M.A. (Biblical Studies) / In recent decades the church member's life style and involvement in the congregation and the church, increasingly became a point of interest in the church. Enterprises to build up the congregation concentrate on leading, motivating and activating church members to become involved in numerous activities launched by the congregation. In spite of this it looks as if only a minority of church members really do get involved in serving the Lord The contention of this study is that church members' defective realisation of their Christian identity is the reason that the quality of their spiritual life and their involvement in church activities leaves much to be desired. Scientific Biblical research specifically from the New Testament concerning the Christian identity of the church member is therefore necessary. This Biblical information will help church members to realise their identity as believers. This in tum will enable them to fulfill their task as believers by becoming closely involved in the church. According to Erikson (1971 :90) a defective comprehension of identity leads to a misunderstanding of one's role. Such persons will try to be everything to everyone and will be never be themselves. The measure in which individuals find their identity is the measure in which they grow in stability and self-confidence. This may also be true for the member of the church. An intensive study of the abundant material in Scripture would be impossible within the confines of this treatise. For this reason the research will be confined to the Pauline material which in tum can't be used in full. Thus the theme : Relevant Pauline perspectives on the Christian identity of the church member. The object of this research is to ascertain if, and if so, which perspectives the Corpus Paulinum (C P) gives on the identity of the church member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:12922 |
| Date | 19 November 2014 |
| Creators | Van den Berg, Cornelius Jacobus |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
Page generated in 0.0116 seconds