Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Zion Christian Church'

Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2003.
Includes abstract and vita. Translated from Korean. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-247).

Thesis (M.A. (Political & International Studies)) - Rhodes University, 2009.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Politics at Department of Political and International Studies.

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the Lordship of Christ is a reality in the life and faith of Christians in the South African township of Soshanguve, north-west of Pretoria. The study is based on empirical research conducted in Soshanguve between 1996 and 1999, among members of the following three denominations: the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church, and a group of Pentecostal and charismatic churches. During the first phase the research had a predominantly quantitative nature (survey research). The second phase involved a qualitative research (in depth-interviews, analysis of written documents and sermons). After an introductory chapter and a chapter giving the necessary background, chapter 3 describes the survey research, and chapters 4 to 6 examine the Lordship of Christ as it functions in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Zion Christian Church and the Pentecostal/charismatic churches respectively. This research shows that in the faith of many church members the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a vague notion. It is accepted that Jesus Christ has died for our sins in the past, but it is less clear what He is doing presently. The living Christ is a remote figure in the faith of the majority of church members. The gap which is left, is filled by the laws of the church and/or the leadership of the church. Chapter 7 gives an analysis of the results. It appears that several backgrounds have to be taken into account: (1) the influence of African traditional religion, (2) the influence of Western secularism, (3) the influence of specific doctrinal tenets of the given denomination. Chapter 8 offers a Biblical perspective on aspects which have to be dealt with in order to strengthen the notion of the Lordship of Christ in the life and faith of Christians. These are: the concept of God, the concept of salvation, the person of Christ, the Lordship of Christ over the life of the individual believer, and the Lordship of Christ over the world.
Thesis (Th.D.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2001

The popular millenarian movement founded by Joanna Southcott (1750-1814) enjoyed a complex relationship with political radicalism in early nineteenth-century Britain. Southcott opposed radicalism during her lifetime, encouraging her followers to await a messianic agent of the millennium. Within two decades of the prophet’s death – as Southcott expected to give birth to this messiah – some surviving Southcottians became political radicals, most notably, John ‘Zion’ Ward (1781-1837) and James Elishama Smith (1801-57). Ward was a popular preacher during the agitations around the Reform Bill, Smith a radical lecturer, editor of Robert Owen’s journal Crisis, and ideologue within general trades unionism in 1833-34. The respective influence of each figure drew several hundred Southcottians into engagement with politics. This thesis presents a new interpretation of why such millenarians engaged with radicalism. Utilising a substantial range of Southcottian and radical sources, many previously unstudied, it challenges the existing explanations of Southcottian radicalism of E.P. Thompson, J.F.C. Harrison, Barbara Taylor and others. Through a close study of the religious experience, ideas and practices of Southcottians in 1815-35, it locates an altered disposition towards social activity through the evolving millennial theologies of Southcottian groups and the personal acquaintanceship of individual believers with radical freethinkers. Under the prophetic leadership of Zion Ward and John Wroe (1782-1863), earlier Southcottian notions of the respective roles of divine and human agency in the realising of the millennium were changed by 1830. This led Southcottians to a new sense of agency, where their own actions took on a millennial significance when directed towards the achievement of God’s perceived intentions for the world. For some, this presented engagement with political radicalism, even freethought radicalism, in a new light: as action apposite to their beliefs. This argument features an alternative theoretical framework for millenarian beliefs which takes account of the way conceptions of human agency can vary within religious movements centred on modern prophecy. In exposing the inadequacy of existing pre- and postmillennial categories to explain such beliefs, it demonstrates how visionary religion can inspire expectations of both disruptive and evolutionary change, and require both divine and human agency, in the realisation of the millennium. This is a study in religious history, orientated towards politics. It demonstrates that a sensitivity to how visionary religious ideas influenced individuals involved in political movements, aids an improved understanding of political motivations and ideals.

This thesis seeks to offer new perspectives on the role of women in African-American Christian denominations in the United States in the period between the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century. It situates the changes in the roles available to black women in their churches in the context of ecclesiastical politics. By offering explanations of the growth of black denominations in the South after the Civil War and the political alignments in the leadership of the churches, it seeks to offer more powerful explanations of differences in the treatment of women in distict denominations. It explores the distinct worship practices of African-American Christianity and reflects on their relationship to denominational structure and character, and gender issues. Education was central to the participation of women in African-American Christianity in the late nineteenth century, so the thesis discusses the growth of black colleges under the auspices of the black churches. Finally it also explores the complex relationship between domestic ideology, the politics of respectability, and female participation in the black churches.

