Theses
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14194/2579
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Item Towards a Biblical strategy to counteract cultic practices among Neo-Pentecostal/charismatic churches: A case of the Restoration Embassy church in White-Hazy, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa(South African Theological Seminary, 2024-04-01) Hungwe, Ropafadzo; Mzondi, ModisaIn South Africa, cultic practises amongst some false prophets have trended all over social media platforms, national television stations and radios for making members eat rodents, eat grass, drink petrol and ordering church members to strip naked during healing services. This has caused Christianity which has had from the beginning of the activities of Missionaries, good repute, and having positive impact on social cultural lives of Communities, to be under disrepute. Christian values have been compromised. This thesis' main question described how members of the Restoration Embassy church in White-Hazy, Mpumalanga Province of South Africa could counteract emerging cultic practices in their local context using scriptures. The first subsidiary question covered what the current situation in the White-Hazy area was regarding cultic practises and movements, whilst the second highlighted the causes of the cultic practises and movements that emerged amongst them. The third subsidiary question focused on what the New Testament teaches about false teachers and their doctrines whilst the fourth proposed biblical strategies that could be employed to counter cultic practises among Neo-Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches. Data was gathered through interviews and questionnaires, from pastors and church members. Therefore, in this study, interviews and questionnaires were administered to participants who consisted of fifteen (15) pastors and also hundred church members, who were ten (10) members from each local church all adding up to hundred (100) members. This target population was randomly selected from the churches that are in the White-Hazy district. The area was purposefully chosen as a sample taking it from the fact that the researcher knew what was to be represented as characteristics and also to gain detailed knowledge from participants who met the research requirements. The response from the interviews showed that many prophetic churches with cultic tendencies are on the increase. Also, socio-economic conditions, materialism, greed and competition contribute to the increase of these churches in the area. This thesis also discussed what is taught in these churches and the reasons behind these teachings. From the findings, it was noted that some churches are still teaching true Bible doctrines. Lastly, there were proposed strategic approaches which can be employed to counteract cultic practises by Restoration Embassy Church. Community Bible study roadshow method was also suggested as a strategy for giving life teachings and biblical truths on false teachings and false prophets.Item A comparative study of the knowability of the Christian God and Allah: Strategic implications for Muslim evangelism(South African Theological Seminary, 2024-04-24) Boshoff, Rudolph P.; Smith, Kevin G.This research explores the basic ideas of Christianity and Islam about God's knowability, emphasizing the key differences between Allah and Yahweh. Christians base their theology on the Bible and claim that Allah can only be known via his revealed nature, but Muslims believe Allah cannot be personally known at all, creating a theological conundrum. According to my study, the biblical idea helps Christians develop an "I-Thou" relationship with Yahweh and helps them understand some of his attributes. On the other hand, Muslims find it difficult to explain many aspects of Allah, which undermines the moral foundation and coherence of their faith. The implications for evangelism strengthen the logical coherence of Christian theism and its ability to offer a meaningful alternative to Islamic monotheism. This comparative study aims to equip Christian witnesses to effectively address Islamic theology's challenges.Item Evangelisation und soziales Handeln Wie die missionale Wirksamkeit der evangelikalen Kirchen in der Schweiz erhöht werden kann(South African Theological Seminary, 2024-08-18) Anderegg, Pascal Matthias; Derungs, Klaus-PeterThis thesis examines the declining influence of evangelical mission efforts in the German-speaking region, particularly Switzerland. The research seeks to understand the reasons behind this stagnation and explores strategies to improve the missional effectiveness of evangelical churches in Switzerland. The study combines historical analysis with empirical research methods, including quantitative surveys and qualitative group interviews, to investigate how members of evangelical churches perceive and practice mission. The findings reveal a disconnect between mission theory and practice, which must be addressed to enhance missional impact. The research suggests that fostering dialogue between church leaders and members and addressing socially relevant issues within church communities could help bridge this gap. Moreover, a paradigm shift toward a balanced integration of evangelism and social action may be necessary to better meet societal needs and restore the church's credibility and relevance. The thesis concludes by offering practical strategies to promote culturally relevant mission models that integrate evangelism with social engagement, aiming to increase the missional effectiveness of Swiss evangelical churches.Item Evaluating the Exegetical Benefit of Integrating New Testament Greek Discourse Grammar with Traditional Grammar(South