known knowledge of singing in the earliest days of the biblical New Testament. The practices of the early Christian church in respect to singing are traced during the period directly following that covered by the New Testament and carried forward to around the year 500 A.D. The study aims to learn, insofar as available sources permit, all that we may know today of singing in the earliest days of the New Testament Church. Both Old and New Testaments will be searched for all references to song, and particular attention will be directed to the meaning of St. Paul's reference to "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" in an effort to determine the meaning of these three items.

The several versions and revisions of the Bible in existence precipitate questions concerning the reliability of many Biblical texts. Each of these versions has an amount of variation from the others, yet all were done my men of accepted scholarship.Joseph Smith also made a Bible revision, or as he termed it, a "translation," using a King James Version printed in 1828 as the basis. This amended King James Version, although not fully completed, has been published under the title of the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures, by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.This thesis is the result of a study to determine the extent and the significance of many of the textual differences that exist between the four gospels of the King James Version and the corresponding books of the Inspired Version. Comparison was made between a King James Version printed in 1824 (since it was the nearest that the writer could obtain to that used by Joseph Smith) and an Inspired Version printed in 1927.

This thesis analyzes additions to the gospels in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. To assess the appropriateness of the JST additions, the thesis examines Joseph Smith's additions to verify whether they parallel the approaches of the original gospel writers to their audiences. There is strong indication that material added to the King James Version by the Joseph Smith Translation is consistent with the approaches of the original gospels to their audiences. Chapter one shows that the JST Matthew, like the KJV Matthew, is concerned with showing that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy. Chapter two finds that JST Mark is as generic in its approach and even more fast-paced than the KJV Mark. In chapter three, Joseph Smith's translation of Luke extends Luke's stress on parables and women's issues. Chapter four demonstrates that JST John emphasizes John's central concern, the primacy of Jesus, even more emphatically than the KJV John.

[pt] A presente tese tem como finalidade realizar um estudo teológico-pastoral da Igreja Batista Memorial de Alphaville no contexto da missão na cidade. A pesquisa descreve elementos caracteristicos do objeto de pesquisa e traz uma descrição da eclesiologia neotestamentária que serve de criteriologia para que se analise o objeto pesquisado. O atual trabalho é composto por cinco capítulos. O primeiro deles contém aspectos introdutórios. O segundo é de natureza narrativa, onde descrevemos o objeto de estudo, apresentando as suas características essenciais e experiências históricas. O terceiro traz uma exposição da eclesiologia da Igreja do Novo Testamento e tem por objetivo examinar a eclesiologia fundante. O quarto capítulo é uma análise crítica de alguns elementos notórios da Igreja Batista Memorial de Alphaville realizada a partir da experiência eclesial fundante vivida pelas igrejas locais do Novo Testamento. No quinto e último capítulo é apresentada uma conclusão baseada nas informações e reflexões dos capítulos anteriores. / [en] The present thesis aims to carry out a theological-pastoral study of the Memo-rial Baptist Church of Alphaville in the context of mission in the city. The research describes characteristic elements of the research object and provides a description of the New Testament ecclesiology that serves as a criteriology to analyze the object researched. The present work consists of five chapters. The first of them contains introductory aspects. The second is narrative in nature, where we describe the object of study, presenting its essential characteristics and historical experiences. The third brings an exposure of the ecclesiology of the New Testament Church and aims to examine founding ecclesiology. The fourth chapter is a critical analysis of some char-acteristic elements of the Alphaville Memorial Baptist Church carried out from the founding ecclesial experience lived by the local New Testament churches. In the fifth and final chapter a conclusion is presented based on the information and reflections of the previous chapters.