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1
Abraham, Shaibu. "Ordinary Indian Pentecostal Christology." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/1717/.
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This thesis is an investigation into the nature of Christology among ordinary Pentecostals in India. Pentecostalism is growing rapidly among Tribal-groups, Dalits, lower castes and ordinary people. However, the movement has not articulated its theological identity in order to consolidate and further its development. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the ordinary Christology using qualitative research methods such as interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. It is argued that their Christological understandings have been formed and expressed in challenging circumstances and given extraordinary energy through Pentecostal phenomena associated with revivalism. Ordinary Indian Pentecostals understand Jesus as the healer, exorcist, provider and protector in the context of poor health-care, a spirit worldview, extreme poverty, caste-system and religious persecution. Their Christian experience enables them to acknowledge Jesus as the Saviour, Lord and supreme God. These Christological themes are consonant with the larger Pentecostal tradition, theology and indeed the New Testament testimony. The argument critically engages with scholarship in Pentecostalism and the broader Christian tradition to propose a modification of these Christological categories.
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Ndungu, James N. "An evaluation of John S. Mbiti's Christology." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2003. http://www.tren.com.
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Ezigbo, Victor I. "Contextualizing the Christ-event : a Christological study of the interpretations and appropriations of Jesus Christ in Nigerian Christianity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/2586.
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In Nigerian Christianity, many theologians and Christians who do not have any formal theological training perceive Jesus Christ primarily as a solution to the problems that confront humanity. As a solution, they expect Jesus Christ to inspire some theological discourses that will deconstruct and overthrow Western theological hegemony, to rekindle the quest to preserve some indigenous traditions, to liberate the oppressed, poor and powerless, to expose the oppressors and all evildoers, to liberate and protect people from the attacks of the malevolent spirits, and to save people from being eternally separated from God. But what these solution-oriented Christologies have overlooked is that the Christ-Event is a paradox for it creates simultaneously a problem and a solution for the Christian community which confesses that God has revealed God’s self in this event. The contextual Christology that I develop in this study probes the theological, christological and anthropological consequences of this claim for interpreting and appropriating Jesus Christ in the Nigerian contexts. To achieve this task, I will converse with and critique some selected ‘constructive Christologies’ of some key theologians and some ‘grassroots Christologies’ that have been informed by social conditions, indigenous worldview, encounter with some versions of Christianity propagated by the West, and some existential issues that confront many Christians. However we choose to interpret and appropriate Jesus the Christ in our contexts, he remains simultaneously a question and an answer to the theological, cultural, religious, anthropological, political and socio-economic issues that challenge us. Viewed from this perspective, I will argue that the Christ-Event upsets, unsettles, critiques, and reshapes the solution-oriented Christologies of Nigerian Christianity. I will explore this claim within the circumference of the overarching thesis of this study; namely, as both a question and an answer, Jesus Christ confronts us as a ‘revealer’ of divinity and humanity. Thus, he mediates and interprets divinity and humanity for the purpose of enacting and sustaining a relationship between God and human beings.
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Hurtuk, Joseph C. "The theocentric model of Christology in the pluralist theology of Paul F. Knitter." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1996. http://www.tren.com.
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Dankers, Paul. "The two natures of Christ: A critical analysis of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christology." University of the Western Cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7285.
