Masters Degrees (Religion and Social Transformation)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/16161

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An African theological assessment of the pastoral response of the Roman Catholic Church to the socio-economic impact of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.
(2022) Kamta Tatsi, Gilbert.; Haddad, Beverley Gail.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created unprecedented socio-economic hardships globally. The austerities brought about by Covid-19 has affected all sectors of society. Religious, economic, and political sectors have felt the ordeal of the humanitarian crisis. The emergence of the pandemic in South Africa in March 2020 has had a huge socio-economic impact, mostly on the poor and the less privileged in society. The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated preexisting socio-economic inequalities in South Africa. These aggravated inequalities include corruption, unemployment, gender-based violence, and access to public healthcare. This study is an appraisal of the pastoral response of the Roman Catholic Church to the socio-economic impact of the emerging pandemic in South Africa. Central to this study is the contribution that African liberation theology offers, with particular emphasis on the philosophy of Ujamaa and the theology of Ubuntu, in strengthening the pastoral response of the Roman Catholic Church to the socio-economic impact of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic in the country. The methodology of See-Judge-Act is used in the study. The ‘see’ corresponds to the critical analysis of the socio-economic context of the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. Conceptually, ‘judge’ uses the guiding categories of the philosophy of Ujamaa and the theology of Ubuntu to thematically analyse various pastoral documents published by the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa in its response to the emerging pandemic during the period March 2020 – March 2021. The ‘act’ elaborates the potential socially transformative actions from the principles of Ujamaa and Ubuntu that would render a more effective the pastoral response of the Roman Catholic Church to the socio-economic impact of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.
An analysis of traditional Mariology and gender equality in the Catholic Church.
(2022) Khathi, Emmanuel Mnelisi.; Siwila, Cheelo Lillian.
Women are increasingly involved in the Catholic Church, but their participation remains restricted. They are tasked to spread God's Word along with its patriarchal interpretations without being empowered to see God's Sophia in their own wisdom. They are tasked to implement programs but are not entrusted with envisioning directions. However, the Catholic Church in the Vatican II (GS 29) teaches that every type of discrimination based on sex must be overcome and eradicated, being contrary to God's intent. This study seeks to investigate how an analysis of traditional Mariology could contribute to gender equality in the Catholic Church by analysing theological statements that find expression in Marian dogmas as well as the official documents of the Catholic Church. This study further uses Christian feminist theology as a theoretical framework in its interrogation of traditional Mariology. This is a careful, critical feminist analysis of Traditional Mariology done by a Catholic male priest in the field of systematic theology. The study focuses on Mary in relation to women's experiences, who in the Catholic Church is highly esteemed. The analysis of the study highlights how traditional Mariology fails to relate to the experiences of women and their images of God. Hence, new ways of approaching Mariology are required that will bring dignity and equality among women. Of significance to mention is that this study does not present the full teaching of the Catholic Church about Mary, which is adequately available elsewhere, but rather aims at exploring new avenues of approaching Mariology that bring about gender equality. Using Christian feminist theology, the study reveals that it is indispensable to locate Mary in the community of discipleship so that ordinary women can identify with her.
Anglican ritualism in colonial South Africa: exploring some of the local discourses between 1848 and 1884.
(2020) Bethke, Andrew-John.; Denis, Philippe Marie Berthe Raoul.
