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Browsing by Subject "Theology - Christian Religion"

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African music in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa : a case study in the Western Cape
(1985) Stephenson, Mark H; Setiloane,Gabriel M
This study is an appraisal of African Music within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa with particular reference to the Western Cape. I develop and amplify a pilot study 4 in order to provide a model for further research into African Music in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. The subject has a certain topical relevance. Many Churches are not only producing new hymn books but are also experimenting with new ways of communicating the gospel through music. 5 More recently, the Africanisation committee of the C.U.C. (Church Unity Commission) directed by its convenor the Rev. E. Baartman (President Elect of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa) recommended that the C.U.C. co-ordinate research into "Black theology, African liturgy and furthermore, at the Fifth Annual Symposium on Ethnomusicology, 30 August 1984 - 1 September 1984, Alain Barker reported that "while all agreed that the international perspective the Conference provided was of great value, serious debate on how the subject should be dealt with in this country was limited to a brief discussion at the end" . Some critics felt more practical involvement in African Music should have been a part of the Conference. In other words an academic assessment needs to be grounded in practice. (a) My purpose is to determine the meaning of African Music in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and to show that African Music is a contact point between Church and Culture, facilitating cultural liberation. (b)I have erected a framework to order the results of my research. It may be claimed that the method of approach is in many ways novel. Field work, recording and documentation on African Music in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa has to my knowledge never been published. This research is an attempt to make a start. We need to listen to Africa. As a fourth generation Methodist Minister, where else could I begin other than in the Methodist Church? As can be expected in an exploratory study, these findings point to areas which need more investigation. African Music articulates the most viable approach to respond to both the demands of the Gospel and African Culture. The aim of this study is to promote and teach people an appreciation of African Music within the broader context of the Church. (c) In the light of this, I have attempted four things: (i) African Music in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa is located in its broader African context by an examination of the roots of the Church within the Protestant tradition. (ii) Oral evidence was collected as a basis for critical reflection. (iii) A critical reflection is undertaken on some of the issues implicit in the words and music. (iv) An attempt is made to suggest ways and means of developing African Music within the life of the Church.
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Christianity and the state in the first century
(1985) Titus, Stephanus Jacobus
This dissertation studies the New Testament perspective of the Christian's attitude and duty towards the State. In it the first chapter is devoted to an investigation of the political attitude of Jesus of Nazareth as can be recovered from his reported actions and pronouncements concerning the Roman government of his day and his instructions to his followers about violence and their duties towards the State. Special attention is paid to the reasons for his crucifixion. In the second chapter an exegetical study is made of the apostle Paul's teachings about the State in Romans 13:1-7; and the third chapter is an exegetical discussion of Revelation 13 in which John assumes a very negative attitude towards the State. In the final short chapter the author draws the conclusion that as early as the first Christian century the attitude of the Church towards the State was to a large extent determined by the State's treatment of the Church. Although a definite difference is evident between the attitudes of Paul and John towards the State, they agree with Jesus that the State has a definite place in the divine order of the universe. This fact requires of the Christian and other citizens to give loyally to the State what it needs for its existence, to submit to its authority and obey just laws, to pray for those in authority, reject violence, resist any religio-ideological claims or injustices of the State, and participate in the prophetic role of the Church in relation to the State.
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A critical examination of the infancy narratives in the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke
(1980) Morphew, Derek Jeffery; De Gruchy, John W
The study of Christology in the N.T. documents can be approached from a number of different directions; dogmatic, historical-critical; in terms of biblical theology' or with a hermeneutical priority. To avoid a projection of a Christology into the N.T. it is important that Christology should be grounded on a thorough exegesis of the text. Two recent critical methods which have helped to foster such a basis are redaction-criticism and structural analysis. While both methods have certain weaknesses a combination of these with the more traditional methods can produce a comprehensive 'systems' approach to the text. Such an approach is most likely to attain to the ideals which the biblical interpreter seeks to reach. In our case a particular section of the N.T. has been chosen, namely the infancy narratives in Matthew and in Luke. The first requirement is an examination of the work that has already been done. This requirement is due to the absence of a comprehensive survey on the subject and the fact that different schools of thought have developed which often ignore each other. There is therefore a need for an exposure to the full spectrum of research. The origins of research into these narratives may be traced to the enlightenment and the period of rationalism. This led to a reaction from conservative theologians. A fierce debate was provoked by these two schools of thought which had the positive result of raising all the critical issues. The study of the infancy narratives has unfortunately been somewhat blurred by a preoccupation with the doctrine of the virgin birth. Another area of preoccupation has been the linguistic origins of the Lucan infancy narrative. In more recent times the theory of midrashic creation has become popular. Redaction-criticism has brought the first step towards an exegesis of the infancy narratives which allows them to speak for themselves.
