1,720,962 research outputs found
Roeping en stryd in die kerklike bediening van H.Ph.J. Pasch en G.B.S. Pasch
Get PDFMTh (Church and Dogma History), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015This study aims to focus on the importance of vocation in the ministry of two extraordinary reformed ministers of the GKSA. The two protagonists that were researched in this study are Reverend Hendrikus Philippus Josef (H.Ph.J. Pasch 1865-1936) and his son, Reverend Gerhardus Barthlomeus Schutteus Pasch (G.B.S. Pasch 1916-1960; also known as Rabbo Pasch). Both had lived a life of struggle against the calling before answering to the vocation of becoming a minister. The essence of being truly called is the continuous incentive to the motive to being truly called and living this calling as ministers. The exceptional circumstances and challenges that were unusual in their lives are highlighted. These challenges often resulted in intense conflict to stay true to their calling is unequalled. The weakness of men and the broken human existence, as well as the harshness of human relations, even between people within the church, are pointed out. This study has shown that calling has to be the main motive and driving force in the ministry of a pastor for lifelong perseverance in this specific calling with its struggles and challenges.Master
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Christians, Gnostics and Platonists : an overview of the ethos of late antiquity
Get PDFThesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption
that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante–Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos.Master
Origen's rhetoric of identity formation : Origens Paulinism in contrast to Hellenism
Get PDFThesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.How did Late Antiquity’s societies articulate their identities? This dissertation is a study of the construction of textual identities, as revealed by an analysis of Origen’s Paulinism which aimed to construct Christian identity in the third century CE. I have chosen extracts from Origen’s exegesis of Paul, found primarily in one text, his Commentary on Romans, as resources for my examination of identity issues. This text is an extremely helpful example of a deliberate fashioning of Christian identity through Origen’s joint use of Hellenistic paideia and the Bible. Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of habitus provides a helpful lens in decoding Origen’s and Hellenistic texts. Using habitus, the focus is on the rhetoric of identity formation through the fabric of the cultural, social, political, ideological, and literary contexts of Origen’s world. The study is more descriptive than polemical. The Greek paideia provides an immediate background to Late Antiquity’s concept of identity formation. The extant literature of the period comprised the fundamental vehicles of self–definition. This concept of fashioning identity through the construction of texts presents numerous difficulties for the contemporary reader. I will show that Origen used Greco–Roman moral philosophy and rhetoric in interpreting Paul. In seeking Origen’s notion of Christian identity, Origen’s reading of Romans is shaped by strategies of self–scrutiny and self–formation. Although Origen modifies the Greco–Roman moral philosophies—such as the notion of self–control, transformational narratives, and rhetoric deployment in his exegesis—much of the shared cultural and literary background remains. Using the Hellenistic nuances of self–control and rhetoric, Origen shows his audience a distinct picture of what a transformed, mature believer should look like, the humanitas. The transformation that a believer underwent resulted in a new or intensified form of piety with consequent changes in social affiliations, relations and loyalties. He also uses different descriptions —“new man,” “inner man” and “perfect”—to identify the mature transformed believers. This believer is the humanitas, the much sought after identity, with the milieu of the third century C.E. He attempted to create a body of knowledge and to utilize it for the
preparation of a strong Christian identity in the midst of the pressures and temptations of the hegemonic Roman Empire and the pervasive Greco–Roman culture. Along with the paideia, the Roman Empire nurtured and challenged Origen’s Paulinism. The Roman Empire did not require individuals, or even communities, to adopt for themselves a distinctly Roman identity to the exclusion of all others. Yet, everyone was required to worship the genus of the Emperor. The Roman identity transformed the Greek–barbarian dichotomy into an imperial ideology which claimed Roman supremacy over all other cultures and people. This usurpation of other societies by the Romans is an inverted mirror image of Origen’s usurpation of Rome’s Romanitas or humanitas through his Paulinism. Thus, he is to be seen constructing identity through shared forms of symbolic and linguistic construction which were readily available within his socio–political reality.Doctora
The impact of persecution (1950-1974) upon the Igreja Evangelical Congregacional in Angola : a church-historical study
No full textThesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.This study examines the historical development of the congregational church in Angola under
the persecution of the Portuguese colonial regime during the late colonial period of 1950-1975.
The underlying thesis is that the suffering, injustices and human loss of the congregational
church actually fostered her development in various parts of Angola. In order to demonstrate this
development of the congregational church in Angola, the study examines the historical
disadvantages that the ABCFM and Ovimbundu in central Angola suffered under the Portuguese
colonial power.
