This study is the product of research in the field of systematic theology, particularly the subject of women in ministry. The goal was to provide, given the scope and limits of the study, the most persuasive case for women elders (or “pastors”) from a Reformed-Evangelical approach to date. The primary means of accomplishing this goal is by making an analytically constructed argument that is both exegetically and theologically sound. The introduction outlines the study’s basic objectives, structure, research methods, assumptions, and overall direction. Two gives a detailed literature review of major publications on the subject of women ministry in order to track the movement of the debate. Three explores theological methods that addresses theological loci, the role of hermeneutics, and the theological-analytical structure and content of Reformed-Evangelical arguments for women elders. Chapter Four explores conceptual framework, which frames the specific, contemporary debate over women elders in Reformed-Evangelical circles, and then addresses the insights and challenges of feminist theology and Roman Catholic theology. The heart of the study is captured in three main chapters that present a case for women elders in the church. The first argument provides a detailed examination of the “prohibition passages” in the New Testament and concludes that they do not prohibit women from being elders. The second argument provides a sweeping account of the proclamation of the gospel in New Testament theology, and affirms that anti-women-elder readings and attitudes simply do not conform to the actions, attitudes, and teachings of the early church regarding gender and gospel-proclamation. Finally, the third section provides three additional arguments in favor of women elders. The first argument addresses the nature of hermeneutics and application of specific interpretations, the second addresses the nature of marriage and its relationship to church leadership, and the third deals with functions of women in NT ministry. The research concludes with Chapter Eight, which summarizes the argument and introduces practical ramifications if the study’s premises and conclusions are true. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

In the seventeenth century, many refugees saw the United Provinces of the Netherlands as a promised land—a gathering ark, or in French, arche. In fact, Pierre Bayle called it, "la grande arche des fugitifs." This thesis shows the reception of one particular group of Protestant refugees, the Huguenots, who migrated to the Netherlands because of Catholic confessionalization in France, especially after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The thesis offers two case studies—one of the acceptance of Huguenot clergymen and one of the mixed reception of refugee radical and philosopher Pierre Bayle—in order to add nuance to existing knowledge and understanding of the Huguenot diaspora, and of the nature of tolerance in the Dutch Republic, especially in regard to the Dutch Reformed Church. Dutch society, and especially the Reformed Church, welcomed the Huguenot refugees because of their similar religious beliefs and the economic and cultural benefits they brought with them. Particularly following the 1685 Revocation, refugees fleeing France settled securely in the Republic amongst the Walloons, descendants of refugees already settled there, and worshiped in prosperity and peace within the Walloon Church, a French-speaking arm of the Dutch Reformed Church. Using synodal records, this thesis examines the relationships between refugee pastors and the established Walloon leaders and finds that there was a bond of acceptance between the two groups of clergy, motivated by the desire for orthodoxy in religious belief, or in other words, by a Reformed desire for confessionalization"”more Reformed adherents also made Dutch society more Reformed. Huguenots were also able to maintain a measure of French identity while still being integrated into Dutch society. The second chapter shows the limits of Dutch tolerance by examining the Netherlandish experience of Pierre Bayle, a Huguenot refugee and philosopher. His experience was typical for a controversial philosopher and refugee in the Netherlands because he endured intolerance from certain religious authorities, but also received protection from other moderate religious officials and university and civic authorities. Bayle expressed sentiments that the Netherlands was a safe haven, or ark, for refugees, even though he endured censure from church officials. Their aims were to make the community's religious convictions more uniform, and some leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church saw Bayle's ideas as threats to that—to confessionalization. In the same vein as Benjamin Kaplan's Divided By Faith, this thesis shows that tolerance certainly existed in the Republic, but was more complicated than Bayle and others suggested. Indeed, efforts that thwarted confessionalization were met with intolerance by the Dutch Reformed Church. This thesis also contributes to Huguenot studies by discussing the relationships of refugees to their host community in the Dutch Republic.

No description available.

