Divorcees' problem : the church as a healing agent in counselling of divorcees.
Loading...
Date
1998
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The objective of this research study is to investigate the problems of the divorced Christians within the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga in Kenya. A selection was made of some the divorced Christians in this diocese who even after their separation and divorce remained in the Church. The divorced Christians in this study were observed to have many more
problems than ordinary Christian people. Their failure to survive their marriage made them feel desperate, tending towards a sense of personal failure. It was hypothesized that divorcees experience being sidelined in the Church, thus causing them physical and psychological emotions which affect them and label them as people who are unpardonable. Jack Dominian (1979), in search of information leading to the breakdown of
marriages, has observed that the Christian Churches' teaching on sexuality and marriage has been a factor contributing indirectly to the breakdown of
marriages and specifically to divorce. He also confirmed that another important contributing factor is the background of the partners. With this in mind the Christian Churches will want to do everything possible to save marriages. Therefore, the Churches have to be properly prepared and
equipped for undertaking the challenges involving in building a worthy marriage. At the end of this research study the emphasis on marriage counselling is appealed to as a worthy tool to guide people towards a stable marriage. The dissertation commences with chapter one as an introduction which defines the objectives, motivation and the hypothesis to be tested. The literature review is tabled and is followed by definition of the terms so as to make the reader familiar with their usage. Finally, the chapter closes with the structure of the study. Chapter two deals with the methodology, explaining the sample and the development of the tool. The survey and all procedures are explained. Chapter three is divided into three parts. Part one introduces Agikuyu marriage and divorce, part two brings a theological review of divorce problems in the scriptures and part three brings a challenge to the missionary endeavours in the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga. It deals with the tensions created by the efforts of the Western missionaries and the Church as they came up against the African traditional heritage. Chapter four brings out the results of the methodological work. Hypothesis analysis is done and the interpretation given. The findings are given for and against the hypothesis. Discussion of the findings is done and then a conclusion is made. Chapter five is divided into three parts. First, a few ideas arising from the findings are discussed at length.The second part is the way forward which suggests possible ways in dealing with divorcees and enhancing a stable marriage. The final part carries the concluding remarks as a summary of the research study.
Description
Thesis (M.Th. ; School of Theology)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998
Keywords
Divorce--Religious Aspects--Christianity., Divorce--Religious Aspects--Anglican Church of Kenya., Divorced people--Counselling of., Divorce--Biblical teaching., Theses--Theology.