AbstractBroadly, the objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the ongoing studies on the biblical theology of the Acts of the Apostles. CHAPTER ONE examines the canonical critical approach and its underlying presuppositions. Foundational to the present study is the supposition that the whole Scripture is word of God and thus, the expectation of a theological unity that is centered on “the Son” (John 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-4). It is my thesis that some specifics of that theological and Christological unity can be discerned when Acts is read in the light of the preceding canonical contexts which were ordered by the post-Ireneaus early church as hermeneutical guides for interpreting the NT Scriptures. The canonical contexts that are examined are: (1) the immediately preceding context of the Fourth Gospel [CHAPTERS TWO AND THREE], (2) the four Gospels as a unified whole [CHAPTER 4] and, ultimately, (3) the Old Testament [CHAPTER FOUR]. It is proposed that a canonically informed reading may yield significant insight into the theology that not only is inherent in the history Luke records in Acts about the continuation of “all that Jesus began to do and teach” following his ascension, but also guides the literary choices Luke makes in narrating that history. The present study proceeds from the rhetorical critical observation that the ascension of Jesus, recorded in the opening discourse of Acts, creates the primary rhetorical ‘problem’ addressed in Acts: how will the mission to establish the kingdom of God on earth, inaugurated by Jesus as narrated in the Gospels, continue postascension? CHAPTER TWO makes a case from a canonical point of view that, among the four gospels, the rhetorical ‘problem’ posed by the ascension of Jesus in the opening discourse of Acts is most anticipated, most intentionally and comprehensively addressed by Jesus in the second half of the Fourth Gospel. It is proposed and argued in this chapter that Jesus’ teaching in the Fourth Gospel about the postascension roles of the Holy Spirit and the apostles best facilitates an introduction to and understanding of the theology intrinsic to the history and narrative art in the opening scenes of Acts. CHAPTER THREE views the opening discourses of Acts from the perspective of the exegetical insights argued in chapter two. Chapter three assesses whether Jesus’ anticipation of and pre-planned response to the “problem” of the ascension is actualized in the opening scenes of Acts. CHAPTER FOUR addresses the “problem” created by the ascension in Acts from the broader canonical perspective of the four-fold Gospel testimony about Jesus’ mission. It is argued that Jesus’ mission was defined by Old Testament messianic categories and fulfills the mission of Israel. It is proposed that the reader of Acts, being familiar with the four-fold Gospel, may perceive the striking resemblance of Jesus’ mission, gospel and the concurrent conflict and controversy he provoked manifest in the church’s life and ministry in the narrative of Acts. This chapter argues from a broader canonical approach that the tri-fold Old Testament missional roles of prophet, priest and king, which Jesus fulfills as the Messianic servant in the Gospels is clearly exhibited in Luke’s literary choices and underlying missional theology in Acts. The church’s continuation of Jesus’ tri-fold missional roles in Acts yields a second major plot dynamic that permeates the historical narrative of Acts: persecution. It is argued that these two core elements of theology endemic to the canonical history of God’s people work in literary counterpoint in the history and literary art of Luke in Acts. As the post-ascension manifestation of the body of Christ on earth, the church continues to live out the tri-fold messianic, missional roles of Jesus in fulfillment of his words: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:20). These two contrapuntal themes set forth the core theology that guides Luke’s literary artistic choices and explains the ebb and flow and interconnectedness of the narratives of the continuation of Jesus’ mission by the church in Acts.

AbstractSee book abstract above

AbstractThis book, the first comprehensive study of persecution in Luke-Acts from a literary and theological perspective, argues that the author uses the theme of persecution in pursuit of his theological agenda. It brings to the surface six theological functions of the persecution theme, which has an important paraenetic and especially apologetic role for Luke's persecuted community. The persecution Luke's readers suffer is evidence that they are legitimate recipients of God's salvific blessings. review: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/ajet/30-1_073.pdf

