PhD Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14194/2796

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An Analytical Biography of Byang Henry Kato (1936-1975): His Theological Legacy and Contribution to Biblical Hermeneutics, African Christian Identity and Evangelical Theological Education
(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, South Africa) Foday-Khabenje, Aiah Dorkuh 1958-; Asumang, Annang
This study was an analytical biography of a pioneering church leader— Byang Henry Kato (1936‒1975)—in shaping African evangelicalism, in the subject area of Historical Theology. The purpose of the study was to explore Kato’s life story and theological legacy to contribute to leadership development and maturing of the church in contemporary Africa. Specifically, the study explores Kato’s biblical hermeneutics, Christian African identity and contribution to evangelical theological education in sub- Sahara Africa, using empirical and qualitative approaches, literary and field interviews. Kato was a young Nigerian theologian and the first African General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), among other roles. He was renowned to be father of evangelical theology in sub-Sahara Africa. Kato was immersed African traditional religion, as a child and was on course for succeeding his father as fetish priest when he converted to the Christian faith. Kato rose from humble beginnings to a world class evangelical leader and scholar, before his tragic death by drowning. Byang Kato made important theological contributions, contending for biblical fidelity on a number of issues related to relationship between traditional African religions and Christianity. He was opposed to much of what other influential liberal-leaning African theologians of his time taught. He raised an alarm and warned the Church in Africa about the theological pitfalls—syncretism and universalism and advocated for discontinuity with the African traditional religious worldview, especially aspects that were inconsistent with Scripture. Unprecedentedly, Kato helped to establish a number of premier theological institutions, to remedy the theological pitfalls in sub-Sahara Africa. Exploring some theoretical and biblical foundations demonstrated that Kato’s views were mostly consistent with mainstream evangelical perspectives. The findings and data collated formed the basis of constructing a corpus of theological material that characterised Kato’s theology, which I have dubbed as Katoan theology.
Deriving pedagogical models for theological education from a biblical theology of the acquisition, transmission and effects of the knowledge of God
(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg) Gillham, Simon John; Ferdinando, Kieth
The practice of theological education throughout the world has been shaped predominantly by the research university model and has been characterized by fragmentation. Although numerous critiques have been made and alternative pedagogical practices proposed, there has been a paucity of integrative theological reflection on pedagogical practice. This study construct a biblical theological foundation for the knowledge of God, and adopts an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to developing pedagogical models of theological education that better align with what the Bible says about the knowledge of God (i.e. theology). This is done by first engaging in a biblical theological analysis of how the knowledge of God is acquired and communicated throughout the canon, and what effect the knowledge of God has on those who know him. The results of this analysis are then brought into conversation with the most significant contemporary pedagogical developments to determine which might best reflect a biblical understanding of how the knowledge of God is acquired and transmitted and so best serve the enterprise of theological education. The nature of divine self-revelation, the significance of Christian community and expectations about personal transformation emerge as key factors in determining pedagogical approaches. Developments in transformative learning which acknowledge situated cognition, experiential learning and problem-based learning are found to be particularly apt. The research concludes by proposing a new structure for theological curricula, organized around two poles (the word and the world) which lead toward one another, rather than the traditional silos of theological departments.
Designing and Evaluating a Curriculum for the Effective and Accessible Training of frontier Missionaries from New Sending countries
(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg) Vermont, Henry 1959; Malherbe, Johannes S.
Many missionaries, especially those from the New Sending Countries (NSCs), go to the field inadequately prepared for the challenges they will face, resulting in high missionary attrition rates. This dissertation seeks to answer the question, how should a curriculum for accessible cross-cultural training of effective frontier missionaries from the New Sending Countries be designed and tested? The research answered this question by following a practical theological research approach. Using literature review and analysis, the researcher investigated the commonalities and differences between the main cultural traits of missionaries from the Sample of New Sending Countries and those from the Old Sending Countries. Another literature review examined the best practices in adult education, curriculum design, technological trends in education and missionary training. Further literary research and analysis resulted in a new competency-based framework for missionary training. The researcher then synthesized the results of these literature reviews to create a curricular approach that addresses the identified challenges. Concurrently, with these reviews, the researcher led a small team that implemented a set of online courses and evaluated learner experiences through structured questionnaires, opinion polls, computer log files and analytics of video usage. The literature reviews revealed that Western training methods should be adapted to suit the cultural learning preferences of New Sending Countries. The research found that adults prefer self-driven and self-paced learning, learnt Just In Time (JIT) for its application. Therefore, the synthesized curriculum uses hybrid online e-learning in a time-phased approach. The analysis of missionary competencies mapped onto missionary life phases is made possible by the CPL (Competency-Phase-Learning domain) training matrix designed in this dissertation. This analysis showed that pre-field training is mostly cognitive and could therefore be done mostly through online video-based training. Nevertheless, on-field training requires learning in the affective and psychomotor domains in addition to the cognitive. Therefore, a hybrid blend of online e-learning and practical application is the solution for training in each phase. Such training can be facilitated by the missionary team leader in conjunction with the online course content. Once implemented by mission organizations, this approach should make training accessible to missionaries from most countries. The empirical evaluation of actual course usage showed high levels of engagement and learner satisfaction among both New- and Old Sending Country learners. The final chapter of the dissertation contains the findings and recommendations for further research.
El Perfil Teológico De La Formación Del Liderazgo Pastoralde las Asambleas De Dios En Guatemala: Un Análisis Relacionado Al Plan Básico De Educación Cristianaen Elinstituto Bíblico Central
(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg) Escobar, Jorge López 1980; Van Engen, Charles E.
No abstract provided