Dissertations / Theses: 'Early Christian Religion'

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Fai, Stephen. "Bodytemple metaphor: Early Christian reconciliation with Roman architecture." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/29329.

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The history of early Christian architecture has been presented as a gradual, typological transformation from undifferentiated residential buildings in the first two centuries, to modified residential buildings in the third, culminating in the monumental Constantinian structures of the fourth century. To rationalize this transformation, a great deal of scholarship has focused on identifying formal, cultural, and programmatic characteristics that might link the domus to the basilica. However, along held view is that the basilica, along with all monumental church architecture, is a Roman deviation in the evolution of Christianity. To support this argument, proponents read NT passages like the body/temple metaphor of 1 Cor. 3.16-17 and John 2.19-22 as indicative of a Christian rejection of Roman and Jewish material culture. These contrary aspects of early Christianity, the construction of monumental churches and the tacit rebuke of Roman architecture in Christian texts, have been characterized by Paul Corby Finney as iconic and aniconic. In an effort to better understand early Christian architecture, recent studies employ models from cultural theory and sociology to reveal the broader context of church building, demonstrating similar patterns of architectural development among other cultural groups living within the Empire. Richard Krautheimer and L. Michael White are foremost in this field and they have provided a solid foundation for re-evaluating the evidence. While these seminal archaeological and architectural studies have provided us with a chronology of formal and programmatic developments for the beginnings of Christian architecture, they have done little to help us understand how early Christians came to reconcile the conflicting ontological demands of being the temple in Christ (NT) with building the temple for Christ (Constantine). In this dissertation, I argue that a reconciliation between NT body/temple metaphor and Imperial Architecture, between the aniconic and iconic characteristics of Christianity, is achieved, in part, through a shift in the tenor of the metaphor that occurs through the second, third, and fourth centuries. The trajectory of this shift is traced from sources in the Gospels and Epistles through the Epistle of Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen to the panegyric written by Eusebius for the commemoration of Paulinus' church at Tyre in 317. I conclude that the metaphorical vehicle of the body/temple, first used rhetorically to unify and segregate the Christian community, has a hermeneutic function that reveals an architectural model in Christ Logos.

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Choi, Jung Hyun. ""Earn the Grace of Prophecy": Early Christian Prophecy as Practice." Thesis, Harvard University, 2016. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:32108298.

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This dissertation explores discussions of prophecy in early Christianity focusing on Origen of Alexandria’s works. It argues that Origen engages the contested terms of prophetic activity to persuade his audience(s) toward the cultivation of a particular moral self. The dissertation situates early Christian discourse on prophecy within a larger philosophical conversation in the Greco-Roman world from the first to fourth centuries C.E., in which cultivating a properly religious self involves discipline or askēsis. Some early Christian debates about prophecy are predicated on the idea that certain practices are necessary to be considered worthy of the indwelling of the divine/the Holy Spirit. Using Pierre Hadot’s insights, the dissertation contends that discourses on prophecy in early Christianity call for training in a particular way of living, and thus could be influential to early Christians regardless of whether they would ever attain the status of prophet or not. By encouraging his Christian readers to participate in reading and studying the Scripture as a way to purify their souls, Origen argues that everyone needs to cultivate himself or herself to be worthy to receive spiritual gifts such as prophecy. In his Commentary on Romans, Origen turns Paul’s exhortation to “strive for spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor 14:1) into a more general call to cultivate virtue through scriptural study. In Contra Celsum and the Homilies on Numbers, Origen invites the readers to participate in disciplined training so that they may become worthy instruments of the divine, just as the prophets are. The dissertation also compares Origen’s arguments with those of the Shepherd of Hermas and Iamblichus’s De Mysteriis, demonstrating that the ancient discussions of prophecy deploy similar strategies to persuade the audiences to participate in particular disciplined training, even if they have different ideas about what the best form of prophecy may be.

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Smith, Glenn. "The problem of evil in selected early Christian writings." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/7594.

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Gilmour, Michael J. "The significance of parallels between 2 Peter and other early Christian literature /." Thesis, McGill University, 2000. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=36794.

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Historians working with texts often experience a tension in their work. On the one hand there are questions raised by ancient documents. On the other, limited data makes it impossible to answer these questions with certainty. Second Peter illustrates both phenomena and as a result there is a proliferation of theories about its origin. It is used therefore as a test case in this dissertation which is primarily concerned with historical methodology. Scholars have questioned the authorship of 2 Peter since at least the second century and there remains to this day no consensus about such issues as date of composition, provenance, and destination. In short, fixing a precise historical location for 2 Peter is impossible because of a lack of evidence. To compensate for such historical gaps, scholarship has developed various theories that allow for tentative conclusions about where this and other writings best fit within early Christianity.
In many cases literary parallels have played a role in both developing and defending such theories. By observing similarities between texts (and put negatively, by observing how texts differ from one another---the absence of parallels) a variety of conclusions may be reached: one writing borrowed from another, writings that share a theological perspective belong to the same period of history, writings derive from a school, and so on.
This dissertation analyses several examples of how 2 Peter specifically is located using parallels as a basis. It is argued for a number of reasons that this 'tool' is not reliable and so, to assist with historical research, a series of criteria are given. These are provided as guidelines to help historians evaluate literary parallels and also to safeguard against inappropriate conclusions based on them. With respect to 2 Peter, it is argued that firm answers are out of reach for various questions given the available data.

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Hooker, Mischa A. "The Use of Sibyls and Sibylline Oracles in Early Christian Writers." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1210693456.

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Howland, Scott Charles. "Ontological Ecology: The Created World in Early Christian Monastic Spirituality." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1501073179289829.

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Breitenbach, Esther. "Empire, religion and national identity : Scottish Christian imperialism in the 19th and early 20th centuries." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/1726.

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This thesis examines the connection between participation in the British empire and constructions of Scottish national identity, through investigating the activities of civil society organisations in Scotland, in particular missionary societies and the Presbyterian churches in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Though empire is commonly thought to have had a significant impact on Scots' adoption of a British identity. The process of how representations of empire were transmitted and understood at home has been little explored. Similarly, religion is thought to have played an important role in supporting a sense of Scottish identity. but this theme has also been little explored. This thesis, then, examines evidence of civil society activity related to empire, including philanthropic and religious, learned and scientific, and imperial propagandist activities. In order to elucidate how empire was understood at home through the engagement with empire by civil society organisations. Of these forms of organisation. missionary societies and the churches were the most important in mediating an understanding of empire. The pattern of the growth and development of the movement in support of foreign missions is described and analysed, indicating its longevity, its typical functions and membership, and demonstrating both its middle class leadership and the active participation of women. Analysis of missionar) literature of a variety of types shows that dominant discourses of religion, race. gender and class produced iconic representations of the missionary experience which reflected the values of middle class Scots. The analysis also demonstrates both that representations of Scottish national identity were privileged over those of a British identity, but that these were complementary rather than being seen as in opposition to each other. Through examining the public profile of the missionary enterprise in the secular press it is shown that these representations were appropriated in the secular sphere to represent a specific Scottish contribution to empire. The thesis concludes that the missionary experience of empire. embedded as it was in the institutional life of the Presbyterian churches, had the capacity to generate representations and symbols of Scottish national identity which were widely endorsed in both religious and secular spheres in the age of high imperialism.