AbstractThis study is motivated by my own experience as a Motswana Pentecostal woman who inhabits patriarchal spaces of both the Setswana cultures and the Pentecostal church. It highlights the status of women in Botswana society and the Pentecostal church. The study seeks to construct a Pentecostal feminist hermeneutic through a contextual reading of selected texts from Luke-Acts with Pentecostal women in Botswana. The Pentecostal movement is growing exponentially throughout the world, especially in Africa. Botswana is not an exception. Studies on Pentecostalism indicate that the overwhelming membership of the Pentecostal churches is female, yet the teaching and leadership are largely male dominated. Further, women are marginalised within the Pentecostal spaces through Pentecostal hermeneutics. This is ironic because the contemporary Pentecostal church traces its origins to the Pentecost narrative in Acts 2 and their theologies emerge from Luke-Acts. On the face of it, Acts 2 and Luke-Acts encourages egalitarian existence between men and women. This means that Pentecostal beliefs and doctrines are supposed to be inherently inclusive and yet accusations of gender exclusion are often levelled against Pentecostalism. Therefore, one of the other aims of this study is to explore how Pentecostal hermeneutics advances gender exclusion, and how that is contrary to the theologies that Acts 2:1-47 embody. Using narrative and feminist hermeneutical principles, the study engages with Acts 1-2 in order to establish the importance of using this text to construct a liberating Pentecostal hermeneutic. Further, Acts 1-2 are situated within the larger context of Luke-Acts and women. In order to gain insights from Pentecostal men and women about the status of women in the church and home, Pentecostal hermeneutics, and Luke-Acts, qualitative data collection methods were employed. These are focus groups, in depth interviews, participant observation and the Contextual Bible study (CBS). The data from the different research contexts is used throughout the chapters so that there is no specific chapter on data analysis. The data is filtered through feminist theoretical framework of analysis. The research sample consists of 51 Pentecostal women and 3 pastors from two different churches located in Molepolole, Gaborone and Mogobane. The ages of the women range from 17-73. The literacy levels also differ; some have never attended formal schools while some had diplomas and degrees in different disciplines.

Abstract"A challenging collection of 25 prophetic sermons preached between 1975-1994 by Bishop David Gitari. Throughout these sermos Gitari is at pains to apply the biblical message to the complex, contemporary scene in Kenya, influednced by the example of such preachers as Martin Luther King and John Stott, unafraid to speak out on social and political issues, and against corruption."--Provided by publisher.

AbstractPrepared as a doctoral dissertation under the direction of A. Weiser and accepted in 1994 by the Theologische Hochschule Vallendar, this investigation of Acts 15 seeks to show how the 1st-century Jerusalem council's resolution of the conflict between Jewish and Gentile cultures can be used in resolving similar faith-culture conflicts in the current-day Igbo church and in the African churches in general.After introductory chapters on the title and on past research and methodology, it presents an exegetical analysis of Acts 15 according to the following outline: no salvation without Mosaic Law and customs (15:1-5); formal assembly and Peter's speech--salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike (15:6-11); God's wonders and signs among the Gentiles (15:12); speech of James--no more hindrance to God's Gentiles, a people chosen for his name (15:13-21); inspired letter with a decree--no unnecessary yoke on Gentile brothers (15:22-29); and Antioch joyfully receives the Jerusalem council's letter (15:30-35). Then it presents a theological reflection and correlation with reference to (1) the Christian message in conflict with Jewish and Gentile cultures, and (2) the hermeneutical significance of Acts 15 for the Igbo church today.Hilary concludes that the inculturation elements in the Jerusalem council according to Acts 15 can inspire and encourage an authentic inculturation of the good news in the lives of the Igbo today. Abstract Number: NTA40-1996-1

AbstractIn many African traditional societies, the felt needs of people are usually met by the services of the shaman or other traditional medicine specialists. These needs vary and they could include the need for protection against witchcraft and evil spirits. Another need in Africa is for physical and psychical health. These needs are felt by many Africans inside and outside ecclesiastical structures. Despite centuries of western influence and teaching by missionaries, these felt needs have not gone away. The sensitivity to the spirit world and its impact on the human and material word still remains a firm belief in the African socio-spiritual reality. In its missiological responsibilities in the past and now, the church in Africa continues to display a theological deficiency in addressing this vacuum in African spirituality. Consequently, many African Christians are trapped in the dual, two-tier or split-level Christianity. This shows itself in times of existential crises in which many committed and respectable African Christians revert to traditional religious practices as a means of meeting their spiritual needs, due to the church’s inability to do so. This observed lack of traditional Christian theology and its irrelevancy to African life, has left many African Christians in a dilemma. It is this lacuna in Christian theology and practice that the researcher seeks to address in this study. By analysing documents on spirits in the first-century Jewish world and the two-volume work of Luke-Acts, the researcher endeavours to show the relevance and possible appropriation of the New Testament message to African spiritual realities. This is based on the understanding that the world of the first-century Jews and other communities in the Mediterranean region at the time, has more in common with Africans than the extremely naturalistic, rationalistic and abstract-oriented worldview of the early western missionaries who initially brought the gospel to Africa. Central to the researcher’s thesis, is the argument that, if early Christians, as exemplified by the Lucan audience, could respond to the fears, problems and realities of the spirit world by using God-ordained, spiritual and biblically acceptable means and not magical ways, African Christians, too, who find themselves in similar situations, can do the same. The contention in this study is that the rediscovery of the aspect of the spirit world of the New Testament message will go a long way towards resolving the problem of split-level Christianity in Africa. This task remains a theological imperative for New Testament scholarship in order for the church to present a holistic message to the masses of Africa and to demonstrate how the immanence of the Christian God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, relates to the daily needs of spirit-sensitive Africans – a message that Luke tried so hard to convey to his readers in the first century.

