The public defence was held as a video conference over Zoom.
Time and place: Apr. 30, 2021 at 12:00 - 16:00
Adjudication committee
- Professor Charlene van der Walt, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (first opponent).
- Professor Paul Leer-Salvesen, University of Agder (second opponent).
- Associate Professor Birgitte Lerheim Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo.
Leader of the disputation
- Dean Aud Tønnessen.
Supervisor
- Professor Emeritus Trygve Wyller, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo (main supervisor)
- Professor Anders Runesson, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo (co-supervisor)
- Professor Rune Flikke, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo (co-supervisor)
About the dissertation
The thesis explores the kinds of Bible study reading of the economically underprivileged Christians of southwest of Tanzania. It researched on how economically underprivileged Christians read and interpret the text about poverty, themselves being poor people. Moreover, the study looked on how Christians move from the text to their context. As a result of research, the study has found that the economically underprivileged Christians use their context to inform the text than moving from text to the context.
In the CBS, the economically underprivileged Christians do theology. The kind of theology they are doing is a theology from below, the theology of the economically underprivileged. This is a practical theology which includes all people regardless of their academic background within African, specifically, Tanzanian Christianity. It involves all kind of people on how they understand, communicate and live their Christian faith in perilous situation they are living in the community.
The thesis presents new perspectives of contextual Bible work which gives a room for African Practical Theology and African Liberation Theology from below of the underprivileged Christians in Tanzania.