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Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThis study will contribute to the substantial corpus of secondary scholarship on the life, ministry, and theology of the German theologian, church leader, and modern-day martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). Bonhoeffer’s legacy has also elicited considerable interest in the South African context, concerning a wide variety of themes such as the Confessing Church movement, secularisation, discipleship, confessing guilt, spirituality, and ethics. The critical question articulated by Bonhoeffer predominantly in his Letters and Papers from Prison, namely ‘Who is Jesus Christ, for us, today?’ has been raised by different generations of South African theologians in rapidly changing contexts. This study will concentrate on Bonhoeffer’s own Christology. The focus will be not so much on the significance of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ within a particular social context, but on how Bonhoeffer understands the person of Christ. More specifically, the problem investigated in this study is how Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s evolving views on the so-called ‘two natures’ of Christ should be understood. The Nicene confession,’ that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he is ‘truly God’ and ‘of one being with the Father, ’ prompted considerable reflection in Patristic Christianity. One crucial question was how the confession of the divinity of Christ reconciles with the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth portrayed so vividly in the canonical gospels. The formulation of the Council of Chalcedon, namely that one may speak of ‘two natures’ and ‘one person,’ has never been satisfactory and prompted further controversy but remains a point of reference in ongoing Christological debates to this day. The question, therefore, raised: How does Bonhoeffer understand the relationship between the ‘divine’ and the ‘human’ nature of Jesus Christ? This question is pertinent given the consistent Christological concentration in Bonhoeffer’s theology (even to the point of a Trinitarian reductionism), his increasing emphasis on a ‘this-worldly’ understanding of God’s transcendence and his consistent Lutheran intuition that the finite can indeed contain the infinite. Bonhoeffer’s Christology has been the subject of much scholarly interest. There is consensus that his Christology remains not only incomplete but also unresolved. A core problem in this regard is his understanding of the divine nature of Christ – which he assumes but of which he does not offer any full account. This study will contribute to the available literature by exploring Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the ‘two natures’ of Christ based on the primary and secondary research with specific reference to Sanctorum Communio (1927/1963), Act and Being (1930/1996), Christology, Discipleship (1937/1959), Ethics (1955, 6th edition and 2005, new critical edition) and Letters and Papers from Prison (2010). There has been considerable controversy in Bonhoeffer scholarship regarding the continuity and discontinuity in Bonhoeffer’s theological thinking from his student years to his death in 1945. It would, therefore, be wise to allow for Bonhoeffer’s ‘evolving’ views on the ‘two natures’ of Jesus Christ to speak for itself. This study will seek to describe and assess (in terms of Bonhoeffer’s sources and secondary scholarship) Bonhoeffer’s views in each of his main works to trace the developments in his thinking.
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Rainbow, Paul Andrew. "Monotheism and christology in I Corinthians 8. 4-6." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1987. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:bd303c77-567a-48d5-9d2f-cb31b441c14c.
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The thesis is a description of the relationship between the 'one God, the Father' and the 'one Lord, Jesus Christ' in I Cor. 8. 4-6. It analyses Paul's language about God and Christ against the background of contemporary Jewish language about the one God, making use of methodic concepts gleaned eclectically from the structural movement in linguistics and the social sciences. Accordingly, the study falls into two parts: a determination of Paul's Jewish monotheistic presuppositions, and an analysis of I Cor. 8. 4-6 itself. Part one uses the Greek Old Testament, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, and the New Testament, in particular some two hundred statements of monotheism collected from these sources (presented in an appendix), to illuminate the oblique references to monotheistic belief in Paul's letters. This part of the study concentrates on answering a series of nine questions about Jewish monotheism designed to shed light on Paul's language in our chosen passage. Part two combines the familiar grammatical-historical methods of biblical scholarship with newer, structural methods of exegesis to investigate the doctrinal content of the quasi-confessional language about God and Christ in I Cor. 8 4-6 in the light of our results from part one. The major conclusions of the study can be summarized in three statements. (1) I Cor. 8. 6 contains two classic statements of monotheism using traditional Jewish language, one in reference to the Father and one in reference to Jesus Christ; in each case, the language of monotheism comprehends not only the explicit confession with 'one', but also the prepositional phrases, which contain elements closely associated with belief in one God in Jewish thought. (2) Paul's paradoxical language about God and Christ in this passage certainly expresses the functional subordination of Christ to God, but it very probably presupposes an identity of these two figures at some undefined point, an identity which may well be essential in nature (by comparison especially with Gal. 4.8). (3) The language about Christ in I Cor. 8. 6. is informed not so much by Jewish Wisdom speculation as by Jewish language about the one God: it is best labelled a 'monotheism christology'. Hence the contribution of the thesis to knowledge lies in three areas. (1) It clarifies the nature and associations of Jewish monotheistic language. (2) It provides scientific support for the view, by no means generally accepted, that the New Testament adumbrates the concept of the ontological deity of Christ, using the most current methods of exegesis and working with a comprehensive selection of comparative Jewish materials. (3) It brings to the fore a christological category - the language of monotheism - which has been largely overlooked by researchers in the field of the origins and development of christology in the early church.
