Papers by Tankiso Letseli
I feel deeply indebted to the following: Jesus Christ who died for me and gave me a chance to ser... more I feel deeply indebted to the following: Jesus Christ who died for me and gave me a chance to serve Him. He always looks at me in terms of how better I can become if I rely entirely on His power and wisdom. Duduzile, my best friend and wife, who shares my joys and frustrations, and allowed to be a testing ground for all the theological theories which bother. My son, Thabiso, for his prayers and understanding, and my daughter, Teboho, for her love and bundles of smiles. These two flowers in my house have developed a parent out of me and filled my life with joy and meaning. Professor J. du Rand for his continuous support, guidance, wisdom, knowledge and understanding in my journey through this dissertation. To my mother, Mavis Buzelwa Letseli, my brother Ayo, my two sisters, Ntshadi and Tselane, for their unconditional love, support understanding and care. All the Bible texts are from The Revised Standard Version, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1952 DECLARATION OF CANDIDATE I hereby declare that this script submitted for the Magister in Biblical Studies in the New Testament degree to the Rand Afrikaans University is my own unaided work. No part of this script has previously been submitted to, or is to be submitted to any other University for a degree, save to the one in which I am now a candidate.
The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Law of God in general, and particularly the Sabbath, ... more The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Law of God in general, and particularly the Sabbath, is going to become a controverted subject in the end of time. This view is based on their interpretation of Rev. 11:19; 12:17; 14:6, 7, 12. The book of Revelation largely dwells on or addresses themes relating to the end of time. Scholarship has convincingly demonstrated that the word “Sabbath” is not mentioned or used in the book of Revelation, but the language of the Sabbath has been used in Rev. 14:6, 7 (Cf. Exod. 20:11). Is there a basis to conclude that the Sabbath is also intended in Rev. 10:5, 6 because of the Sabbath language or words used? There is a verbal parallelism between Exod. 20:11 and Rev 10:5, 6 with reference to usage of the following words, namely, heaven, earth, and sea. Is there a corresponding thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11? Does Rev. 10:5, 6 simply refer to the theme of creation in general as in Ps. 146:6 and Neh. 9:6, and not specifica...
Institute for Christian Teaching Education Department of Seventh-day Adventists, 2007
The main purpose of this essay is to challenge and stimulate interest among Adventist Educators a... more The main purpose of this essay is to challenge and stimulate interest among Adventist Educators and Adventists' higher education institutions to engage in values-based service-learning immediate communities in order to meet both the needs of the participating communities, and those of the higher education institutions. The values-based service-learning model is the proposed tools for meeting this need. The values-based service-learning is a service-learning that is based and informed by the Bibleworldview. God is the centre and reason for values-based service-learning.
The purpose of this article is to attempt to study the meaning of the "new song" in Rev. 5:9 and ... more The purpose of this article is to attempt to study the meaning of the "new song" in Rev. 5:9 and 14:3 in relation to the 144, 000 and other redeemed believers in a worship setting in the book of Revelation. The work will also briefly look into the identity of the 144, 000. The concept of "new" within the selected passages of the Scriptures will be studied in order to determine how the word was used and understood by the primary, intended audiences. The Greek language has several words for "new," but this work will limit itself to two words, namely, kainos and neos. We will briefly ascertain the meanings of those words, and their relations. 1. The meaning of the words kainos and neos. The word "new" in New Testament Greek language appears several times, and it carries several connotations. We shall limit our discussions to two words, namely, kainos and neos. The word neos will be mentioned briefly because it is not relevant to our discussion. The reason for this limitation is that the word kainos appears in both Rev. 5: 9 and 14: 3.
The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Law of God in general, and particularly the Sabbath, ... more The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Law of God in general, and particularly the Sabbath, is going to become a controverted subject in the end of time. This view is based on their interpretation of Rev. 11:19; 12:17; 14:6, 7, 12. The book of Revelation largely dwells on or addresses themes relating to the end of time. Scholarship has convincingly demonstrated that the word “Sabbath” is not mentioned or used in the book of Revelation, but the language of the Sabbath has been used in Rev.14:6, 7 (Cf. Exod. 20:11). Is there a basis to conclude that the Sabbath is also intended in Rev. 10:5,
6 because of the Sabbath language or words used? There is a verbal parallelism between Exod. 20:11 and Rev 10:5, 6 with reference to the usage of the following words, namely, heaven, earth, and sea. Is there a corresponding thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11? Does Rev. 10:5, 6 simply refer to the theme of creation in general as in Ps. 146:6 and Neh. 9:6, and not specifically to the Sabbath theme? Did John have the Sabbath in mind when he wrote Rev. 10:5, 6? This study intends to find out if there is indeed a thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11.
