Masters Degrees (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Muller, Retief"
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- ItemChurch land reform through a combination of examples and Theology of Spatial justice : the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Mariannhill 1999 - the present(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-04) Mlambo, Ntandoyenkosi Nomkhosi Nokuphiwa; Muller, Retief; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematical Theology and Ecclesiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Land was one of the ways the colonialist venture as well as the Apartheid regime used to divide people as well as being a catalyst for superiority. Over hundreds of years, from the beginning of colonial rule until the end of Apartheid in 1994, the indigenous people of South Africa were dispossessed from the land. With the end of the Truth and Reconciliation proceedings, it was clear from suggested actions that there should be restitution in South Africa to begin to correct the spatial and resultant economic imbalances in SA. Churches in South Africa embarked on setting declarations on land reform within their own walls and ecumenically. However, little information is available on final reform measures churches have taken after several ecumenical meetings in the 1990s. Additionally, there is little development in South African theology circles on a theology of land justice and a praxis on land justice for churches has not been openly developed or discussed post-1994. This study aims to look at the history of the land issue in South Africa, particularly from 1948-1994, and will include the history of land ownership in the Roman Catholic tradition. In addition, it will look at examples of land reform in the Roman Catholic Church from 1999 until the present in the Diocese of Mariannhill. Furthermore, I will consider the emerging praxis of spatial justice (based on a hermeneutic view taken from black liberation and contextual theology). Finally, I will look at how these examples and new praxis can develop the ecumenical church's quest for a prophetic voice and actions in land reform in South Africa.
- ItemEmma Murray : an investigation into her person as well as her contributions to mission and education in South Africa - a historical-biographical study(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Pienaar, Pascal; Muller, Retief; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is written with the goal of providing an overview of Emma Murray’s life as well as the organizations and institutions with which she was involved. This study is being performed as a means to “uncover” the largely ignored figure of the woman who was partner to Andrew Murray, one of the most influential theologians in South African history. In the interest of accomplishing this, an initial chapter is presented which provides the reader with details regarding women’s mission work within South Africa during the mid-to-late-nineteenth century so as to provide a context in which Emma’s life and work may be placed. Following this, the examination of Emma’s influence is begun. This is accomplished by means of the construction of a narrative of Emma’s life, beginning with her youth in the Cape and then moving onwards to the early days of her marriage to Andrew Murray, as well as their time in Bloemfontein. The thesis then examines the couple’s time spent in Worcester, Cape Town and, finally, Wellington. It was during their time in, Wellington that the majority of Emma’s work took place and, thus, the investigation regarding this period goes into great detail. It is within this chapter that the Huguenot Seminary and College, the Vrouensendingbond, the Women’s Temperance Union, as well as the Kinderkrans are inspected and Emma’s influence within them is presented. Following this examination of Emma’s influence within organizations with which she had direct involvement, her other major area of influence is examined: her role as a mother and the impact which her parenting had on her children and the paths which they took in life. This chapter examines Emma’s daughters, and one of her sons, in an attempt to extract the influence which a figure such as Emma would have on other woman, and the work which they would go on to do as a result of this. The final chapter examines all preceding information in the thesis from a critical stand point and addresses some of the major issues which could perhaps be taken up with the research as well as the manner in which it is presented.
- ItemThe life and work of G.B.A. Gerdener with special reference to his contributions to Afrikaner identity formation and the racial discourse in South Africa from 1925 to 1950(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-10) Pienaar, Jacques; Muller, Retief; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematical Theology and Ecclesiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When considering the Afrikaner nation’s struggle for national existence, social legitimacy and eventual political domination in South Africa, under the guise of the apartheid system, names such as D.F. Malan and H.F. Verwoerd often dominate the discourse. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, the period in which the idea of an exclusive Afrikaner identity began to crystalize, the Dutch Reformed Church minister, G.B.A. Gerdener, played such a significant formative role in the developing racial ideology of the Afrikaner leaders that in 1958 an American journalist dubbed him the principal author of the apartheid policy. From the opening decades of the 20th Century, Gerdener contributed to the rising culturally exclusive Afrikaner identity as a historian, missiologist and ecclesiastical leader. Through his position in the Dutch Reformed Church’s Federal Mission Council and his editorship of the mission journal, Op Die Horison, he exerted his greatest influence on public opinion regarding racial policy. This public prestige as a leading missiological and racial strategist grew dramatically and reached a climax in 1950 with Gerdener’s organising and leading of a vast congress on the delicate racial situation in South Africa. A congress which had as its agenda the blueprint for a future South African society, which would consist of separate, autonomous and ethnically designated states. This biographical study intends to track this influence which Gerdener had on the developing Afrikaner identity as well as the racial ideology of the Afrikaner people. Methodologically, a critical literary analysis of primary archival sources will be used in specifically investigating Gerdener’s work on the Federal Mission Council and his instrumental role in the formulation of the Dutch Reformed Church’s mission policy, which served as a basis for the eventual secular apartheid policy which was officially accepted by the National Party in 1945.
- ItemTelling her story : constructing a historiography of mrs Alice Brink – Afrikaner woman in mission(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Botha, Bianca; Muller, Retief; Van der Walt, Charlene; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an exploration of the life and history of Alice Mabel Brink, a woman who dedicated her life to the Dutch Reformed Church’s missionary endeavours in Nigeria in the early twentieth century, but who has been overlooked in the authoritative histories of Dutch Reformed mission in the past. In accordance with a new approach to history and church history, that focuses on uncovering untold stories and unknown dimensions of the past, this study seeks to tell the untold story of Alice Brink. It is an attempt to give a new perspective on a history that has previously only been viewed from the dominant, white, male perspective. This is done by reading and analysing four diaries (from 1913-1939) and one unpublished manuscript written by Alice Brink, and telling her story according to those writings. This historiography is constructed through the lens of feminist theory and therefore is concerned with analysing and exposing instances of oppression in Alice Brink’s story, as well as celebrating her flourishing and acts of resistance to the dominant order. Telling and listening to this story, however, also requires a general understanding of the contexts in which it takes place. Chapter 2 of this study, therefore, explores the context of early twentieth century mission, while chapter 3 discusses the context of gender and being a woman in early twentieth century South Africa. Chapter 4 contains the story of Alice Brink, constructed from my reading of her diaries. In chapter 5 a few themes are discussed, which emerged from my reading and telling of Alice Brink’s story. Chapter 6 presents a general conclusion regarding Alice Brink’s story and the themes discussed.