This dissertation examines South Africa’s colonial contribution to the spread of what is known in popular and academic literature as “ritualism” during the mid-nineteenth century. It also seeks to add a South African voice to the growing contemporary scholarship in this area. Three considerations shape the dissertation: definitions (high churchmanship, Tractarianism, ecclesiology, ritualism and Anglo-Catholicism); perceptions of what was often termed ritualism by clergy and laity; and portrayals of ritualism in public discourse. To understand these considerations in context, the study examines the role of South Africa’s first Anglican bishop, and his creation of an independent local church, in fostering a climate conducive to ritualism. This is followed by an examination of the protests against some of the early developments which were considered ritualist by colonial congregations. Finally, a few examples of advanced ritualism are analysed. Three distinct waves of catholic revival are identified: early (1848 through to the mid-1850s) characterised by architecture and symbolism; middle (mid-1850s through to about 1870) characterised by lay opposition to recognised Anglican ceremonial; and late (mid-1860s through to the turn of the nineteenth century) characterised by the introduction of the “six points” of ritualism not sanctioned in the Anglican prayer book tradition. The author finds that after the middle period of fairly robust antagonism towards ritualism, a general movement towards ritualist practices began to emerge. The sources consulted for this dissertation include letters, newspaper and periodical articles, archival material and several unpublished theses.
Between literal lesions and literary tropes - a proposal for examining the discourse of healing in some African indigenous churches.
(1995) Allan, Austin James.; Nicolson, Ronald Brian.
Approaches to indigenous healing in South Africa need to be situated in the broader health care system within which that healing occurs. To facilitate a viable recognition of that indigenous healing, this paper argues that categories need to be defined which allow for the cross-cultural comparison of different forms of healing. One of these categories concerns the analytical approach which is used for explaining what happens during indigenous healing. By developing a proposal for analysing the discourse of healing in some African Indigenous Churches (AICs), what this paper purports to do is to lend recognition to the viable and important role which indigenous practitioners have in contributing to the general system of health care. This proposed model is applied to specific examples of indigenous healing drawn from the AIC healers included in the fieldwork. The conclusion reached is that healing in these churches operates within a particular discourse. As cultural constructions these discourses create important sociosomatic links between the general meaning system in which a person lives and her physiological functioning. It is in the process of rhetorical movement, observable in healing transactions and which occurs across these discourses, that the powerful endogenous healing processes are activated, and a change in the patient's condition is affected. This change is affected along the sociosomatic linkage.
The Black Apostles shaped the black political history of South Africa.
(2019) Ngqulwana, Buyisile Sydwell.; Moyo, Herbert.
The rationale of this thesis is premised on the view that the Black Apostles shaped the Black political history of South Africa. It reacts to the unmentioned of their Exile Human Resource Contribution (EHRC) and Exile Financial Contribution (EFC) in Exile Military Training (EMT) of Azanian Peoples Liberation Army (APLA) and Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK). The ground-breaking of this research is the discovery of the Archival Research Methodology (ARM) to mine and uncover the substantial data from Nabatu Archives to supplement the EFC and EHRC of the Black Apostles in supporting the EMT of the military wings of the African national Congress (ANC) and Pan African Congress (PAC). The main objective of this thesis is to discover the significance of Jim Scotch Ndlovu in the history of Old Apostolic Church (OAC), Twelve Apostles of Africa (TACA) and The Twelve Apostles Church in Christ (TTACC), and in the political context of South Africa between 1960 and 1982. The ARM assists the research to study behind, into and ahead of the diary of Ndlovu, and comprehends the EFC and EHRC of his successor in completing his mission of overthrowing the Protestant Apartheid Christian State (PACS) from 1982 till 1994. The thesis espouses the fall and rise theory to explain the completion of the mission of the Black Apostles and Hlathilist in shaping the Black political history of South Africa from 1948-1994. The above mentioned theory outlines the rise and fall of hlathiletism, colonialism, post colonialism, apartheid and the rise of democracy in 1994. The financial contribution of the Black Apostles to the liberation of South Africa from the PACS is estimated to the amount of R1 511 150.00. The founding and the current State Presidents of the Democratic Government of South Africa were elected from the ANC. Therefore, the Black Apostles shaped the Black political history of South Africa.
The church and political violence in KwaZulu-Natal: an evaluation of the Natal church leaders group ecumenical response (1987-1996).
(2008) Mbona, Michael.; Denis, Philippe Marie Berthe Raoul.
