Doctoral Dissertation (NEGST)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dlibrary.aiu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/667

Browse

Filters

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 37
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    toward a family relational model of African Christian ecclesiology
    (Africa International University, 2021-07) Akou Mateso
    The synodal meeting in Rome made a statement, “Africa is a continent where countless human beings are lying, as it were, on the edge of the road, sick, injured, disabled, marginalized, and abandoned. They are in dire need of Good Samaritans who will come to their aid.”1 This statement is a disgrace to the continent that has been described by Katongole as “overwhelmingly Christian.”2 It is an indication that there is something wrong, not only within the socio-cultural history, but also within the Christian consciousness of African peoples. To say it in plain terms, the peoples of Africa have adopted a new way of life characterized by love for self, for material things, and for freedom and privacy. They have abandoned their traditional way of life whereby love for personhood and for healthy human relations has always been prominent. Looking at the synodal statement against the statement that Africa is an overwhelmingly Christian continent raises more questions than answers, especially to the African Christian church. Of special interest is the question regarding its response to this socio-cultural pandemic which has left millions of people of every age and gender shocked and locked into perpetual prison of helplessness and hopelessness. This being just one concern among many others, this relational model of African Christian ecclesiology is conceived as an attempt to bring the African Christian church into fruitful dialogue with the worsening condition of mankind in the current socio-cultural history of African peoples, challenging and encouraging it live out its mission in faithfulness to the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. It is a call made to the African Christian church to be the Good Samaritan who will extend a hand of mercy to those in need, regardless of who, and where these are. But for this to happen, the African Christian church needs to re-define itself; it needs to shape its ecclesial life into the model of traditional African family life. Despite all its imperfections which could disqualify it from being a model for a credible and acceptable African Christian ecclesiology, traditional African family life has the pride of being the bedrock of genuine human concerns and relationships. It is believed that the African church’s ecclesial life that is modelled after the traditional African family life would quickly become a beacon of hope to the socially rejected, marginalized, and forgotten persons, and that it would restore them into the kind of life where they can as well experience God’s “shalom” in their lives. In brief, the African Christian church will be the kind of church that God wants for Africa, the kind that will be able to discharge its duties to the glory and honors of His Great and Holy name
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    a reassessment of Noah’s curse narrative (Genesis 9:18–27)
    (Africa International University, 2021-07) Ogalo George Odhiambo
    This dissertation is a reassessment of Noah’s cursing act in Genesis 9:18-27 from a familial perspective. The central argument is that when Noah’s curse action is considered through a familial lens, his curse upon Canaan points to Noah’s fall, and demonstrates further the corruption of human nature, and its consequences on the family that have been extensively and persistently attested to in Genesis 3–11. The study amounts to an ethical assessment of Noah’s actions as reflected in the Genesis 9:18-27 text, with particular focus on the cursing act itself. The argument in the study is based on literary analysis of the text within the context of Genesis, and other relevant OT texts in which curses and conflicts are present. Further, the argument locates the cursing act of Noah within the wider ancient Near Eastern (ANE) and ancient Israelite conceptualizations of cursing. The ANE conceptualization and practice of curse presents Noah as a lay maledictor who uttered an unconditional curse, occasioned by a conflict within his family context. The study follows an interdisciplinary approach, combining literary analysis with multi-contextual analysis, including ANE and Israelite data, as well as the Luo contemporary context. In this matrix, meaning arises through an intriguing and complex interplay of the text, author, and the reader(s). The literary context, the world behind the text, and the contemporary reader’s world offer either interpretive boundaries or provide insight into the analysis of the text in meaningful tension. The study suggests that the Luo conceptualization of kuong’ has enough significant cultural affinities with the HB (Hebrew Bible) and ANE concepts of cursing to raise possible understandings of Genesis 9 that may have been missed when interpreting the text within reading cultures that do not share or understand very well these aspects of cursing (like the West)
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    emerging Christianity in Kenya and its socio-political impact
    (Africa International University, 2021-07) Mwandaghina Heglon Kitawi
