Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'World Congress of Faiths'

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
This study will investigate the WCC concept of 'Dialogue between Christianity and other Living Faith', and its contributions in Asia, more specifically its impact on the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia. The study will focus on an Indian theologian, Stanley J Samartha, one of the most influential figures in the promotion of this concept within the WCC. The research will entail an analysis of Samartha's views on Christian dialogue with other faiths, and a critical assessment of his work in the field of 'mission', through his publications and various WCC documents. The contextual relevance of the study is highlighted by several spheres of tensions and conflicts: a) in the global context: the clash of cultures; b) in the ecumenical world: the divide between evangelicals and ecumenical; c) in the Asian context: the tension between dialogue and mission, between gospel and context; and d) in the Indonesian context: the ongoing tension between Muslims and Christians, and the tension between 'local gospel' and the Biblical gospel.
South Africa

From  the  process  of  globalization  of  law,  the  comparative constitutional law has gained a leading role for a better understanding and solving old and new constitutional national and international challenges. Therefore, some assumptions and considerations to take into account are presented for the development of the national constitutional order within the framework of the comparative constitutional law, such as universality and relativism of human rights; the concept of power and constitutional democracy; standards of free elections and judicial independence; freedom of expression, media pluralism and access to public information; the economic,social and cultural rights; the new fundamental rights.
A partir del proceso de globalización del derecho, el derecho constitucional comparado ha ido adquiriendo un rol protagónico para una mejor comprensión y solución de los viejos y nuevos desafíos constitucionales, tanto nacionales como internacionales. Por ello, se presentan algunos presupuestos y consideraciones temáticas a tomar en cuenta para el desarrollo del ordenamiento constitucional nacional en el marco del derecho constitucional comparado, tales como la universalidad y el relativismo de los derechos humanos; el concepto de poder y democracia constitucional; los estándares de elecciones libres e independencia judicial; la libertad de expresión, la pluralidad informativa y el acceso a la información pública; los  derechos  económicos,  sociales  y  culturales,  y;  los nuevos derechos fundamentales.

The Green Light letter from President Franklin Roosevelt to Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis gave MLB permission to continue throughout World War II. The team owners felt relief that MLB is the only professional sport to survive during the years of World War II (1941-1945). MLB became a primary contributor toward the war effort. While war-supporting efforts were conducted, team owners positioned themselves to benefit from the bond between baseball and the American people. MLB portrayed itself through the commissioner’s office policy as a patriotic partner by providing entertainment for American factory workers and contributing equipment to servicemen overseas. MLB also remained a monopoly without Congressional inquiries or public challenge. Since MLB was exempt from anti-trust laws, team owners operated within MLB’s anti-trust exemption and strengthened position for the post war period.