The research commences with a historical description and analysis of the arrival of the ABCFM
in central Angola, with an emphasis on the tensions between Protestant missions and Portuguese
colonial authorities/traders in central Angola. The friction was mainly provoked by the fact the
ABCFM mission strategy was inclined to focus on education as a way to plant churches. This,
the Portuguese colonial powers and traders viewed as a threat to the lucrative business of human
carnage and forced labour. In spite of the tension that existed between the colonial powers and
the ABCFM missionaries, many Ovimbundu came to embrace the Protestant faith and were
willing to pay a heavy price for their convictions.
Another aspect of this study is the Angolan revolution, especially the indirect influence of
Protestant missionaries on the revolution. As a result of their indirect role, the Portuguese
colonial power arrested various ecclesiastical leaders and expelled Protestant missionaries. This
caused a loss of local Protestant leaders as well as missionary support. Yet, in the midst of all the
suffering, persecution, injustice and subhuman treatment in prisons and resettlements camps, the
church grew in various part of Angola. This development, however, was not devoid of faults. A
biblical and critical analysis demonstrates that there were instances when the church
compromised her witness.Master
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
A critique of the San Damiano Crucifix : its influence on the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi
No full textPhD (Church and Dogma History), North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThe aim of this thesis is to place the San Damiano Crucifix in its rightful position within Franciscan spirituality. It begins with the historical background of St. Francis of Assisi’s spirituality, followed by a short synopsis on the use of crosses and crucifixes as symbols of Christianity, especially focusing on the Syriac/Greek tradition. A detailed critique of the major commentaries on the San Damiano Crucifix follows. This is a critique of books, articles, internet sources, and personal interviews. The differing views are evaluated and discussed in full and conclusions are made. This crucifix shines out as an illustration of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ through depiction and through symbol. The most important feature is the compassion shown through Christ’s eyes which look lovingly at the onlooker. This blood-splattered crucifix gives the message of a Saviour who suffered but whose blood cleanses, revives and unites to bring individuals into his Kingdom. Christ’s blood is sprinkled over the characters on this icon. The conclusion is that the icon is giving a eucharistic message. It is an icon of love, peace and joy, with its triumphal message of life overcoming death. St. Francis of Assisi was greatly moved when praying before this crucifix in the church of San Damiano where he had a vision that it spoke to him and instructed him, “Go rebuild my house; as you see it is all being destroyed.” The crucifix is full of many theological truths which St. Francis incorporated into his thinking, his theology, and his writings. It is argued that these influenced his spirituality and became the core of his being. The different elements of Franciscan spirituality are examined in the light of St. Francis and the San Damiano Crucifix. Further research is needed in that a more thorough examination of the San Damiano Crucifix is required by expert forensic scientists, expert iconographers, and art historians specialising in the transitional period between Eastern and Western art in the twelfth century. This would enhance academia’s knowledge of the crucifix and confirm the influence it had on St. Francis and his spirituality without neglecting the personal individual meditative element of praying before an icon.Doctora
An explanatory account and examination of the doctrine of the mediation of Jesus Christ in the scientific theology of T. F. Torrance
Get PDFThesis (PhD (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013The doctrine of the mediation of Jesus Christ in the scientific theology of T.F. Torrance rests on the fundamental scientific axiom, derived from the natural sciences, that knowledge is developed in accordance with the nature (kata physin) of the object as it is revealed in the course of scientific inquiry. As a theological realist, Torrance finds real and accurate knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. To know God through the incarnate Son, who is “of one nature with the Father” (homoousios to Patri), is to know God in strict accordance with God’s nature and hence in a theologically scientific way. Scientific theology will operate on a christological basis, for the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the “controlling centre” for the Christian doctrine of God. Torrance’s holistic theology investigates its object of inquiry within the nexus of “onto-relations,” or “being-constituting” interrelations, that disclose its identity. Because the fundamental aspects of reality are relational rather than atomistic, a scientific theological approach to the doctrine of the mediation of Jesus Christ requires that he be investigated within the nexuses of interrelations that disclose his identity as incarnate Saviour of the world. An examination of Torrance’s doctrine of mediation reveals three specific nexuses of “onto-relations” that disclose the identity of Jesus Christ. These are his interrelations with 1) historical Israel, 2) God, and 3) humanity. In the present thesis, the vast and scattered array of Torrance’s thought on the mediation of Jesus Christ is reduced to a minimal number of basic concepts, or “elemental forms,” that arise from the nexuses of interrelations that constitute the identity of the incarnate Son. These basic, constitutive concepts of Torrance’s doctrine of the mediation of Christ are the Nicene homousion and the Chalcedonian doctrine of the hypostatic union, as well as the doctrines of incarnational redemption and the “vicarious humanity” of Jesus Christ. These elemental forms provide a basic, organising framework to examine and explain the mediation of revelation and reconciliation of Jesus Christ in the scientific theology of T.F. Torrance.Doctora
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