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1
Scott, Shawn A. "A study in transitions : Wesley's soteriology." Thesis, McGill University, 1990. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60096.
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The purpose of this thesis is to delineate the theological shifts that occurred in Wesley's post-Aldersgate soteriology. To realize this purpose, three distinct soteriological shifts in his thought will be examined. These shifts involve changes in how he understood the following: the conditions of redemption, the state of humanity and the scope of salvation. Through an examination of these shifts, three distinct phases (early, middle and late) were detected. In the early phase there appears to be a distinct Reformed bias; fallen human beings are totally depraved and can be redeemed only through explicit faith in Christ's atonement. In the two subsequent phases, an increasing emphasis is given to Arminian distinctives. Particular emphasis is given to the Arminian understanding of prevenient grace. In the middle phase, the Reformed and Arminian elements appear to co-exist within the same soteriological framework--reconciled through a tenuous and at times tortuous dialectic. This dialectic seems to crumble in the late phase. The Reformed elements are quietly dismissed; the Arminian elements dominate.
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Steigerwald, Diane 1961. "L'imâmologie dans la doctrine ismaélienne nizarienne." Thesis, McGill University, 1987. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=66129.
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Austin, Kathleen J. "Aristotle, Aquinas, and the history of quickening." Thesis, McGill University, 2003. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=79819.
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This thesis examines a primary question raised by both Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas: What constitutes the beginning of a human being? Aristotle and Aquinas raise this question for very different reasons. Modern critical commentators revisit it for their own reasons, namely for the purposes of ethical debates surrounding conception and abortion. They frequently attribute the notions of delayed ensoulment and quickening to Aristotle. Through examination of the primary texts, I demonstrate that this attribution is erroneous. Aristotle contends that ensoulment is substantially complete at conception, though subject to gradual actualization throughout the lifespan of a human being; while Thomas suggests that conception is a process, requiring several substantial changes before a human soul is infused. I argue that Aquinas adapts Aristotle in accordance with his Christian theological commitments, and modern commentators follow him to develop their own notions of delayed ensoulment and quickening.
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Hausam, Mark. "Communicating philosophically and theologically : a study of the dialogue between the mainstream Reformed and Edwardian traditions of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries concerning sin and salvation." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683255.
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Tang, Siu-Kwong. "God's history in the theology of Jürgen Moltmann." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13968.
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It is true that Jürgen Moltmann does not systematically construct a theology of God's history. However, his theological discussion of different themes and doctrines shows that God has a history. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to give an analysis to his theology of God's history and historicity. Moltmann starts his theology by contrasting God's self- revelation in the promise with that in the epiphany of the eternal present. Chapter 1 traces revelation as epiphany in the Canaanite religion, Parmenides' philosophy and contemporary doctrine of revelation and analyses its analogical characteristic. Revelation as promise is scrutinised in chapter 2 so as to display its dialectical structure, significance and offer a background for further understanding of God's self-revelation in the Christ event. The analogical principle of knowledge and its use in Platonic philosophy and Thomas Aquinas' natural theology which Moltmann heavily criticises is discussed in chapter 3. Its ontological and epistemological character that makes God's self-revelation and being ahistorical is to be emphasised. In contrast to the analogical principle Moltmann proposes the dialectical principle which is embodied in the Christ event. Its meaning and significance for God's history is the subject of chapter 4. Chapter 5 and 6 engage in Moltmann's revolution in the relationship between God's historical act in the cross event and his inner being, the economic trinity and the immanent trinity. Chapter 5 clarifies the relationship of the cross event to the inner divine life and relevant criticism while chapter 6 explicates the primary determination of God's inner life to his outer act in history. Moreover, God as love in Moltmann's theology is given a detailed examination in regard to God's self- limitation and self-de-limitation in eternity and in history. Moltmann's understanding of God's history in the Christ event creates conditions for historical transformation of this world. This is discussed in chapter 7. This thesis is concluded in chapter 8 with an analytical summary of Moltmann's approach to God's history, the character of God's history and God's historicity, and an appreciative appraisal of Moltmann's theological breakthroughs and insights.
