The servant of Yahweh : a critical and exegetical study of the Servant Songs in Deutero-Isaiah
- Authors: Dijkman, Jan Hendrik Leonard
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc. , Servant songs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1293 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014812
- Description: For more than two thousand years the question of tbe identity of the Servant of Yahweh in Is. 40 - 55, and especially in the so-called "Servant Songs", has exercised the minds of students of the Old Testament. The first answer which we may trace with any certainty is that of the translator of this particular section in the Septuagint, who adds the words "Jacob" and "Israel" to the text. This is closely followed in the New Testament by the answer which Philip gave to the Ethiopian eunuch's query, "Of whom speaketh the prophet this ? of himself, or of some other ?" ( Acts 8:34f,). These two answers are typical of the two possible extremes in solving the problem. The first sees the Servant as a collective entity, the people Israel, while the second sees him as an individual figure, namely, Jesus Christ. The second answer explains why the interpretation of the Servant figure has been such a live issue throughout the entire history of Christendom. In it Christians have seen a prophecy of Jesus Christ - and more particularly in the suffering of the Servant, a prophecy of the facts which form the basis of the Christian Salvation, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Until the close of the eighteenth century, the generally accepted interpretation of the figure of the Suffering Servant among Christians was to identify him completely with Christ. With the development of the scientific study of the Old Testament during the last two centuries, every generation has raised the question afresh and sought to answer it. There is hardly an Old Testament scholar who has not laboured over it, and many have published their attempts at a solution. Hence the literature on the subject is enormous. In the present study no attempt has been made to give an exhaustive survey of all the interpretations of the Servant figure, but the text of the Servant Songs has been examined before an interpretation of the Servant figure was attempted. It is to be hoped that the final interpretation here given will reflect the thought of the prophet rather than that of the interpreter.
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The cost of discipleship and the reward of righteousness
- Authors: Samson, Robert McNeil
- Date: 1960
- Subjects: Jesus Christ -- Teachings , Christian life -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1272 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013158
- Description: CHAPTER ONE. In the Old Testament we meet with the problem of suffering and reward, and the attempts made to resolve it. It becomes the one great problem after the time of the Exile. Most commentators are agreed that it grew to hold that place in relation to the increase of importance of the individual in Hebrew thinking. While certain aspects of the problem are presented in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Psalm 73, the most important contributions are made by the Deuteronomist and the poet who wrote the Book of Job. The Deuteronomist theory presents the belief that there is a rigid correspondence between the sins of the individual and his suffering. The reply in Job makes it clear that this is not so. Job himself passes through the desperate situation of feeling deserted by God to a certain faith that whatever happens to him, God is faithful. CHAPTER TWO. Jesus' teaching on "discipleship". Basically Jesus's teaching centres around Mark 8 : 34, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me". The cost of discipleship from this point of view means, then, that even as Jesus Himself bears the cross for the salvation of the world, so the disciple is called upon to bear that cross in association with his Lord. Jesus offers the reward of both a present foretaste and a future consummation of eternal life, as the disciple shares in His resurrection. St. Paul's teaching of "Life in Christ". The central teaching of Paul is found in Romans 6 : 11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The cost of discipleship is death, the death of self- will. It means being crucified with Christ. The reward of the righteous man is both a present and future participation in the risen life of Christ. CHAPTER THREE The need of man. Because man is a sinner, being estranged from God in whose image he was created, he stands in need of being reconciled to God. This he cannot do himself because, to his sin, he is not able to make the full sacrifice of his self-will. "Man requires to be put right with God because as a matter of fact he is not right." The Christ. Only in the person of the God-man is God able to effect man's resolution. Jesus, the Christ, who alone of all men did not participate in the sinfulness of man, is this God-man, realising in Himself the fact that salvation can only be wrought by one who is both God and man. The necessity of the Cross. The death of the Christ is seen to be necessary both from the side of man and from that of God. It was essential that the Christ should give His life for man; everything for His purpose of salvation turns on the will to die. He must give himself to reconcile man to God. The sacrifice of the Cross. Seen in the context of the Old Testament sacrificial system, what is important about the sacrifice of the Christ is that on the cross He offered up His life for man. The sacrifice of