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Millsaps, Kevin Teed. "The Development of Apophatic Theology from the Pre-Socratics to the Early Christian Fathers." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2006. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2178.

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It is apparent that what is characterized as Christian Apophatic Theology has been poorly related to its antecedents existing in Greco-Roman philosophy. This study proposed the following research hypothesis: Greco-Roman philosophy exerted a structural and terminological influence upon Christian apophatic theology. To prove or disprove this hypothesis, apophatic terminology and textual structures in Greco-Roman philosophical texts were compared to classic Christian apophatic texts, primarily from the Apostolic and Cappadocian Fathers. Throughout this process, Michael Sells' clasic definition of apophatic language, consisting of the apearance of the metaphor of emanation, dis-ontological language, and dialectical language of immanence and transcendence, was used as a benchmark for the occurrence of apophatic language in the texts examined. It was found that Greco-Roman pagan apophatic philosophy exerted significantly less structural than terminological influence. Thus, this research will strengthen claims that Platonic and Neo-Platonic terminology was simply overlaid atop a pre-existing Semitic-Christian apophatic framework.

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Graham, E. Dorothy. "Chosen by God : the female itinerants of early primitive Methodism." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1986. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4557/.

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Present day Methodists are often surprised to learn that ‘women in the Ministry’ is not a twentieth century phenomenon; that the Bible Christians and Primitive Methodists had the flexibility and foresight to make valuable use of female preaching talents. This research has concentrated on the women travelling preachers of Primitive Methodism, starting from the premise that there were doubtless far more than was immediately apparent; searching them out; looking at their life and work; their value and influence within the context of the movement itself and in relation to the strata of society to which it chiefly appealed. I have sought to weigh the contemporary arguments about the merits and demerits of female preaching; to look at the gradual decline and ultimate demise of the female itinerant; to see if an explanation for their disappearance could be found in the prevailing social conditions or if the answer lay within Primitive Methodism itself. As Primitive Methodism moved from enthusiastic evangelism towards consolidation so its emphasis shifted and its attitudes developed and changed. The female travelling preachers played a vital, though often little acknowledged, role in the Connexional evolution and it is this role which I have tried to explore and evaluate.

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Miller, K. H. "The making of new people : A Jungian perspective on the development of Early Christian baptismal ritual." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.234499.

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Geiger, Kari J. "How You Have Fallen: Exploring the Benevolence of an Early Christian God as Seen Through a Progressively Embodied Satan." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/263.

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This paper attempts to explore the creation of Satan as an embodiment of evil in Early Christian theodicy. I use Greco-Roman myth and the Old Testament Book of Job to explore "duality," a system in which good and evil are encapsulated in gods or God. I attempt to trace the trajectory of a shift from this duality to a system of Christian cosmic "dualism," in which good and evil are separated as opposing forces. This shift is explored through the intertestamental Pseudepigrapha of 1 Enoch and Jubilees, towards the New Testament story of the Temptation of Christ in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Finally, exploring post-New Testament Christian ideas with Origen's seminal work On First Principles and the martyr text of Perpetua to investigate the Early Christian community's ideas of good, God, evil, and Satan.

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Zemaitis, Daniel Staley. "Convergent paths : the correspondence between Wycliffe, Hus and the early Quakers." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3465/.

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This dissertation examines the correspondence in theology, practice and social views between Early Quakers and John Wycliffe and John Hus (QWH), founders of the late-medieval heretical sects the Lollards and Hussites. It discusses the diversity of religious experience that characterized the first generation of ‘Early Quakers,’ and argues the end of early Quakerism as 1678, when the Quaker establishment completed enforcement of greater conformity in belief and practice. The dissertation examines Wycliffe and the Lollards and Hus and the Hussites, placing them in an experiential religious tradition and exploring their belief in the need to return to a primitive church in reaction to the perceived apostasy of the Catholic Church. By focusing on possible modes of dissemination of Wycliffe’s and Hus’ ideas and personal stories in works such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, the thesis concludes that there exists a close correspondence among QWH respecting the following characteristics: (1) accessibility of Christ’s message; (2) belief in the visible and invisible church; (3) biblical authority; (4) personal understanding of Scripture; (5) opposition to established churches; (6) return to a ‘primitive church’; (7) attitudes toward reforming society; (8) the imminence of Christ’s return; and (9) the role of women.

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Cho, Kyu-Hyung. "The move to independence from Anglican leadership : an examination of the relationship between Alexander Alfred Boddy and the early leaders of the British Pentecostal denominations (1907-1930)." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2009. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/421/.

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This thesis examines the relationship between the leaders of the Anglican Church, centring on Alexander Alfred Boddy (1854-1930), considered the father of British Pentecostalism, and the young Pentecostals in the process of formation of the three major Pentecostal denominations, namely, the Apostolic Faith Church, the Assemblies of God and the Elim Church. Although there were not many Anglican participants in British Pentecostalism and most Pentecostals came from Nonconformist backgrounds, Boddy dominated the leadership from the beginning. As a result, most of the British Pentecostals who were actively involved in the forming of Pentecostal denominations were either directly or indirectly influenced by him. However, as Pentecostalism grew, disagreement and conflict appeared over certain issues and intensified during the period when the Pentecostal denominations were taking shape. Finally, with the departure of the Anglican leaders from Pentecostalism, the Anglican influence disappeared. Although there is no doubt that Boddy’s contribution to the history of British Pentecostalism was considerable, there were huge gaps between his teachings and those of the men who became the denominational leaders of the Pentecostals.

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Wilkins, Ryan T. "The Influence of Israelite Temple Rites and Early Christian Esoteric Rites on the Development of Christian Baptism." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2011. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2908.

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This thesis seeks to answer the question of the origin of some of the most fundamental additions made to early Christian baptism. Christian baptism began in a relatively simple liturgical form, but became, by the fourth century, a much more dramatic set of initiation rituals. Among the added elements to baptism were washing ceremonies in the nude, physical anointing with oil, being marked or signed with the cross on the forehead, and receiving white garments. Scholars have proposed different theories as to the origins of these baptismal rituals. Some claim the elements existed in the New Testament practice of the rite. Others have supposed that the Christian church adopted the elements from either the Jewish synagogue or from contemporary pagan modes of initiation. This thesis argues that the initiation rituals of the Israelite tabernacle and temple provide a much more likely source for the added elements of Christian baptism. The esoteric practices of the temple priests became the esoteric tradition of early Christianity. The rites of this temple-oriented esoteric tradition in both the Old and New Testaments parallel, and may have been the origin for, the evolutions made to Christian baptism during the third and fourth centuries of the church. Christian groups such as the Valentinians provide evidence of higher esoteric rites being interpreted as baptism. Somehow the esoteric rites of the Israelite temple and the esoteric rites of early Christianity were adopted into the practice of Christian baptism.

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Carle, Gordon A. "Alexandria in the Shadow of the Hill Cumorah: A Comparative Historical Theology of the Early Christian and Mormon Doctrines of God." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/95.