I feel deeply indebted to the following: Jesus Christ who died for me and gave me a chance to ser... more I feel deeply indebted to the following: Jesus Christ who died for me and gave me a chance to serve Him. He always looks at me in terms of how better I can become if I rely entirely on His power and wisdom. Duduzile, my best friend and wife, who shares my joys and frustrations, and allowed to be a testing ground for all the theological theories which bother. My son, Thabiso, for his prayers and understanding, and my daughter, Teboho, for her love and bundles of smiles. These two flowers in my house have developed a parent out of me and filled my life with joy and meaning. Professor J. du Rand for his continuous support, guidance, wisdom, knowledge and understanding in my journey through this dissertation. To my mother, Mavis Buzelwa Letseli, my brother Ayo, my two sisters, Ntshadi and Tselane, for their unconditional love, support understanding and care. I hereby declare that this script submitted for the Magister in Biblical Studies in the New Testament degree to the Rand Afrikaans University is my own unaided work. No part of this script has previously been submitted to, or is to be submitted to any other University for a degree, save to the one in which I am now a candidate. ii SO LETSELI LETSELI SUMMARY Christianity was not born in a vacuum, but it completely owes its historical genesis on or from Jewish religion. The Apostolic, Primitive church was initially composed of Jewish believers who had seen in and understood Jesus of Nazareth as the anticipated Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets and writers. The current and lamentable truth is, Jewish Religion and Christianity are now two different and separate religions. Jesus Christ, His disciples, and Paul remained Jews as far as the Jewish culture is concerned. It is difficult to separate the sacred and secular in the Jewish economy because Jewish culture and religion are intertwined. In this culture, ploughing is as sacred as worshipping. The only apparent shift in his (Paul) paradigm was in interpreting and explaining the Old Testament prophecies and ceremonial system in the light of the Jesus Christ event at the Cross. His evaluation of that "event" and the Person of Jesus of Nazareth became the point of conflict with Judaisers and Judaism that would set a stage for separation between Christianity and Jewish Religion. The Christian Church exists in the post-Cross era. This Church is faced with, among other issues and tasks, challenges of sifting and demarcating between God's injunctions and Jewish Customs.
Books by Tankiso Letseli
A statement uttered by a teacher-colleague at my father’s funeral, in August 2002, has motivated ... more A statement uttered by a teacher-colleague at my father’s funeral, in August 2002, has motivated me to write this chapter. My father, himself a retired higher-primary teacher, taught school for most of his life. His colleague, while paying tribute to him, said (in Sesotho language), “Batho ba Bolata ba botswa ho phetla buka”. This sentence simply means, “Folks in Bolata are lazy to turn the pages of a book”. He meant that the majority of people residing in Bolata, Qwaqwa, Free State Province, in South Africa, were not educated or did not go to or were lazy to attend school. His statement struck me and I have been trying to grapple with it in the light of the African Adventist contribution to scholarly work in general. African Adventists are, by and large, well-educated – but the question is: “Are African Adventists afraid to create and contribute to knowledge?”
Thesis Chapters by Tankiso Letseli
University of Johannesburg Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, 2002
Book Reviews by Tankiso Letseli
Neotestamentica 55.1 (2021) 193–229, 2021
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Papers by Tankiso Letseli
6 because of the Sabbath language or words used? There is a verbal parallelism between Exod. 20:11 and Rev 10:5, 6 with reference to the usage of the following words, namely, heaven, earth, and sea. Is there a corresponding thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11? Does Rev. 10:5, 6 simply refer to the theme of creation in general as in Ps. 146:6 and Neh. 9:6, and not specifically to the Sabbath theme? Did John have the Sabbath in mind when he wrote Rev. 10:5, 6? This study intends to find out if there is indeed a thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11.
Books by Tankiso Letseli
Thesis Chapters by Tankiso Letseli
Book Reviews by Tankiso Letseli
6 because of the Sabbath language or words used? There is a verbal parallelism between Exod. 20:11 and Rev 10:5, 6 with reference to the usage of the following words, namely, heaven, earth, and sea. Is there a corresponding thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11? Does Rev. 10:5, 6 simply refer to the theme of creation in general as in Ps. 146:6 and Neh. 9:6, and not specifically to the Sabbath theme? Did John have the Sabbath in mind when he wrote Rev. 10:5, 6? This study intends to find out if there is indeed a thematic parallelism between Rev. 10:5, 6 and Exod. 20:11.