the Christ is both in the category of divine revelation and that of human response. It is the love of God in its utter self-offering making a way whereby the sinner might be reconciled to Him. The use of the Ransom Theory of the atonement is regarded as inadequate for expressing this cost. Basically it is a costly sacrifice because it is the self-offering of the Son of God upon the cross. CHAPTER FOUR The New Testament picture. A closer analysis is made of the New Testament teaching of discipleship, where it is seen that it is required of men that he should make, like the Christ, the costly sacrifice of himself. Soren Kierkegaard. This existential thinker felt the need of awakening men to a full recognition of the costliness of life. Despair. Man, due to his state of sinfulness is in despair, for "sin can be defined as despair at not willing to be oneself or not willing to be oneself before God." It is necessary to make the leap of faith to pass from this despair. The Three Stages. These are the aesthetical, ethical and religious stages. The individual must enter the last by making the leap of faith out of his despair; and this leap means the costly commitment of the self to the Christ. "Purify your hearts." In this book, Kierkegaard analyses man's double-mindedness. He comes to two conclusions. "If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must with knowledge of himself be ready to renounce all double-mindedness. If anybody would will the Good truly, then he must be ready to do all for the Good, and suffer for for the Good." His teaching on the cost of discipleship could be summed up thus : "The negating of one's finite self, or the negating of one's finitude means for him nothing less than the conscious sacrifice of all that is finite." Paul Tillich. Tillich deals with the ultimate problem of being and non-being, and in the "Courage to be" he develops the reactions of the individual when he is faced with the possibility of his non-being. The individual can either lose himself in his world by the courage to be as a part, or lose his world in himself by the courage to be as himself. These two forms of courage are transcended by the courage to accept acceptance, which is the ultimate courage to be, in which the individual accepts the fact that though he is sinful, yet God accepts him. This courage is the outcome of faith, which is found in an encounter with the New Being, in which the self is lost in the Christ, being found also in the Christ. The disciple surrenders himself that he may be made more truly himself. CHAPTER FIVE In this chapter an attempt is made to analyse the reward of righteousness. This reward is firstly seen to be the outcome of the life of discipleship and not its motive. Basically it is found in the new quality of life which is called eternal life. It is a reward both in the future and in the present. In the future it is the fullness of life in communion, peace and joy in the presence of God. In the present it is a foretaste of that life which is to come, a present possession in the midst of finitude of communion, peace and joy with God. Ultimately this means participation in the resurrection of the Christ. CHAPTER SIX We can conclude from this thesis, then, that Jesus the Christ is the prototype of the Christian. Discipleship is costly because it means participation in His utter self-offering of Himself; and the righteous man, who is the one who by faith commits himself to and in the Christ, is rewarded with the new quality of eternal life. The death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ are the criteria of the cost of discipleship and the reward of the righteous man.
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The anatomy of human misery and its therapy : a study of miracles and healing in the life of our Lord and in the early church, until the Council of Nicaea
- Authors: Hawkridge, John Bernard
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Jesus Christ -- Miracles , Spiritual healing -- Psychological aspects , Healing in the Bible , Church history
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1257 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012229 , Jesus Christ -- Miracles , Spiritual healing -- Psychological aspects , Healing in the Bible , Church history
- Description: This thesis seeks to show that miracles and healing are inseparable from the Messianic task of Jesus Christ; and that in so far as He commissioned His Church to continue that Messianic task, it is reasonable to expect that miracles and healing would continue. The early history of the Church is examined for evidence confirming this expectation, and a question is asked of the contemporary Church.
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The fact and meaning of the resurrection : a study in emphases
- Authors: Bill, Jean-Francois
- Date: 1959
- Subjects: Jesus Christ -- Resurrection , Resurrection -- Biblical teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1289 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014595
- Description: INTRODUCTION. The fact of the Risen Christ is the focal point which gives meaning to the Christian faith as a whole. Modern thought, while not denying the Resurrection, tends to confine it to its doctrinal or credal significance. In contrast, the early Christians were conscious of the presence of the Risen Lord and consequently the Resurrection was a fact of living experience. As mere history it loses its moral significance; as mere faith it becomes vague belief in deathlessness, and undermines the reality of the Atonement. The Resurrection is both fact and faith.