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This work is a comparative study of the theological and historical development of the early Christian (pre-Nicene) and Mormon doctrines of God. For the Christian tradition, I follow a detailed study of the apostolic period, followed by the apologetical period, and then conclude with the pre-Nicene up to around 250 C.E. For the Mormon tradition, I cover the period beginning with the establishment of the Mormon Church in 1830 and conclude with its official doctrinal formulation in 1916. I begin this work with a chronological examination of the development of the Mormon doctrine of God, commencing with Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon and concluding with his revelations and additional translations of those books that make up the Pearl of Great Price. I then examine Brigham Young's single theological contribution, followed with the speculative contributions of Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John A. Widtsoe, B.H. Roberts, and concluding with James E. Talmage. This section covers chapters two through four. In chapters five through seven, I examine the theological contributions of Ignatius of Antioch, then Theophilus of Antioch, and conclude my study with the theological contributions of Origen of Alexandria. For the Christian tradition, I trace the development of the pre-Nicene theologians' struggle to explicate the theological and philosophical implications regarding the divinization of Christ within the context of monotheism.. At the end of chapters five through seven I include a succinct, comparative study of each father's doctrine with Mormon doctrine. This work will also address the major theological and historical factors that influenced both the Mormon and traditional Christian doctrines of God. Further, I contrast both theological systems and discuss their basic differences and similarities. My conclusion is that the fundamental difference between these two theological systems rests upon their foundational conceptions of reality as absolutist or finitist. The Mormon theological system rests upon a materialistic and monistic conception of reality, whereas traditional Christianity's system rests upon a dualistic conception of reality. In Mormon materialism, the Trinity is divided as individuated Gods; in Christian transcendence, the unity of God may only be maintained, while acknowledging the separate existences of the Persons of the Godhead, if the nature of God is understood as an incorporeal substance.

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Kelley, Nicole. "Knowledge and religious authority in the Pseudo-Clementines : situating the recognitions in fourth century Syria /." Tübingen : Mohr Siebeck, 2006. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0703/2006483075.html.

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17

Mason, Edward. "MORE THAN AN "IMMODERATE SUPERSTITION": CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES." UKnowledge, 2013. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/20.

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Only recently have scholars given particular attention to the development of the racial discourse present in early Christian apologetics. This study is aimed at understanding the Latin and Greek literary antecedents to the development of a Christian discourse on race and identity and examining in detail the apex of this discourse in the work of third century apologist Origen of Alexandria. Origen’s work represented the apex of an evolving discourse that, while continuing to use traditional vocabulary, became increasingly universalizing with the growth of the Roman Empire. By understanding how Christians in the first three centuries shaped their attitudes on race and identity, scholars can better comprehend the place of Christianity within the cultural framework of the Roman Empire.

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Byler, Dorvan. "Flee from the Worship of Idols: Becoming Christian in Roman Corinth." Kent State University Honors College / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1431446369.

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Incigneri, Brian, and res cand@acu edu au. "My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me? : The setting and rhetoric of Mark's Gospel." Australian Catholic University. School of Theology, 2001. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp6.19072005.

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This study proposes that the design of Mark's Gospel is best appreciated by recognising the particular political, social and religious situation that gave rise it, and by taking into account the concerns, experiences and emotions of both the author and the intended readers. It is argued that proposals for an Eastern provenance lack evidence and plausibility, and that the Gospel was written in Rome. The time of writing is identified as the latter months of 71, as the Gospel contains a number of indications that the Jerusalem Temple had been destroyed and that the Triumph of Vespasian and Titus in July/August 71 had recently occurred. Moreover, there are several allusions to events that had occurred within a year or two prior to that date. An investigation of the political and social situation shows that Christians had reason to be fearful, especially after the return of Titus. Through an examination of the rhetorical techniques contained within the text, it is proposed that the Gospel was a response to the protracted suffering of the Christians of Rome, addressing their doubts about God in the face of Roman power, their fear of further executions, and stresses within the community caused by apostasy and betrayal. Paying close attention to the mood of the text, an analysis of Mark's rhetoric shows how it responds to the readers' anxieties (including fear of delation), counters Flavian propaganda, and provides hope and strength. As appeals to the emotions were regarded as a key tool of ancient rhetoric, careful attention is paid to their use throughout the Gospel, showing that Mark produced a text full of pathos, matching the highly stressful atmosphere, and placing the readers' cries for help and prayers into the mouths of characters. In repeatedly stirring the readers' emotions by reminding them of their own painful experiences and by alluding to contemporary events and social attitudes, Mark explains why they are persecuted, and helps them to deal with their fear. He portrays Jesus as the one who had led the way by accepting martyrdom for the gospel in similar circumstances. He shapes many scenes to remind them of their Roman situation, especially the trials and executions of fellow Christians. Mark's rhetorical use of the disciples is also explored, showing that he aimed to elicit sympathy for those who had failed under pressure, which indicates that he was advocating their readmittance into the community. It is proposed that reading the Gospel as rhetoric addressed to this situation provides a quite different view of its nature, design and purposes, and gives a very different perspective to a number of debated issues within Markan scholarship.

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20

Ridley, Sarah Elizabeth. ""That Every Christian May Be Suited": Isaac Watts's Hymns in the Writings of Early Mohegan Writers, Samson Occom and Joseph Johnson." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984204/.

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This thesis considers how Samson Occom and Joseph Johnson, Mohegan writers in Early America, used the hymns of English hymnodist, Isaac Watts. Each chapter traces how either Samson Occom or Joseph Johnson's adapted Isaac Watts's hymns for Native communities and how these texts are sites of affective sovereignty.

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Hodgman, Scott William. "Distinction without Separation: Challenging Contemporary Yoga-Christian Praxis Dialogue Through a Comparison of Striving and Personal Transformation in the Yoga-Sūtra and the Life of Moses." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2007. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/rs_theses/7.

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In contemporary society, distinct traditions are bleeding into one another, blurring traditional lines of inquiry and historically significant boundaries. This phenomenon frames this project and creates the context for the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue this study constructively critiques. Unfortunately, this dialogue exhibits an Eliadean concern for essentialism and universality. I challenge this trend by juxtaposing two distinct texts, Patañjali‘s Yoga-Sūtra and Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses. These texts point to the similar idea that without striving and personal transformation neither the yogic practitioner nor practicing Christian logically subsists. More importantly, however, from this point of correspondence I constructively critique the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue by concretely engaging these texts and paying particular attention to the differences inherent in them. My comparison, then, suggests how attention to particularity points to a more authentic dialogue: what I wish to call a dialogue of distinction without separation.

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Selby, Parker. "Husayn's Dirt: The Beginnings and Development of Shi'i Ziyara in the Early Islamic Period." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500473250503136.

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23

Moore, Nicholas J. ""Not to offer himself again and again" : an exegetical and theological study of repetition in the Letter to the Hebrews." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7402e9b1-28f1-4075-b407-dd02c30c1d20.