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Ranstrom, Erik John. "The Unknown Body of Christ: Towards a Retrieval of the Early Panikkar's Christology of Religions." Thesis, Boston College, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104183.
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Thesis advisor: Catherine CornilleThe purpose of this dissertation is to retrieve the early Panikkar's christology of religions, especially in "Meditacion sobre Melquisdedec" and Le mystere du culte dans l'hindouisme et le christianisme. As opposed to the later Panikkar's pluralist, cosmotheandric christology, the early Panikkar privileges the primacy of Jesus Christ amidst a wider considersation of the value and significance of the religions. This dissertation will also situate the early Panikkar's christology of religions against the background of Dominus Iesus and recent systemtatic theologians seeking to move beyond pluralist christologies. The early Panikkar's understanding of Incarnation meets their criteria for an inclusivist theology of religions, but also challenges the asymmetricality of their christologies, expanding the possibilities for inter-religious learning and transformation. Specifically, Panikkar's early dialogue with karman and advaita illuminates the meaning of Jesus' sacrificial existence and the Church's eucharistic participation in that existence through comparison, shedding light upon the centrality of liturgical and paschal transformation in the Christian tradition. This christocentric comparative theology will be constrasted with Panikkar's later, syncretistic appropriation of Hinduism, influenced by Abhishiktananda's quest for Hindu-Christian synthesis, and will conclude by calling for a renewal of interest in neglected aspects of Panikkar's vast corpus
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Theology
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Chow, Alexander. "Theological reconstruction in the People's Republic of China the christology of Bishop K. H. Ting /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2008. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p048-0340.
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Olsen, Jørn Henrik. "Kristus i tropisk Afrika : I spændingsfeltet mellem identitet og relevans." Doctoral thesis, Köpenhamns universitet, 2001. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-204215.
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The title of this thesis is Christ in Tropical Africa - in the Tension Between Identity and Relevance. Within a few years Africa will be the greatest Christian continent, and African Christianity will then no longer see itself as a mere continuation of Western Christianity. On the threshold of the 21st Century, this insight challenges Christian theology and missiology which have for a long time answered the helm of the Western missionary movements. This contribution to the scholarly debate on cultural and religions identity issues deals with the question how the recent development ought to be integrated in a systematic reflection, and how Africans - especially African theologians - themselves attempt to highlight the necessity of a relevant and authentic African Christianity and theology. The post-colonial and partly post-missionary era has resulted in a sense of departure and transition which has created space for a renewed and adjusted conception of the question of identity. This dissertation present a critical discourse on African themes and questions concerning identity issues in the perspectives of studies in the areas of theology, anthropology, philosophy, and religion. The discourse shows the complexity of what is called identity, africanity etc. and threw critical light on a tendency of making generalizations and constructions. Dangers of constructions of which Christian African theologians have not always been sufficiently conscious. The interdisciplinary perspective of this study is widening the question of identity while it still constitutes a hermeneutical key to understand the concerns of Christian theology in the tropical part of Africa. African theology is situated in the tension between identity and relevance. This become obvious in African christological proposals. The thesis put a critical test question to the theologians who have contributed with new Christ-titles and -models: Have they both managed to give grounds for the significance of christology for human freedom and identity (the relevance of christology), and at the same time secured the continuity and agreement with the original theological content of christology (the identity of christology in the New Testament)? The question can only partly be answered affirmatively. In some cases the actual understanding of life and conception of reality in a certain context provides the decisive criterion in the interpretation of Biblical concepts and christological titles. This creates hermeneutic problems which are dealt with in the close of the thesis.Contains an English summary
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Kirkpatrick, Matthew D. "Kierkegaard and a religionless Christianity : the place of Søren Kierkegaard in the thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2008. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3d3d8d6b-0fa4-41f8-89e9-ded63ac8c291.