The contemporary debate concerning the Christian theology of religions has been profoundly shaped by Alan Race’s three-fold typology of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. Although the insufficiency of this typology’s descriptive and critical capacity has become increasingly acknowledged within the field, widespread agreement about its replacement remains elusive. This thesis argues that a replacement can be found in Hans Frei’s five-fold typology of Christian theology, which differentiates between a range of approaches to theology, from theology as philosophical discourse (Type 1) to theology as quarantined, Christian self-description (Type 5). It is suggested that the more basic question posed by Frei’s typology of how Christian theology is understood in relation to philosophy and other external discourses, provides a better means of accounting for the different positions in the Christian theology of religions within 20th century ecumenical movements. It is shown how Frei’s typology emerges from his emphasis on both the limitations and the significance of external discourses for Christian theology, an emphasis which results from his construal of the mystery of Christ’s universal presence as a function of the particular incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. Chapter one considers the philosophical foundations upon which Race’s typology is constructed, with particular emphasis on Troeltsch’s historicism, Hick’s epistemology of religious experience and WC Smith’s phenomenological hermeneutic, concluding that they determine the typology’s apologetic approach. It is shown how these commitments lead Race’s typology to differentiate between types of Christian theology primarily in relation to the philosophical viability, as Race understands it, of their Christology. Chapter two focuses first on the theology of Hans Frei and his analysis of the relationship between Christology and historicism, epistemology, and hermeneutics. It is suggested that Frei’s focus on the ordering of the relationship between Christian theology and external discourses, while undermining Race’s approach, affirms the possibility of a theologically valuable relationship between Christian theology and external discourses. Moreover, unlike Race, Frei’s emphasis on the significance of external discourses for Christian theology is derived in light of, and not in spite of, a faith in the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Chapter three looks at Frei’s fivefold typology as a better means of accounting for the differences Race posits between exclusivists, inclusivists and pluralists. It is argued that in following Frei’s typological logic and the historical, epistemological and hermeneutical considerations characteristic of a Christian theology between types three and four, an approach to the theology of religions emerges which addresses the question of the universality of divine revelation – the central concern of Race’s typology – while also showing the inadequacy of Race’s typology and its prioritisation of philosophy. This will be shown by applying Frei’s typology to 20th century ecumenical movements and the positions on the theological significance of non-Christian religions that have emerged therein. Though Frei did not directly take up the issue of the Christian theology of religions, chapter three will demonstrate how his typology of Christian theology is of particular importance for this discussion. For his typology highlights the central question driving the theology of religions – how the ‘internal’ discourse of Christian self-description in reference to the gospels’ history-like witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ relates to the historically contingent, public world outside the church. The conclusion will point toward a constructive proposal for a theology of evangelism and interfaith dialogue in pluralist societies of the 21st century, drawing on the ecumenical discussion viewed in relation to the theological and typological insights of Hans Frei.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of American federal government, during periods within which these two branches are led by different political parties, to discover whether the legislative branch attempts to independently legislate and enact foreign policy by using "the power of the purse" to either appropriate in support of or refuse to appropriate in opposition to military engagement abroad. The methodology for this research includes the analysis and comparison of certain variables, including public opinion, budgetary constraints, and the relative majority of the party that holds power in one or both chambers, and the ways these variables may impact the behavior of the legislative branch in this regard. It also includes the analysis of appropriations requests made by the legislative branch for funding military engagement in rejection of requests from the executive branch for all military engagements that occurred during periods of divided government from 1946 through 2009.
ID: 029809199; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-112).
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed in 2015 by President Obama and began a political and religious battle that ensued for months in the United States Congress. Two of the main actors in the fight against JCPOA were Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a Christian-Zionist lobby[1], and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the most prominent pro-Israel lobbies founded and largely supported by Zionist-Jewish Americans[2]. Both organizations deployed tactics of religious and apocalyptic-religious rhetoric to encourage their large and influential constituencies to join them in the fight against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, motivating U.S. citizens otherwise unaware and uninvolved of nuclear proliferation policy to become heavily involved in the process of the political debates surrounding the deal. This paper will seek to answer the questions: How is apocalyptic rhetoric typically conveyed through religious outlets? What then, does the deployment of this tactic say about religion in America in the public sphere? [1] Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The Politics of the Apocalypse. Oneworld Publications Ltd., Oxford. 2006, pp. 165-166. [2] Waxman, Dov. Trouble in the Tribe. Princeton University Press. Princeton. 2016, pp.4.

This thesis deals with the complex question of how global Christian mission organizations must learn to function, especially the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA). I summarize how the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) began in 1942 as the resourcing organization for the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now called SIL International) and how their mutual founder, American William Cameron Townsend, was influenced by Western mission strategy and conservative evangelical theology. The changing global context is impacting how the missio Dei takes place and this is influencing how mission agencies interact with each other and the church worldwide. This is leading to new paradigms of how mission is conceptualized around the world. The thesis outlines how the changing global context has forced Wycliffe to reevaluate its place in the world because, half a century after its formation, the church has new homes in the global South and East. It follows that as a Western mission, Western resources have decreased and this has shaped how Wycliffe Bible Translators (International) has now become Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA). However, this goes beyond a mere change of name and has resulted in a type of structure that enables it to better engage with the church worldwide. The thesis also examines the complexity of contextualization in the global environment, noting how different languages and cultures are involved, each with its own rules and subtleties. I show how the shift of the centre of gravity of the church to the global South and East presents new theological challenges for the Bible translation effort and these directly impact WGA. There are many missiological implications for WGA that come from influences in church history regarding the importance of language, the translatability of the gospel, the history of Bible translation and how missional reflection is necessary in various situations. These merge together to provide new implications which are influenced by globalization for mission agencies such as WGA. The thesis also emphasises that WGA is a global mission movement, so I have identified methods of leadership development and structure, all of which are critical to WGA’s effectiveness and involvement in the missio Dei. I show that forming global mission leaders is unique and complex, and how the leaders must embrace a wide variety of qualities, skills and capabilities, especially in responding to greater cultural diversity. Since most leadership principles are culturally bound, this creates obstacles in cross-cultural situations. Therefore, I emphasize that a successful multicultural organization like WGA must learn to focus on both worldwide and local objectives. The thesis outlines how theological, missiological, cultural, contextual and leadership values converge and therefore reshape a mission movement like WGA. My conclusion is that none of these influences can be ignored – all are relevant. Each must be reflected upon in order to provide directions for WGA as it seeks to be faithful to its vision and serve the global church.
Dissertation (MA Theol)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
gm2013
Science of Religion and Missiology
unrestricted