The Church's relationship to the agency and the assets of people living with HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa:a case study in Marapyane community, Skilpadfontein.
(2007) Leonidas, Sabushimike.; De Gruchy, Steve M.
This thesis explores the relevance of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) as a development strategy with people living with HIV/AIDS. Contemporary development theory suggests that the assets and agency of the poor are crucial in any development process, and these ideas are important in ABCD. Many commentors have noted the relationship between HIV/AIDS and poverty and the community development is a key response to this. The question therefore is whether ABCD is still appropriate and relevant in a situation in which HIV/AIDS undermines the assets and agency of the poor.
Church-state relationship and elections: post 2016 election violence in Zambia.
(2019) Bwalya, Mulenga Felix.; Siwila, Cheelo Lillian.
This study sought to determine the role that the Church played in the post 2016 election violence in Zambia. It utilized Bonheoffer’s perception of Church-State relations as a conceptual framework which underpinned the study. The methodology employed was based on non-empirical evidence and document analysis. Tools used to analyze documents were ecumenical statements and other press release by Church leaders in response to post 2016 election events. The argument of this study is that although the Church’s intervention does not always lead to a reconciliatory outcome, it has been almost universally trusted to bring peace and reconciliation. However, the Church, in this case, contributed to political failure, was complacent and lacked timing to build a trustworthy public relationship. The study argues that the ambiguous role that the Church played in promoting reconciliation post 2016 election violence was as a result of an improper relationship between the State and the Church. The term ‘improper relationship,’ in this study refers to non-reciprocal relationship which advantaged the State alone. The study also noted that political leaders have seductive power that can easily jeopardize the fundamental principles of the Church and its prophetic mission.
Confronting coloniality: the potential for a South African decolonial theology of whiteness.
(2022) Elliott, David.; West, Gerald Oakley.
This dissertation seeks to offer a potential theoretical framework within the discipline of African theology for engaging, subverting and transforming the phenomenon of Whiteness in the post-colonial, post-Apartheid South African context. This framework is developed through bringing three theoretical frameworks into dialogue with one another. These theoretical frameworks are South African Black Theology, Decolonial theory, and South African Whiteness Studies. Through the use of dialectical analysis I produce a South African Decolonial frame for theological reflection on Whiteness. Throughout this dissertation a selfreflexive method of study is also used. As a white scholar I regularly situate myself and my own Whiteness in the context of the discourse, allowing myself both as a scholar and as a person to be informed by black-led theory and black scholarship.
A critical rereading of Zephaniah 3:1-7 as an inspiration for a leadership of liberation within the MCSA.
(2021) James, Harry.; Efthimiadis-Keith, Helen.
This dissertation explores a leadership model which is potentially liberating for followers on a socio-economic level, specifically within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA). The study uses the tri-polar model of exegesis as a theoretical framework to facilitate a critical rereading of Zephaniah 3:1-7 through the lens of a liberation hermeneutic with a socio-economic focus. The ideo-theological lens employed involves exploring how we say to the poor, the least of society, that God loves them. A liberation hermeneutic is an approach that seeks to link theory and praxis to liberate the oppressed. This dissertation explores Methodism's British and South African roots and the MCSA's structures. Five areas of socio-economic oppression within the MCSA are identified. These are stipends being a site of socio-economic oppression, a preferential option for the rich, avoiding others’ suffering, the shackles of property ownership, and the allure of the prosperity Gospel. Through rereading Zephaniah 3:1-7, six insights about the oppressive nature of the late pre-exilic Judahite leadership are identified. These are that 1) the entire leadership structure was oppressive; 2) they refused to practice accountability; 3) they devoured resources; 4) they had no respect for the law or for what is just, reasonable, or right; and 5) Yahweh continues to transform and liberate; therefore, the oppressive late pre-exilic Judahite leadership came up against Yahweh's justice and judgment and became the victims of revolution. Finally, a leadership of liberation is defined as a leadership that has the ultimate goal of liberating and transforming followers to realise their full humanity through motivating, inspiring, and encouraging followers. They aim to create paradigm shifts by influencing followers to embrace shared values, beliefs, and goals to pursue the greater good or higher social dividend. Liberation leaders show empathy for their followers and are considerate of the individual and community. They focus on values, morals, and ethical leadership. Liberation leaders oppose the oppressive status quo through being effective, efficient, focusing on change, being proactive, and embracing accountability to others and God. They serve followers by elevating them through involving and empowering them
Examining religio-cultural beliefs among women towards induced abortions in Noodsberg and Esidumbini communities of faith: a case study.