Baptist pastors in the early years of the twenty-first century find themselves in a challenging yet exciting period of South African history. Much has changed in the socio-political and religious contexts, yet Baptist pastors are still prone to operate according to earlier models of leadership and ecclesiology, with the result that they find themselves in situations of heightened conflict. Their position with respect to the laity, with whom they share a common priesthood of believers, is also an ambiguous one. After orientating the reader to the nature of the problem and various starting issues (chapter 1), this practical-theological thesis seeks to explore the nature of the changes in the socio-political milieu (chapter 2), as well as in the religious context (chapter 3). Baptist pastors are affected by a range of expectations that emerge from a particular view of the Bible and from the wider church community, as well as from the media and their own experience of pastors. Chapters 4 and 5 seek to understand these expectations, especially as these expectations have combined to produce role conflict and role ambiguity. In such a situation it is more understandable that ministry can lack a pastoral centre and an unclear identity. Pastors have adopted a stance in the midst of such competing demands on their role identity and chapter 6 attempts to make their position clearer through empirical analysis, before embarking – in chapters 7 and 8 – on a description of a new model of pastoral ministry that is founded on the theatrical notion of the antagonist. Several implications for future ministry are explored in chapter 9, as we look forward to a revised praxis. The pastor as spiritual antagonist is approached from the vantage-point of the world of drama, since this angle, in its metaphorical richness, is seminal for a new understanding of the provocative role of the pastor in a world that is steadily devaluing spiritual leadership. The spiritual antagonist is described in terms of his/her character and ministry actions as one who is profoundly spiritual in his awe of God and in his determination to live reflectively. At the same time the spiritual antagonist is one who has an imaginative grasp on the communicative possibilities of being with people, and alongside people, intensely and for the purpose of provoking decision and faith. Whatever conflict is generated by such a stance is deliberately incorporated for educational and transformational purposes. Whatever is modelled – in the mode of the spiritual antagonist – by ordained pastors / elders becomes facilitatory for fellow believers in the congregation to fashion a similar identity. Thus an old division in Baptist ecclesiology is healed. / Practival Theology / (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

No description available.

In the African American community, the Black Church and its clergy have served as gatekeepers to formal mental health treatment. Little is known about the beliefs of African American Christian senior pastors about mental health treatment and their personal views influencing their counsel to congregants seeking support through the church. This transcendental phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of African American Christian senior pastors in relation to how they understand mental health treatment and provide it to their congregants. The research questions explored three areas: (a) the senior pastors' experiences in rendering mental health treatment, (b) the senior pastors' personal experiences with mental health treatment, and (c) the senior pastors' views on their effectiveness in rendering mental health treatment to congregants. An emergent hand coding analysis of participant narratives collected from 6 participant semi-structured interviews generated 3 main themes and 14 sub-themes related to participant experiences. The results showed the senior pastors not wanting to do harm when congregants sought mental health support through the church; hence, the pastors referred congregants to formal treatment when issues were beyond their scope. Also most of the senior pastors felt comfortable participating in formal mental treatment as needed because it was beneficial for addressing personal and professional challenges. This study can assist the mental health community in making positive social change via the development of relationships and/or partnerships with African American Christian senior pastors looking to refer congregants to formal mental health treatment.

