Afrikaans speaking believers have been experiencing a degree of disillusionment due to changes in the South African political landscape. This has caused spiritual instability that again caused people to want to escape to beter opportunities elsewhere, reduced church attendance and social isolation. This disillusionment is due to the fact that Afrikaans speaking believers hold to a cultural, social and self empowering type of hope that looks to the advantages of positive circumstances. A great void exists in research dealing with the hope and spirituality of Afrikaans speaking believers who experience such a disillusionment, and that resulted in this study. An empirical study revealed that the Afrikaans community struggles to deal completely with the new South African community. They feel the pressure of limited or no work opportunities due to affirmative action, uncertainty regarding their role in the new South Africa and the breaking down of Afrikaans as a historically respected language and culture. Materialism, a false trust in political and world leaders, negative media reporting, as well as people immigrating for beter opportunities, were singled out as contributors to the breaking down of hope, a hope that takes on the form of cultural entitlement and social self empowerment. A literary study showed that true Christian hope must be distinguished from wishful thinking, the outcome of social, political or economical self empowerment or emotional optimism, but rather that it is grounded in the faith knowledge of Jesus Christ as Redeemer. The church as the family of God provides hope in a space where the past and the future comes together in an active walk of faith that follows the life of Jesus Christ in serving and caring for others. Preaching must be the carrier of hope and the reminder that the promises of God will be realized up and until the coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Perspectives from Scripture confirmed that hope is not just a human thought of wishful thinking, an emotional state of mind or optimism. True Christian hope is an inner faith conviction and trust in the promises of God for salvation, provision and grace, even in the midst of poor or bad circumstances, caused by sin. This Christian hope is initiated and developed through a knowledge of the Word of God, that finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ. True Christian hope is an inner spiritual conviction through faith in Jesus Christ, a practical lifestyle of love in accordance with God’s will and a living expectation for the coming of Jesus Christ. Practical-theoretical guidelines and study work were developed where Afrikaans speaking believers, experiencing a degree of disillusionment due to a changing South Africa, can be pastorally guided to a true Christian hope. / MA (Pastoral Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Afrikaans speaking believers have been experiencing a degree of disillusionment due to changes in the South African political landscape. This has caused spiritual instability that again caused people to want to escape to beter opportunities elsewhere, reduced church attendance and social isolation. This disillusionment is due to the fact that Afrikaans speaking believers hold to a cultural, social and self empowering type of hope that looks to the advantages of positive circumstances. A great void exists in research dealing with the hope and spirituality of Afrikaans speaking believers who experience such a disillusionment, and that resulted in this study. An empirical study revealed that the Afrikaans community struggles to deal completely with the new South African community. They feel the pressure of limited or no work opportunities due to affirmative action, uncertainty regarding their role in the new South Africa and the breaking down of Afrikaans as a historically respected language and culture. Materialism, a false trust in political and world leaders, negative media reporting, as well as people immigrating for beter opportunities, were singled out as contributors to the breaking down of hope, a hope that takes on the form of cultural entitlement and social self empowerment. A literary study showed that true Christian hope must be distinguished from wishful thinking, the outcome of social, political or economical self empowerment or emotional optimism, but rather that it is grounded in the faith knowledge of Jesus Christ as Redeemer. The church as the family of God provides hope in a space where the past and the future comes together in an active walk of faith that follows the life of Jesus Christ in serving and caring for others. Preaching must be the carrier of hope and the reminder that the promises of God will be realized up and until the coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Perspectives from Scripture confirmed that hope is not just a human thought of wishful thinking, an emotional state of mind or optimism. True Christian hope is an inner faith conviction and trust in the promises of God for salvation, provision and grace, even in the midst of poor or bad circumstances, caused by sin. This Christian hope is initiated and developed through a knowledge of the Word of God, that finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ. True Christian hope is an inner spiritual conviction through faith in Jesus Christ, a practical lifestyle of love in accordance with God’s will and a living expectation for the coming of Jesus Christ. Practical-theoretical guidelines and study work were developed where Afrikaans speaking believers, experiencing a degree of disillusionment due to a changing South Africa, can be pastorally guided to a true Christian hope. / MA (Pastoral Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The Evangelical Reformed Church is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary. This study investigates this church's unique view of Scripture and places it within the broader context of a Reformed approach. To this end, a literary study is conducted, whereby the Evangelical Reformed conviction is compared to that of Calvin and Barth, as put forward in their Institutions and Church Dogmatics, respectively. This procedure allows for a collation of the Evangelical Reformed stance and the Reformed view. Since the belief regarding Scripture has an effect on many aspects of the traditional reformed dogma, several bibliological facets are singled out, namely, revelation, authority, inspiration, and the inception of the canon. By way of illustration, these details are considered with specific reference to the Reformed doctrine of Predestination. The goal of this exercise is to evaluate the application of the bibliological dogma in the formulation of theology. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / M.Th