    The role of the Kenyan Church in politics is a topic of debate. This study focusses on three churches based in Nairobi, Kenya: Parklands Baptist Church, Daughters of Zion Ministry (which is under Jubilee Christian Church), and Karura Community Chapel. We investigate the impact of these examples of Kenyan Pentecostalism from a socio political standpoint. Paul Gifford, in his book Christianity, Politics, and Public Life in Kenya, charges Kenyan Christianity with abetting corruption and impunity. Churches have been co-opted by the ruling elite and have lost their prophetic voice. In this study, we do not set out to disapprove Gifford’s assertions about Kenyan Christianity and politics. We seek instead to amend his claims by proposing an alternative viewpoint with which to dissect the role of Christianity in politics and Kenya’s public life. This paper uses a neo Augustinian political lens with which to examine Gifford’s thesis and the three cases. Central to neo Augustinian political theology is that conviction that the Church is at its most powerful politically when it lives out its message faithfully. When the Church lives out its mandate in line with the Scriptures, when it mobilizes its congregants to live out Christian ideals, only then is its political potential unlocked.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    an intertextual study of the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:1–16//Ezekiel 34:23–31 and 37:15–28)
    (Africa International University, 2020-11) Lonu Budha Victor
    This study focuses on the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7 and Ezekiel 34 and 37. The appearance of David in the text of Ezekiel raises the question of whether the text of Samuel might have influenced that of Ezekiel. The study thus undertakes a careful examination of these texts and argues that this is indeed the case. This influence is treated from literary, theological, and conceptual points of view. Following an exegetical study of the texts under consideration, an intertextual approach is adopted in this research. Intertextuality is the suitable methodology for this study since it enables one to establish connections between the texts of study. Its benefit for this study also resides in the fact that the text of 2 Samuel 7 is prior to that of Ezekiel 34 and 37. The influence of 2 Samuel 7 on Ezekiel 34 and 37 sheds light on our understanding of the significance of the Davidic ruler in Ezekiel. The Davidic Covenant is an important biblical concept; it encompasses YHWH’s plan not only for the Jewish people, but also for the whole of humanity. It also provides a model of leadership that pleases YHWH. Accordingly, the findings from the study will give room for application in African countries. Considering the implications of the study for the African context, the study will emphasize Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Davidic promises of Ezekiel 34 and 37. The African church today swears allegiance to Jesus as King while carrying out her prophetic mission within a fallen world filled with corrupt leadership
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    the concept of jo-kang’ato among the luo of Kenya and its implications for Christian unity in the ecclesial life of the church in Africa
    (Africa International University, 2021-07) Adingo Hezron Otieno
    Christian unity in the ecclesial life of the Church in Africa is surrounded by a misunderstanding whose ramifications are endless disunity. While disunity among Christians remains a challenge to the Church in Africa decades after the departure of the Western missionaries who bequeathed it, it can be addressed through appropriate relationships arising from a proper understanding of Christian unity. This dissertation purposes to improve the understanding of Christian unity through the concept of jo kang’ato among the Luo of Kenya. A research question is posed to guide the study: Is there a relationship between the concept of jo-kang’ato among the Luo of Kenya with the relationship prescribed for Christians in the Scripture concerning ecclesial unity? A comparison between jo-kang’ato and Scripture was undertaken to establish the connection and ascertain the validity of the concept. The exegesis conducted on preselected passages and the Luo culture through interviews aided the process. Through purposive sampling, 40 village elders and 200 Church members drawn across different denominations among the target population participated in the study. The analysis of data demonstrated that a significant relationship exists between the concept of jo-kang’ato and the Scripture. The results indicate that indeed, the concept of jo-kang’ato through its unity enhancing ideals enriches the understanding of Christian unity in the ecclesial life of the Church in Africa. The study could be extended further with the help of a quantitative research method to ensure a bigger sample size leading to a more generalised view of the concept.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Music and social justice in the east African church
    (Africa International University, 2025-07-01) Reuben Kigame
    There is a troubling contradiction regarding the relationship between music and social justice in the East African Church. On the one hand, music is a dominant part of global Church liturgy, but social justice themes are not common in East Africa’s Church songs. On the other hand, the dominance of biblical Christianity in the East African region contradicts the widespread nature of injustices such as police brutality, genocide, corruption, abductions, terrorism, gender-based-violence, the refugee crisis and high levels of poverty. Alfred Olwa (2015) projected that by 2020 Christians would form 67 per cent of East Africa’s population, which would represent 45 per cent of the Christian community in Africa. , In 2023, Kenya scored 31/100 in Transparency International’s corruption perception index, and Uganda 26 out of 100, indicating high levels of corruption. Tanzania has been accused of police brutality and the torture and killing of government critics. Although South Sudan and the DRC are defined as Christian nations, violence leading to the flight of millions into refugee camps is the