1,720,976 research outputs found
A post-structural theological critique of the perspectives of Christopher Hitchens on vicarious redemption.
No full textThesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.The guarded mind-set with which this study was initially constructed , was influenced by the notion that all that could have been said on the subject of vicarious redemption within the Judeo-Christian belief system, has been produced through scholarly research on the theories, doctrinal positions, and systems of belief, around the constructs of redemption and vicarious redemption within the Judeo-Christian worldview. However this study is premised on the view that there is a noticeable gap in the body of scholarship around the critique of the Christian belief system, and in particular, one of its doctrinal pillars, that of vicarious redemption. This thesis argues that this gap is being confronted by the resurgence of new challenges to the proposition of redemption, as raised from within the New Atheist movement, in which the late British-American author and public figure, Christopher Hitchens became the central and leading figure.
A theological critique of the construct and doctrine of vicarious redemption, as undertaken by Christopher Hitchens, forms the core academic focus of this study; which is conducted within a post-structural theoretical framework. The study, whilst examining the archaeology and architecture of the idea of vicarious redemption within the theological superstructure of Christendom and its founding doctrinal formations and theories, does represents an intentional step outside of the conventional trajectory of theological scholarship and analysis. In this latter regard, and alongside conventional literary resources on the subject, this study, has been inspired and informed by the convergence of, online New Media as a rich set of resource platforms for new research on this important subject. Given these new opportunities for research, alongside conventional research methods, this study captures the outright rejection, by Christopher Hitchens, of the doctrine of vicarious redemption; in what could be argued to represent a Kairos moment in biblical interpretation and criticism on the idea of redemption; a crucial and opportune moment in scholarly theological reflection, to which the special insights, hermeneutics and life and work of Christopher Hitchens has made an indelible contribution
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
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 conceptual exploration of the missional journey of Tarayyar Ekklisiyoyyin Kristi A Nigeria (TEKAN) as an ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in the community of Jos.
Get PDFThesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.The research work has engaged in a critical missional reflection on the effectiveness of Tarayyar Ekklesiyoyin Kristi A Nigeria (TEKAN) as an ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos, a central area in Northern Nigeria that has been bedevilled with violent conflicts commonly associated with religio-cultural and socio-political factors. The scope of this study is limited to a conceptual exploration of the issues. In the critique of TEKAN, an inherent contradiction is identified within its identity, vocation and witness. The theoretical framework that guided this study embraced an interdisciplinary approach on issues about God’s mission (Missio Dei) through the Church (Missio Ecclesia) that propels Ecumenical engagement (Oikoumene) and leads to the quest of Justice and Peace (Dikaiosune & Shalom) for all humanity.
The ecumenical witness of TEKAN within the environment of Jos calls into question its effectives as a tool of transformation in a multi-political and religious environment plagued by violence. The data gathered by various commissions of inquiry into the crises of Jos seems to suggest that a study approach to problems of justice and peace will not resolve the deeply entrenched problems. Therefore, the ultimate test of whether TEKAN will develop into an effective missional and ecumenical instrument for justice and peace in Jos will be dependent on taking radical steps that embrace a genuine mission audit of its identity, vocation and witness that will empower the organization to meet the deep challenges of the people of Jos and their quest for authentic human development built on justice and peace
A missio-cultural understanding of death and death rituals of the Oshiwambo tribe and the response of the ministry and mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN).
Get PDFM. Th. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.The discourse on the dialectical relationship between Christianity and local African cultures has been explored in depth by many researchers, but a specific study on Oshiwambo ethnic group is yet to be explored, hence this study becomes of paramount importance. The study examines how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), through its ministry and mission, responded to the challenges poses by elements of the Oshiwambo death and burial rituals which are different from those of Christianity. It explores rituals of death and burial associated with both ELCIN and Oshiwambo ethnic group. The study further identifies differences and similarities and examines how ELCIN responded to the former.
The study use a non-empirical method, whereby data is drawn from available documentary sources linked to the key terms. Since this study is limited in scope, an interpretive methodology is applied to analyse and critique published and unpublished texts by selected scholars identified in the literature review. Qualitative methodology and theological reflection are among the interpretative methods that will be used to distinguish, describe, and understand issues pertaining to the Oshiwambo people, their beliefs and their general culture.
The reviewed literature showed that the traditional practices related to the occurrence of death among the Oshiwambo are central to the life of community but the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) has consistently failed to appropriate the necessary positive cultural resources for its ministry and mission. The failure of the church is partly due to uncritical evangelisation strategies deployed by Finnish missionaries who introduced Christianity to the Owambo people. If ELCIN wishes to offer effective care and counselling to bereave Aawambo then it has to seriously consider the pivotal role the culture of Aawambo has on the wellbeing of its Aawambo faithful. The study further argues that if the Christianity does not recognise the local culture and performances, it will remain a potted root plant with limited roots for growth
Towards an emerging "coconut tree missiological imagination" : an enquiry into climate change and its relevance for ministerial formation at Tangintebu Theological College
Get PDFDoctoral Degree. School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. 2018This study examines the ways in which the phenomenon of climate change is affecting
the people, indigenous culture, and environment of the Micronesian island nation of
Kiribati, in the South Pacific. Even though climate change impact is a global issue, this
study focusses on the mission of the Kiribati Uniting Church in Kiribati in the context
of global warming and sea level rise. It utilised the emerging indigenous missional
concept of coconut tree theology to interface with the realities of climate change within
the context of Kiribati. A missiological lens is therefore employed to interrogate the
relevance of the ministerial formation curriculum at Tangintebu Theological College
that is used to equip local ministerial students of the Kiribati Uniting Church and how
they can respond to the life-threatening challenges of climate change.