In 1978 a group of evangelical philosophers and theologians held a meeting to decide what the definitive statement on the doctrine of inerrancy would be. Drawing on the thought of B.B. Warfield and others this group came up with a statement comprising of a short statement, nineteen articles including both statements of affirmation and denial, as well as, an exposition of these articles. Taken in its entirety, this statement is intended to be the Evangelical statement determining all subsequent information about the doctrine of inerrancy. Leading evangelicals, including Carl F.H. Henry signed this document in order to establish a consensus on what one meant when using the term inerrancy. Almost three decades later this term is still used with a sense of confusion and the doctrine is no less controversial. In fact, it still is responsible for the division of departments in many evangelical institutions of higher education in North America. The following thesis hopes to help loosen this doctrine from its theological ‘stronghold’ and place it in a position where it will be less likely to cause division amongst evangelicals. By examining the thought of both B.B. Warfield, who helped create the doctrine, and Carl F.H. Henry, who played a contemporary role in the formation of the Chicago Statement and who might rightly be considered the evangelical theologian of the twentieth century, this thesis brings to light certain presuppositions of the doctrine of inerrancy that allow it take a position that undergirds other theological doctrines. By identifying the nature of truth and authority as the main tenants of the inerrantist position, the thesis examines these terms in light of the thought of both Warfield and Henry. Their thought is found to be remarkably similar to certain principles and concerns raised by Enlightenment philosophers and it is concluded that the understandings of truth and authority presupposed by the doctrine of inerrancy ultimately are biased by Enlightenment philosophy and so are an inadequate representation of the terms as used in Scripture and tradition. The thesis suggests that an adequate understanding of truth would be primarily Christological in nature and, therefore, a larger category than the one presupposed by the doctrine of inerrancy. Also, an adequate understanding of authority would presuppose the contemporary work of the Holy Spirit, which again makes for a much larger pneumatological category than the one presupposed by the doctrine of inerrancy as it is currently defined. Enlarging these categories in no way necessitates the denial of inerrancy altogether. Rather it removes the doctrine of inerrancy from its theological pedestal and places it amongst other beliefs that might support the truth and authority of Scripture but by no means establish them. The concluding chapter ends with a statement of what this new doctrine of inerrancy might look like.

Spinoza a rédigé deux ouvrages majeurs : Le Traité Théologico-politique où il interprète l’Écriture, et l’Éthique où il expose sa philosophie. Contrairement à la règle de conduite de Descartes, Spinoza fait irruption dans le domaine de la Théologie en se mêlant d’interpréter l’Écriture. Nous avons cherché quel était le lien entre ces deux oeuvres dont le style et le ton sont tellement différents. D’autre part, Spinoza a écrit une grammaire hébraïque dont personne ne semble se préoccuper. Nous avons voulu savoir ce que venait faire une grammaire hébraïque dans une oeuvre philosophique. L’analyse de son contenu devrait permettre de savoir si cette grammaire avait pour vocation d’admettre une nouvelle interprétation de l’Ecriture et quelle pourrait en être la portée philosophique. L’examen de la méthode d’interprétation de Spinoza et des résultats obtenus permettra de dire si la publication du Traité Théologico-politique avait pour objet d’introduire « l’Éthique ». Il restera à savoir si la révolution spinozienne a été un fait aussi important que la révolution copernicienne. Si en identifiant Dieu à la Nature, Spinoza a fait une découverte de la même importance, et qu’il aurait, comme Copernic, dévoilé à l’humanité un aspect de la réalité qui avait été ignoré pendant des siècles. La philosophie de Spinoza est-elle le résultat d’une refonte du « Savoir » ou bien n’a-t-il fait que réinterpréter, en les refaçonnant des idées anciennes, pour aboutir à un système qui, quoique parfaitement bien construit, n’aurait cependant aucun fondement ? L’objet de cette étude est de suggérer quelques éléments de réponse en vue de permettre une meilleure approche de la question / Spinoza wrote two major works: the Theologico-Political Treatise in which he interprets Scripture, and the Ethics in which he expresses his philosophy. Contrary to the rule that Descartes imposed on himself, Spinoza bursted in the field of Theology by meddling with the interpretation of Scripture. We have looked for the link between those two works which styles and tones are so different. Secondly, Spinoza wrote a Hebrew grammar which nobody seems to care for. We wanted to understand what the place of a Hebrew grammar was in a philosophical work. The analysis of its contents should allow us to know whether the aim of this grammar was to provide a new interpretation of Scripture and what its philosophical impact could be. The examination of the interpretation method and of the results obtained will enable us to say if the aim in publishing the Theologico-Political Treatise was to introduce the Ethics. There remains to know if the Spinozian revolution was as important a fact as the Copernician revolution. If, by identifying God to Nature, Spinoza made a discovery of the same importance, and if he had like Copernic, unveiled to humanity an aspect of the reality which had been ignored for centuries. Was Spinoza's philosophy a result of a reworking of "Knowledge" or did he just reinterpret, by reshaping them, ancient ideas in order to create a system which, although it is well constructed, would have no basis? The aim of this study is to provide some elements of answer to those questions in order to have a better approach of the question