order of the day. It is evident that the East African Church has failed in addressing this rampant injustice. One of the clear ways in which this is manifested is the lack of sermons that speak truth to power and the absence of social justice messages in East Africa’s church music. This study is concerned with this lack of social justice music and the need to involve Gospel musicians in reversing the situation. Although nearly all Church gatherings include music, the bulk of it is on evangelism, adoration, God’s love, greatness and power, but hardly on poverty eradication, femicide, gender-based violence, corruption or police brutality, which themes are viewed as secular or political and hence avoided as unchristian. Yet the bible urges believers to fight for justice and defend those who cannot defend themselves (Isaiah 1:17; Amos 5:24; Proverbs 31:8-9; Micah 6:8; James 2 and Romans 12:8-21). There is a dire need to understand this discrepancy and identify successful models to inspire and instruct Church musicians on how to write social justice music. It is our assumption in this study that the writing, performance and distribution of more social justice music can push back the levels of injustice in the region. Therefore, it is our conclusion that the East African Church could improve their social justice witness by learning from these effective models. The main objective of this study is to show how three Christian musicians have successfully use music to promote social justice. To realize this objective, we shall ask three questions: i. How have Garth Hewitt, Mahalia Jackson and Juliani used music to promote social justice? ii. Which factors have contributed to the absence of social justice music in the East African Church? iii. What lessons can East Africa’s Gospel musicians and clergy learn from the Discographies of our case studies? In answering these questions, we have employed ethnography and discourse analysis to analyse the material of our three case studies. It is our hope that this research can provide a new way of understanding the convergence of music and social justice within the African context and lead us to new insights into the use of faith-based sonic activism and technology in the promotion of justice.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Conflict Mediation for Congregational Church Leaders
    (Africa International University, 2017-07-31) Joy Kagwiria Mbaabu
    Conflict is a normal human experience and the church is neither exempt from it nor from the debilitating effects of unresolved or badly resolved conflict. Congregational churches such as Karen Community Church (KCC) value relationships and fellowship so dearly that they are slow to admit existence of conflict, making them more prune to dangers of conflict avoidance. One transformational leadership essential is the ability to resolve conflict effectively so as to give way to genuine fellowship and a God honoring, growing community of believers. KCC was used as a case study to help establish: 1) the congregational church leader’s understanding and perception about conflict; 2) the causes of conflicts in congregational churches and how are they responded to; 3) the spiritual characteristics required for effective biblical conflict mediation; and lastly 4) what can be done to improve the way conflict is handled in congregational churches. A research advisory team of eight leaders walked alongside the researcher throughout the study and undertook theological reflections around the research subject. Three focus group discussions (FGD) for a total of twenty-three leaders comprising of pastors, church staff and elders, youth, women and children leaders and church missionaries were conducted. Additionally, in-depth key informant interviews (KII) were carried out with nine leaders of the church. Lastly, forty five self-administered questionnaires (SAQ) to church leaders using purposeful sampling. Based on the data collected, the researcher identified major themes which were categorized into four groups: Understanding conflict, Conflicts at KCC, Conflict mediation, Effective conflict mediation for KCC. The key findings of this study include the following: (1) Leaders understand conflict as misunderstanding or disagreement , and not necessarily sinful (2) There are many unaddressed conflict at KCC and these have caused bitterness, strife, pain, tension, mistrust frustrations and wounded hearts and relationships; (3) Many leaders have been socialized to perceive conflict as bad and therefore to avoid admitting that it exists and dealing with it fully (4) Conflict mediation is a cooperative way to address conflict and turn it into opportunity for strengthening relationships. (5) Character formation to develop spiritual, moral and personal, qualities through a spiritual formation process is preferred for developing effective conflict mediators for the church (6) Effective conflict mediation would lead to genuine relations, a God- honoring and growing church. The researcher made recommendations the following key recommendations (1) Creation of forums to deal with all past longstanding unresolved conflicts (2) Conversation platforms to address potentially conflictous issues as they arise (3) Occasional sermon series on conflict and conflict mediation (4) Development of a conflict mediation policy and procedure guideline (5) A spiritual formation processes for church leaders which has conflict mediation modules. The researcher developed an outline for a process of spiritual formation for leaders that would prepare them to effectively mediate conflicts.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Religious fundamentalism in northern Nigeria: an examination of the impact of Maududi’s political interpretation of Islam on the rise of religious conflicts, and its effect on Christian- Muslim relations.
