Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Egyptian personal piety and Israel's wisdom literature(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Fischer, S.This article evaluates the movement of Egyptian personal piety and its relation to Israelite wisdom texts. Hymns and prayers of personal piety developed in the New Kingdom at the same time as “heretic” Harpers’ songs and love songs. The personal piety affected also the genre of instructions. The instruction of Amenemope had not only a literary effect on “The Words of the Wise” but also a theological impact on its view of god. Amenemope and Qoheleth agree in the acknowledgement of a god with an awesome power but Qoheleth doesn’t develop a personal piety. The hymns of personal piety didn’t have an independent effect on Qoheleth. The hymns of personal piety share vocabulary and motifs with the Egyptian love songs, which in turn had an effect on Song of Songs. An acquaintance of Song of Songs with texts of personal piety outside of Egyptian love songs did not exist.Item Open Access Die ontwikkeling van 'n groeiende bevrydingsbediening: 'n literatuuroorsig veral met verwysing na invloedryke persone en kerklike tradisies(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Theron, J. P. J.Recent developments in the church’s ministry of deliverance have been investigated in terms of influential people and available literature. The period from the fifties to the eighties of the previous century is covered in the present literary investigation. It has been found that this new emphasis on the ministry of deliverance originated more or less at the same time in different parts of the world. Different individuals, not related to each other became involved because of their experiences and/or studies. The material shows that this ministry is practised in most denominations as well as by some medical and other professional care-givers. The need to develop a coherent practical theological theory is expressed.Item Open Access The significance of Jesus' utterance in relation to the Johannine Son of Man: a speech act analysis of John 9: 35(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Ito, H.The purpose of my previous article was to continue to show the validity of a speech act approach and to develop it further in the reading of biblical texts. As a successive study, this article aims to present yet another speech act analysis, which will put more focus on a demonstration that this approach is able to deal even with more difficult exegetical and interpretational issues in the text adequately on its own terms. In order to accomplish that, this article will examine the significance of Jesus’ utterance in John 9:35, which contains some difficulty in interpreting the meaning of the title Son of Man.Item Open Access Stuart Cloete's construction of Voortrekker religion in Turning Wheels(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Hale, F.Stuart Cloete’s novel of 1937, Turning Wheels, was unquestionably the most controversial of many fictional reconstructions of the Great Trek, a book which fell foul of Afrikaner nationalism and whose further importation into the Union of South Africa was long consequently banned. Religious motifs reflecting the popularised Calvinism of the Voortrekkers figure prominently in the text. Cloete depicted these migrants as people of faith whose removal to a new Canaan entailed both internal strife and repeated clashes with indigenous African tribes. Among the thematic elements are belief in divine purpose and providence, postfigurative uses of the Pentateuchal characters Moses and Abraham, the image of the clergy, the failure of religious belief to maintain ethical norms among the Voortrekkers and the contribution of an ethnocentric distortion of Christianity to disharmonious relations with black Africans.Item Open Access The Afrikaans Bible translations and apartheid(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Naudé, J. A.English: A comparison of quotes from the document on race relations viewed in the light of the scriptures to the Hebrew and Greek source text bears eloquent testimony to the fact that the nature of the first Afrikaans translation and its revision as a source text oriented translation encouraged the justification of apartheid. In this translation the strategy of intensification/explication of the source texts items is applied in most cases. The result is that apartheid vocabulary is highlighted. The second translation of the Afrikaans Bible goes pari passu with acquiescent social consciousness among the Afrikaners. This translation as a target text oriented translation introduces a new vocabulary of reconciliation, clearly apparent from the quotes contained in the document on church and society. The strategies of substitution, generalisation, deletion and paraphrase are applied. The apartheid vocabulary is downplayed. The reconciliation vocabulary gave moral support for the Afrikaner to give consent for a new dispensation.Item Open Access Gebed en Ou-Testamentiese teologie(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) O’Kennedy, D. F.Prayer should be an intrinsic part of theology because the way in which people understand the nature of God determines the nature and content of their prayers. This article poses the following question: In which way is prayer discussed in Old Testament theologies? This question is discussed by an investigation into ten prominent Old Testament theologies: Eichrodt; Vriezen; Von Rad; Zimmerli; McKenzie; Westermann; Clements; Childs; Preuss; en Brueggemann. It is significant that the systematic discussion of prayer is ignored or neglected in many theologies, especially theologies of English scholars. There are a few deficiencies in theologies discussing prayer, inter alia the negligence of non-Psalmic prayers and intercessory prayers.Item Open Access Die verband tussen die Christelike geloof en eensaamheid tydens laat-adolessensie(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Le Roux, A.English: The nature and extent of the phenomenon of loneliness together with a related variable like the Christian faith, needs further investigation in order to unravel their scope and multidimensionality. The main aim of this investigation was therefore to determine whether the Christian faith and loneliness are related for late adolescents as is the case with adults (Le Roux 1998; 2000). The research group consisted of 154 first year students from the University of the Orange Free State. Their mean age was 19 years. The data were processed by means of the Pearson Product- Moment Correlation. The results firstly show that the Christian faith has a highly significant negative relationship with loneliness. Secondly, it was also evident that certain types of loneliness, viz religious, social, intrapersonal, communicative and emotional, relate very strongly with loneliness (p≤0,01).Item Open Access Godsdiens en Christelike teologie in die skadu van menslike outonomie: wetenskapsfilosofiese verkenninge(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Richards, W. J.The phenomenon of religion was often regarded in “scientific” religious studies as something of which the essence and origin was purely human. Psychologists and sociologists of religion inter alia often thought they could fully explain religion in pure human and scientific terms. Later on even historians and phenomenologists of religion etc became convinced (on similar immanentistic grounds) that there was more to it, and that other disciplines such as philosophy and theology were needed in the last resort to come closer to an explanation by introducing transcendental evidence and views. Religion, they were convinced, could not be explained in terms of evidence derived from mere facts or disciplines operating on purely empirical levels within a one-dimensional world. Christianity, more particularly since modern times (dating from the 19th century especially), had to face up to rather extreme rationalistic views, more especially after the time of Barth. Sections 4 and 5 of this article deal with these trends as well as the opposition offered by theologians coming e g from the Reformational tradition. Much solid work has been done in which attention has been paid to the detrimental influence exerted by the spirit of the times, however often without giving any suggestions regarding possible approaches to present day cultural trends. Untouched remained also the questions how to harness culture as such, how to use philosophy and science in the service of reformation and for the solution of practical problems outside the immediate scope of the church as such, while at the same time, even if only indirectly, supporting the aims of the Church. Science and culture can hardly be left unconvered to be instruments (powerful ones) in the hands of secularisation alone.Item Open Access Die implikasies van stellings as kategorie van nie-egte vrae in Romeine(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Verster, P.This article argues that non-authentic questions have certain clear implications when used as rhetorical instruments in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. These questions are abstracted as a category in accordance with Verster (1999). In the light of Grice’s co-operative principle, the non-authentic questions which are statements, are distilled from the text and analysed. They are also subdivided into question-statements, rhetorical questions and meta-communicative rhetorical interrogatives. The implications for the author’s message are then discussed against the background of the insights derived from commentaries on Romans.Item Open Access The need for the teaching of Biblical Studies in the RSA with special reference to the Giyani high schools(Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, 2001) Hlungwani, S. B.; Henning, I. J.; Lotter, G. A.It is argued that the teaching of Biblical Studies at schools is relevant to the social life of learners in: • assisting learners to perform well in other school subjects; • helping teenagers make better moral decisions in life, and • building a better society without crime. It is also shown that the use of the teaching methods and the teaching principles by academically and professionally qualified teachers would improve the standard of teaching of Biblical Studies, especially so in the Giyani schools under the Gazankulu Department of Education (GDE). In an extensive empirical study the following conclusions were drawn. All respondents (teachers, learners, principals, parents and ministers of Christian religions) agree that Biblical Studies plays a role in the school curriculum as it is instrumental in: • solving life problems experienced by learners in the society; • establishing norms whereby learners can judge the situations in which they are involved, and • enhancing the spiritual and academic growth of learners and young people.