Over the last decade, the rapid growth and adoption of the World Wide Web has further exacerbated user needs for e±cient mechanisms for information and knowledge location, selection, and retrieval. How to gather useful and meaningful information from the Web becomes challenging to users. The capture of user information needs is key to delivering users' desired information, and user pro¯les can help to capture information needs. However, e®ectively acquiring user pro¯les is di±cult. It is argued that if user background knowledge can be speci¯ed by ontolo- gies, more accurate user pro¯les can be acquired and thus information needs can be captured e®ectively. Web users implicitly possess concept models that are obtained from their experience and education, and use the concept models in information gathering. Prior to this work, much research has attempted to use ontologies to specify user background knowledge and user concept models. However, these works have a drawback in that they cannot move beyond the subsumption of super - and sub-class structure to emphasising the speci¯c se- mantic relations in a single computational model. This has also been a challenge for years in the knowledge engineering community. Thus, using ontologies to represent user concept models and to acquire user pro¯les remains an unsolved problem in personalised Web information gathering and knowledge engineering. In this thesis, an ontology learning and mining model is proposed to acquire user pro¯les for personalised Web information gathering. The proposed compu- tational model emphasises the speci¯c is-a and part-of semantic relations in one computational model. The world knowledge and users' Local Instance Reposito- ries are used to attempt to discover and specify user background knowledge. From a world knowledge base, personalised ontologies are constructed by adopting au- tomatic or semi-automatic techniques to extract user interest concepts, focusing on user information needs. A multidimensional ontology mining method, Speci- ¯city and Exhaustivity, is also introduced in this thesis for analysing the user background knowledge discovered and speci¯ed in user personalised ontologies. The ontology learning and mining model is evaluated by comparing with human- based and state-of-the-art computational models in experiments, using a large, standard data set. The experimental results are promising for evaluation. The proposed ontology learning and mining model in this thesis helps to develop a better understanding of user pro¯le acquisition, thus providing better design of personalised Web information gathering systems. The contributions are increasingly signi¯cant, given both the rapid explosion of Web information in recent years and today's accessibility to the Internet and the full text world.