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The destination and purpose of the Fourth Gospel
(1976) Dewane, Michael Henry; Painter, John
It is not only the "contents" of the Fourth Gospel that have taxed the skills of exegetes and biblical scholars down through the centuries, simple though the language and style appear to be at first reading; practically everything else that has been said about or claimed for this gospel has been challenged or at least questioned at some time or other. This means that in most areas of Johannine studies there appears to be very little agreement or unanimity on what can definitively be accepted as being the true position. In the absence of such knowledge about what many would consider to be basic questions surrounding the gospel, the scholar can choose one of two possible courses of action. Firstly, he may decide that unless basic questions about the Gospel have been satisfactorily answered and placed beyond reasonable doubt, then there is no advantage to be gained from proceeding further as one's foundations and initial hypotheses would be suspect from the start. This in turn would place a question mark over the value of subsequent findings. On the other hand, the scholar may choose to make certain well-founded assumptions on the basis of all available information. Such "assumptions" will be necessary at times not only about matters that can be classified as peripheral questions, but also about aspects of the gospel that can be considered to be basic to and at the root of our whole understanding of the gospel. Fortunately most scholars opt for the latter course of action, for it must be accepted that such assumptions are necessary if any progress is to be made in the field of Johannine studies. It is always recognized, of course, that these assumptions may, at a later date, have to be reassessed and even reformulated in the light of any new information that is discovered. When studying a question such as that of the destination and purpose of the Fourth Gospel what has been said above is particularly apposite. It is first of all necessary to clear the ground, so to speak, by stating the position that will be adopted in this thesis on what many scholars would consider to be fundamental questions in the field of Johannine studies. The "assumptions" to be made will, in so far as this is necessary, provide the framework within which the problem under review will be investigated. These "assumptions" will be grouped together under general headings.
Open Access
The dissonance of guilt : an examination of the human condition's fundamental dynamic of guilt feelings, referring to psychological and religious discourse and how they could be combined to facilitate mental health
(1986) Boothroyd, David Gordon; Chidester, David; Cumpsty, John S
Feeling guilty is an experience we all know. It is a condition that ensures we remain cognisant of our obligations to our- selves and to others so that we live within the bounds of appropriate behaviour. When obligations are violated and deviance is evident, the resultant dissonance between expected and contrary behaviour generates feelings of inner environment discomfort and self-criticism recognised as guilt feelings. Whether such states of internal dissonance are psychodynamically induced, as Freud maintained, or are the result of not meeting ethical obligations, as decreed by particular religious systems, or are due to an inevitable faculty of being human, they have to be controlled if the mental health of the individual experiencing them is not to be detrimentally affected. What psychology and religion have to say about ensuring that this control is effective has unfortunately become dichotomous and disparate realms of discourse. A common discourse is necessary if the insights of each are to most effectively deal with mental health care. To this end, this thesis is presented as a means for assisting psychotherapists in a re-assessment of the interface between psychology and religion.
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Future tense : an analysis of science fiction as secular apocalyptic literature
(1985) Thompson, Mary-Anne Carey; Chidester, David
Religious apocalyptic literature appears to have been written in response to a situation of crisis in which the believers found themselves. It is the catalyst which provided the energy which the society needed in order to withstand that crisis, and it did this by radically inverting the dimensions which make up a worldview, that is the dimensions of time and space, and the classification of groups, so that it reflects the possibility of a new order, a new heaven and a new earth. Since the nineteenth century, the Western world has seen itself in a constant state of crisis in terms of the rapid secularisation, industrialisation and urbanisation, and it would seem that the notion of an apocalypse is still relevant. But religious visions of the apocalypse do not seem to have relevance to the largely secular society they would have been addressing. Something new, immediate and drastic was needed, which would supply the society with the energy to withstand the crisis of a secular world. Science fiction as a literary genre arose in the late nineteenth century, and it would seem as if the new social situation generated a new symbolic vocabulary for ancient apocalyptic themes, in other words, science fiction appeared as an imaginative literary genre of mythic, apocalyptic dimensions to address this situation. In the same way as religious visions of the apocalypse, science fiction inverts the components of a worldview so that a new social order, a new heaven and a new earth are seen as possible. In order to explore this theme, science fiction is examined in the light of radical inversion of accepted worldviews, and the genre is divided into three historical periods in order to understand the conditions under which it was written, as well as the content of the material involved. These periods are: 1. Apocalypses of Expectation and Hope. The late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century; the beginnings of the genre in the crisis of rapid industrialisation, secularisation and urbanisation, using the works of Jules Verne and H G Wells. 2. Apocalypses of Irony and Despair. The nineteen twenties to the end of the Second World War; the crises of the two World Wars on a complacent world, using the works of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. 3. Apocalypses of Destruction and Redemption. The nineteen fifties to the present; the crisis of nuclear power and thinking machines, using the works of Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov. Also examined are the quasi-religious nature of science fiction, apocalypse as a cleansing agent of the universe, and the myths of noble survivors of post-apocalyptic literature and films. In the light of the above, it can be understood why science fiction can be seen as the functional equivalent to religious apocalyptic myth, but relevant to the largely secular Western world of the twentieth century.