AbstractIn many African traditional societies, the felt needs of people are usually met by the services of the shaman or other traditional medicine specialists. These needs vary and they could include the need for protection against witchcraft and evil spirits. Another need in Africa is for physical and psychical health. These needs are felt by many Africans inside and outside ecclesiastical structures. Despite centuries of western influence and teaching by missionaries, these felt needs have not gone away. The sensitivity to the spirit world and its impact on the human and material word still remains a firm belief in the African socio-spiritual reality. In its missiological responsibilities in the past and now, the church in Africa continues to display a theological deficiency in addressing this vacuum in African spirituality. Consequently, many African Christians are trapped in the dual, two-tier or split-level Christianity. This shows itself in times of existential crises in which many committed and respectable African Christians revert to traditional religious practices as a means of meeting their spiritual needs, due to the church’s inability to do so. This observed lack of traditional Christian theology and its irrelevancy to African life, has left many African Christians in a dilemma. It is this lacuna in Christian theology and practice that the researcher seeks to address in this study. By analysing documents on spirits in the first-century Jewish world and the two-volume work of Luke-Acts, the researcher endeavours to show the relevance and possible appropriation of the New Testament message to African spiritual realities. This is based on the understanding that the world of the first-century Jews and other communities in the Mediterranean region at the time, has more in common with Africans than the extremely naturalistic, rationalistic and abstract-oriented worldview of the early western missionaries who initially brought the gospel to Africa. Central to the researcher’s thesis, is the argument that, if early Christians, as exemplified by the Lucan audience, could respond to the fears, problems and realities of the spirit world by using God-ordained, spiritual and biblically acceptable means and not magical ways, African Christians, too, who find themselves in similar situations, can do the same. The contention in this study is that the rediscovery of the aspect of the spirit world of the New Testament message will go a long way towards resolving the problem of split-level Christianity in Africa. This task remains a theological imperative for New Testament scholarship in order for the church to present a holistic message to the masses of Africa and to demonstrate how the immanence of the Christian God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, relates to the daily needs of spirit-sensitive Africans – a message that Luke tried so hard to convey to his readers in the first century.

AbstractThis present work consists of six points: (1) Nature and Scope of the thesis; (2) Problem and Method (first part of chapter one); (3) Research Hypothesis (second part of chapter one); (4) The use of quotations from Acts in Ecclesia in Africa (chapters three and four); (5) The allusions to Acts in Ecclesia in Africa (chapter five); Finally, the synthesis and Evaluation of the results of the Research (chapter six). The present study is hermeneutical and interdisciplinary in nature since it deals with the applied interpretation of Scripture (Acts) in a magisterial document (Ecclesia in Africa) and the meaning that results thereof. The thesis is a research inquiry, analysis and evaluation of the intertextual links between the Acts of the Apostles and Ecclesia in Africa. First and foremost, the work consists in identifying these intertextual links and secondly in analyzing and evaluating their significance in Acts and then in Ecclesia in Africa. This research is a pioneering work in the intertextual reading of Acts and Ecclesia in Africa in a way that has not been undertaken before. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