African Theological Seminary, 2023-10-01) Crafford, Estelle; Smith, Kevin G.Over the past two centuries, there has been a constant shift in the evolution of thought on how Greek grammar should be studied and presented. Modern linguistics entered the scene at the dawn of the twentieth century, bringing a notable shift in language study. This modern linguistics period (1961 to the present) is earmarked for advances in modern linguistics and, in the past ten to twenty-plus years, the emergence of discourse grammar as a recent development in the field. In keeping with this trend, this thesis investigated the exegetical benefit of integrating New Testament Greek discourse grammar with traditional grammar in Greek language studies. The study began with a documentation of the past and current state of scholarship in Greek grammar. Then, in phase two, Matthew 7:1–20 was examined through the lens of traditional grammar, which provided a baseline for a comparison with the discourse-grammar study. The next logical step was to examine Matthew 7:1–20 through a discourse grammar lens to determine how much it clarified or enriched the interpretation of the four pericopes. After conducting phases two and three, the key takeaway was that integrating discourse grammar with traditional grammar does not result in a different interpretation of Matthew 7:1–20. Still, there is compelling evidence suggesting that it adds significant nuance and enriches the understanding of the text in three specific discourse-related areas of exegesis: (1) the writer's intent behind constituent order fluctuations (and whether they are "default" or "marked"), (2) the function and pragmatic constraints of conjunctions, and (3) the tasks performed by various other discourse devices. Accordingly, a holistic approach is proposed that integrates the grammatical and syntactical rules of traditional grammar with the communicative principles (or discourse tasks) of discourse grammar. This finding is significant since, if implemented, it could enrich the learning experience and improve the exegetical skills of future Greek students.Item Establishing a model of ecclesiastical discipline in the Church of Pentecost, Ghana(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2023) Kumi-Woode, Benjamin Godson 1964–; Mzondi, ModisaThe Church of Pentecost–Ghana (CoP–Ghana) is a Ghanaian classical Pentecostal Church with a transnational reach. In this study, ecclesiastical discipline as practiced in the CoP–Ghana was researched using Robert Osmer’s method with the view to develop a model of ecclesiastical discipline for the church. Robert Osmer’s method of research outlines a four-step process which involves the descriptive-empirical task, the interpretative task, the normative task and the pragmatic task (Osmer 2008, 31–218). Thirty respondents each from ministers, presbyters and members were interviewed using semi- structured questions. Views of ministers, presbyters, and members interviewed about ecclesiastical discipline in the CoP–Ghana were that ecclesiastical discipline was relevant to the CoP–Ghana due to the necessity to show the church, Christ's bride, as holy and that discipline is an expression of God's love. Additionally, the purpose of ecclesiastical discipline is to uphold the church's reputation and help it carry out the divine mission of preparing individuals for God's kingdom. The major concerns raised by the participants regarding the application of ecclesiastical discipline in the CoP–Ghana include the absence of clear guidelines for ecclesiastical discipline, lack of counselling resources for both pre- and post-discipline phases, aggressive approach of the process, lack of confidence in the reliability of the investigative process, and lethargy in carrying out discipline due to criticism of the practice in contemporary times. For this reason, membership should be classified into new members, members, presbyters, ministers, and higher calling for purposes of ecclesiastical discipline, and disciplinary measures rated from leniency to severe sanctions in that order. Education on ecclesiastical discipline should be integrated into the church’s discipleship program to include new converts classes, pulpit ministry, Bible studies, lay leaders’ school, ministerial formation course and a manual on ecclesiastical discipline, as one the church’s key discipleship documents. Further, an objective means which considers maturity, nature of the offense, status of the offender, attitude of the offender, mode of disclosure of offense and type of offense should be prayerfully adopted in determining sanctions to be meted out to offenders, in such a way that the nature of the offense and the dynamics of the offender are considered in sanctioning. Finally, the church must deliberately ensure that sanctioned members are assigned mature believers or counsellors to assist in their reconciliation and restoration to fellowship. Recommendations made were that a systematic means and pastoral care to ensure reconciliation and restoration of offenders should be developed and adopted which involve clemency, godly counselling and ministry of love, and further research to be done to ascertain the extent to which previous offenders have been properly healed, reconciled, and restored after undergoing ecclesiastical discipline.Item A Linguistic Evaluation of the Calvinist “All Without Distinction” Reading of πᾶς in the Pastoral Epistles(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2023) Jensen, Aaron Michael 1989–; Lioy, Dan T.; Coon, GeorgeThis thesis examines the Calvinist “all without distinction” reading of πᾶς, an interpretation that safeguards the Calvinist teachings of double predestination and limited atonement by claiming