Open Access
History of the theological method of Reinhold Niebuhr : a study of the relationship between past and contemporary events in Niebuhr's theological method
(1973) Leatt, James; Cumpsty, John S
Reinhold Niebuhr is widely acknowledged, by religious and secular opinion alike, as the most influential Christian social ethicist of the twentieth century. For over fifty years he grappled with the issues which confronted his native America at a time when that nation was undergoing the most dramatic period of change in its history. During this time there was considerable debate about method in Christian ethics, but with little or no success. By contrast Niebuhr hardly seems to have a method, but perhaps behind his considerable success lies hidden a method which must be made explicit for the contemporary debate in Christian ethics. Since we have summarized our argument at the beginning of each chapter, it is necessary here only to indicate the main outline of this thesis. The contemporary debate in Christian ethics forms the subject of our first chapter, and states the problem with which this work is concerned. We then examine the formative context of Reinhold Niebuhr's life and work, before giving an exposition and critique of his Christian realism. The last two chapters seek to elucidate the theological method of Reinhold Niebuhr, and to offer an evaluation and critique.
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An investigation of the purpose and mutual relations of the Johannine Epistles
(1977) Williams, Bryan Alan; Painter, John; De Villiers, J L
The series of questions which is often grouped under the heading "the Johannine Problem" is perhaps the most intractable of all those which confront New Testament scholars. Many of these questions cannot be avoided, no matter which of the five traditional "Johannine" books is studied. On one side there is the complex of queries surrounding the Fourth Gospel: its authorship, historicity, milieu, nature and date. In another direction is to be found the formidable set of challenges associated with the Johannine Apocalypse. No less difficult are the questions posed by the Epistles of John. First there is the question of authorship. Did one writer pen all three works? What is the relationship of the writer/s of the Epistles to the author/s of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse of John? There is also the problem of timing - even leaving aside the Gospel and Apocalypse, is it possible to come to any conclusion concerning the priority of one or other of the three Epistles? Were they written at the same time? What is the answer to the peculiar absence of contemporary names in l and 2 John? What, in fact, is the nature and intention of each book? What is one to make of the current church situation, of the elusive personalities and their movements? The hypothesis advanced here suggests that the three Johannine Epistles came from the same hand, the author of these also being the author of the Fourth Gospel.