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Beiting, Christopher. "The development of the idea of limbo in the Middle Ages." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1997. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:669bc6d5-edbb-4642-88e6-426600e6ed27.
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The medieval period witnessed many attempts at organization, of both the mundane and sacred spheres. The otherworldy realms of heaven and hell are familiar to the modern reader, as is purgatory, but it was during the middle ages that the existence of another realm, limbo, was posited. This realm had its beginnings in questions of Christology and the extent to which Christian salvation could or could not be extended to non-Christian peoples. Its development was also shaped by questions of infant baptism, and the fate of those infants who died lacking this baptism. By the thirteenth century, it becomes more proper to speak of "the limbos", as the idea of limbo is split into two realms: the limbo of the Fathers (limbus patrum), wherein were placed the notable figures of the Old Testament, and the limbo of children (limbus puerorum). wherein were placed unbaptized infants of the Christian era. This thesis examines the development of the idea of limbo, concentrating primarily on works of speculative theology. It begins with the roots of the idea of limbo to be found in the writings of Augustine of Hippo and in the apocryphal Christian work, the Gospel of Nicodemus. From there, the questions of original sin, divine redemption, and baptism which shape the development of the idea of limbo are examined in the writings of several influential twelfth-century authors, including Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Peter Lombard. The earliest uses of the term "limbo" are examined in the works of William of Auvergne and William of Auxerre, and the full theology of limbo is considered in the works of the high scholastic writers Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure. Finally, the thesis concludes with a fusion of theology and art in an examination of the unique depiction of limbo in Dante's Divine Comedy.
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Gray, Tony J. "Hell : an analysis of some major twentieth century attempts to defend the doctrine of hell." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1996. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:16163d4b-4ff7-47a8-9393-5e40ad9425c3.
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This thesis examines some major attempts made during the twentieth century to defend the doctrine of hell in the light of charges made against it. It aims to provide a survey of major statements of the doctrine, evaluate the coherence of the various arguments involved, and then determine what is the most adequate and coherent defence of the doctrine. The second and third chapters provide a backdrop to the rest of the thesis, detailing the traditional model of hell as presented in the works of St. Augustine and Jonathan Edwards, and then examining the modern reaction against hell as eternal retributive punishment. Chapter four addresses the question of whether Karl Barth was a universalist, and concludes that because he cannot logically avoid the charge of universalism, his theology is not able to provide an adequate defence of the doctrine of hell. The Roman Catholic theologians Hans Küng, Karl Rahner, and Hans Urs von Balthasar are examined in the fifth chapter. They provide a wealth of information on topics dealing with hell, and although hopeful that there will be a universal outcome in the eschaton, they defend the possibility of hell. The sixth chapter looks at the impact and influence of C.S.Lewis' work on hell, whilst the seventh addresses a recent debate concerning whether or not those in hell will cease to exist. Although the position known as conditional immortality may be viable, as a defence of hell in itself it is insufficient. The eighth and ninth chapters examine arguments used in the philosophy of religion. William Lane Craig and Thomas Talbott have debated the possibility of hell using the concept of Middle Knowledge. While Middle Knowledge is found wanting, this debate is particularly helpful in highlighting the issues involved in defending hell, and these are then considered in more detail in the ninth chapter which examines free will defences of hell. Finally, the conclusion argues that the most adequate and coherent defence of hell available to the modern mind rests itself on the principle of free will. When this defence addresses particular issues highlighted throughout the rest of the thesis, then a coherent defence of the doctrine of hell can be provided.
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Cho, Bong Geun. "A cricital comparative study of pneumatology in UK (particularly England) Protestant theology and the World Council of Churches between 1965-1993." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683147.