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Repetition has received a bad press in certain streams of theological tradition; this reception has in part been caused by, and has in turn affected, readings of the Letter to the Hebrews, which speaks about repetition in ways unique in the New Testament. The present study addresses the insufficient critical attention paid to repetition in Hebrews, challenging the assumption that it functions uniformly and negatively throughout the letter, and exploring the variety of ways in which Hebrews presents repetition. The plurality of prophetic speech displays God’s manifold kindness in the old covenant; such speech is not opposed to but is fulfilled in Christ’s coming, and its ongoing repetition in the new covenant through citation and exposition serves to promote and explicate that event. Repeated mutual encouragement is essential to persevering in the Christian life and avoiding apostasy. And the regular entry of the Levitical priests into the outer sanctuary of the tabernacle in Heb 9.6 foreshadows the continual access to God achieved through Christ. Where repetition has a negative or contrastive role in the author’s argumentation, it does not cause inefficacy but rather indicates a weakness whose source is elsewhere – and which, moreover, is revealed fully only in the light of the Christ event. The uniqueness of Christ and of his death construed as a sacrifice, developed from concepts of singularity in Day of Atonement and early Christian crucifixion traditions, forms a unifying strand in the letter’s Christology. Rather than functioning in simple opposition to repetition, this singularity corresponds to continuity and eternity, and is developed at times in contrast to, and at times in correspondence with, repetition. The study thus offers a reappraisal of repetition in Hebrews, laying the foundations for renewed appreciation of the importance of repetition for theological discourse and religious life.

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Judge, Rebecca. "The Transformative Presence of the Theotokos: Aid in Our Suffering, Illness, and Healing." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1626736145589305.

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25

Givens, David. "Misogynous or misunderstood? : a false dichotomy for understanding women's roles in gnostic writings." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2007. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1082.

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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.
Bachelors
Arts and Humanities
Religious Studies

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26

Parks, Robert N. "Gender, Image of God, and the Bishop's Body: Augustine on Women in Christ and the Church." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1596704007228859.

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27

Burdick, Tim. "Neo-evangelical identity within American Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) : Oregon early Meeting, 1919-1947." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2013. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4152/.

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This thesis is an historical case-study using archival written data to analyse the formation of a neo-evangelical identity within Oregon Yearly Meeting (OYM) of the Religious Society of Friends, with emphasis on the years 1919-1947. The argument of this thesis is that by 1919 there were fundamentalist thinking patterns developing within the corporate religious identity of the Yearly Meeting (YM) marked by ecumenical separatism, world-rejecting views, biblical literalism and decreasing social action. The values of this fundamentalist identity became dominant by 1926, pervading the mindset of the YM until the late 1940s when it was replaced with a more socially-concerned, world-engaging expression of evangelicalism. This neo-evangelicalism attempted to highlight positive Christianity, while maintaining the supernatural orthodox theology of its fundamentalist predecessors. The pattern that unfolded in OYM shares similarities with a larger pattern taking place throughout Protestant Christianity in America over the same period. This research makes original contributions to scholarship in three ways. Firstly, it analyses a particularly influential group among evangelical American Quakers during the twentieth-century. Secondly, it starts to redress the dearth of scholarship specific to evangelical Quakerism, and, thirdly it adds to the scholarship on twentieth-century American Protestantism by focusing on an understudied region and denomination.

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Keucher, Gerald W. "The rule of formation in the early church the Disciplina arcani re-examined /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1994. http://www.tren.com.

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Bell, Tyler. "The religious reuse of Roman structures in Anglo-Saxon England." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2001. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f631fee6-5081-4c40-af85-61725776cbf6.

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This thesis examines the post-Roman and Anglo-Saxon religious reuse of Roman structures, particularly burials associated with Roman structures, and churches on or near Roman buildings. Although it is known that the Anglo-Saxons existed in and interacted with the vestigial, physical landscape of Roman Britain, the specific nature and result of this interaction has not been completely understood. The present study examines the Anglo-Saxon religious reuse of Roman structures in an attempt to understand the Anglo-Saxon perception of Roman structures and the impact they had on the developing ecclesiastical landscape. In particular, the study reveals how we may better understand the structural coincidence of Roman buildings and early-medieval religious activity in the light of the apparent discontinuity between many Roman and early-medieval landscapes in Britain. The study begins by providing an overview of the evidence for existing Roman remains in the Anglo-Saxon period. It examines the archaeological and historical evidence, and discusses literary references to Roman structures in an attempt to ascertain how the ruins of Roman villas, towns and forts would have been perceived. Particular attention is paid to The Ruin, a poem in Old English which provides us with our only contemporary description of Roman remains in Britain. The first chapter concludes by examining the evidence for the religious reuse of Roman secular structures in Gaul and Rome, providing a framework into which the evidence in the subsequent chapters is placed. The examination the proceeds to burials on or associated with Roman structures. It shows that the practice of interring the dead into Roman structures occurred between the fifth and eighth centuries, but peaked at the beginning of the seventh, with comparatively few sites at the extreme end of the data range. The discussion is based on the evidence of 115 sites that show this burial rite, but it is very apparent that this number is only a fragment of the whole, as these inhumations are often mistakenly identified as Roman, even when the stratigraphy demonstrates that burial occurred after the ruin of the villa, as is often the case. The placement of the bodies show a conscious reuse of the ruinous architecture, rather then suggesting interment was made haphazardly on the site: frequently the body is placed either centrally within a room, or is in contact with some part of the Roman fabric. Some examples suggest that there may have been a preference for apsidal rooms for this purpose. Churches associated with Roman buildings are then examined, and their significance in the development of the English Christian landscape is discussed. Churches of varying status – from minsters to chapels – can be found on Roman buildings throughout the country. Roman structures were clearly chosen for the sites of churches from the earliest Christian period into the tenth, and probably even the eleventh century. Alternatives to the so-called proprietary model are examined, and their origins and development are discussed, particularly in reference to the continental evidence. The end of the study places the thesis into a wider landscape context, and introduces potential avenues of further exploration using GIS. The study concludes that there are a number of causes underlying the religious reuse of Roman buildings, each not necessarily exclusive of the other, and that the study of these sites can further any investigation into the development of the ecclesiastical topography of England, and the eventual development of the parochial landscape.

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Georgieva, Elena. "Le chemin de la vérité: la persuasion de la puissance divine dans le Contre Celse d'Origène." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/210997.

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Résumé

de la thèse « Le chemin de la vérité :la persuasion de la puissance divine dans le Contre Celse d’Origène

Les traités du Contre Celse permettent d’aborder la problématique de la persuasion de l’enseignement chrétien en ce qu'ils témoignent de l’affrontement virulent de deux visions du monde, - celle du monde gréco-romain et celle de l’enseignement chrétien. En effet, l’essor du mouvement chrétien devrait beaucoup à la lumière de cette rhétorique, oserons-nous dire cette propagande, qui propose une vision du monde nouvelle en s’appuyant sur une théologie qui s’escrime à dépasser la culture gréco-romaine en l’intégrant dans sa propre vision du monde. En ce, l’École d’Alexandrie en général et Origène en particulier seraient les fondateurs d’une nouvelle lecture théologique tant du point de vue polythéiste que de celui du christianisme.

Du point de vue méthodologique, je me suis attelée à ce travail en constatant une insuffisance, pour ne pas dire un manque, d’études consacrées à la pratique rhétorique chez Origène. L’idée d’une rhétorique entendue comme un genre secondaire moins « noble », entre guillemets, que le théologique est sans doute la cause de cette lacune scientifique ;or, force est de constater que les Apologistes ayant précédé le penseurs alexandrin et lui-même sont souvent formés à la rhétorique ce qui ne va pas sans incidence directe sur leurs œuvres attendu que formation et méthodes font souvent un avec l’élaboration de savoirs.