The first half of the twentieth century saw the evolution of the global public sphere as a site for political expression and social activism. In the past, this history has been marginalised by a discipline-wide preference for national and other container- based frames of analysis. However, in the wake of 'the global turn', historians have increasingly turned their attention to the ways historical actors thought, acted, and organised globally. Transnational histories of South Asia feed into our understanding of these processes, yet, so far, little attention has been paid to the role of Indian nationalist women, despite there being significant 'global' aspects to their lives and careers. Citizens of Everywhere addresses this lacuna through an examination of the transnational activities of a handful of prominent nationalist women between 1900 and 1950. These include alliances and interactions with women's organisations, anti-imperial supporters and the League of Nations, as well as official contributions to the business of the fledgling United Nations Organisation after 1946. This predominantly below-state-level activity built on and contributed to public and private networks that traversed the early twentieth century world, cutting across national, state and imperial boundaries to create transnational solidarities to transformative effect. Set against a backdrop of rising imperialist-nationalist tension and global geopolitical conflict, these relationships enable a counter-narrative of global citizenship - a concept that at once connotes a sense of belonging, a modus operandi, and an assertive political claim. However, they were also highly gendered, sometimes tenuous, and frequently complex interactions that constantly evolved according to local and global conditions. In advancing our understanding of nationalist women's careers, Citizens of Everywhere contributes to the recovery of Indian women's historical subjectivity, which, in turn, sheds light on gender and nationalism in South Asia. Further, Indian women's transnational activities draw attention to a range of interventions and processes that illuminate the global history of liberal ideas and political practices, the legacies of which appear embattled in the present era.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze two official documents of Christianity promulgated in the 1960s and 1970s, namely the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes in Catholicism and the Lausanne Covennant in Protestantism, with a focus on poverty in Latin America, using a bibliographical and documentary research methodology. Main theoretical references included the sociology of Max Weber in analyzing the motivations behind the documents, and the missiology of David Bosch to study the historical and theological contexts. The dissertation is structured in three chapters. In the first, we analyse the context that defines the conception of Christianity regarding the mission of the church in the nineteenth century, as well as the way in which the two Christian perspectives viewed the question of poverty. The second chapter analyzes the two documents and their social, political, and economic context of the mid-twentieth century and identifies the conception of poverty within the mission context in a new paradigm, missio Dei, which classifies poverty as an institutional and structural problem in both Christian perspectives. In the third chapter, we analyze the theoretical implications and the contradictions that the new paradigm brings to the question of the poverty of the Latin American populations, the practical repercussions with the organization of the Ecclesial Base Communities, Liberation Theology and Theology of the Integral Mission
O presente estudo teve como objetivo realizar uma análise de dois documentos oficiais do cristianismo promulgados nas décadas de 1960-1970, a saber, a Constituição Pastoral Gaudium et Spes no catolicismo, e o Pacto de Lausanne, no protestantismo, tendo como eixo a questão da pobreza na América Latina, pela metodologia da pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Utilizou-se como referenciais teóricos principais a sociologia de Max Weber para análise das motivações por trás dos documentos e a missiologia de David Bosch que orientaram o estudo dos contextos históricos e teológicos. A dissertação foi estruturada em três capítulos. No primeiro, foram verificados os contextos que definiram a concepção do cristianismo quanto à missão da Igreja no século XIX, e analisada a maneira como as duas vertentes cristãs se posicionavam quanto à questão da pobreza. O segundo capítulo analisa os dois documentos e seu contexto social, político, econômico de meados do século XX e identifica a concepção de pobreza dentro do contexto de missão em novo paradigma, a missio Dei, para ambas as vertentes cristãs, identificando a pobreza como um problema institucional e estrutural. No terceiro capítulo, são analisadas as implicações teóricas e as contradições que o novo paradigma acarreta para a questão da pobreza das populações latino-americanas, as repercussões práticas com a organização das Comunidades Eclesiais de Base, da Teologia da Libertação e da Teologia da Missão Integral

This study sets out to suggest a theological and methodological framework that assists the evangelical movement in Africa, and in Zambia in particular, to engage its missionary task with greater effectiveness. The study is located within the radical evangelical theological tradition. In this regard, firstly, the study posits that the evangelical movement has a heritage of sociopolitical engagement that can be traced back to its origins in the great evangelical awakening of the eighteenth century. Secondly, the study posits that the evangelical movement abandoned its heritage of socio-political engagement during the first thirty years of the twentieth century due to a number of seemingly unrelated factors that, nevertheless, worked in concert. Thirdly, the study posits that during the third quarter of the twentieth century, evangelicalism engaged in a process through which it inadvertently began to recover its heritage of socio-political engagement. This process began with the International Congress on World Evangelisation in Lausanne, Switzerland in July 1974 (Lausanne 1974). It was an inadvertent recovery in that Lausanne 1974 did not set out to recover the lost heritage of evangelical socio-political engagement, but to plan strategically and to encourage evangelicals in the task of worldwide evangelism. However, during the proceedings of Lausanne 1974, a group of radical evangelicals became dissatisfied with the Lausanne Covenant’s proviso on the question of socio-political engagement, in its ‘two-mandate’ approach to the missionary task of the church. This study however, argues that though the Lausanne movement has become a rallying point and the Lausanne Covenant its expression of evangelical unity and purpose, it falls short of providing an adequate theological and methodological framework for evangelical sociopolitical engagement in Africa. The study posits that with key insights from José Míguez Bonino’s theological and methodological works: socio-analytic mediation, hermeneutic mediation and practical mediation, evangelicals in Africa, and in Zambia in particular, will be enabled to engage in its missionary task with greater effectiveness. When these missional tools from Míguez Bonino are engaged, evangelicals in Africa will be equipped to engage a process of missional reflection on the contextual reality and thus engage effectively in missional activities. Employing these key insights from Míguez Bonino, the study argues for a process that will free evangelicalism in Africa from the Northern American and European ‘theological imperialism’ that prevented the development of its own theology and missiology. The study further argues that such a process, as will assist evangelicalism in Africa to free itself from such influence, will invariably lead evangelicalism in Africa to develop a theology and missiology that will be more responsive to the African context.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Conference Theme: The congress theme ‘Educational pathways towards sustainability’ foregrounded the current ‘state of play’ in environmental education / education for sustainability, at the start of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), and drew attention to the role of education in creating pathways towards sustainability. Mario Solomone, convenor of the congress, in his orientation to the congress describes the congress as being about ‘cultural changes and cultural forces for change’, highlighting the role of education, training and communication in redirecting values, knowledge and behaviour to construct a human society ‘that is fairer and more aware of the equilibrium of a beautiful and fragile planet’ (Salomone, 2005: 6). To facilitate deliberations during the conference a set of interrelated themes were established which included: communication and the environment; paths to sustainability; research and assessment in environmental education; sustainable education; training the trainers; community awareness; promoting participation and governance and creating a network; economics and ecology; environment and health; farming and related issues; ethics; and emotional involvements. These congress themes, together with an impressive array of keynote papers kept congress participants actively engaged with the question of the DESD.

