Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-82).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-88).

Thesis (M.A.B.S.)--Multnomah Biblical Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [73]-80).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Master's Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [122]-133).

This thesis examines the theology of T. F. Torrance as it relates to scripture and hermeneutics, areas in which he has been neglected in the midst of otherwise great interest and activity surrounding his work. Torrance's doctrine of scripture is shown to exhibit what he calls a “dimension of depth” in which God is seen to reveal himself through it as it testifies to the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of one being with the Father incarnate as a human being, while retaining a perpetual distinction between its words and the divine Word that speaks through them. This then leads to a theological hermeneutics that seeks to respect the distinction while holding the two together, seeking to hear the eternal divine Word in the creaturely words of the biblical text. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part One examines Torrance's studies of the history of hermeneutics in which he finds a pervasive dualism keeping Christian theology from this kind of unity-in-distinction and seeking instead into find a way across an assumed chasm between God's transcendent being and the material, historical world through allegorical or psychological interpretations. Torrance also sees a realism holding this unity-in-distinction struggling against this dualistic tendency throughout the church's history. Part Two examines Torrance's constructive proposals for, first, the doctrine of scripture and, second, biblical hermeneutics.

Historically, concert music based predominantly on Jewish subject matter has been found in sacred works for Christian usage. One of the first composers to address this discrepancy was the Italian Salamone Rossi (1570?-ca. 1630). He brought into being a cycle of vocal works employing the musical vocabulary of his time with the intent of introducing the pieces into a Jewish liturgical-concert setting. His settings of Psalms and other portions of the Jewish Bible were collected and published by him under the title Hashirim asher l'Sh'lomo, or The Songs of Solomon. In honor of his work, I selected seven of the Psalms he chose to set, and recast them into a decidedly modern idiom. Although his settings are for a cappella mixed chorus, I elected to employ only soloists and a small instrumental complement, in much the same way as his German contemporary, Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672), in his intimate cycle Kleine geistliche Konzerte. The final influence as to my decisions concerning the structure of the work arose from Arnold Schonberg's (1874-1951) layout of his, Pierrot Lunaire, albeit secular, which is cast into three groups of songs, each with its own particular orchestration. My composition is divided into three books: the first contains four Psalm settings for tenor and bass, with violin, viola and piano; the second contains two settings for soprano and alto, with violoncello, string bass and piano; and the third is a single setting for the entire ensemble. The first two books also contain interludes between the vocal movements to provide both variety for the listener and rest for the singers. My materials are derivative of my own personal approach to dealing with free chromaticism and do not draw substantially on any inherent liturgical practices. The text is in Hebrew with the standard transliterations.

<p>The interest in Church Planting Movements (CPM) as described by David Garrison in his two books entitled the same, has generated a lot of interest and discussion, especially in the mission world. Garrison presented anecdotal case studies describing unprecedented numbers of church plants within a very short period of time. He also summarizes universal and common factors inherent within CPM&rsquo;s he has analyzed. </p><p> As time went on, criticisms began to emerge regarding some reported movements raising questions as to the accuracy of the reports. These reports began to generate questions as to the sustainability of movements. This research looks specifically at the question of sustainability within CPMs. Until now, no research has been conducted in order to understand how experienced CPM practitioners define sustainability within a CPM and what practices were engaged in for the purpose of sustaining a CPM. </p><p> Twenty-three experienced CPM practitioners were interviewed for this qualitative research project. A few of the participants have seen movements of over a million. What fruitful practices did these participants engage in so that a sustained movement emerged? </p><p> Through the use of data analysis tools, eleven themes emerged. These eleven themes were grouped into three categories (a) Core (Holy Spirit and Vision); (b) Fruitful Practices (Mission, Reproduction, Worldview Transformation, Church Ecclesiology and Leadership); and (c) Universals (Training, Role of Missionary, Indigenous and Prayer). These themes were integrated into a visual model, The Wheel. </p><p> The grounded theory generated as a result of this research states that if CPM practitioners are able to successfully integrate the five fruitful practices simultaneously, then a sustained movement will occur, because it incorporates the best of what has been learned from both the Church Growth Movement and CPM. </p><p> The author suggests that the Wheel Model presented in this research could be an appropriate model as modern missions moves into the fourth era. </p>

<p>This dissertation will engage in a historical-critical encounter with a peculiar subset of lived Christian traditions in the black Atlantic world, and the ways in which black theology as a disciplinary formation has only partly included these competing constructions of Christianity in their account of marginalized and marooned peoples. This project will do three things. First it will explore theoretically the construction of a black Atlantic world and re-establish a genealogy of lived Christian traditions in the black Atlantic world that takes seriously a set of movements emerging at the beginning of the twentieth century (primarily 1915-1955). These movements unsettled the monolithic depiction of the black church as western and primarily connected to a European or Euro-American theological tradition. The movements also help us to rethink the black Atlantic sphere as not simply the dispersion of African bodies to regions predominately bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the resulting demographic transformation of these new world spaces, but more appropriately as the collection of spaces (often exceeding the regions bordering the Atlantic) in which black cultures have been contested, shaped, and informed by the legacies of enslavement, colonialism, and capitalism/modernity. It is my contention that by using the lenses of the black Atlantic and scripturalizing to return to this important archive of black Atlantic religious traditions we not only have access to the variety of black Christian experiences in a transnational frame, but we are able to redefine the scope of black theology and more fully engage the complex performances of black religious traditions in the public sphere.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis contends that the translatability and interpretation theories are what allow the Bible and its message to be accepted by and relevant to all people in the world, including those in the northern belt of Namibia, among Ovawambo and Okavango communities. This thesis deals with the applicability of the translatability theories in the process of the translation of the Bible into Oshindonga, Oshikwanyama and Rukwangali, a project undertaken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN). The thesis starts with the introduction, which shows how the work was carried out, and its objectives are described in chapter one. Chapter two deals with the translatability and interpretation theories of the Bible as represented by Lamin Sanneh and Kwame Bediako. Lamin Sanneh (1989) and Kwame Bediako (1997) speak of the translatability theory of the Bible and of Christianity as a whole, which allows everyone to speak of the wonderful work of God in his/her own tongue. Translatability is the theoretical framework of this thesis. The theory aims at translating the Bible from one language to another, and goes further to include the social sphere of the person. The translatability theory is what makes the translation process in any vernacular language relevant and acceptable. The translatability theory not only includes the language, but also the cultural aspects of the people. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.