L’objet immédiat du travail était de décrire et d’analyser par une lecture centrée sur la rhétorique apologétique les lieux communs et les arguments que celle-ci fournit, et qui affectent la structure de la pensée d’Origène. Pour mieux comprendre le processus de persuasion mis en œuvre par le théologien, j’ai pensé que les topoï qu’il emprunte au savoir classique étaient des éléments tangibles qu’il convenait de prendre au sérieux plutôt que de la ranger au placard des vieilleries scolaires. Somme, mon soupçon, ma seconde approche du corpus, était qu’au travers du plus banal de son œuvre, - son infrastructure scolaire-, je toucherai son originalité. Il restait à prouver si ce paradoxe pouvait s’avérer fécond en analysant le discours d’Origène et en m’efforçant de réévaluer, réinterpréter et intégrer dans les recherches portant sur son œuvre la question négligée de sa pratique rhétorique. Somme toute, j’ai tenté de mieux comprendre comment l’homme de l’Antiquité posait la question du sens.

Le plan d’ensemble de ma thèse comprend deux parties. Dans la première partie, j’ai dégagé les grandes lignes de l’approche rhétorique d’Origène en prenant pour fil conducteur la question de la véracité de la révélation qui s’impose comme le thème dominant de son entreprise. Ceci m’a conduit à l’examen de l’idée d’autonomie, que celle-ci agisse sur la pensée comme force centripète ou centrifuge, permettant tantôt de se démarquer en minimisant, voire en gommant les différences, tantôt de les exalter en les proclamant. Dans la deuxième partie, j’ai essayé de démontrer les éléments historiques et philosophiques à partir desquels le modèle de la pensée chrétienne a été configuré. J’ai ainsi dégagé l’idée que le récit évangélique a été élaboré tout à la fois par rapport aux modèles de l’histoire « sainte » biblique et les modèles généalogiques de la tradition gréco-romaine.

En premier lieu, j’ai démontré que la démarche apologétique d’Origène consistait à faire se côtoyer la puissance persuasive de la parole transcendante et celle de la parole rhétorique humaine. Or « faire se côtoyer » la puissance persuasive de la parole transcendante et celle de la parole rhétorique ne signifie pas pour autant les mettre sur le même pied. On peut donc affirmer la conjonction de la « rhétorique » ineffable de la puissance divine et de la « bonne rhétorique » dans la méthode apologétique d’Origène.

L’apologétique chrétienne, s’engageant dans une relation de pouvoir par rapport aux « autres » concurrentiels, est amenée à construire la conception de la vérité chrétienne unique et la plus ancienne par opposition à la diversité des doctrines philosophiques et religieuses de la tradition gréco-romaine, et en continuité avec la doctrine hébraïque perçue comme dépassée. En effet, la vérité chrétienne est identifiée à l’origine, à la pureté et à l’essence. De là les deux arguments apologétiques les plus puissants :démontrer l’unité et l’ancienneté de la doctrine chrétienne et donc construire une généalogie à partir d’une seule source originelle, Dieu. En postulant une « vérité absolue » qu’on identifie avec Jésus Christ, le Logos, l’apologiste interprète les enseignements de ses adversaires comme une déviation de cette vérité ou comme une vérité dépassée. Le double chemin vers l’origine est donc symboliquement barré. Par ailleurs, l’apologiste élabore une forme d’échelle de vérité où les rivaux de l’enseignement chrétien ne sont que des moyens rhétoriques pour démontrer la supériorité chrétienne.

L’élaboration de la conception de la vérité absolue chrétienne va de pair avec la constitution discursive de l’« autre ». En tenant compte de la relation discursive intersubjective, je parle d’une constitution discursive de l’« autre ». C’est précisément la finalité apologétique du Contre Celse qui nous permet d’affirmer le caractère construit de la notion de l’« autre » en tant que construction rhétorique. L’« autre », qu’il soit juif ou païen ou gnostique, est constitué à partir du projet chrétien. Mieux, il reçoit sa définition uniquement en fonction de sa différence avec le christianisme. Deux stratégies apologétiques s’imposent ainsi :d’une part minimiser, voire gommer, les différences internes au mouvement chrétien et grossir les différences avec l’« autre » et, d’autre part, grossir les différences en minimisant les ressemblances, en les décrivant comme une imitation ou un vol (le thème du larcin).

En second lieu, on peut affirmer que le mythe informe le « récit évangélique » dans la mesure où l’histoire individuelle de Jésus et le mythe du Christ se retrouvent fusionnés d’une manière inextricable dans la narration christologique. Le mythe apparaît ainsi comme une construction symbolique fondée sur les symboles et formes déjà existants ;mais, qui plus est, étant un récit, il reforme et transforme ces symboles dans une nouvelle structure propre à lui. Lorsque je parle du mythe chrétien, j’entends un système dynamique de schèmes qui, sous l’impulsion du schème général mythique de kat‹basiw-Žn‹basiw, tend à se configurer en récit évangélique. Ainsi, le mythe peut traduire l’accumulation d’« essaims » ou de « constellations » de schèmes. C’est en ce sens qu’on parle du message chrétien comme étant exprimé en un langage mythique. J’ai adopté le terme générique de « schème » dans le sens d’un modèle, une « engramme ».

L’ingéniosité chrétienne consiste à constituer le schéma mythique de kat‹basiw-Žn‹basiw, sur lequel repose le « mythe fondateur » chrétien. Il est fondé sur la conception d’une histoire sainte articulant expression mythique et expression historique au sein d’un schéma temporel finalisé. J’ai relevé trois modèles principaux de l’histoire sous-tendant les divers types de récits bibliques :l’histoire « blanche », l’histoire-fait, l’histoire-événement. L’histoire « blanche » présente les deux réalités, le « Même » et l’ « Autre », existant chacune pour soi et sans aucun contact entre elles. En revanche, l’histoire-fait présente leur communication en dehors du temps. Enfin, l’histoire-événement présente le passage de Celui qui agit d’un principe à l’autre dans un système où le temps se déroule. On peut retrouver ces modèles de l’histoire concrétisés dans un certain nombre de récits bibliques :le récit de la création, le récit de la séduction ou le récit du péché, le récit de l’alliance ou le récit de la médiation divine.

Enfin, j’ai étudié l’élaboration du « récit évangélique » par rapport à un certain nombre de récits qui se transposent et s’entrecroisent entre eux, à savoir le « récit de l’alliance », le « récit messianique » et le « récit généalogique ». La configuration du récit évangélique repose sur le jeu dynamique entre les récits identifiables déjà sédimentés dans des traditions différentes et le récit innovateur d’une déviance réglée. Le « récit évangélique » consiste en la combinaison unique de l’histoire et du mythe, qui se donne comme un récit fondateur mytho-historique. La prédication de Jésus met en place une historicisation du mythe. En même temps, avec les évangiles, on assiste à un processus de mythisation de Jésus qui aboutit à sa divinisation. L’élaboration du « récit évangélique » tire son intelligibilité de l’ensemble des opérations par lesquelles une herméneutique actualisante s’est transposée sur les récits et modèles anciens et les prophéties hébraïques. On peut affirmer que le « récit évangélique » a été configuré à la jonction des représentations bibliques et grecques.