    (Africa International University, 2017-07-31) Michael Ezra Dikki
    This research examines the role of theological or Islamic interpretation in promoting religious conflicts in northern Nigeria. Specifically, this research examines the impact of Maududi’s political interpretation of Islam on the rise of religious conflicts in northern Nigeria. This research questions the sufficiency of the claim that religious conflicts in northern Nigeria are caused by socio-political and socio-economic factors as postulated by several scholars. Maududi is chosen because of his acknowledged influence, globally and in northern Nigeria specifically, as the father of modern fundamentalism. The research was conducted in the cities of Kano in Kano state and Zaria and Kaduna in Kaduna state of northern Nigeria. These states are considered representational. The research employed the qualitative method and interviewed 159 Muslims assisted by Muslim research assistants. This is in addition to qualitative content analysis of some relevant materials and observations. The findings support the claim that there is a strong relationship between theology and fundamentalism in northern Nigeria. In essence, there is a strong Maududian influence on fundamentalism in northern Nigeria. It is evident that Maududi’s ideology and political interpretation of Islam is a major influence on fundamentalism and interreligious conflicts in northern Nigeria majorly beginning with the Muslim Student Society (MSS) in northern Nigerian univerisities. His ideology radicalized these young Muslim students. These students moved into the society with these fundamentalist ideology and established groups. These groups played a strong role in the Islamic militancy and religious conflicts being experienced today. In addition, it is discovered that there is a strong influence of Maududian ideology on the initial leaders of Boko Haram. There is also evidently a historical link to Maududian fundamentalist ideology through Sudan, Pakistan and Egypt as well as Saudi Arabia and Iran within the political and religious leadership in northern Nigeria. The data also reveal that within majority Muslims interviewed, there is a selective adoption of Maududi’s ideologies. A theory, therefore, emerges that the clash between fundamentalist and orthodox ideologies trigger cognitive dissonance, which through dissonance resolution process leads to selective adoption. This selective adoption produces diversity of Islamic views with consequneces on the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. The data also supports the theory that fundamentalist ideology creates the propensity for collective violence especially when supported by relational and cultural distance, functional independence and inequality. This happens when an ideology in culture (religion) emphasizes “otherness” and is internalized as an individual or collective system of meaning (Silberman 2005, 535) as well as when it corresponds with the social and psychological needs of a group or people (de la Roche 1996). The application of Synthetic Triangular Approach (STA) in the research, exposes the ordinariness in Muslims including those holding a fundamentalist idea. It revealed that the way Muslims understand, react to or handle conflicts is mostly not different from how other human beings do. These findings have implications for Christian-Mulsim relations in northern Nigeria. In this regard, recommendations are made for the government, Christians and Muslims.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An investigative study of the Bridge of Hope girls’ school education model in post-conflict Liberia
    (2017-07-31) Jackson Garpu Weah
    This qualitative empirical research used a “case- study” methodology presents the evidence derived from empirical research that the all–girls educational model being implemented at Bridge of Hope Girls’ School is actually producing significant identifiable changes in girls. Some of the factors which were examined to indicate successful change include creation of pathways for disadvantaged girls to access the process of, retention of students in the institution, progression of students to higher grades at appropriate times, and completion of school by the girls. This investigative research sought to provide a comprehensive case study of the Bridge of Hope Girls’ School within the context of all-girls education model for girls. The main focus of this dissertation is to propose new paradigm of doing girls’ education herein referred to as the Bridge of Hope Girls’ Transformational Education (BOHGTE) Model. A Christian transformational education ( girls-only) model provided at BOH that has produced an empirical evidence of a significant measurable positive difference in reducing cultural disparity between boys and girls education, transform negative cultural assumptions and changing social narratives of girls in ways that lead to increased enrollment, retentions and progression of girls in Monrovia informal setting. The study participants included the girls at Bridge of Hope, alumni, administrators, faculty, staff, and trustees. Data was gathered through opened -ended interviews and document analysis. With thorough analysis of all data ( interviews and documents) the following themes surfaced: Environment aids student learning outcomes; Christian worldview and ethical foundation of BOH model ;Organizational systems; Gender differences in how boys and girls learn and behave in educational setting; Emphasis on staff development -qualified teachers and training teachers to do “transformational education; Distractions in co-education; In classes that are separated by gender, male and female students work and learn on the same level as their peers and relevant curriculum.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item