AbstractThe study sought to find out the factors contributing to low enrollment into the discipleship program, from the perspective of adults in the discipleship program of NPC Buruburu. The research revealed that in realizing the vision and the set goals for the church, adult discipleship program is very important. To carry out this research the researcher used qualitative research method, and interviewed fifteen registered members from NPC Buruburu. In addressing the central research questions, as to why the total number of registered members in the church is not reflected in the number of people who enroll for the discipleship class, the researcher critically analyzed the data and came up with five factors that have affected the enrollment of adult discipleship at NPC Buruburu. The researcher established the following factors that contributed to low enrollment of members into the adult discipleship program; lack of awareness of the program, poor planning, location where the program is held, curriculum issues, and age disparity. Based on these findings, recommendations were made that would address the running of the adult discipleship program. The church, therefore, needs to make it a priority in creating awareness to all her members about the importance of adult discipleship program. The program should be put in the bulletin, and the bulletin be issued to all members in every meeting of the church. For learning to take place, the environment must be conducive, apart from relocating the class. The program should also run concurrently with all the three services that take place each Sunday morning, according to the NPC Buruburu program. In regards to age disparity, the facilitators of the program should consider the age difference when grouping the members into various groups, or put them in different classrooms, depending on their age-groups. This research also recommends that the church re-evaluates the material for the program, and shorten the duration so that more members can be motivated to enroll into the program. There are also other materials on discipleship which take a shorter time, and very relevant.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate the strategies of the mission to the urban poor by the Nairobi Pentecostal Church(NPC)-Central in the light of the concept of poverty in Luke-Acts. In order to achieve this purpose, an extensive review of related literature on the concept of poverty in Luke-Acts was carried out. This dealt with the practices of Jesus, his disciples and the early church in their ministry to the poor among them.Data was collected by means of interviews, questionnaires and written records. The principles of the mission to the poor by Jesus, his disciples and the early church as gleaned from Luke-Acts were used as the criteria for judgement. The views of the leadership, mission policy, strategies and programs of the church towards the urban poor were used as items of evaluation. The research indicated some significant findings: 1. The views of the leadership and the current strategies of the church towards the urban poor were found to be conceptually in line with the biblical insights gleaned from Luke-Acts. 2. The mission policy and strategies of the church towards the poor did not adequately and comprehensively deal with the issue of poverty in the same way that Jesus, his disciples and the early church dealt with poverty. 3. The church has a great potential, with many resources, which the leadership can mobilize fora more effective and holistic ministry to the poor in the city of Nairobi.The conclusions were recommendations for mission mobilization, leadership commitment to gospel ideals, program development in the church and for further research:l. Regardless of the focus of the church, ministry to the urban poor is central to the mandate of the urban church and hence there should be deliberate planning, training and leadership development for mobilization of all possible resources within the church for a holistic ministry to the urban poor. 2 The Nairobi Pentecostal Church-Central, while not losing its focus to reach the elite members of the society, should network and partner with the various stakeholders for partnership in meeting the needs of the urban poor. 3 There is need for further research to establish how the church members, while meeting their needs in a holistic manner, can best be mobilized for ministry to the urban poor.

AbstractThis book demonstrates that the encounter between Christianity and various African cultures gives rise to a number of problems for Africans who become Christians. It draws attention to certain traditional African beliefs and practices that seem to be incompatible with Christianity and create problems for Africans who embrace Christianity. Against this background it argues for the need to inculturate Christianity. It contends that in this exercise African Christianity can learn from the attempts at inculturation found in the New Testament times and in the early church. It offers examples of how the early church sought to make use of non-Christian categories of thought and elements in its articulation of the Christian message and in worship. It suggests a few areas of Ghanaian and African life where inculturation could and should take place. These include funeral rites, widowhood rites, child-naming rites, the rites of marriage, libation and christology. It concludes by offering some guidelines for use in the process of the inculturation of Christianity in Africa today.

AbstractWritten from the perspective of composition criticism, this volume seeks to uncover Luke's contribution to understanding the love that Jesus' followers are invited to practice toward their enemies. After a five-page introduction, it treats the historical background of the love-of-enemy command and its motivation, and provides a short history of the interpretation of the Lukan teaching on the love of enemies. Next in two chapters (introductory questions and exegesis) it deals with Jesus' teaching on love of one's enemy according to Lk 6:27-36, and concludes with chapters on the idea of love of one's enemy in Luke's Gospel and in Acts, respectively.Owczarek, who teaches at Tangaza College in Nairobi, contends that by his development of the theme of love toward one's enemies Luke showed that Jesus not only taught but also practiced what he taught, and that his word was effective in the lives of at least some of his followers as well. The book is based on a doctoral dissertation defended at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2000. Abstract Number: NTA47-2003-1