L’originalité du christianisme consiste en la perspective universelle que le « récit évangélique » revêt. Ainsi, le devenir est divisé en trois temps qui sont reliés entre eux de manière structurée à travers l’intermédiaire divin de Jésus Christ qui assure les renvois théologiques et contrôle ainsi le monde de tout les temps.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation histoire des religions
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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Sheely, Stephen R. "Intimacy in the early church and pagan groups." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1990. http://www.tren.com.

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Buglione, Stanley L. "The importance of spiritual apprenticeship in early Christian monasticism living relationship versus written rule /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2000. http://www.tren.com.

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Stuart-Buttle, Tim. "Classicism, Christianity and Ciceronian academic scepticism from Locke to Hume, c.1660-c.1760." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a181f810-9637-4b70-a147-ea9444a54cd5.

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This study explores the rediscovery and development of a tradition of Ciceronian academic scepticism in British philosophy between c.1660-c.1760. It considers this tradition alongside two others, recently recovered by scholars, which were recognised by contemporaries to offer opposing visions of man, God and the origins of society: the Augustinian-Epicurean, and the neo-Stoic. It presents John Locke, Conyers Middleton and David Hume as the leading figures in the revival of the tradition of academic scepticism. It considers their works in relation to those of Anthony Ashley Cooper, third earl of Shaftesbury, and Bernard Mandeville, whose writings refashioned respectively the neo-Stoic and Augustinian-Epicurean traditions in influential ways. These five individuals explicitly identified themselves with these late Hellenistic philosophical traditions, and sought to contest and redefine conventional estimations of their meaning and significance. This thesis recovers this debate, which illuminates our understanding of the development of the ‘science of man’ in Britain. Cicero was a central figure in Locke’s attempt to explain, against Hobbes, the origins of society and moral consensus independent of political authority. Locke was a theorist of societies, religious and civil. He provided a naturalistic explanation of moral motivation and sociability which, drawing heavily from Cicero, emphasised the importance of men’s concern for the opinions of others. Locke set this within a Christian divine teleology. It was Locke’s theologically-grounded treatment of moral obligation, and his attack on Stoic moral philosophy, that led to Shaftesbury’s attempt to vindicate Stoicism. This was met by Mandeville’s profoundly Epicurean response. The consequences of the neo-Epicurean and neo-Stoic traditions for Christianity were explored by Middleton, who argued that only academic scepticism was consistent with Christian belief. Hume explored the relationship between morality and religion with continual reference to Cicero. He did so, in contrast to Locke or Middleton, to banish entirely moral theology from philosophy.

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Mikhail, Wageeh Yousif Fana. "The missiological significance of early Christian Arab theology with special reference to the Abbasid period (750-1258) /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2004.

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van, der Lugt Mara. "'Pierre, or the ambiguities' : Bayle, Jurieu and the Dictionnaire Historique et Critique." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:02bbbbda-7fa3-4c1c-af05-99842a9217e0.

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This thesis presents a new study of Pierre Bayle’s Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (1696), with special reference to Bayle’s polemical engagement with the theologian Pierre Jurieu. While recent years have seen a surge of interest in Bayle, there is as yet no consensus on how to interpret Bayle’s ambiguous stance on reason and religion, and how to make sense of the Dictionnaire: although specific parts of the Dictionnaire have received much scholarly attention, the work has hardly been studied as a whole, and little is known about how the Dictionnaire was influenced by Bayle’s polemic with Jurieu. This thesis aims to establish a new method for reading the Dictionnaire, under a dual premise: first, that the work can only be rightly understood when placed within the immediate context of its production in the 1690s; second, that it is only through an appreciation of the mechanics of the work as a whole, and of the role played by its structural and stylistic particularities, that we can attain an appropriate interpretation of its parts. Special attention is paid to the heated theological-political conflict between Bayle and Jurieu in the 1690s, which had a profound influence on the project of the dictionary and on several of its major themes, such as the tensions in the relationship between the intellectual sphere of the Republic of Letters and the political state, but also the danger of religious fanaticism spurring intolerance and war. The final chapters demonstrate that Bayle’s clash with Jurieu was also one of the driving forces behind Bayle’s reflection on the problem of evil; they expose the fundamentally problematic nature of both Bayle’s theological association with Jurieu, and his self-defence in the second edition of the Dictionnaire. The title of this thesis comes from Herman Melville’s novel: ‘Pierre, or the Ambiguities’.

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Thomson, Donna R. "Growing in Favor with God: Young Children's Spiritual Development and Implications for Christian Education." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9823/.

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Experts do not agree on the definition of spiritual development although positive spiritual development benefits society in many ways. Without agreement on the definition of spiritual development and a common understanding of spiritual development, parents, teachers, and pastors who are entrusted with the task of fostering positive spiritual development in Christian settings face the challenges of determining what spiritual development is (definition), the desired goals (culmination) of spiritual development, and the most effective ways to meet those goals (context and content). The purpose of this study was to use data, from the social sciences and Christian points of view, to inform Christian education programs and arrive at recommendations for fostering young children's spiritual development. Data sources include textual literature from the social science and Christian points of view. In addition, the researcher gathered interview data from twenty children's pastors. Research results included: 1. It is possible that spirituality is associated with sensory awareness. 2. Examining spirituality as sensory awareness may lead to focusing on innate qualities of spiritual capacity with a more focused inclusion of children with special needs in faith-based programs, a God-given conscience, and consideration that children may be born with spiritual gifts to express their spiritual nature. 3. Congregations/parishes under utilize intergenerational activities, time for quiet and reflection, and opportunities to talk to children about spiritual matters.

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Mead, Jason Andrew. "The survival of the Oriental church during the early Muslim empire." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2001. http://www.tren.com.

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Northcote, Vivien. "The use of Christian imagery by the National Society of the Church of England in Religious Education materials from 1884 until the early twentieth century." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2004. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/84641/.

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This thesis examines the work of the National Society of the Church of England in Religious Education, with particular reference to the use of illustrated material in Religious Education textbooks and pupils’ books at the end of the nineteenth century. It begins with an outline of the National Society’s early development and the start of its publishing house, The Depository, in 1845. It then looks at some aspects of teacher training, curricula for Religious Education and the importance attached by the National Society to the moral and Christian training of teachers who later taught in Board Schools as well as Church of England schools. The thesis briefly discusses the reasons for the National Society’s publications in the light of contemporary Victorian ideas and then considers in details the following publications: The life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, The Childhood of Christ, The Ministry of Christ, The Passion of Christ and The Resurrection of Christ, the first of these being written by F.T. Palgrave and the others by an unknown author ‘R.E.H’, all being illustrated with twenty-four chromolithographs of Italian Renaissance Christian paintings dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Later materials, produced by the National Society and other publishers are then examined, in order to demonstrate the significance of The Life and The Stories. In revealing this part of educational history the thesis demonstrates that these publications were precursors for modern books, considered a success by contemporary teachers, in order to meet their own standards and the demands of the government regulations. The method used has been archival research into written sources and art historical research into the illustrations, with historical and theological method applied where appropriate.