Les conditions d’exercice du ministère pastoral dans la France réformée du régime de l’édit de Nantes (1598-1685) sont encore mal connues. Le cas précis de Paul Ferry (1591-1669), pasteur à Metz de 1612 à sa mort, permet d’entrer dans le monde des « ministres de la Parole de Dieu » au XVIIe siècle. Cette étude tente d’approcher l’analyse des formes et des modèles de la carrière pastorale. Ils sont religieux et confessionnels bien sûr, mais également politiques, sociaux, culturels et intellectuels. Perceptibles à plusieurs échelles, les contours du ministère s’observent localement, mais également à une échelle nationale, voire internationale, grâce à un exceptionnel réseau de correspondance. Le ministre, type de clerc radicalement différent du prêtre catholique, doit toujours assurer les fidèles de leur Salut dans leur foi, surtout par la prédication, mais aussi par l’administration des sacrements et par l’acculturation, en tentant d’imposer la morale et la discipline réformées. Même la vie « privée » du pasteur est une modalité d’édification de son troupeau et donc une action pastorale. Il doit en effet donner l’exemple d’une bonne vie chrétienne, notamment parce qu’il n’est plus ontologiquement différent des fidèles depuis la révolution du sacerdoce universel. Il agit également en défenseur de sa communauté en se muant en guide politique et en porte-parole de son Église, notamment face à la controverse catholique et face aux pouvoirs, mais aussi en historien, en écrivain, ou en directeur de collège. Par toutes ces diverses fonctions assumées au nom de son ministère, Ferry constitue un modèle, parfois contesté, de pasteur sous le régime de l’édit de Nantes. / Relatively little is known about the way the pastoral ministry was exercised in France during the period of the Edict of Nantes (1598-1685). The case of Paul Ferry (1591-1669), who became pastor at Metz in 1612 and remained there until his death in 1669, makes it possible to enter into the world of the « ministers of the Holy Word » in the seventeenth century. This study attempts to analyze the forms and models of the pastorate. These are not only religious and confessional, but also political, social, cultural and intellectual. The impact of the minister could be felt at different levels, ranging from the local to the national and, due to an exceptional network of correspondence, even to the international. The Reformed pastor, a cleric who differs radically from the Roman Catholic priest, has the duty continually to reassure the members of his congregation in their faith and about their salvation. He does so especially in the preaching, but also in the administration of the sacraments, and as well as by way of acculturation in imposing Reformed morals and discipline on his flock. Even the « private » life of the pastor can be considered as a form of edification, and therefore as a pastoral act. It is the pastor’s duty to give an example of the good Christian life, especially since with the Reformation’s emphasis on the priesthood of all believers he is no longer ontologically different from his congregation. The pastor can also assume the role of protector of his congregation as a political guide and church spokesman, in particular in face of Catholic polemics and powers, or else the role of a historian, writer, or rector to a collège. In that Ferry assumed all of these functions by virtue of his position as minister, he can – notwithstanding the opposition he at times encountered from within his own consistory – be considered a model of those pastors who exercised their ministry under the Edict of Nantes.

Baptist pastors in the early years of the twenty-first century find themselves in a challenging yet exciting period of South African history. Much has changed in the socio-political and religious contexts, yet Baptist pastors are still prone to operate according to earlier models of leadership and ecclesiology, with the result that they find themselves in situations of heightened conflict. Their position with respect to the laity, with whom they share a common priesthood of believers, is also an ambiguous one. After orientating the reader to the nature of the problem and various starting issues (chapter 1), this practical-theological thesis seeks to explore the nature of the changes in the socio-political milieu (chapter 2), as well as in the religious context (chapter 3). Baptist pastors are affected by a range of expectations that emerge from a particular view of the Bible and from the wider church community, as well as from the media and their own experience of pastors. Chapters 4 and 5 seek to understand these expectations, especially as these expectations have combined to produce role conflict and role ambiguity. In such a situation it is more understandable that ministry can lack a pastoral centre and an unclear identity. Pastors have adopted a stance in the midst of such competing demands on their role identity and chapter 6 attempts to make their position clearer through empirical analysis, before embarking – in chapters 7 and 8 – on a description of a new model of pastoral ministry that is founded on the theatrical notion of the antagonist. Several implications for future ministry are explored in chapter 9, as we look forward to a revised praxis. The pastor as spiritual antagonist is approached from the vantage-point of the world of drama, since this angle, in its metaphorical richness, is seminal for a new understanding of the provocative role of the pastor in a world that is steadily devaluing spiritual leadership. The spiritual antagonist is described in terms of his/her character and ministry actions as one who is profoundly spiritual in his awe of God and in his determination to live reflectively. At the same time the spiritual antagonist is one who has an imaginative grasp on the communicative possibilities of being with people, and alongside people, intensely and for the purpose of provoking decision and faith. Whatever conflict is generated by such a stance is deliberately incorporated for educational and transformational purposes. Whatever is modelled – in the mode of the spiritual antagonist – by ordained pastors / elders becomes facilitatory for fellow believers in the congregation to fashion a similar identity. Thus an old division in Baptist ecclesiology is healed. / Practival Theology / (D. Th. (Practical Theology))