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The central aim of this thesis is to analyse the influence of Kierkegaard on Bonhoeffer. This relationship has been almost universally recognized. And yet this area has received no comprehensive study, limited within the secondary literature to footnotes, digressions, and the occasional paper. Furthermore, what little literature there is has been plagued by several stereotypes. First, discussion is often limited to Discipleship. Second, Kierkegaard has been identified as an individualist and acosmist who rejected the church, leading many to consider Bonhoeffer the ecumenist and ecclesiologist as selectively agreeing with Kierkegaard, but ultimately rejecting his overall stance. This thesis will argue that neither stereotype is true, and suggest (a), that Kierkegaard’s influence can be found throughout Bonhoeffer’s work, and (b) that although a more stereotypical perspective may be present in SC, by the end of his life Bonhoeffer had gained a far deeper understanding across the breadth of Kierkegaard’s work. The importance of this thesis is not simply to ‘plug the gap’ of scholarship in this area, but also to suggest the importance of analysing Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer together. This will focus on three specific areas. First, alongside the influence of Kierkegaard on Bonhoeffer, it will argue for the importance of using Bonhoeffer as an interpretive tool for understanding Kierkegaard. This thesis will show how Bonhoeffer adopted and adapted Kierkegaard’s work to his own situation, forcing Kierkegaard to answer questions that were not present during his own life. In this way, we are led to compare Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer as individuals, and not simply their static declarations. Secondly, against the tendency to consider Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer’s final attacks on Christendom as unfortunate endings to otherwise profound careers, it will be suggested that these attacks stand as the fulfilment of their earlier thought. It will be argued that despite their different contexts, both Kierkegaard and Bonhoeffer were led to the same conclusions concerning Christendom. Thirdly, given Kierkegaard’s submission to indirect communication and his somewhat 'prophetic' proclamations concerning one who will come after him and reform, this thesis will ask whether Bonhoeffer stands as something of a fulfilment to Kierkegaard’s thought in the guise of a Kierkegaardian ‘reformer’.
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Tallon, Luke Ben. "Our being is in becoming : the nature of human transformation in the theology of Karl Barth, Joseph Ratzinger, and John Zizioulas." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2572.
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This study offers an ecumenical exploration of human transformation through the examination of this topic in the thought of Karl Barth (1888-1968), a Swiss Reformed theologian; Joseph Ratzinger (b. 1927), a Roman Catholic theologian; and John Zizioulas (b. 1931), a Greek Orthodox theologian. Describing and understanding human transformation stands as a crucial task for theology because no one is simply born a Christian—in order to be a Christian one must become a Christian. The first chapter introduces this topic, the three theologians (highlighting their commonalities), and the three questions that guide the analysis of each theologian and the thesis as a whole: What is the goal of human transformation? What is the basis of human transformation? How are humans transformed? Chapters 2, 3, and 4 treat the topic of human transformation in the theology of Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas, respectively. All three understand the goal of human transformation to be the prayer of the children of God, and locate its basis in God’s reconciling act in Jesus Christ—an act itself based in the primordial divine decision to be God pro nobis. Even within this broad agreement, however, differences are evident, especially with regard to eschatology. Consideration of how this transformation occurs reveals significant differences concerning the agency of Jesus Christ in relation to the Holy Spirit and the church. The final chapter explores 1) the convergences and divergences between Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas regarding human transformation; 2) the contributions of this study to the interpretation of Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas; and 3) the relationship between human transformation and participation in God. Throughout, attention is given to the relationship between Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, the eschaton, and the triunity of God and human transformation. All three accounts of human transformation point beyond the transition between sinful and redeemed humanity to a dynamic anthropology in which the constant asking, receiving, thanking, and asking again is the very “ontological location” of the eschatological life of humanity: our being is in becoming.
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Bäckstedt, Lena. "Från skuggan av Amun till Jesu ljus. : En historisk resa från fornegyptentill etablerandet av den kristna koptiska kyrkan i Egypten." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Culture and Communication, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-11535.
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Tanken med denna uppsats är att utifrån ett idéhistoriskt perspektiv försöka belysa fundamentet och framväxten av den kristna koptiska kyrkan i Egypten. Med hänsyn tagen till såväl den sociokulturella och teologiska som politiska historien är mitt syfte att framgent kunna presentera vilka komponenter det är som kan ha bidragit till dess ecclesiala institution vars uttryck manifesteras genom liturgiska riter, symbola samt trosföreställning.