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Reed, Annette Yoshiko. "Fallen angels and the history of Judaism and Christianity : the reception of Enochic literature /." New York, NY [u.a.] : Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0514/2005018156.html.

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Richter, Konstantin Alexander. "The historic religious buildings of Ribeira Grande: implementation of christian models in the early colonies, 15th till 17th century, on the example of Cape Verde Islands." Doctoral thesis, Universidade da Madeira, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/256.

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Maymó, i. Capdevila Pere. "El ideario de lo sacro en Gregorio Magno (590-604). De los santos en la diplomacia pontificia." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/123278.

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Esta tesis doctoral tiene por objetivo analizar la relevancia ideológica y política de Gregorio Magno (590-604), autor de un prolífico corpus exegético, así como de un valiosísimo Registrum epistularum que contiene buena parte de la información conocida para la Italia de su tiempo. Además, su papel en la organización de la Iglesia de Roma prefigura el poder terrenal que adquiere definitivamente el Papado en época carolingia. Ha sido nuestra pretensión considerar a Gregorio desde esta dualidad, síntesis entre Romanitas y Christianitas, para entender la globalidad de su pensamiento y la trascendencia de su política. A tal efecto, hemos estructurado la tesis en cinco partes, de las cuales, la Parte I incluye los objetivos científicos y la introducción metodológica, mientras que la Parte V expone los logros conseguidos a modo de conclusiones. Las tres partes restantes componen el grueso de la investigación y se corresponden con los tres ejes de nuestro discurso. En la Parte II, contextualizamos la figura de Gregorio en las coordenadas históricas y especialmente culturales que influyeron en su pensamiento. Nos ha parecido lógico empezar por su educación –tanto laica como religiosa–, puesto que ésta cimienta su concepción del mundo y deviene referencia ineludible para cualquier análisis de su obra. La Parte III trata del ideario de lo sacro. Analizamos ciertos componentes accesorios – pero muy relevantes– del discurso proselitista gregoriano: la música, la imagen y las reliquias. De todos ellos se sirve el pontífice en favor de la evangelización; los tres se sacralizan al tiempo que se controla su producción y uso; en conjunto, se instrumentalizan para establecer un vínculo espiritual con Roma que incida en su autoridad moral en el Mediterráneo tardoantiguo. También estudiamos la actitud resultante de esta redefinición de lo sagrado en la nueva religiosidad cristiana con respecto de la alteridad religiosa; así, abordamos las diversas actuaciones gregorianas para con los herejes y cismáticos –arrianos, donatistas y tricapitolinos– o bien ante los infieles –judíos y paganos–, evidenciando las diferencias en el trato hacia unos y otros. Incluimos, además, su obra hagiográfica, los Dialogorum libri quatuor, de discutida autoría, en la cual aparece una concepción de la santidad generada por las particulares circunstancias de una Italia escindida entre bizantinos y longobardos. En ella, habitan la Península Itálica una miríada de santos próximos y coetáneos –los uiri Dei gregorianos– que ratifican la continuidad de la intervención divina en el mundus con el propósito de dotar a las tierras italianas de un santoral propio y cercano. Dedicamos la Parte IV al análisis de la Realpolitik desarrollada por el papa ante las diferentes monarquías de la Romania del siglo VI. Dividimos esta parte en dos apartados principales: el primero se refiere a la concepción monárquica teórica de Gregorio, forjada en las virtudes bíblicas, pero actualizada según los parámetros tardoantiguos; el segundo profundiza en su obra de gobierno ante el Imperio bizantino y los reinos germánicos europeos. En cuanto a este segundo apartado, reseñamos las iniciativas diplomáticas del Magno interpretándolas en clave “hagiopolítica”, neologismo que empleamos para definir toda actuación política fundamentada en un principio hagiológico. Nos parece obvio que Gregorio se valió de su nuevo ideario de lo sacro, y especialmente las reliquias le ayudaron a ganar el favor de los poderosos del mundo en su intento por incrementar la influencia de Roma en el Mediterráneo postimperial. Por otra parte, ya fuera ante el emperador o ante los reyes germánicos, Gregorio hizo siempre gala de una ductilidad política que evidenciaba su adaptativa personalidad. Y todavía añadimos un tercer punto: la actitud de Gregorio para con las reinas. Aquí se nos revela como un papa completamente original, pues mantuvo una abundante correspondencia con diversas soberanas y patricias que le había de procurar su apoyo ante sus esposos, un elemento indispensable en la cristianización de las nuevas sociedades germánicas. Completamos nuestras aportaciones con un par de Apéndices: el primero trata de las reliquias fundacionales y personales enviadas o solicitadas por el pontífice, trazando un mapa de destinatarios que nos indica la relevancia relicaria en la política papal; el segundo elabora una lista definitiva de los uiri Dei presentes en los Dialogi con la intención de ponderar su origen social y su importancia en la cultura de la Italia bizantina.
This thesis aims to analyse the ideological and political relevance of Gregory the Great (590-604), author of a prolific exegetical corpus and a valuable Registrum epistularum which contains the bulk of the information known for the Italy of his time. It has been our intention to consider the pontiff from this duality, synthesis of Romanitas and Christianitas, to understand the wholeness of his thought and the transcendence of his politics. Thus, we have divided our thesis into three axes. In the first axe (Part II), we study Gregory’s figure in the historical and especially cultural context which influence on his discernment. Both his laic and religious education constitute the basis of his conception of the world and become indispensable for any research on his work. The second axe (Part III) deals with the ideology of the sacred. Firstly, we examine some accessory but important components of his proselytism –music, image and relics–, which the pope used to establish a spiritual bond with Rome that concerns her moral authority in the late antique Mediterranean. Secondly, we study the effect of Gregory’s redefinition of the sacred on his different attitude towards religious otherness: heretic, schismatic or unfaithful. Finally, we analyse the Dialogorum libri quatuor, whose authorship is discussed. In this hagiographical work, Italy is inhabited by many close and contemporary saints –the Gregorian uir Dei– who ratify God’s intervention to provide this land its own holy men. The third axe (Part IV) refers to the pontifical Realpolitik developed before the different monarchies of the sixth century Romania. We examine his monarchical conception and evaluate his actual and adaptive diplomacy before the Byzantine Empire or the Germanic kingdoms to interpret Gregory’s political interventions from a “hagiopolitical” point of view. It seems clear to us that the pontiff made use of his new ideology of the sacred to increase Rome’s influence, and the relics sent to sovereigns and patricians are the best example. Besides, Gregory was the first pope who kept a significant correspondence with empresses and queens, whose influence on their consorts was to become essential in the Christianisation of the late antique societies. The thesis also includes two Appendixes dealing with the relics and the uiri Dei, respectively.

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Nair, Jacquelyn. "“NEITHER WITH THE OPINIONS OF THE GREEKS NOR WITH THE CUSTOMS OF THE BARBARIANS”: THE USE OF CLASSIC GREEK IMAGERY IN EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1377618049.

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Blidstein, Moshe. "'All is pure for the pure' : redefining purity and defilement in early Greek Christianity, from Paul to Origen." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:28de3859-1f90-4227-832d-4830653e198d.