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The Mixed Marriages Act (1949) : a theological critique based on the investigation of legislative action and church responses to this legislation
(1985) Furlong, Patrick Jonathan; Webb, Colin de B; Villa-Vicencio, Charles
The thesis is concerned with the nature of the interaction between church and state, and more generally between politics and religion, in the matter of so-called mixed marriages, and more particularly the debate surrounding the South African Mixed Marriages Act of 1949. The methodology of the study is interdisciplinary, dealing in detail with historical material as a basis for theological reflection and analysis. In the first chapter, marriage is dealt with generally from a theological viewpoint. Various approaches to marriage are considered, such as those in African society, the Bible, and in the Catholic and Reformation traditions. In contrast with the fertility-lineage, group-oriented ethic detected in the early part of the Old Testament and in many preliterate and patriarchal societies, a personalist and essentially 'sacramental' model of marriage is developed on the basis of New Testament teaching and later Christian theological reflection. The effects of a fertility-lineage and group-oriented ethic of marriage in South Africa are demonstrated in chapter two, which deals with the drive for anti-miscegenation laws in that country, with special reference to the role of the Afrikaans Reformed churches in this regard. The third chapter takes up this historical material, examining the nature of the initial debate on the Mixed Marriages Act in 1949-1950 and the aims of the Nationalist Government in introducing this legislation. The contrasting responses to the Act on the part of the Afrikaans Reformed churches and the more 'liberal', non-racial, mainly English-speaking churches are also considered here. In the fourth chapter the developments in the debate surrounding the Act since 1949 are discussed, with special reference to key points in the changing attitudes of the churches (especially the Afrikaans Reformed churches) to this legislation. This provides the background to the heated debate since the mid-seventies, when the Government began to show apparent signs of favouring a reformulation of apartheid which purportedly aimed at eliminating the most obviously racially biased aspects of that policy. The final chapter examines the theological assumptions of Afrikaans Reformed thought, and attempts to show how its roots in a particular view of Calvinism, Kuyperian Neo-Calvinism and the Bible result in the kind of fertility-lineage ethic which makes support for the Act possible. An effort is made to show the theological inadequacies of this thought from a Christian perspective, and to suggest an alternative, more dynamic theology, which recognizes the importance of individual choice and human rights. The impediments to such a fundamental reorientation are recognised, however, and it is argued that any major changes in position on the miscegenation laws on the part of either reformist government politicians or the Afrikaans Reformed churches in the near future will face major resistance.
Open Access
Religion in the interpretation of experience
(1979) Hofmeyr, Jan; Cumpsty, John
This dissertation initially grew out of a pre-occupation with the epistemological status of substantive religious beliefs. Its narrowly linguistic beginnings were soon broadened, however, for it became clear from the comparative study of religion that commitment to a tradition is an important part of discovering its veracity. In other words, it is through being linked in some way to the activities of a religious group that the truth of its doctrines is tested. This being so, the question of the epistemological status of substantive religious beliefs was seen to be linked to valuative considerations. The decision whether and in what way to be linked to the activities of a religious group in order to test its views is itself a valuative one. A pre-occupation with the epistemological status of religious beliefs gave way therefore to a more general pre-occupation with the relationship between value and "fact". At this point the investigation took what may be considered a peculiar turn for one concerned primarily with religion. It moved into the area of systems and information theory and into those areas of the human sciences in which an attempt is made to apply systems and information theoretic ideas, the reason being that the links between the way human beings value and the way they see the world seem to be most clearly conceived in these areas. Particularly significant is the extent to which it is becoming clear that human beings structure their "fact-gathering" in accordance with the informational requirements of goals. This does not mean that facts, in some sense or other, are value-laden, but only that the selection of facts will show valuative influences. While investigations influenced by systems and information concerns are clear on t~ relationship of information gathering to goal-directed activity, they are not however clear on the processes which may underlie the development of those goals. Since the predominant concern has been with the relationship between value and fact it became necessary to go beyond existing kinds of analysis to the development of a view of the way in which values underlie the acquisition of goals. This had the consequence ii of opening a way for the ideas generated in systems and information research to be app~ied to the interpretation of religion. Thus, the end product of a pre-occupation first with the epistemological status of substantive religious beliefs and second with the relationship between value and fact, was the development of a theory of religion i.e., of an account of the features in human nature which give rise to religion, and which make human beings religious at both individual and social levels. It is a highly speculative and theoretical account and, though some leads in this regard have been given in the texts and in footnotes, its application to religious studies in the field remains to be worked out. The body of the dissertation is divided into three sections. In the first the discipline of religious studies is introduced, and I argue for the importance of the development of an understanding of religion which traces it to at least a factor in human nature. Since this is an empirical problem, I set the study of human nature within what I consider to be its general scientific context. The systems approach to the study of human nature is then introduced, having been chosen for the clarity with which it links information gathering to goal-directed activity. This brings to a close the first section. The significance of the systems approach for understanding religion may not at this point be very clear. The purpose of the first section, however, is only to introduce that general approach to the . investigation and interpretation of religion which will follow. In the second section the theoretical underpinnings for the theory of religion are developed. A system of concepts in terms of which all human activity is shown to be value-based is defined and explained. It builds on the systems and information theoretic approach to the study of man but presses this approach further by the development of a scheme which links the acquisition of goals to underlying values. This opens the way to the application of these ideas to the interpretation of religion, a task carried out in the third section. In the third section a notion of what it is for an individual to be religious is developed in terms of the foundations laid in the first, and second sections. Religious activity is seen to arise out' of the operation in the individual of the valuing process at its most comprehensive. This understanding is then used to explore what the emergence of religion at a social level must involve. Since communication is so central to the operation of religion at a social level the dissertation comes full circle and links back to the preoccupation which was its initial stimulus i.e., that of the status of ~ substantive religious beliefs. This, however, is only one of the issues which it resolves. The value of the overall approach emerges by the clarity with which it links religious activity to other areas of human endeavour, religious experience to other areas of human experience, and religious discourse to other areas of human discourse. Throughout the dissertation use has been made of areas of thought in which many problems are still far from resolved. These areas, ·incomplete as they may be, have been pressed into service as providing the theoretical underpinnings of my view of religion. Clearly, there are critical intellectual dangers here for it might be argued that an attempt has been made to develop an understanding of religion on the basis of foundations which are still too insecure to support such an attempt. I have tried throughout, however, to leave the unresolved theoretical problems as open as they need to be for my final position to stand irrespective of _how they may be 'resolved. The predominant consideration in the adoption of an approach was the promise it held out for understanding religion. If it has been justified its justifiability will be shown therefore in its fruitfulness in the interpretation of religion, in its power to make interpretable that which has been but vaguely interpreted in the past.