(2023) Khoza, Mduduzi Godhelp.; Siwila, Lilian Cheelo.
South Africa is among the countries that have legalised the termination of pregnancy. This means women are free to decide whether to keep their pregnancy without being penalised by the legal system. Even though healthcare systems provide low cost or even free services, the country continues to witness an increase in illegal abortions carried out by untrained personnel in health compromised conditions. These illegal abortions have contributed to serious health complications that in some cases, lead to the death of young women, who are the main risk population in this exercise. This is despite South Africa having one of the world’s most progressive legal framework for abortion. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate factors leading to unsafe abortions especially among young women. The paper uses a qualitative approach to assess factors leading to these young women opting for illegal abortion. Using reproductive justice framework and intersectional feminism as a theoretical framework, the dissertation assessed the extent to which religion and culture play a role in the use of illegal abortions. The study will be conducted in the Noodsberg and Esidumbini rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal province. The choice of this community is in line with the previous research on termination of pregnancy which showed that opposition towards the Termination of Pregnancy Act was strong in this part of the country. Findings from this study indicated that opposition to this act was partly based on religious and cultural norms of the people within this community. It is from this background that this dissertation sought to examine these religio-cultural beliefs towards termination of pregnancy among women in South Africa.
Examining women’s agency with respect to the appropriation of runyoka in Johane Masowe Zambuko Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe.
(2020-11) Mapangisana, Calvin Justice.; Owino, Kennedy Onyango.
Recent studies reflect increasing subjugation of women within African independent churches. Women within these churches fall victims of deeply entrenched patriarchal hegemony that renders these women voiceless and powerless. This study therefore examines how women’s agency through the appropriation of Runyoka can bring about the desired situation that enables women not only to flourish, but also usher in the desired transformation within the African Independent Churches in regards to gender relations. The study offers a critical interrogation of the socio-cultural factors that may have necessitated the appropriation of Runyoka by women within the Johane Masowe Zambuko Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe. In order to understand the agency of women within the Johane Masowe Zambuko Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe, this study applies Nego-feminism as a theoretical framework utilised to analyse the appropriation of Runyoka by women. Nego-feminism as theoretical framework interrogates how women respond to cultural practices that makes them vulnerable and disempowered, based within the complexity of negotiation and compromise in the context of African cultures. In other words, Nego-feminism is a feminist theory that implicitly acknowledges the capabilities of women in dealing with patriarchy. As a descriptive qualitative study, phenomenology and interpretive document analysis were used as research Methodologies. The focus of phenomenology is on understanding the unique lived experiences of individuals by exploring the meaning of a phenomenon. This study utilised secondary data in seeking to understand the ritual of runyoka in Johane Masowe Zambuko Apostolic Church and thematic analysis was used as a method of data analysis. Thematic analysis as a method of making sense of the data gathered for the purpose of interpretation was adopted for this study based on its theoretical flexibility.
A feminist critique of ecumenical bodies’ silence to the sexual abuse of the women with mental disability in Zambia.
(2019) Mulalami, Charity Chali.; Siwila, Lillian Cheelo.