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Department of Chiropractic and Somatology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016.
Background Chiropractic is practiced in over 100 countries and is considered to be the fastest growing health care profession internationally. Several studies investigating the practice characteristics of chiropractors have been conducted in selected countries, however, as far as is known, no study has been conducted where chiropractors from countries across the globe are assessed for their practice characteristics in order to determine if regional differences exist. Gaining insight into chiropractic practice and its influencing factors, relating to both the profession itself and the chiropractor can enable organisations such as the World Federation of Chiropractic to have a greater understanding of how chiropractors are currently practicing and how the profession is being utilised by the public. Improved insight into the profession provides a baseline description for the public and other health care practitioners to fully comprehend what chiropractors can offer to the health care system. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the demographic profile and practice characteristics of chiropractic delegates attending the World Federation of Chiropractic’s 12th Biennial Congress 2013. Method A pre-validated questionnaire and letter of information and consent was distributed to all registered chiropractic delegates (N = 406) attending the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal 2013. The questionnaire was part of the delegate packages and they self-selected to participate. Due to a low response rate at the congress, the questionnaire was made available electronically on Survey Monkey®, for six weeks after the congress. Questions relevant to this study were coded, reduced where necessary and utilised for data analysis with IBM SPSS Version 21. Descriptive data was then summarised and presented using tables and graphs. The study was approved by the Durban University of Technology’s Institutional Research Ethics committee. Results: The response rate was 34.72%, with 52.5% being female, mean age was 42 (SD ± 13years, and all seven geographical regions were represented. The majority of respondents were from Africa (51.1%), followed by North America (22.7%) then Europe (14.2%). South Africa (48.6%) was the most represented country. Respondents held either a Master’s degree in Chiropractic (51.8%) or a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) degree (48.2%). The mean years since graduating as a chiropractor was 15.7 years (SD ± 3.6). The majority of respondents (71.2%) engaged in full-time clinical practice, for between 5 to 15 years (39.8%) with 51.4% purporting to have an evidence based philosophical approach to practice. The majority (72.5%) viewed the role of a chiropractor in the health care system as a primary health care practitioner with a focused scope of practice. The majority of respondents (n = 52) personally treated 50 patients or less per week, with approximately one third of the respondents (n = 34) having high volume practices (>100 patients weekly). The respondents favoured being one of two chiropractors (36.9%) in a practice setting followed by sole practices (31.6%). The top chiropractic technique utilised was the diversified technique (74.5%) followed by extremity adjusting (68.8%). Various adjunctive, active and passive, axillary techniques were utilised in the daily management of patients. The patient demographics were majority female (55.7%), older than 30 years of age (66.7%) and Caucasian (77%), complaining of head, neck, mid-back and low back pain, which was mostly acute in nature. Trends suggested that females were more likely to select an evidence-based philosophical orientation than males. Females were more likely to delegate adjunctive therapies to non-chiropractic assistants (p = 0.029), and favoured sending patients to a physical therapist (p = 0.018), whereas males were more likely to refer to nutritionists and paediatricians (p = 0.030 and p = 0.038, respectively). Females were less likely to utilise mobilisation techniques (p = 0.008), massage therapy (p = 0.018) and nutritional counselling (p = 0.032). In terms of age, those selecting an evidence-based approach were significantly older than those who adopted a mixer approach to practicing (p = 0.002). The mean age of the respondents, irrespective of the region, was not significantly associated with the number of patients treated per week (p = 0.377) or the hours worked per week (p = 0.474). Trends show that the number of years spent in practice differed among the regions with North American chiropractors spending more years in practice than those from Europe and Australasia. The respondents from South Africa spent fewer years in practice (15 years or less) than respondents from Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. Geographic region was not significantly associated with practice setting (p = 0.182). The only chief complaint that differed between regions was patients presenting with headaches accompanied by neck pain (p = 0.007), where Asian and North American respondents reported seeing less patients than their colleagues from other regions. Trends suggested that the respondents who attained a Masters of Technology in Chiropractic were more inclined to select a mixer orientation whereas those with a DC qualification selected an evidence-based philosophical approach. Conclusion: The WFC congress provided a platform to successfully determine the demographic profile and practice characteristics of chiropractors from various regions. Similar demographics were evident, with males no longer showing dominance within the profession. Chiropractors adopting an evidence-based and mixer philosophical orientation are synonymous in the role that they play in the health care system and display similarities in chiropractic practice and patient management. Investigating chiropractors who adopt a straight philosophical approach would be beneficial as it will allow for better comparison of demographics and practice characteristics. It is evident that selected demographics do influence how one would opt to practice, with regional differences showing that the chiropractic profession in South Africa is still relatively young.
M