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Moreira, Isabel A. M. C. "Like scales from their eyes : visionary experience in Western Europe from Augustine to the eighth century." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14091.
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Vision narratives provide important evidence for the social and religious concerns of the society which records them, and are important sources for the mentalité of the period in which they are produced. This thesis provides an historical study of dream and vision narratives from the fourth to eighth centuries, with the hagiographic literature of Gaul and Merovingian Francia as its primary focus. During the period under review, there were important changes in the church's attitude towards the visionary experience. Whereas the fear of heterodoxy led early church Fathers to limit the spiritual authority of visions, by the sixth century in Gaul, dream and vision accounts were an important means by which churchmen could promote monastic and clerical ideals and their spiritual authority. Vision accounts were an important tool in the pastoral concerns of the clergy, enabling them to resolve or perpetuate disputes, smooth the process of Christianization, and provide imaged evidence of Christian doctrine. Dreams and visions confirmed the praesentia of saints at their tombs and at the site of their relics, and confirmed the role of the episcopate as their guardians and representatives. These issues are examined with special reference to the writings of Gregory of Tours in the sixth century. The effectiveness with which visions framed the deeds of the saints and conveyed impressions of spirituality is also examined over a broad sampling of Gallic and Merovingian hagiographic texts. The final chapter offers two case studies: the visionary experiences of St. Radegund of Poitiers, and St. Aldegund of Maubeuge.
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Flight, Tim. "Apophasis, contemplation, and the kenotic moment in Anglo-Saxon literature." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:16f34b87-8c3a-4fe1-9dbb-d8c6e3545bd8.
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This thesis reveals the considerable influence of contemplation (sometimes referred to as mysticism) on Anglo-Saxon literature, manifested through the arrangement of narratives according to the theological concepts of apophasis and kenosis. This is demonstrated through a lengthy contextual discussion of the place of contemplation in Anglo-Saxon spirituality, and close analysis of four poems and a prose text. Although English mysticism is commonly thought to start in the High Middle Ages, this thesis will suggest that this terminus post quem should instead be resituated to the Anglo-Saxon period. The first chapter seeks to reveal the centrality of contemplation to Anglo-Saxon spirituality through analysing a range of diverse material, to evidence the monastic reader borne from this culture capable of reading and composing the texts that make up the rest of the thesis in the manner suggested. The thesis places chronologically diverse Anglo-Saxon texts in a contemplative context, with close reference to theology, phenomenology, and narrative structure, to suggest that our interpretation of them should be revised to apprehend the contemplative scheme that they advocate: to cleanse the reader of sin through inspiring penitence and kenosis (humility and emptying of one's will) and direct the mind intellectually beyond the words, images and knowledge of the terrestrial sphere (apophasis), so as to prepare them for the potential coming of God's grace in the form of a vision. This reading is supported by the close taxonomical resemblance of each text's narrative structure. The thesis thus suggests that contemplation was central to Anglo-Saxon spirituality, producing an elite contemplative audience for whom certain texts were designed as preparative apparatus.
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Heard, Jerrard Case. "A critical analysis of the sacramental theology of George Gillespie." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683252.
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Habets, Michael, and n/a. "�The danger of vertigo� : an evaluation and critique of Theosis in the theology of Thomas Forsyth Torrance." University of Otago. Department of Theology and Religious Studies, 2006. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20070508.120857.