The study analyses how the three ecumenical bodies (the church mother bodies) – the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia and the Zambia Council of Catholic Bishops – respond to the sexual abuse of women with mental disability or illness through sexual and gender-based violence activism. In the Zambian context like elsewhere, ecumenical bodies and gender activists have been active in addressing all forms of gender-based violence, as part of their response to social justice. However, there seems to be little or no attention paid to women with mental disability who are equally victims of sexual abuse. This study aims to reflect theologically on the silence of the ecumenical bodies to the sexual abuse of women with mental disability in Zambia using feminist lenses to analyse the study. The study is framed within the social constructionist and feminist disability theory theoretical frameworks. The study is qualitative, non-empirical, and literature-based. The findings of this study show that although the ecumenical bodies are involved in social justice/gender-based violence activism, in all their joint statements, there is no mention of advocacy for women with mental disability who are also victims of sexual abuse. The study also observed that there are robust religious and cultural beliefs and attitudes towards disability in general which have led to the dehumanising, devaluing, discrimination, rejection, stigmatisation, and marginalisation of persons with disabilities. For instance, the social construction of “ishilu”1 in society removes the human dignity of a person – implying that they no longer are the image of God, since the image of God seems to be associated with the normal people in society. The study thus recommends the theory of change in the operations of the three ecumenical bodies concerning their approach to their fight for justice for all humanity.
"Glorify your name ... "names and naming and the discourse of power in the Fourth Gospel in relationship to African names and naming practices.
(2005) Mtata, Kenneth.; Draper, Jonathan Alfred.
The recurrence of the term ovoµa, the names and labels used for the Johannine characters including Jesus, necessitated this investigation. With the hypothesis that the Fourth Gospel is produced in a conflict situation at the back of our minds, we wanted to find out how the 1st century Mediterranean nomenclature functioned in a conflict situation. To properly get into the world of conflict and names we had to employ social-scientific models and onomastic science eclectically. Mary Douglass' social body politic model was used to explain the social pressures on the Johannine community. Bryan Wilson's analysis of the sectarian movements was also appealed to, to describe the community of John. The material likely to have informed and formed the naming traditions from which the author(s) of the Fourth Gospel drew his or her material, that is the, Hellenistic, Hellenistic Jewish, Rabbinic, as well as apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings, were also investigated. Since this thesis is located within the African (Zimbabwean) context, it was imperative to give this thesis an African tinge by teasing similarities between the Johannine and African naming practices. Through the exegesis of John 12:20-50 in the wider context of the Fourth Gospel, we found out that names are used to set boundaries of different communities. The name and label one is given, determines where he or she belongs. No names in John have neutral value. The names that are used for Jesus by his followers, however, are meant to exalt him above everyone else. He is the possessor of the glorified name. His name gives him the same status with God. While other names may show polarity of conflicting parties, his names and labels are inclusive and uniting.
Imago Dei and faith-healing practices in the Newer Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches (NPCCs) in South Africa: a human dignity perspective.
(2019) Maphumulo, Nkanyiso Kingdom.; Siwila, Cheelo Lillian.
Faith-healing practices in the third wave movement of Pentecostals, the Newer Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches, hereafter referred to as the NPCCs, have been in the public domain recently. These unorthodox faith-healing practices depicted, among others, pastors making congregants eat grass, snakes, drink petrol; pastors were shown jumping on prostrated bodies of the congregants, and spraying them with doom (house-hold insecticide). These faith-healing practices have raised issues for concern of human dignity in the church. Consequently, the government intervened by establishing a commission of inquiry into the commercialisation of religion and abuse of belief systems (2017), to investigate and make submissions to parliament about how to regulate religion in South Africa. During the proceedings of this Commission of inquiry, theologies underpinning faith-healing practices were unearthed; namely, health and wealth gospel, NPCCs’ Pneumatology and Hermeneutic principles, and ‘exclusive’ name-and-claim-it gospel. Using the human dignity perspective, this study investigates these theologies through the theoretical framework of Christian anthropology, namely the royal functional model of imago Dei. The study demonstrates that underpinning faith-healing practices in the NPCCs are theologies that have undergone a paradigm shift from the principles of the ‘first’ wave of Pentecostalism, the classical Pentecostals, to the degradation of the dignity of its adherers. I, therefore, argue that imago Dei has practical ethical implications that can be used to scrutinize Church practices in general and faith-healing practices in the NPCCs in particular. Keywords: Faith-healing, Imago Dei, Newer Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches, human dignity.