This study will investigate the WCC concept of &bdquo
Dialogue between Christianity and other Living Faiths‟, and its contributions in Asia, more specifically its impact on the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia. The study will focus on an Indian theologian, Stanley J Samartha, one of the most influential figures in the promotion of this concept within the WCC. The research will entail an analysis of Samartha‟s views on Christian dialogue with other faiths, and a critical assessment of his work in the field of &bdquo
mission‟, through his publications and various WCC documents. The contextual relevance of the study is highlighted by several spheres of tensions and conflicts: a) in the global context: the clash of cultures
b) in the ecumenical world: the divide between evangelicals and ecumenical
c) in the Asian context: the tension between dialogue and mission, between gospel and context
and d) in the Indonesian context: the ongoing tension between Muslims and Christians, and the tension between &bdquo
local gospel‟ and the Biblical gospel.

Based on previous researchers’ criticism of Euro-American bias inherent to universal analogue and digital knowledge organisation systems, this combined qualitative and quantitative postcolonial critical discourse analysis investigates the constructed meanings behind the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) controlled vocabulary hosted by the Word Digital Library’s (WDL) metadata scheme. This is done with a sample of metadata pertaining to their African cultural heritage collection. The study aims to see if the restricted controlled vocabulary exclude and marginalise situated African knowledge thereby conflicting with their ideological imperative of promoting international understanding. The use of postcolonial theory and discourse analysis theory as both the analytical theoretical framework and methodological approach, reveal that Westerncentric terms from colonial discourse dominate but do not constitute the entirety of the discourses represented by the subject headings. Relying on the assumption that the cataloguers select subject headings based on the rule of literary warrant, the reason for this preference imply an unbalanced collection rather than a biased knowledge organisation system. Therefore, the study suggests the creation of positive rhetorical spaces (Olson, 2002) by adding preferred terms that stem from marginalised situated knowledge systems that too are represented by the existing resources. This will allow for several discourses to co-exist achieving thereby a better fit with the culturally inclusionary aims of the WDL not dependent on the limits of their collection. Also acknowledged is metadata’s pragmatic rationale in support of standardisation for enhanced search and discoverability, but questioned is the sustainability of this principle if the goal is to promote equitable understanding and representation to a wide and international user group. Ultimately, recognising the bias within knowledge organisation systems will serve inclusivity more, rather than traditional claims of universality which conceal exclusion.

This topic, "Some Mission Societies Since Lausanne 1974" is an examination of the impact of Lausanne 1974 on the Global Church through ParaChurch organizations. There is a Focus on DAWN as a Movement. The topic was chosen due to the fact that mission organization scholars from agencies such as the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dawn Ministries, YWAM, and A.D. 2000 consider Lausanne 1974 to be a watershed event in evangelical missions. Lausanne 1974 renewed evangelical vision of missions and gave new direction to mission organizations. This dissertation explores those claims.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
M. Th (Missiology) Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology

Text in German
The present work deals with the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and places it within the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. Radical evangelicalism integrates insights from various theological roots into a evangelical basal concept. Radical theology succeeded, through its contextual outworking, in overcoming the narrow focus of European evangelical theology and yet it remains genuinely evangelical. It is in the position of breaking through the sterility of academic theology and the dualistic worldview which is peculiar to wide parts of the evangelical movement by a world view that is turned towards the world. Thus it is proving itself to be a highly relevant theology for the needs of a divided world. The work develops in three steps. First of all the historical development of radical evangelicalism will be traced, from its beginning at the Congress for world evangelism in Lausanne in 1974 to the present day. Thus it will become clear that in the 30 years since Lausanne radical theology has entered the mainstream of evangelicalism. There follows in a detailed section a setting out of the theology of radical evangelicalism by means of several chosen themes. It will deal with radical hermeneutics, eschatology, salvation, the meaning of mission and evangelism and the relationship between Gospel and culture. Finally the social action of radical evangelicalism will be set out and it will be demonstrated that its energetic theology is at its basic level in fact a driving sprituality.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
D.Th. (Missiology)

The thesis Jews in Czechoslovakia after WWII deals with the situation of the Czech and Moravian Jews after the WWII. It looks into the problems of the Jews liberated in the concentration camps and their process of repatriation and the problems, which were connected with their's adaptation to the society in Czechoslovakia. It follows the work of the Czech repatriation authorities and foreign Jewish organizations, which helped the Jews to adapt into the Czechoslovakia society. The thesis puts emphasizes on the differences between the behavior of the Jewish community in Prague and the Czech bureaus, which were obvious in the period of the return of the Jews to Czechoslovakia after the WWII. It also deals with the situation of the Jews from Carpathian Ruthenia and the Jews with German nationality, whose conditions where much more difficult.

This diploma thesis is devoted to Václav Majer (January 22, 1904 - January 25, 1972) and his public work, particularly in the period of the Third Republic of Czechoslovakia. Václav Majer was a social democratic politician and he was a leader of the right wing within the Czechoslovak Social Democracy. The main issue which was being discussed inside the Social Democratic Party at that time was the question of cooperation between Social Democrats and Communists. Majer was a main proponent of independent policy of the Social Democratic Party. Sometimes it is hard to analyze the meaning and the course of various political affairs without knowing their roots. In that case, it is necessary to study the background of these events which in many cases lies at the previous period. This is the reason why this very essay actually starts right after the Munich Agreement was negotiated and signed. This thesis informs about Majer's road to exile and his political activities during the World War II. The main interest of this thesis lies in the era of the Third Republic and informs about Majer and his policy during this very period.

Excessive unobserved firepower expenditures by Allied forces during the Vietnam War defied the traditional counterinsurgency principle that population protection should be valued more than destruction of the enemy. Many historians have pointed to this discontinuity in their arguments, but none have examined the available firepower records in detail. This study compiles and analyzes available, artillery-related U.S. and Allied archival records to test historical assertions about the balance between conventional and counterinsurgent military strategy as it changed over time. It finds that, between 1965 and 1970, the commanders of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), Generals William Westmoreland and Creighton Abrams, shared significant continuity of strategic and tactical thought. Both commanders tolerated U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Allied unobserved firepower at levels inappropriate for counterinsurgency and both reduced Army harassment and interdiction fire (H&I) as a response to increasing budgetary pressure. Before 1968, the Army expended nearly 40 percent of artillery ammunition as H&I – a form of unobserved fire that sought merely to hinder enemy movement and to lower enemy morale, rather than to inflict any appreciable enemy casualties. To save money, Westmoreland reduced H&I, or “interdiction” after a semantic name change in February 1968, to just over 29 percent of ammunition expended in July 1968, the first full month of Abrams’ command. Abrams likewise pursued dollar savings with his “Five-by-Five Plan” of August 1968 that reduced Army artillery interdiction expenditures to nearly ten percent of ammunition by January 1969. Yet Abrams allowed Army interdiction to stabilize near this level until early 1970, when recurring financial pressure prompted him to virtually eliminate the practice. Meanwhile, Marines fired H&I at historically high rates into the final months of 1970 and Australian “Harassing Fire” surpassed Army and Marine Corps totals during the same period. South Vietnamese artillery also fired high rates of H&I, but Filipino and Thai artillery eschewed H&I in quiet areas of operation and Republic of Korea [ROK] forces abandoned H&I in late 1968 as a direct response to MACV’s budgetary pressure. Financial pressure, rather than strategic change, drove MACV’s unobserved firepower reductions during the Vietnam War.