Som uppsats betraktat är den deskriptiv med inslag av argumenterande karaktär. Det innebär att det förekommer komparabla reflektioner i syftet att teologiskt kunna presentera om det ur ett koptiskt inifrånperspektiv finns någon icke-kristen faktor i trosföreställningen vars dignitet i så fall skulle kunna vara den sammanhållande länken för deras syn på den egna tron. På grund av detta är det nödgat att dels göra några historiska nedslag i den fornegyptiska religionen för att utröna vilka element det är som kan ha fått en kristen överbyggnad, och dels om den egyptiska mytologiska samt kosmologiska världen ligger till grund för delar av den koptisk kristna filosofin.
Slutsatsen jag kom fram till är att det fornegyptiska arvet spelar som förväntat en stor roll. Kopterna är stolta över sitt ursprung och lever i en miljö vilken i allra högsta grad fortfarande vittnar om det forntida egyptiska imperiets storhet. Det förefaller också som så att den östra kyrkan, Alexandrinska kyrkan, uppbar en ledande funktion i framväxten av kristendomen. Problematiken som sedermera uppstod handlade om Kristi natur och substans vilket ledde till att koptiska kyrkan ställde sig utanför mötet i Kalcedon 451. Främsta orsaken till detta är i mina ögon den polemiska synen på begreppet ”The Mother of God” – Theotokos visavi Christotokos. Den Koptiska kyrkans största bidrag till kristenheten är kloster och munkväsendet samt tidegärden.
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Jacob, Solomon. "A critical study of Christology in Latin American liberation theology and Black theology with a view to formulating a relevant Christology for South Africa today." Thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/11386.
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Barnes, Corey Ladd. "Christ's two wills in scholastic theology thirteenth-century debates and the Christology of Thomas Aquinas /." 2006. http://etd.nd.edu.lib-proxy.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-09192006-142331/.
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Rayson, Dianne P. "Bonhoeffer's theology and anthropogenic climate change: in search of an ecoethic." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1349861.
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Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)This thesis explores the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, via primary and secondary texts, in attempting to develop a Christian response to the problem of anthropogenic climate change. As such, it draws on Bonhoeffer’s unfinished yet partially systematic theology but might be characterised essentially as a work in the fields of practical and public theology that commend theology as an important voice in addressing contemporary issues. The main research question concerns whether, and if so to what extent, Bonhoeffer’s theology can contribute to ecotheological and ecoethical thinking in the current period known as the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene, the ‘Age of Humans’, is the geological epoch defined by human modification of Earth’s systems, as evidenced by observable residue in Earth’s crust, and resulting in rapid and widespread changes, including climate disruption. Since human development has occurred during the relatively stable climatic period of the Holocene (meaning ‘wholly recent’), the persistence of human civilisation outside of these conditions is rendered under threat. Loss of biodiversity has implications for the functionality of ecologies, including our own human viability, as well as the direct and demonstrable effect on other species. The new epoch can be seen to include ethical problems of a unique order to which Christianity has been slow to respond, much less offer leadership in finding new ways in which humans and Earth might interact. Indeed, the thesis will contend that theologies of dominion and domination have contributed in their own way to the problem of climate disruption. This thesis utilises the Christologically-focussed theology of Bonhoeffer to interrogate the nature of human relationships, including those between humans, our fellow species, and Earth herself. Through Bonhoefferian insights, the thesis explores those problematic theologies of domination and mastery that have prevailed, emanating especially from the ways that the Genesis creation myths have been interpreted. It supplants these interpretations with ecotheological and ecoethical propositions that can serve as the basis of a Christian theological response to the problems emerging from the Anthropocene. This theology is reliant on Bonhoeffer’s notions of Christ’s immanence and kenosis, and associated ethical notions of vicarious responsible action and context. The central methodology is one of theoretical and conceptual analysis focussed on the examination of select primary texts, analysed according to their original context and purpose, as well as pertinent secondary texts, both of which are then applied to the contemporary problem of climate change, as explicated by its own relevant literature. The thesis proposes the idea that Bonhoeffer’s notion of ‘worldly Christianity’, focussed on a penultimate, Earth-bound, unified reality, might be depicted, in the Anthropocene, as ‘Earthly Christianity’. Earthly Christianity then becomes central to a Bonhoefferian formulation that facilitates a Christian response to the problems of climate disruption in the Anthropocene.
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Chimhanda, Francisca Hildegardis. "An incarnational Christology set in the context of narratives of Shona women in present day Zimbabwe." Thesis, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/598.