that in four key passages within the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 2:4, 6; 4:10; Titus 2:11) πᾶς denotes not all individual people but all kinds of people. By exegetically refuting other Calvinist proposals for these verses, this thesis demonstrates that double predestination and limited atonement are unviable without the “all without distinction” reading. Nevertheless, it also documents how the primary motivations for these Calvinist teachings—preserving God’s role as sole cause in election, conversion, and salvation, and preserving an effective atonement—are maintained without double predestination and limited atonement by other Christian traditions. Although Calvinists allege that linguistic support for the “all without distinction” interpretation is found in other passages where πᾶς denotes something less than every individual, no prior study quantified the linguistic rationale for the referent of πᾶς being limited. This thesis undertakes this missing linguistic analysis using a corpus-based lexical analysis. It identifies six manners of restriction found with πᾶς: hyperbole, implicit domain restriction, nonveridicality, intensive nouns, collective nouns, and superordinate categories. Using Gricean pragmatics, exegetical analysis, operator scoping, semantic analysis, and cognitive linguistics, it determines the linguistic features by which restricted uses of πᾶς might be identified. By applying these criteria to 1 Timothy 2:4, 6; 4:10 and Titus 2:11, this thesis finds that these verses lack the linguistic features necessary for such restrictions. Consequently, it demonstrates that the “all without distinction” interpretation is unviable, as are the Calvinist teachings of double predestination and limited atonement that depend on it. Conversely, it confirms as scriptural teaching that God desires the salvation of all and that Christ died for the sins of all. This thesis further articulates the practical significance of recognizing the universal scope of the Father’s merciful will and the Son’s atoning death. Non-Christians being evangelized can be presented with a sure basis for faith, and Christians doubting their own faith or elect status can be offered direct assurance from God’s will, Christ’s death, and the means of grace.Item AN EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT THEOLOGICAL AESTHETIC: A RESPONSE TO HANS URS VON BALTHASAR’S CRITIQUE(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2023) Currie, Ryan 1986–; Falconer, Robert D.; Coon, GeorgeIn the development of his theological aesthetic project, the Swiss theologian and Roman Catholic priest, Hans Urs von Balthasar, critiqued Protestantism for lacking a theological account of beauty. Balthasar claimed that Protestants explore the relationship of theology and worldly beauty in its various forms, but do not deal with beauty itself as a theological category and have eliminated beauty from theology completely. This thesis responds to this critique from an evangelical Protestant perspective. The purpose of this work is to develop a theological aesthetic for evangelical Protestants that builds on the insights of historical theology and is consistent with the biblical witness. The methodology employed is Falconer’s Architectonic Theology, which applies architectural design principles for the construction of a systematic theology. Following this methodology, this work examines the concepts of theological aesthetics in current evangelical Protestantism, the development of theological aesthetic concepts in the history of theology, Balthasar’s articulation of theological aesthetics, and the Johannine corpus. I argue that even though evangelical Protestants have neglected a theological account of beauty, they have a tacit theological aesthetic that needs further articulation and development. However, evangelical Protestants have much to offer in the field of theological aesthetics. In this thesis, I seek to develop a theological aesthetic that is based on a theology of the cross. I claim that beauty is inherently related to the concept of glory. Glory emphasizes the objective aspects of God’s fullness and perfection, while beauty emphasizes perception and drawing power. The perception of God’s beauty is made possible through the spiritual sense, given at regeneration. The spiritual sense also transforms the physical senses so that all created beauty becomes a communicative event where the beauty of God is displayed. This is significant because it provides a solution to the felt tension between spiritual and created beauty. Further, the beauty of God is transformative. Theological aesthetics has profound implications for life as the believer perceives God through faith and generates a beautiful life in the theo-drama.Item Christening a nation: A critical theological investigation of declaring Zambia a Christian nation(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2023) Mumba, Gabriel; Mzondi, ModisaChristening a nation: A critical theological investigation of declaring Zambia a Christian nation is a study contributing to the ongoing discussion concerning the theological implications surrounding the declaration of Zambia a Christian Nation, and how the Church in Zambia should respond to the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation? The study is shaped after Osmer’s (2008, 199—217) four tasks of practical theology namely: (i) the descriptive task (what is going on?), whose main objective was to have an all-inclusive consultation to understand the factors that influenced the declaration of Zambia a Christian nation, (ii) the interpretive task (why is it going on?), which helped to historically understand what related literature teaches about christening