Is liberation worth suffering for? an exploration of the impact of religion on the process of queer identity construction, expression, and negotiation in Cape Town, South Africa.
(2023) Donald., Charlene Chenaye.; Van der Walt, Charlene.
Powerful, penetrator, provider:a religio-cultural analysis of masculanilty production in men's conference promotional media in the Southern African pentecostal context
Ngcobo, Siwakhile.; Van der Walt, Charlene.
No abstract available.
Queering the queer: engaging black queer Christian bodies in African faith spaces.
(2021) Sibisi, Tracey Maswazi.; Van der Walt, Charlene.
No abstract available.
Recovering south Africa's lost treasures: A spirituality of interdependence and gratitude.
(2000) Leoncienne, LaBonte' O P.; Rakoczy, Susan Francis.; Balcomb, Anthony Oswald.
Abstract available in pdf.
Sexuality and religion in the novel Oranges are not the only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson.
(2016) Dlodlo, Nozipho Princess Sibongokuhle.; Settler, Federico Guliano.
This thesis is based on the novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit authored by Jeanette Winterson in 1985. The auto-fiction novel is about a young girl who is raised in a Conservative Christian background and learns that she is a lesbian. This novel is only a starting point for dialogue on homosexuality in the Church in Africa, in which I use a postcolonial approach and is not in anyway a model to be used in understanding same-sex relations in Africa. The thesis begins its dialogue on the premises of the incoherent voices of the Church in Africa on its standpoint on homosexuality. While the church continues to deliberate on its position on homosexuality LGBTIQ persons continue to be victims of hate crimes, discrimination and society continues to relate to them as mysterious and exotic. The question which is addressed is what issues on sexuality and religions are raised in the novel Oranges and how has the Church in Africa dealing with homosexuality. It is beyond the scope of my study to answer the question of which orientation is right or wrong. The main purpose of this thesis instead is seeking to facilitate a dialogue and develop positive sexual images and conceptions of expression of oneself sexually. In a way this will unburden the body from the expectations of the religious institution and the family institution. I present rising tensions between sexuality and religion in the novel and in the Church in Africa. To accomplish this I made use of books, essays, videos, newspapers, websites and articles published on sexuality, homosexuality, legislation, the Churches and their varied positions and engagements with LGBTIQ persons was read and utilized. The discussions that are on-going and past are twofold: (i) they reveal that the uneasiness around homosexuality, I argued, is rooted in the absence of positive language to talk about the body and sex in heterosexual relations that are supposedly the ‘relations’. (ii) On looking at the homosexuality conversations, I argue they are philosophical and ontological and I argued that this intentionally/unintentionally excludes a certain group of people for an example, those at the grassroots of the community. This, I argue because the hate crimes directed LGBTIQ persons suggests that there is no clear understanding amongst most people of what homosexuality entails substantially. In concluding, I argued that there is an urgent need for narratives of LGBTIQ persons to represent themselves and actively formulate their identities and theology. The agenda of nonv LGBTIQ persons writing as allies to the community are progressive and worth celebrating, however the outsider approach is limited in what they can offer in terms of daily experience and formulation on theology. I acknowledge that there is a lot of work that has been done on the theology of LGBTIQ persons, but not much has been done by LGBTIQ persons themselves. So what we have is theology about homosexuals and not with homosexuals. Lastly, it is recommended for further work that one explores if up-bringing impacts and shapes sexual orientation and to see how Christianity has maneuvered this area. Is there anything in Christian bible that prepares parents and children to understand their bodies and express themselves sexually?

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