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Implicit in the concepts Incarnation, narrative, Christology, Shona women of Zimbabwe today is
the God who acts in human history and in the contemporaneity and particularity of our being.
The Incarnation as the embodiment of God in the world entails seizing the kairos opportunity to
expand the view and to bear the burdens of responsibility. A theanthropocosmic Christology that
captures the Shona holistic world-view is explored. The acme for a relational Christology is the
imago Dei/Christi and the baptismal indicative and imperative. God is revealed in various
manifestations of creation. Human identity and dignity is the flipside of God's attributes.
Theanthropocosmic Christology as pluralistic, differential and radical brings about a dialectic
between the whole and its parts, the uniqueness of the individual, communal ontology and
epistemology, the local and the universal, orthodoxy and orthopraxis, Christology and
soteriology. God mediates in the contingency of particularity. Emphasis is on life-affirmation
rather than sex determination of Jesus as indicated by theologies of liberation and inculturation.
At the interface gender, ethnicity, class and creed, God transcends human limitedness and
artificial boundaries in creating catholic space and advocating all-embracing apostolic action.
Difference is appreciated for the richness it brings both to the individual and the community.
Hegemonic structures and borderless texts are view with suspicion as totalising grand~narratives
and exclusivist by using generic language. The kairos in dialogue with the Incarnation is seizing
the moment to expand the view and to share the burdens, joys and responsibility in a community
of equal discipleship.
In a hermeneutic of engagement and suspicion, prophetic witness is the hallmark of Christian
discipleship and of a Christology that culminates in liberative praxis. The Christology that
emerges from Shona women highlights a passionate appropriation that involves the head, gut,
womb and heart and underlies the circle symbolism. The circle is the acme of Shona hospitality
and togetherness in creative dialogue with the Trinitarian koinonia. The Shona Christological
designation Muponesi (Deliverer-Midwife) in dialogue with the Paschal Mystery motif captures
the God-human-cosmos relationship that gives a Christology caught up in the rhythms,
dynamism and drama of life.Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology
D.Th. (Systematic Theology)
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Akijar, Livingstone. "Is the interpretation of Christ as the "ancestor of the church" compatible with the Christian doctrine? : a study of the Christology and ecclesiology of Charles Nyamiti." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3267.
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This study tests the legitimacy of Charles Nyamiti's integration of the traditional Christian doctrines with the African (Bantu) thought-patterns in the construction of an African Christian theology. This study centres on Nyamiti's christology and ecclesiology It in African Christian theology which is constructed on the basis of perceived parallelism which exists between the role and authority of the traditional African (Bantu) ancestors and that of the person of Christ and his role in the Church. The traditional Christian doctrine (classical dogmatics) is the foundational framework of any theology. The traditional Christian doctrine teaches that God was incarnate in the person of Christ. Thus, the traditional Christian doctrine depicts Christ as both human and divine and the two natures are united together and are inseparable. Those who believe and have faith in Christ and his teachings are united together with him. Against this background, the study discusses the Bantu existential world-view which includes the role of ancestors in the community. Here, the concept of interrelatedness of hierarchy of dynamistic powers in the society are also discussed. Nyamiti tries to . bring these two world-views together and suggests that they are compatible. The study ends by offering a theological evaluation and reflection on Nyamiti's construct. The study has argued that Nyamiti picks up some of the elements found in the nature and function of Christ according to the explanation given in the traditional Christian doctrine and then parallels them to that of the role of the traditional Bantu ancestors to formulate his christology and ecclesiology. The study has concluded that although Nyamiti's theological construct aims at illuminating the Christian faith among the peoples of Africa who count on the authority of the traditional ancestors, it founders in a flood of methodological problems which detract from the conclusivity of his construct.Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.
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House, Sean David. "Theories of atonement and the development of soteriological paradigms : implications of a pentecostal appropriation of the Christus Victor model." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6539.
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Atonement theories have great implications for the soteriological paradigms
associated with them, but their significance has not always been recognized in the
formulation of theological systems, the lack of dogmatic definition by ecumenical
council encouraging diversification and isolation from other doctrinal loci. The
strongest coherence between an atonement model and soteriology can be seen in the
reformed tradition, and its theory of penal substitution has become the standard
accepted by many non-reformed protestant groups, including classical pentecostalism.