The study of the African Initiated Churches has become vital for the understanding of the rich variety of forms in which Christianity manifest itself on this continent. In 1950 nearly 80% of black South African Christians adhered to the established churches and only 12% to the African Initiated Churches. Presently it is about 52% and below 40% respectively. At the end of the century the African Initiated Churches will be the main Church Movement in South Africa as the so called mainline churches are fast becoming sidelined (Oosthuizen December 1992: i). The founder (Engenas Lekganyane 1885-1948) of the Zion Christian Church was an African, with roots in Africa. His church thus assimilated Christianity into the culture as espoused in this part of the continent. The church thus expresses Christianity in an African context. The leadership of the church has continued to be African, thereby entrenching the Africanness of the church. The membership of the Zion Christian Church is overwhelmingly African. The African features of the Zion Christian Church are therefore, not expressed through the structures that closely mirror traditional society, but rather through a polity that continues the hierarchical system inherited both from the traditional society and from the mother church namely the Apostolic Faith Mission, and modifies it by the addition of elements from the Methodist forms of government. It could be regarded as a mixed Western polity operating in a characteristically African way. since it is the Christian faith that the church wishes to communicate in African terms, the starting point is the source of the church's faith, I refer here to the Holy Scriptures, the foundation document of the church. African Christians are concerned to interpret essential Christian faith in authentic African language in the flux and turmoil of our time so that there may be genuine dialogue between Christian faith and African culture. It should be noted that by looking at the Gospel message from an African perspective, African Christians are not simply thinking about themselves but are attempting to make their contribution, to the universal Christian theology.
Theses (D.Th.)-University of Durban-Westville, April 1996.

碩士
中原大學
宗教研究所
105
he purpose of the research is to explore the “Creative Religious Theatre Event” in applying to community culture. The researcher aims to collaborate the Christian Culture into community by spending 14 weeks in developing a drama play, the Star Village, performed by 26 church members. A questionnaire is released to the audience after the show to analyze the effect. The development process is also stated. The research is on the subject of the Christmas festival “The Star Village”. The scene construction and the creativity are based on the religious theatre art features such as: the Roman soldiers, the shepherds, the inn keepers and other related historical events to explore the spiritual realm. Multiple drama performance styles are used to interpret the characters’ dynamic and facial expressions. In techniques, the printing and dyeing skills of the fabrics are used to increase the wholeness of the costumes. Besides, Photoshop and Corel Draw are used to create the images. 3D printing skills are used to create authentic costumes and props. In the creating and constructing process, the researcher uses the mixture of realism and magic realism to produce a magical, mythical style. The researcher also uses environmental theatre elements to construct script of gospel theatre by applying multi-media, light painting, Christmas hymns by church choir, lest the audience should feel bored. The study also demonstrates how environmental theatre in classical performance interacts with modern audience. The moment when the audience makes their entrance to the church is the moment they participate in the performing and experiencing the medieval century. The meandering route, the ancient decorated walls, the warm greeting inn keepers, the hospitable villagers, energetic hawkers along the streets, the brave patrolling Roman soldiers, fresh grounded coffee, delicious cakes, sweet figs and dates, Israel traditional music…welcome the audience to the Star Village. The study also uses QR code for the readers to browse the costume, the multi-media and the choir. The researcher hopes that the gospel drama can make an effect on the community and promote the interaction between the community and the church so as to increase the sense of the culture mission of the local church to the community.

The upsurge of religious movements and independent churches in the Global South is bringing a new twist to world economic development not anticipated by many theologians and social scientists. With a syncretic soteriology geared toward the liberation of the whole person, religious movements and independent churches of the south are preaching to their adherents, mostly the poor and the marginalized, a message of faith in an omnipotent and compassionate God who is concerned for their weal and woes and who offers them an assured and holistic salvation. By placing their faith in God, the poor and marginalized people are discovering their true selves and are saved/liberated. This assured salvation (certitudo salutis), which is a total liberation of the physical and spiritual world, becomes, in turn, the motivational energy for capital development. The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) soteriological predicament stands at this juncture. Through processes of syncretization and purification, ZCC has managed to deconstruct the European/North American and African Traditional Religions soteriologies to construct a pure soteriology that is relevant to the socio context of its adherents. ZCC deconstructs these soteriologies by broadening, for example, the classic Christian soteriogical theory of Christus Victor in her notion of sin, death and the devil and the African traditional soteriological notion of uBuntu and spirit-power. The purity, or holistic salvation, generated out of these processes serves as grounds for identity and economic empowerment of its adherents. With a holistic salvation that centers on healing, personal integrity and spiritual power, ZCC members have been able to achieve considerable success in the labour market by becoming an army of potential employees. They have also distinguished themselves in their work ethic, where they are seen as hardworking, disciplined, obedient and sober. Empowering its adherents economically through a religious soteriology, the ZCC has become an example of a trend that is shaping the Global South and is reviving the interest of social scientists and theologians to further investigate the impact of religious and theological formulations on the economic conduct of individuals.
Theology
D. Th. (Theological Ethics)