AbstractPaul's speech on the Areopagus represents the most developed narrative portrayal of Paul's missionary preaching to a gentile audience in the New Testament. As such, it provides indispensable data for interpreting the relationship between Paul's Gospel and the religions of the Roman Empire. This study sets out to interpret the political referents of the Areopagus speech by investigating (1) the relationship between the Hellenistic Jewish icon parody and deified political authority; (2) the hybrid media of gods and kings; and (3) the art of safe speech in Greco-Roman antiquity. Put another way, this study interprets the Areopagus speech's attitude toward empire by investigating its strategies of resistance along with its objects of resistance. New Testament Scholars have long noted the influence of the Isaianic icon parody upon the composition of Paul's speech on the Areopagus. The relationship between Paul's idol polemic and the Hellenistic Jewish icon parody, however, remains poorly understood: when the literary culture of early Judaism re-contextualized Isaiah's polemic amid the hybrid iconography of ruler cults, the referent(s) did not remain static or politically innocuous. This study animates the political dimension of the Hellenistic and Roman Jewish icon parodies' allusive objects of resistance through a detailed analysis of the dynamic relationship between gods and kings in the epigraphic record, the peri basileias literature and the system of benefaction underlying visual honors conferred on gods and kings. The integration of gods and kings in shared cult media and anthropomorphic representation placed the Hellenistic and Roman Jewish icon parodies in a new hermeneutical context one that did not critique religion sensu stricto but simultaneously resisted the iconic spectacle underlying the deification of political authority. In order to classify the icon parody as a type of Jewish resistance literature, a correlative concern of this study is to interpret the Hellenistic- and Roman-Jewish icon parodies within the broader contours of Jewish literary resistance movements that sought to polemically and apologetically defend Jewish conceptions of monotheism, monarchy and representation. In contrast to scholars who appeal to synthetic rhetorical devices to discern so-to-speak "antiimperial rhetoric" in the New Testament, this study suggests that Luke's composition of the Areopagus speech reflects a stronger relationship with the Wisdom of Solomon's polemic against gods and kings (Wis 13:1-15:19) than has heretofore been recognized, along with Greco-Roman orators' conviction that critiquing the ruling power with blunt speech (????????) was both unacceptable and artless, especially in contexts where the speaker's safety was in doubt. The conclusion of this study suggests descriptors for the political attitude of the Areopagus speech and presents Paul's polemic against idols as an alter-cultural rather than antiimperial confrontation with the philosophy of religion. This confrontation has implications for gods, kings and benefactors, whose visual honors are incompatible with the worship of the one God incarnated in Israel's crucified Messiah

AbstractExamines the relationship of Ethiopia to the Bible, considering the historical background, translations into the Ethiopian languages, and the impact of the Old Testament, greater here than in other Oriental churches. The story of the Queen of Sheba is also examined.

AbstractThis dissertation examines to what extent the transmission history of Codex Bezae’s Greek text of Acts shows awareness of the explicit quotations’ Old Testament origin, and to what extent this awareness played a role in the final formation of this manuscript’s text. The dissertation limits itself to explicit quotations from the Psalms, Isaiah and the Minor Prophets. Each explicit Old Testament quotation of these three books is discussed in the order of their appearance in Codex Bezae. In these discussions, special attention is paid to the layout of the text of the manuscript, the introductory formula of each explicit quotation and the text of each quotation as it appears in the codex. The aim of this discussion is to discern whether the variant readings and layout of the manuscript (i.e., variant as opposed to other Greek New Testament manuscripts) show Old Testament awareness or possible influence from the OT as opposed to the “initial” text of the New Testament. The variant readings of Codex Bezae are therefore measured against the pertinent Old Testament traditions (Hebrew, Greek and Latin). The aim of this investigation is to determine whether Old Testament awareness played any role in the formation of the text of Codex Bezae, not necessarily to solve textual difficulties in the given explicit quotations. By paying close attention to the awareness of the Old Testament in the Bezan tradition, an opportunity is afforded to glimpse into the stages of the transmission history of this text, to learn more about its users and the users of the text of previous manuscripts in its tradition, and to discover more about how the Old Testament was perceived in the early stages of Christianity.