Tensions persist in the theological system of pentecostalism because of its pairing of
penal substitution with the soteriological paradigm of its foundational symbol of faith,
the full gospel of Jesus as savior, sanctifier, baptizer with the Spirit, healer, and
coming king. This vision of salvation is broader than that of protestant orthodoxy,
which through its atonement theory deleteriously separates the death of Christ from
his work in life and strictly limits the subjects and nature of salvation, specifically to
addressal of elect individuals’ sins. It is proposed that this tension within the
pentecostal system be relieved not through a reduction of its soteriology but a
retrieval of the Christus victor model, the atonement theory of the ancient and Eastern
church. As reintroduced to the Western church by G. Aulén, this model interprets the
saving work of Christ along two lines: recapitulation, the summing up and saving of
humanity via the incarnation, and ransom, the deliverance of humanity from the
hostile powers holding it in bondage. In a contemporary, pentecostal appropriation of
this model, aid is taken from K. Barth’s concept of nothingness to partially
demythologize the cosmic conflict of the Bible, and pentecostalism reinvigorates the
Eastern paradigm of salvation as theosis or Christification via the expectation of the
replication of Christ’s ministry in the Christian. The study shows Christus victor can
give a more stable base for a broader soteriology that is concerned with the holistic
renewal of the human person. To demonstrate the developed model’s vigor and
applicability beyond pentecostalism, the study closes by bringing it into conversation
with the concerns of three contemporary theological movements.Philosophy & Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)
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Mdingi, Hlulani Msimelelo. "The Revelation of God : meditations of the black church in existential times." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25123.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-239)Chapter one begins by introducing and orientating the reader to the study and the purpose of the study, namely the revelation of God. It also opens up what is central to the study by a way of a problem statement concerning this revelation of God, the black church and the human condition. The aims of the study and the research methodology are set out. The chapter ends with a hypothesis concerning the future doctrine of revelation and the prospects of this revelation in the lives of black people. Chapter two entails discussion on God and the church, as it pertains to revelation, starting with a historical account of Christian theology on the subject of revelation. The subject of revelation is engaged on an existential level, particularly the main areas of Christian theology, namely; special and general revelation. This is a section that puts both concepts within black experience, to see the viability for a black ecclesiology and black theology. Chapter two moves on to contend that for black church, there is a serious theological insurgent that is necessary and it is part and parcel of God’s revelation to blacks and the oppressed. This outlook places a section of critical reasoning in South African context and society concerning God’s revelation. Chapter three engages a philosophical meditation, ascribing meditation as a state of self-reflection for the black church and black theology. This meditation is cognisant of black experience and is self-diagnosis concern God and humanity, particularly the dehumanising, (how it must affirm essence and substance). The meditation of the black church engages the concept of absurdity as Camus (1995) (also see Melancon 1983) has posited the absurd as a malaise in the world and silence of the word to that malaise. The absurd is also linked to theodicy, however, the black experience and the encounter with God transcends absurdity and theodicy. As part of the transcending aspect of the black experience, the research considers Western atheism, Christianity and death of God, whose burial is in the mind, souls and bodies of blacks. The chapter then moves on to discuss the black church as a receptor of God’s revelation, the new image of the crucified and the new metaphysics guaranteeing the upliftment of blacks. Chapter four focuses on the black invisibility and the hiddenness of God, it is seeing invisibility and hiddenness as linked together. The chapter also focuses on the need for black visibility rooted in the ontological and physiological expression and experience of being human; Imago Dei. The chapter links black visibility with the concept of whiteness, being a dehumanising political identity imposed on the people of colour. The chapter then translates into the context of visibility, invisibility and God’s revelation within the economic South African context. The final analysis of the chapter is a confession of God’s revelation rooted in God’s visibility and running parallel to that of black visibility. Chapter five proposes that the black experience and the use of the Bible Sola Sriptura, as it reveals the black church as part of church history. As such, it takes the early church’s reading of the New Testament and understanding of Christology through kenosis; the emptying of God to be human and using that paradigm to link Christ’s human experience and the experience of the dehumanising and humanising that of blacks. The chapter concludes with a Christology and black Messiah, who links the secular and divine, general and special revelation. Chapter six concerns the findings of the study, recommendations and conclusion.
Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)
20
Mwale, Emanuel. "Jesus Christ’s humanity in the contexts of the pre-fall and post-fall natures of humanity: a comparative and critical evaluative study of the views of Jack Sequeira, Millard J. Erickson and Norman R. Gulley." Thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/27660.
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Bibliography: leaves 653-669Before God created human beings, He devised a plan to save them in case they sinned. In this plan, the second Person of the Godhead would become human. Thus, the incarnation of the second Person of the Godhead was solely for the purpose of saving fallen, sinful human beings. There would have been no incarnation if human beings had not sinned. Thus, the nature of the mission that necessitated the incarnation determined what kind of human nature Jesus was to assume. It was sin that necessitated the incarnation – sin as a tendency and sin as an act of disobedience. In His incarnational life and later through His death on Calvary’s cross, Jesus needed to deal with this dual problem of sin. In order for Him to achieve this, He needed to identify Himself with the fallen humanity in such a way that He would qualify to be the substitute for the fallen humanity. In His role as fallen humanity’s substitute, He would die vicariously and at the same time have sin as a tendency rendered impotent. Jesus needed to assume a human nature that would qualify Him to be an understanding and sympathetic High Priest. He needed to assume a nature that would qualify Him to be an example in overcoming temptation and suffering. Thus, in this study, after comparing and critically evaluating the Christological views of Jack Sequeira, Millard J. Erickson and Norman R. Gulley, I propose that Jesus assumed a unique post-fall (postlapsarian) human nature. He assumed the very nature that all human beings since humankind’s fall have, with its tendency or leaning towards sin. However, unlike other human beings, who are sinners by nature and need a saviour, Jesus was not a sinner. I contend that Jesus was unique because, first and foremost, He was conceived in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit and was filled with the Holy Spirit throughout His earthly life. Second; He was the God-Man; and third, He lived a sinless life. This study contributes to literature on Christology, and uniquely to Christological dialogue between Evangelical and Seventh-day Adventist theologians.
Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology
D. Phil. (Systematic Theology)
21
Banda, Collium. "The sufficiency of Christ in Africa : a christological challenge from African traditional religions." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1434.
Full textAbstract:
The sufficiency of Jesus Christ in the African Church is challenged by the widespread spiritual insecurity in African Christians, prompting them to hold on to ATR. The wholistic securing power of ATR challenges the sufficiency Christ's salvation to Africans. Proposing African Christological motifs alone is inadequate to induce confidence upon Christ. The African worldview must further be transformed inline with the implications of the victory of the Cross over Satan. Indeed, Christ has fully liberated African Christians from Satan's authority, placed them in his kingdom, and transformed them into a glorious state. However, because of the Fall, salvation, before the eschaton can never result in the utopian order envisioned in ATR. Suffering does not necessarily indicate satanic harassment. It is a fact of the fallen world. African Christians stand secured in Christ; therefore, they must hold on to their faith.Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics
M.Th. (Systematic Theology)
22
Mpinga, Athas Cibangu. "Franchopone churches in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria (Tshwane) : a missiological perspective." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18901.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is a missiological study of the francophone churches in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Francophone churches may be classified as African Initiated Churches (AIC) that have been planted by migrants from the French speaking countries of central Africa. They are characterised by the use of French and English as languages of worship and communication. The planting and the presence of these churches have become a more visible and remarkable mission phenomenon drawing scientific attention and is worthy of studying.
The main issue of this study is the missionality of the Francophone churches. The investigation concerns the ways in which Francophone churches understand the mission of God, known as missio Dei, and the ways in which they express it in the community. In practice the exploration of the missionality of the Francophone churches discloses their nature, raison d’être, and their purpose, as well as their ministries, and allows us to determine the relevancy of these churches in the community. For this reason, in the study I explore and describe also the concept of the missional church in order to apply it to the Francophone churches. To that end, “Patterns of missional church” are used to measure the extent to which Francophone churches are missional.
The study suggests the parameters of the development of a missional culture in a Francophone congregation and highlights the importance of the missional leadership in this respect. Finally the study proposes some missional ministries or contextual ministries that may express practically the missionality and consequently the relevancy of Francophone churches in their context.Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology
D. Th. (Missiology)