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The atonement : a brief discussion
- Authors: Hay, Thomas Alexander
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Atonement , Satisfaction for sin
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1258 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012233 , Atonement , Satisfaction for sin
- Description: This first section endeavours briefly to set out the problem, seeing it ln its proper context against the need it fulfils and its historical setting. It attempts to show something of the nature of sin and the need which sin creates; and asks the question Why Atonement? This question can only be answered by an appreciation of the meaning and power of sinfulness. Atonement is necessarily from God's side, and it is costly to God. An important factor in this section is the attempt to see the wholeness of Christ's work; to set the atonement in its true context within the life of Christ. An attempt is made to relate the atonement to the incarnation, The Word made flesh and dwelling among us; to the resurrection, which is not to be misunderstood as a mere evidential appendage to the cross, but to be seen as an essential factor in the salvation of men; and also to the ascension, to the problem of time and eternity, in that while Christ's work was once-for-all, it is nevertheless continued - it was in history, but is not bound within history. When this conception of the unity of Christ's work is grasped then we can turn to a consideration of the cross, always regarded by Faith as the very centre of the atonement. A brief survey is made of the Biblical teaching concerning salvation and the cross; and the centrality of the cross is interpreted sacrificially. Summary, p. x-xi.
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The doctrine of the dominical sacraments in St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and the early Scottish reformers
- Authors: Moore, Michael
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274 , Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564 , Sacraments
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1263 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012877
- Description: The subject of the sacraments was chosen for this thesis because it was believed that the sacraments should be fully understood and should be placed at the centre of the work and worship of the Church, if the Church is to fulfil its role as the body of Christ in the world today. From studying the work of the reformers it became obvious that the word and the sacraments do not hold the place in the reformed Churches which they were intended to by Calvin and the early Scottish reformers. Pref., p. 1.
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The problem of authority in revelation
- Authors: Bax, Douglas S
- Date: 1958
- Subjects: Revelation , Revelation -- Biblical teaching , Revelation -- History of doctrines
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1283 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013468
- Description: From Preface: The problem of authority in religion can be stated as follows: what is the finally authoritative source and judge of religious truth? This was the fundamental question which Jesus Himself raised when He came to the Jews. It was the fundamental problem of the Reformation. It is also the fundamental problem that confronts the Church in our time. But it has never ceased to be the perennial question underlying all religious and philosophical thought.
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The positive contribution of the religious life to the life of the church
- Authors: Clucas, Robert Stephen
- Date: 1957
- Subjects: Religion , Christian life , Anglicans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014701
- Description: The positive contribution of the religious life to the life of the church as a whole. Chapter one: presuppositions of an Anglican, with particular views of ministry, Bible, church and sacraments. Presupposition as regards friendship acknowledgement of influence of C.S. Lewis. Prejudices from outside. The old prejudices, their causes and historical foundation. New prejudices in the present-day world. Chapter two. Misunderstandings from within. The religious life as a higher way of perfection. False view of detachment. Celibacy of the priesthood. Correctives to those misunderstandings. Chapter three. The temporal and the temporary. Contributions which religious life makes continually in a fallen world. The temporary contributions made at different times. Chapter four. The eternal and the inward. Eternal aspects of the threefold vow and of the worship of community life. Contribution of religious throughout the ages to ascetic and mystical theology, which builds on inner life of the Christian. Chapter five. Conclusions and speculations. Re-examination of definition of the religious life. Side developments of the religious life. Three protestant communities. The religious life and present-day problems.
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A study of certain aspects of the Mount Coke Missionary Institution
- Authors: Walker, James Andrew
- Date: 1955
- Subjects: Shaw, William, 1798-1872 , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1282 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013463
- Description: In searching for information concerning the chain of stations that William Shaw established from the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony towards Natal, I found that I had to consult many books. Many sources of information have recently come to light and this had to be analysed as well. In this work much had to be included that did not directly refer to Mount Coke, but it is relevant in that it affected the history of the Mission, and the effect of the Mission on the community as a whole. When histories of all the stations are written the incidents should show up in the right perspective.