Open Access
The role of English-speaking churches in South Africa : a critical historical analysis and theological evaluation with special reference to the Church of the Province and the Methodist Church, 1903-1930
(1983) Cochrane, James R; De Gruchy, John W
PART ONE elucidates the theoretical basis of the study and its assumptions. After surveying South African church historiography and concluding that synchronic political economic history is seldom integrated into the Church story, it is argued that critical social theory should inform church historiography. An historical material framework is adopted and the relationship of theory and practice established... PART TWO, the bulk of the study, analyses the churches in context. To set the scene, the missionary period of the nineteenth century is discussed in relation to Victorian expansionism, concluding that, whatever their value, the missions were closely tied in to imperial interests and the penetration of capital, fundamentally altering the indigenous societies. This leads to a brief consideration of race and class in the South African political economy. A class definition is adopted that allows for fractions within the dominant capital-labour dichotomy. Finally, an overview of the first stage of industrialisation follows in respect of primitive accumulation, gold mining, farming, alcohol and domestic workers. With that background to the 1903-1930 period clear, extensive archival material is used to describe and analyse the churches in relation to their political economic context. The focus is the Church in industrialisation, including the shaping of its practice, polity and theology by the conflicts and interests of foreign and national capital... PART THREE returns to the earlier theoretical framework in order to found a theory of religion and theology. David Tracy's notions of the limits-to human agency and the limits-of experience locate the religious phenomenon in relation to empirical-analytic and historical-hermeneutic sciences. Questions of meaning, meaningfulness and truth are introduced. Utilising Theodore Jennings, William Lynch and Paul Ricoeur, the structure of analogical imagination is explored and applied to Bernard Lonergan's investigation of insight, to be finally related to religion as a way-of-being-in- the-world. Lastly, the culminating chapter pursues ecclesiological directions, within a historical material framework, applicable to a Church caught in social contradictions but anticipating an emancipated world, and concludes with a definition of the Church-at-the-limits.
Open Access
A theological critique of the military chaplaincy of the English-speaking churches
(1984) Moll, Peter Graham; Villa-Vicencio, Charles
The essence of this thesis is a critique of the structure and form of the military chaplaincy in South Africa in terms of theological presuppositions that can generally be associated with Karl Barth's understanding of ministry. It focuses on the military chaplaincy of the English-speaking churches of South Africa: the period selected is the past ten years. After surveying the rather scarce literature on the military chaplaincy in South Africa and several Western countries, the author briefly outlines those aspects of the theology of ministry of Karl Barth pertinent to this thesis. In addition, the author explains his own position on war and conscientious objection, which is generally speaking in keeping with what may be referred to as the Barthian perspective on ministry. The author then examines the South African Chaplains' Service. He finds several aspects incompatible with the theology of ministry outlined in Chapter 2: rank, uniform, military appointment of senior staff, command influence of the military over chaplains, the hierarchical structure of the Chaplains' Service, in-house training of chaplains, security clearance and secrecy. He argues that the real test of the freedom of the military chaplaincy is whether chaplains are free to convey the church's message of peace. The author concludes that the English-speaking churches cannot yet be assured of the freedom of their chaplains, and shows that the "complete freedom" to which most of the Permanent Force chaplains lay claim is illusory.

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