a nation, (iii) the normative task (what ought to be going on?), which discussed what the Bible and theologians teach, vis–à–vis christening a nation, and (iv) the pragmatic task (how might we respond?), which discussed some critical theological implications of declaring Zambia a Christian nation, and further offered a pragmatic response of the Church in Zambia. In this regard, the study used a qualitative explorative–descriptive approach. Christening Zambia and the subsequent declaration of Zambia a Christian nation aroused discussions among stakeholders like the religious mother bodies, government and other interested parties to understand its objective. Therefore, the declaration of Zambia a Christian nation presents some good prospects to the Church in Zambia of fulfilling the great commission of Jesus Christ, while at the same time it is a challenge when its biblical and theological basis is not properly considered.Item A study on the lived experience of koinōnia in a post-apartheid, post-Armstrong congregation: A transition from power-imbalance to koinōnia(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2022) Millar, Candida 1977–; Harold, GodfreyThis research is an exploration of koinōnia in practice, from an evangelical, trinitarian perspective, in a congregation of Grace Communion International (GCI), in Johannesburg, South Africa. It considers the past effects of apartheid and Armstrongism in the study. Researching within the context of evangelicalism considers the four-fold quadrilateral of Bebbington (1993) namely biblicism, crucicentrism, conversionism and activism, with careful inclusion of Packer’s (1978) sixth essential, in his six-fold definition of evangelicalism, namely fellowship, folded into Bebbington’s “activism”. Koinōnia may be best considered first from a macro perspective, existing within the Triune God, that also finds its expression in the relationship between Christ and his Bride, into the micro family of believers. This research thus considers social/relational koinōnia as it exists in a Triune God, within a congregation that is situated within evangelicalism. The researcher recognizes the Church (the Bride of Christ) as a dynamic organism that is ever-evolving (Harper and Metzger 2009:16) but enters into a moment of time in search for meaning, and observes the apparent practice of koinōnia, from a post-Armstrong, post-apartheid context. Through the method of hermeneutic phenomenology (Swinton and Mowat 2016), the research explores the lived experience of the congregants regarding the phenomena of koinōnia. While chapter one is an overview of the research’s proposed activities, hopes and interests, chapter two offers a perspective of social trinity and koinōnia with added insight from the exploration of the research topic. Chapter three explores the history of Grace Communion International from Worldwide Church of God era through its name change with emphasis on its model of practicing koinōnia. Further to this, the chapter delves into an explanation of apartheid, and its influence on the Worldwide Church of God’s pre-1994 practices as well as the researcher’s impression, in dialogue with the views of multi-racial authors of peer reviewed academia, of the context into which the research is situated.Item A Critical Analysis of Christology in N.T. Wright and Wolfhart Pannenberg: Implications for a Christo-Centric Homiletic(South African Theological Seminary Johannesburg, 2023) Duffield, Devon 1988; Bartholomaeus, Michael; Falconer, Robert D.The Christo-centric homiletic is considered one of the leading contemporary approaches within the evangelical hermeneutic and homiletic society. However, its popularity has not made this approach immune to criticism. This thesis seeks to point out that the Christo-centric homiletic is embedded in a Christology from above, which contributes to its strengths and weaknesses. It explores the implications of the from below Christologies of N.T. Wright and Wolfhart Pannenberg on the Christo-centric approach. A unique research methodology is employed that consists of five literary tasks to address the research problem. The research project begins with examining the from below Christologies of Wright and Pannenberg, which encompasses the overarching tenets of their Christologies and the influences of other scholars upon their presuppositions and Christological developments. Then, the strengths and weaknesses of their Christologies are identified, described, and evaluated through critical analysis. Subsequently, the Christo-centric homiletic is examined, and its underlying Christology and shortcomings are specified and assessed. It is argued that the Christo-centric homiletic is embedded in a from above approach to Christology and that the presuppositions of a Christology from above contribute to the homiletical approach's shortcomings. The implications of the strengths of Wright and Pannenberg's Christologies on the Christo-centric homiletic are then explored. These implications demonstrate that these two from below Christologies enrich and challenge the Christo-centric method in various meaningful ways. This thesis suggests that if the Christo-centric method takes the from below Christologies of Wright and Pannenberg seriously, it can address specific weaknesses and find resources to enhance some of its strengths without negating its central conviction of preaching Christ in every sermon. This thesis fulfils the profound need to place the current homiletical debate on Christo-centric preaching in dialogue with Christology. It defends the unique proposal that the Christo-centric method can address its criticisms without becoming more Theo-centric.
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