The study argues that when the church fails in its mission in developing a proactive and
indigenously-informed approach to addressing environmental issues, then the fullness
of life that is embedded within its missio-ecclesial identity and vocation that is bequeath
by Jesus (John 10:10) will not be realised. In the context of climate change where
people’s future on this planet is being negatively compromised, Christians, especially
within the vast Pacific Region,1
must focus more on developing a theology of creation
to respond to the contemporary environment threats to life rather than giving a very
narrow evangelising focus to classical theological themes such as sin, redemption and
judgment. Serious attention must therefore be given to addressing the wider
environmental concerns, and to developing a vision of justice and human equality that
needs to be embedded, in the wider theological educational curriculum (Conradie,
2009:42-43).
The significance of this study is that it brings into conversation indigenous knowledge
perspectives that have evolved through an emerging coconut tree missional and the
1
Pacific is a foreign prescribed name and not one given by the local people. According to the National
Oceanic Service, the term Pacific was coined by Portuguese navigator Ferdinan Magellan who in 1519
on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean seeking a western route to the Spice Island via South America
came across the ocean and its calm and peaceful nature, leading him to designate the name (National
Ocean Service 2017).
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local narratives of the Kiribati people through a qualitative study which included
questionnaires, in-depth interviews, observation and a collection of songs in which
indigenous express their eco-relationality and interpretation of the environmental
challenges of climate change. This study therefore necessitated an in-depth examination
of the role that the church and the Tangintebu Theological College plays in equipping
clergy leadership to respond to environmental and human challenges of climate change,
and the extent to which the environmental and ecological issues are integrated into the
development of the overall theological curriculum (PCC Report, 2007:107-108)
"A missiological critique of the world council of churches' notion of just peace : its implication and contextual relevance for overcoming violence and peacebuilding in the multi-religious community of JOS, Nigeria".
Get PDFPh. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.The study employed missiological lenses to critique the emerging ecumenical notion of Just Peace as an ideological concept, and also examined its contextual relevance and ecumenical implications as potent theory for overcoming violence and fostering sustainable peace in a multi-religious and multicultural Nigerian Society. The Just Peace concept and process was adopted by the WCC at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation that was held in Kingston Jamaica in May 2011 as a global ecumenical pedagogical approach for equipping and empowering churches in their missional engagements to overcome violence and build peace in human society. The objective of the research was mainly to critique the Just Peace concept through investigating the extent to which churches in Jos, Nigeria have understood and appropriated the concept in their process of responding to the conflict in their communities.
In cognisance of the global challenge in the quest for justice and peace, Just Peace, ecumenical concept of WCC was examined in order to determine its contextual relevance towards building a just and peaceful multi-religious and multicultural context of Jos, Nigeria. In doing justice to the foregoing, the research embraced three ideological theories which formed the theoretical framework upon which the research project was constructed. Konrad Raiser a German global ecumenist and former General Secretary of the WCC offers a missio-ecumenical framework that focuses on ‘a Culture of Life: Reconsidering Peace and Justice’ and William Tom Dickens, a professor of Religious Studies with special interest in inter-religious dialogue offering a covenantal framework that promotes peace among people of faith that embraces the Abrahamic tradition. To reinforce the two euro-centric theories, a third theory emerging from African context was employed, ‘Ubuntu’.
In a nutshell, the Culture of Just Peace canvassed in this research compels people of all faith traditions to deliberately perceive and discern rightly that justice and peace are free and priceless gifts of the Almighty God and must not be commoditized or politically transacted in any way or in any form. The Culture compels Christians and Muslims and indeed all people of faiths to question the authenticity and validity all religious teachings suspected to be perverted and divisive that have the propensity to instigate disregard and disrespect for the religious “other”, with the sole aim of building a peaceful and religiously cohesive society for all, and in consistent with the fundamental principles and philosophies of the various religions embedded in the sanctity of human life. Being religious cohesion does not in any way negate the principles of diversity but invites people of different religious affiliation to perceive and recognise that other religions other than theirs affirms life
A critical analysis of the religio-cultural understanding of male circumcision as a health asset among the Xhosa within Eastern Cape.
No full textM.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2013.Male circumcision is a significant practice within the Xhosa culture which is understood as part of what constitutes manhood and also equips men to become responsible within their families and communities. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent to which the traditional practice of male circumcision can be considered a health asset for the Xhosa people. Therefore, using notions and principles of African Religious Health Assets (ARHA) as a theoretical framework, this study employed an interpretive methodological approach to analyse written works on traditional male circumcision and other relevant literature to respond to its objective. The study showed that traditional male circumcision and related practices can be considered an invaluable religio-cultural health asset based on the kind of education and formation that young men receive in the initiation processes leading to the circumcision itself. Despite the health risks involved in the initiation practices, they enable the community to produce responsible family and community men, as well as men who have been taught acceptable hygiene etiquette. However, for a more effective utilization of this asset and in order to curb some of the risks and problems associated with it, it is advisable that the church in Southern Africa re-examine its position on the issue and be more actively involved as opposed to their current more passive status
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