Ce travail propose une présentation de l’icône orthodoxe à partir de la notion d’« Évangile ». En analysant la portée détenue par l’Écriture Sainte en théologie occidentale, il a été possible de présenter l’Évangile comme la Bonne Nouvelle du salut réalisé par le Christ. L’Évangile se donne aux humains dans leur existence terrestre par diverses médiations prises du monde et qui deviennent porteuses de grâce dans leur corporéité même. L’icône est décrite comme porteuse d’Évangile en analogie avec le rôle et la place accordés à l’Écriture Sainte dans différentes traditions chrétiennes. L’icône et l’Écriture sont des formes de parole et peuvent être reconnues, dans la foi, comme des formes de la Parole de Dieu. Outre le fait d’être vecteurs de grâce, d’autres traits rapprochent l’icône et l’Écriture : la corporéité, une note de relativité, l’annonce correcte seulement dans un contexte ecclésial, le témoignage de l’événement de l’Incarnation auquel elles renvoient et dont elles dépendent. / This work provides an approach to the icon starting from the notion of « Gospel ». An analysis of the importance of the Holy Scripture in the western theology allows us to present the Gospel as the Good News of the salvation accomplished by Christ for the humankind. The Gospel is conveyed to the human being in his daily life through various means. These means are mediations taken from the creation and they become grace bearers through their very corporeity. Following an analogy with the role and the importance given to the Holy Scripture throughout different Christian traditions, the icon is described as a « Gospel bearer ». The icon and the Scripture are both a form of the word and they can both be recognized, through faith, as a form of the Word of God. Besides being vectors of grace, the icon and the Scripture share other common characteristics: the corporeity, some amount of relativity, the correct proclamation in the church only, and the witness of the event of the Incarnation.

From fourteenth century medieval literature to contemporary American and African American literature, researchers have singled out and analyzed writing from every genre that is prophetic in nature, predicting or warning about events, both revolutionary and dire, to come. One twentieth-century American whose work embodies the essence of warning and foretelling through history-laden literature is Toni Morrison. This modern-day literary prophet reinterprets eras gone by through what she calls “re-memory” in order to guide her readers, and her society, to a greater understanding of the consequences of slavery and racism in America and to prompt both races to escape the pernicious effects of this heritage. Several critics have recognized and written about Morrison’s unique style of prophetic prose. These critics, however, have either taken a general cursory analysis of her complete body of works or they are only focused on one of her texts as a site of evidence. Despite the many critical essays and journal articles that have been written about Morrison as literary prophet, no critic has extensively investigated Morrison’s major works by way of textual analysis under this subject, to discuss Morrison prophetic prose, her motivation for engaging in a form of prophetic writing, and the context of this writing in a wider general, as well as an African-American, tradition. This dissertation takes on a more comprehensive, cross-sectional analysis of her works that has been previously employed, concentrating on five of Morrison’s major novels: The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz and Paradise, in an order to assess how Morrison develops and infuses warnings and admonitions of biblical proportions. This investigation seeks to reveal Morrison’s motivation to prophecy to Americans, black and white, the context in which she engages with her historical and contemporary subjects, and the nature of the admonitions to present and future action she offers to what she sees as a contemporary generation of socially and historically oblivious African Americans, using literary prophecy as the tool by which to accomplish her objectives. This dissertation also demonstrates—by way of textual analysis and literary theory—the evolution through five novels of Morrison’s development as a literary prophet.