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This thesis examines the meanings of purification practices and purity concepts in early Christian culture, as they were articulated and formed by Greek Christian authors of the first three centuries, from Paul to Origen. As purity and defilement are especially suited for articulating difference, hierarchy and change, these concepts were essential for early Christians, shaping their understanding of human nature, sin, history, and ritual. In parallel, the major Christian practices embodying difference and change, baptism, abstinence from food or sexual activity, were all understood, emoted and shaped as instances of purification. Two broad motivations, at some tension with each other, were at the basis of Christian purity discourse. The first was a substantive motivation: the creation and maintenance of anthropologies and ritual theories coherent with the theological principles of the new religion, and the integration of purity traditions and concepts into these worldviews and theories. The second was a polemic motivation: construction of Christian identity by laying claim to true purity while marking the purity practices and beliefs of others (Jews, pagan or “heretics”) as false. I trace the interplay of these factors through a close reading of second- and third-century Christian Greek authors discussing food abstentions, death defilement, sexuality and baptism, on the background of Greco-Roman and Jewish purity discourses. This thesis demonstrates three central arguments. First, purity and defilement are central concepts for understanding Christian cultures of the second and third centuries. Second, Christianities developed their own conceptions and practices of purity and purification, distinct from those current in contemporary and earlier Jewish and pagan cultures, though decisively influenced by them. Third, concepts and practices of purity and defilement were shifting and contentious, an arena for boundary-marking between Christians and others and between different Christian groups.

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Behr, John. "Godly lives : asceticism and anthropology, with special reference to sexuality in the writings of St. Irenaeus of Lyons and St. Clement of Alexandria." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1995. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:cf34ec7b-4b0c-4f4c-ba86-89e438f84db5.

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This thesis aims to restore the balance of modern investigations into Christian asceticism and anthropology by reading the texts of Sts. Irenaeus and Clement within their theological perspectives, and thereby examine the presuppositions determining how we think about sexual difference. In the Introduction I examine the projects of M. Foucault and P. Brown, arguing that they do not remain faithful to the concerns of the texts which they treat. In Part One, I show how asceticism, for Irenaeus, is the expression of the human living the life of God in the body, that which is most characteristically human and the image of God. Sexuality is fundamental to human existence, forming a permanent part of the framework within which humans grow towards God. This growth results from humans acting responsively to the creative activity of God. That God is the source of the life which is lived by humans, demands an openness on their part towards God. Any attempt to avoid the reality of their created nature, for instance, through a self-imposed continence, overturns the basic structure of this relationship. In Part Two, I consider the asceticism proposed by Clement, which strives, through human effort, to achieve a godlike life, buttressing the rational mind, that which is properly human and in the image of God, by the exercise of virtues, so protecting it from disturbances, especially those arising from the body and the vulnerability of dependency. Whilst Clement has a vivid sense of the new life granted in baptism, and praises marriage, this desire for a divine life leads inexorably to the restriction of human sexuality to the function of procreation and its redundancy thereafter. After summarizing, I indicate possible lines for further investigation, and suggest that only within the Irenaean perspective can the issue of sexual difference be raised meaningfully.

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Rumsey, Patricia. "Sacred time in early Christian Ireland : the Nauigatio and the Céli Dé in dialogue to explore the theologies of time and the liturgy of the hours in pre-Viking Ireland." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683216.

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Beider, Mikhail [Verfasser]. "On the Frontiers of Sacred Spaces: the Relations Between Jews and Orthodox Christians in the Early Modern Ruthenian Lands on the Example of Religious Proselytism and Apostasy / Mikhail Beider." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1121007759/34.

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Satyavrata, Ivan Morris. ""The Lord and life-giver" a comparative evaluation of teaching on the personhood of the Holy Spirit in early patristic and Indian Christian theology with special reference to Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Origen, and to Brahmabandhav Upadhyay, Vengal Chakkarai and Raimundo Panikkar /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1990. http://www.tren.com.

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Bergström, Eirini. "The journey of the Valentinian hero - Outlining the imaginative world of early Christian apocalyptic narratives : A comparative study of the Apocalypse of Paul (NHC V, 2)and the First Apocalypse of James (NHC V, 3 & TC 2)." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Institutionen för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-37709.

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Background: This thesis aims to show that the narratives of the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Pauland First Apocalypse of James are written for a Valentinian audience. The purpose is to broaden the field of research on Valentinianism by showing how the authors and their implied readers composed and perceived the texts in question. Method: Comparing the mythological language of the two narratives and their description of a hero’s journey in a transcendent reality it is possible to disentangle the Valentinian material from the imaginative world of the reader, a world consisted of ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology as well as Jewish apocalypticism and early Christian legends and traditions. The texts are also compared with new research in the field, other related Valentinian scriptures, the New Testament, and Christian Apocrypha. Results: The texts are pseudepigraphic and written within a Jewish apocalyptic genre sometime during the late second or early third century. The symbolism and the diverse metaphors of the narratives indicate that the texts incorporate a specific soteriological message through embedded Valentinian mythology. The implied reader is to understand that the material world is an illusion and that the purpose of the initiate is to awaken the mind and acquire knowledge about the truth. By doing so the redemption of the believer’s spirit from its human body and soul leads to the spirits reunion with God. Conclusion: The analysis of the texts points toward the fact that the narratives could very well have been used for catechetical or other educational purposes within a Valentinian community. The language and form of the two narratives fit to serve this purpose. In many ways, the reader has to be initiated within a Valentinian context in order to grasp the intended message.

Godkännande datum 2019-06-10

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Schwartzman, Lauren J. "Contest and community : wonder-working in Christian popular literature from the second to the fifth centuries CE." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a3de02f7-18a9-4363-8bbf-cea5a73eb223.

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In this thesis, I hope to demonstrate that what I call the magic contest tradition, that is the episodes of competitive wonder-working that appear in a wide variety of apocryphal and non-canonical Christian texts, made an important contribution to the development of Christian thought during the second to the fifth centuries CE. This contribution was to articulate ‘the way’ to be a Christian in a world which was not isolated from the secular, and not insulated from the reality of the Roman empire. First, I demonstrate that a tradition of texts which feature magic contests exists within the broader scope of non-canonical Christian literature (looking at this literature across communities, regions and time periods). Second, I identify what the major features of the traditions are, e.g. what form the narratives take, what the form for a magic contest is, and what the principles used to build the magic contests are, and how these principles feature in the texts. The principles I identify are power, authority, ritual, and conversion, as well as their use as historical exempla. Third, I discuss what the texts did in the context of the time period, and for the communities that produced and read them: in other words, how did the this tradition work? I show that they served multiple purposes: as tests of faith, religious truth and ways to proclaim such; as constructors and markers of group identity (and the perilous task of identifying the insiders and those who should be outsiders); as calls to unity within the overarching diversity of the times and places, and a unified front for the ‘battle’ against evil. I suggest that the texts present a model for how one could decide what the ‘true faith’ was and how one could practice it in the turbulent environment that early Christians faced both before and after Constantine.

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Breitenbach, Alfred. "Das "wahrhaft goldene Athen" die Auseinandersetzung griechischer Kirchenväter mit der Metropole heidnisch-antiker Kultur /." Berlin : Philo, 2003. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/53184471.html.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Early Christian Religion'

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