碩士
國立臺灣大學
人類學研究所
104
This research focuses on the study of the autonomous community “Mount Zion” (Mt. Zion), established by the New Testament Church (NTC) in Taiwan. The aim of the research is to examine the contemporary features, present its development and practice of social life, and connect with some previous studies on Utopia. In my study, it is believed that the “thought” of Utopia may exit in various cultures, if Utopia is to be generalized as an idealism of living in a wonderful society in the mortal world. Throughout the world history, it seems that most of the few communities successfully turning the thoughts of Utopia into experiment or practice have been founded by the Christian Utopian ones. On the other hand, in Chinese societies, the case of the “Utopian community” founded by the ideology of religion is scarce. Currently, the best example of this kind of community would be Mt. Zion founded by NTC in Taiwan, which preserves the Utopian way of living in the most complete and sustained fashion. In my study, I consider that the “Holy-Land” (promised land) owned and developed by NTC in Taiwan is a community that sustains and practices the idea of Utopia by implementing Christian religion as its culture base and blueprint of concept. NTC has many Holy-Lands in different places throughout Taiwan, even overseas. Among all, the most representative and most divine one is Mt. Zion located in Kaohsiung City. As for the other Holy-Lands following the example of Mt. Zion are called “branches of Mt. Zion”. Inside the Holy-Land, which deliberately isolates itself from the outside world, the NTC believers consciously recreates the living style similar to “Eden” and “Commune” in the beginning of the Christian Church recorded in the Bible. They live in the God-based life style, and combine “work, live, serve” as a whole. Moreover, they gained the power of self-educating the disciples’ children from Taiwan government in 1997, hence the religion-practicing living area become more mature, and is therefore called “Eden Homestead”. The content of my thesis firstly through the diachronic view point presents the development of NTC/Mt. Zion from 1960s to the present time, indicating how the “internal and external motivation” of the Utopia was efficiently combined by “people”, and how they further actively realized the concrete Utopia community. At the same time, the close-relationship between Christianity and Utopia was examined and revised through the study of the case of Mt. Zion. Secondly, the current study presents the social life of NTC believers in Mt. Zion through the synchronic view point, including the aspects of God-based life and God-based education, environment preservation and eco-village, production and consumption, the idea of Utopia-construction. It also recorded the NTC’ homeschooling (God-based education), daily congregation (prophecy and witness), and pilgrimage (Feast of Tabernacles in 2014). These aspects above hence depicted the profile of Mt. Zion as a Christian Utopia in contemporary Taiwan. Furthermore, the diachronic and synchronic results show that NTC has vividly interpreted various “in-the-name-of-God” actions, inside and outside the community through its unique religious doctrines and mobilization system, and has actively created meanings and given value to it, making it a “practice of faith”. On one hand, it has internally created cohesion within the members in the group. On the other hand, it has externally produced a motion of resistance to form and sustain the boarder of the Utopia. Therefore, Mt. Zion, the Christian Utopian community, is able to continuously “transform” and “adapt” the challenges arising from inside and outside the community under the specific social, cultural and historical context in Taiwan, and further more continues functioning till present time for over thirty years. Finally, this research takes the example of Mt. Zion experience to examine the qualities and conditions for a successfully established and functioning Utopian community. Moreover, the research indicates that the phenomenon of NTC/Mt. Zion is not only a religious utopian movement, but also a “special way of expression” of social movement. Last, the comparison between of Christian Utopia and secular Utopia is made, in order to enter into a dialogue with the Utopia theories in the field of anthropology.

This study encompasses an anthropological investigation of healing practices in the Zion Christian Church with reference to the Marabastad congregation in Pretoria (Tshwane), South Africa. The Zion Christian Church functions as an extremely successful healing ministry, and can thus be characterised as a spirit-type African Initiated Church, a type known to attract members through healing activities. The concepts of ill-health, health, healing and curing are crucial to understanding the church’s role, as all activities at the Zion Christian Church revolve around the attainment of absolute health. The embedded nature of healing in the church is explored through an analysis of the spatial and material aspects of the church’s healing practices, including codes of conduct, roles of participants, religious services, and intangible and tangible instruments of healing. The study is further contextualised against the broader history of the emergence and growth of African Initiated Churches from the late 19th century onwards
Anthropology & Archaeology
M.A. (Anthropology)

The dissertation is a biographical ethnography of an individual, ordinary musician and Mamelodi township dweller, Lesiba Samuel Kadiaka (*1962) in South Africa. It is based largely on fieldwork totalling more than 12 months conducted in five periods over six years between 2006 and 2011. It examines the possibilities of studying an average (rather than 'leading') musician ethnographically and their implications and consequences for wider ethnomusicological and South African music research. It makes a practical contribution to the wider debate about the relationship between individual, social, and cultural structures, and breaks new ground in its focus on the previously little known music and practices of Mr. Kadiaka's church, the Zion Christian Church. The research consisted mainly of ethnographic observations of various kinds of musical activities in which Mr. L. S. Kadiaka was involved in as a solo musician (songwriter and song singer) and as a member of the ZCC, on the one hand, and of deep interviews over the time span of six years, on the other. It consists of a biographical part dealing with his narratives about childhood in rural Ga-Mphahlele and his later life in Mamelodi township. Iconographic historical sources of a private nature are use too. The second part describes in three large...