In the history of the Reformed Churches of South Africa (RCSA) great emphisis was placed on the notion to make decisions on the basis, and in accordance to the Scriptures. In spite of this notion, the church community of the RCSA stand in the midst of great tension regarding some decisions. In the fifty year period from the centenary festival in 1959 to the 150 year festival in 2009, assemblies of the church community were confronted with many objections to decisions regarding racial relations, the acceptance of the 1983-translation of the Bible in Afrikaans, the acceptance of the 2001-Psalter, the use of small cups in the Holy Communion and the role of women in the offices of deacon, elder and minister. The question that’s being addressed in this study is, if a shift in the RCSA’s view of Scripture took place. Chapter 2 gives an historical overview of the decisions that gave way to to the differences mentioned above. From the historical overview the aspects regarding the view of Scripture can be formulated. In chapter 3 the relation between the differences and the view of Scripture are examined. At first a short definition of the reformed view of Scripture are formulated. Hermeneutical and view of Scripture aspects of the raports of deputies and decisions of assemblies are tested according to the formulated definition of a reformed view of Scripture. Chapter 4 examines the influence that paradigm shifts had on the differences in the RCSA. Focus is placed on the influence of postmodernism on the one hand and fundamentalism on the other. Attention is also given to the stance of the RCSA on these two paradigms of thought with relation to the view of Scripture. In light of the reformed view of Scripture the postmodern approach to hermeneutics is discarded as well as the the fundamentalist view of Scripture. In spite of the reality of paradigmshifts, the raports of deputies and the decisions of assemblies does not reflect this reality. Chapter 5 tries to point a way out to handle the differences in the ligt of the Reformed view of Scripture. Focus is placed on the place the sociohistorical context holds in the revelationhistorical exegetical process. The chapter further investigates the relation between desicions on Scriptural grounds and the right to protest according to artical 31 of the Reformed Chrurchorder. Attention in given to so called ordinary cases ans essential cases. The notion that differences can be solved when dessicions is based on Scripture alone is put forward in this chapter. / Thesis (M.Th. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

In the history of the Reformed Churches of South Africa (RCSA) great emphisis was placed on the notion to make decisions on the basis, and in accordance to the Scriptures. In spite of this notion, the church community of the RCSA stand in the midst of great tension regarding some decisions. In the fifty year period from the centenary festival in 1959 to the 150 year festival in 2009, assemblies of the church community were confronted with many objections to decisions regarding racial relations, the acceptance of the 1983-translation of the Bible in Afrikaans, the acceptance of the 2001-Psalter, the use of small cups in the Holy Communion and the role of women in the offices of deacon, elder and minister. The question that’s being addressed in this study is, if a shift in the RCSA’s view of Scripture took place. Chapter 2 gives an historical overview of the decisions that gave way to to the differences mentioned above. From the historical overview the aspects regarding the view of Scripture can be formulated. In chapter 3 the relation between the differences and the view of Scripture are examined. At first a short definition of the reformed view of Scripture are formulated. Hermeneutical and view of Scripture aspects of the raports of deputies and decisions of assemblies are tested according to the formulated definition of a reformed view of Scripture. Chapter 4 examines the influence that paradigm shifts had on the differences in the RCSA. Focus is placed on the influence of postmodernism on the one hand and fundamentalism on the other. Attention is also given to the stance of the RCSA on these two paradigms of thought with relation to the view of Scripture. In light of the reformed view of Scripture the postmodern approach to hermeneutics is discarded as well as the the fundamentalist view of Scripture. In spite of the reality of paradigmshifts, the raports of deputies and the decisions of assemblies does not reflect this reality. Chapter 5 tries to point a way out to handle the differences in the ligt of the Reformed view of Scripture. Focus is placed on the place the sociohistorical context holds in the revelationhistorical exegetical process. The chapter further investigates the relation between desicions on Scriptural grounds and the right to protest according to artical 31 of the Reformed Chrurchorder. Attention in given to so called ordinary cases ans essential cases. The notion that differences can be solved when dessicions is based on Scripture alone is put forward in this chapter. / Thesis (M.Th. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

The Evangelical Reformed Church is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary. This study investigates this church's unique view of Scripture and places it within the broader context of a Reformed approach. To this end, a literary study is conducted, whereby the Evangelical Reformed conviction is compared to that of Calvin and Barth, as put forward in their Institutions and Church Dogmatics, respectively. This procedure allows for a collation of the Evangelical Reformed stance and the Reformed view. Since the belief regarding Scripture has an effect on many aspects of the traditional reformed dogma, several bibliological facets are singled out, namely, revelation, authority, inspiration, and the inception of the canon. By way of illustration, these details are considered with specific reference to the Reformed doctrine of Predestination. The goal of this exercise is to evaluate the application of the bibliological dogma in the formulation of theology. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th