Ninguém duvida da importância do discurso do Bom Pastor em Jo 10. Todavia, poucos estudos conseguem precisar a dinâmica do relato, sua estrutura interna e, sobretudo, a relação com o conjunto do quarto evangelho. Menos ainda, se conhece a relação do texto com passagens do Antigo Testamento, com a tradição judaica e a literatura intertestamentária. A aproximação com estas diversas fontes permite enquadrar com perspectiva exegética e hermenêutica esta alocução de Jesus, inclusive realizando um balanço das distintas apresentações e interpretações da perícope em autores de reconhecida trajetória mundial no âmbito da exegese. / There is no doubt about the importance one should give to the words of the Good Shepherd in John 10. Nevertheless, very few studies have dealt with the dynamics of the narrative, its inner structure and especialy, with its relationship within the contex of the fourth gospel. We know even less about the links of this text with others in the Old Testament, what is said in the the Jewish Tradition and other writings betwween the two Testaments. Neediess to say that a close study of these sources will give an exegetical and hermeneutical focus and a new perspective to these words of Jesus. This could also be achieved without overlookin different studies and interpretations os these verses given by worlwide known exegetes.

Submitted by ANA KARLA PEREIRA RODRIGUES (anakarla_@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-19T16:41:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2721872 bytes, checksum: 93efe4f776845b1bc54a5009a7d58c7b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-19T16:41:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2721872 bytes, checksum: 93efe4f776845b1bc54a5009a7d58c7b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The present research emerges from nowadays needs to inquire about Brazilian historic time in between 1964-1985, temporality where the country lived under a civil-military dictatorship. Thinking about this period and the acting subjects in combat against the system of oppression and repression configures here as resistance. Thus, we will try to understand this period starting by the memories of the women inserted in the political struggles, acted in the confrontation with the antidemocratic forces. That said, we aimed to analyze the memories of women militants who were political prisoners in the Bom Pastor Penal Colony between 1969 and 1979 in the city of Recife and the resistance they practiced during the militancy that began in 1964, year of the coup d‘etat and ending in 1985. To this it is necessary to understand the cartographic traces and experiences of the twenty-four (24) militant women from the discourses contained in the reports of memory and in the individual records relating to the period of their detention. To discuss the forms of resistance exercised by left-wing militants against the civil-military dictatorship and their closure in prison. In addition to problematizing the construction of women's memories from the testimonial speeches contained in the documentary Vou contar para meus filhos. To do so, we use the contributions of the field of Cultural History, choosing to produce a history that focuses on the participation of women, in this way we seek to discuss categories such as gender and memory, which helped us to make new looks about the period covered, showing these subjects still shaded to the pages of historiography. / A presente pesquisa emerge das necessidades do presente de se indagar acerca do período da história do Brasil que compreende os anos de 1964-1985, temporalidade em que o país viveu sob uma ditadura civil-militar. Pensar este período e os sujeitos atuantes no combate ao sistema de opressão e repressão se configura aqui como uma resistência. Assim, debruçarmo-nos para compreender este período a partir das memórias de mulheres que, inserindo-se no campo das lutas políticas, atuaram no enfrentamento às forças antidemocráticas. Dito isto, objetivamos analisar as memórias de mulheres militantes que foram presas políticas na Colônia Penal do Bom Pastor, entre os anos de 1969-1979, na cidade do Recife, e as resistências que praticaram durante na militância que se iniciou já em 1964, ano do golpe, perdurando por todo o período de ditadura civil-militar, que se encerra em 1985. Para tanto, faz-se necessário compreender os traçares cartográficos e experiências das vinte e quatro (24) mulheres militantes a partir dos discursos contidos nos relatos de memória e nos prontuários individuais referentes ao período de suas prisões, além de discutir as formas de resistência exercidas pelas militantes de esquerda contra a ditadura civil-militar e a clausura na prisão, bem como problematizar a construção das memórias femininas, a partir dos discursos testemunhais, contidas no documentário Vou contar para meus filhos. Para tanto, utilizamo-nos das contribuições do campo da História Cultural, optando por produzir uma história que focasse na participação das mulheres. Desse modo, buscamos discutir categorias como gênero e memória, que nos ajudaram a tecer novos olhares sobre o período abordado, trazendo esses sujeitos ainda sombreados para as páginas da historiografia.