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The teaching of the Acts of the Apostles concerning the Holy Spirit
- Authors: Woods, B J
- Date: 1955
- Subjects: Bible. Acts , Holy Spirit
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1281 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013453
- Description: There must be certain reasons why one embarks on a study of the Holy Spirit. The first is perhaps because there is a need today for a Biblical doctrine of the Spirit. The second follows from the first, for there is a need for a deeper knowledge of the Spirit and His work. He is the life-giving Spirit, and we need today to be spiritually alive. The third reason for a study of this kind is that we need a deeper understanding of the power of the Spirit in the affairs of men in the world. We have got away from the idea that God works amongst us through His Spirit, and we tend to think more and more of the achievements of man, and the power of the machine to do as we wish. We need to return to the power of the Spirit, and to be instruments of God's wishes. Finally, our Christianity today, in this country, appears to be so lifeless, so stuck in the groove of routine - the interminable bazaars, money raising efforts, and social half-hours - that we have lost the enthusiasm of first century Christianity, the driving force of the Spirit spurring us on to bring the Gospel of Life to the hungry world. We need in our modern experience and our modern condition, to find the powerful enthusiasm, as a result of the Spirit' s working in us, that the early Christians found when they were filled with Him and worked under His guidance. So we undertake the study of the Spirit among the early Church, in the hope that we too may desire to be filled as the Apostles were filled.
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A comparison of the views of modern scholars on the origin, date and importance for O.T. study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
- Authors: Sheriffs, Robert J A
- Date: 1954
- Subjects: Dead Sea scrolls
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1273 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013179
- Description: In the early part of 1948 an announcement was made concerning the discovery of some ancient manuscripts in Palestine; to this discovery sober and distinguished scholars applied adjectives like 'sensational' and 'phenomenal' - words that not commonly applied to the discovery of manuscripts in the world of scholarship.
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An exposition and evaluation of John Calvin's teaching on the sacraments, with particular reference to the sacrament of the Lord's supper in its liturgical context
- Authors: Orr, Robert
- Date: 1954
- Subjects: Lord's Supper (Liturgy) -- History , Sacraments -- Reformed Church , Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015226
- Description: Misinterpretations of John Calvin's theology are legion. It is hoped that this thesis does not add to their number. The basis for this lies in the fact that the task of writing on the subject has of course compelled the writer to do his utmost to comprehend what Calvin had to say concerning the Sacraments both in the Institutions and in the Scriptural Commentaries ... .The attempt has been made to refract Calvin's thought on the Sacrament, using certain key-concepts as prisms, and from the results thus obtained, to draw certain conclusions from which, it is hoped, will not be unprofitable to the life of the Holy Catholic Church. It is thus to be reagrded as an essay in historical theology rather than a whole-hearted attempt to reconstruct Calvin's exposition of the sacrament in the light of what has been revealed to us in the intervening years.
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An historical survey of the Bethelsdorp station of the London Missionary Society, from its inception, and until the death of Doctor van der Kemp, in 1811
- Authors: Briggs, D Roy
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: London Missionary Society -- History , Bethelsdorp (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Bachelor , BDiv
- Identifier: vital:1290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014609
- Description: In South Africa the small town or hamlet, nestling - as is so often the case - at the foot of a mountain, frequently proclaims its identity to the traveller by inscribing its name in great, white-washed letters of stone upon the side of the hill. If this were the case with Bethelsdorp, the temptation would be to write on those bare, rocky hills, that form the back-drop for the drama a century and a half have seen on its stage, the one word, "Ichabod." For the glory has departed. And some would even question whether any of its days had been glorious. Around this small outpost of Christendom have centred, from its earliest beginnings, both praise and contumely. It is the purpose of this investigation to attempt to judge between these opinions, in an attempt to arrive at the truth, by a survey of the years Bethelsdorp enjoyed under the direction of Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp. He has had many critics, many protagonists: perhaps of no other man in the short history of this land has there been such diversity of opinion. Before the judgments of historians and biographers can be assessed, however, the facts of his work must be appreciated, and the effort towards understanding must be preceded by a brief description of the circumstances antecedent to the foundation of that station, which marked the summt of his life and work.
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