Exploring the role of the church in economic development : a literature review

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dissertation sets out to explore the existing scholarly literature on the role of the church in economic development. The research report method will be in the form of a literature review and therefore will be exploratory in nature in the hope to inform the researcher of the views of scholars on the role of the church in economic development as well as possibly preparing the way for further research into investigating this role.Chapter 1 presents the research methodology that will be employed as well as the objectives that the research hopes to achieve, include:- To investigate what Biblical scholars understand about the role of the church with regard to economic development by reviewing the existing body of knowledge on the role of the church and economic development;- To discover what the most authoritative views and accepted definitions are on the concepts under study;- To make possible recommendations to the church based on the findings of current and previous literature.In Chapter 2 a literature study explores the views of scholars on the meaning of 'the church' in order to investigate or establish what is understood by the concept'the church'. This chapter will further explore what is meant by the mandate of the church, the missional and diaconal role of the church, the church as visible sign of God's saving work and the church and liberation role of the church. This study sets itself the task to investigate literature on the history and the context of the church as a constituent body in the world and then attempt to find a form of consensus on the role of the church.Chapter 3 will have a particular focus on exploring the views of scholars on the meaning of development and economic development. This literature review will take a multi disciplinary approach therefore this chapter will have a particular focus on the view of scholars in economic development studies.Chapter 4 examines the views of scholars on the role of the church in economic development. This chapter seeks to investigate if the church has a role to play in economic development as one of the role players in the fight against poverty, unemployment and the establishment of effective development programs.Finally, the overall summary, conclusion and recommendations are presented in Chapter 5.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University