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The Christian tradition, both East and West, has developed various models and theories of the atonement as explanations of what it means to speak of the reconciling activity of God in Christ. Central to these has been the claim that God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ. One way of testifying to the reconciling love of God has been the adoption of the metaphor theosis (�divinization�, �deification�) as an explanation of salvation. While central to Eastern Orthodoxy, a doctrine of theosis also has a rich tradition within Western, especially Reformed theology. The Reformed theologian, Thomas Forsyth Torrance, represents an attempt to construct a soteriology that incorporates both Eastern and Western models of the atonement around the controlling metaphor of theosis. A close reading of his theology presents a robust and clearly articulated doctrine of theosis as a key way of expressing God�s reconciling activity in Christ. As the true Man and the last Adam, Christ represents the arche and telos of human existence, the one in whose image all humanity has been created and into whose likeness all humanity is destined to be transformed from glory to glory. Through the Incarnation the Son becomes human without ceasing to be divine, to unite humanity and divinity together and effect a �deification� of human nature, mediated to men and women who are said to be �in Christ� by the work of the Holy Spirit. By means of a �wonderful exchange� Christ takes what is ours and gives us what is his. For Torrance, this is the heart of atonement. The goal of humanity is worship, something Torrance defines as the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son�s communion with the Father. The locus of worship, and thus of theosis, is the church, the communion of saints created by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Throughout Torrance�s doctrines of creation, anthropology, incarnation, reconciliation, and pneumato-ecclesiology, the concept of theosis plays a central and constitutive role in explaining a Christian theology of salvation. Theosis is thus foundational to Torrance�s theology and is one way in which he holds together in systematic fashion his diverse theological oeuvre.
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Bartos, Emil. "The concept of deification in Eastern Orthodox theology with detailed reference to Dumitru Staniloae." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683144.
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Dyck, Timothy Lee. "Proper basicality for belief in God : Alvin Plantinga and the evidentialist objection to theism." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=23330.
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This study explores how successful Alvin Plantinga is in his contention that belief in God can be obtained and maintained in a basic way that attains and retains rationality for reflective persons. Plantinga indeed calls into question any confident presumption that theistic belief is epistemically irresponsible. He not only seriously challenges the necessity for propositional evidence to be available for such belief to be justified, he also supplies significant support for the conclusion that it remains legitimate even if it faces a preponderance of contrary considerations. However, Plantinga does not convincingly demonstrate that basic theistic belief merits privileged status by virtue of a character sufficiently analogous to paradigmatic perceptual, memory and ascriptive beliefs. Nor does he adequately argue its independence from the bearing of evidentialist concerns, especially regarding its background moorings. He needs to do more work to show the full warrant for theistic belief.
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Price, Christopher A. "The resurrection : aspects of its changing role in 20th century theology." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2886.
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This thesis deals with theologies of the Resurrection in the twentieth century. We have chosen for study seven major theologians whose work reflects significant achievement in this area. We begin with a look at 'dialectical' theologians Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann and deal with their debate on the nature and meaning of the Resurrection. Because of their importance to theology they are dealt with extensively. From there we move on to the contemporary theologians of 'hope, ' Jürgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg, before completing our research with a chapter on the Catholic theologians Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Hans Küng. It was our purpose initially (and we hope we have been consistent throughout) to give a well-rounded purview, and thus a fairer criticism, of each theology. Yet into the research it seemed obvious that a consistent major concern of each theologian centered on how one comes to faith in such a unique event. It was certainly at the core of the Barth-Bultmann debate and remains crucial. Thus it may be stated that the concerns which receive the primacy in this work are those discussions in our theologies which deal with the nature of the Resurrection, its status as an event of history, and its ability to be proved and thus believed as other events of history are proved and believed. We ultimately conclude that the most satisfactory entry into faith in the Resurrection is through a juxtaposing of the work of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Hans Küng. The focus of the paper is changed in the second half of the Conclusion as we suggest what course studies on the Resurrection might take in the future. Here we find the perspective of Jewish New Testament theologian Pinchas Lapide to be most provocative and speculate on the possibilities that the Resurrection might hold for Jewish-Christian relations.
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Knox, Michael. "The rhetoric of martyrdom in the Jesuit relations of New France, 1632-1650." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f41c9c61-5e3f-4bce-a665-7e868f2678a4.
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This thesis identifies in the Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France (Relations), written between 1632 and 1650, a comprehensive rhetoric of total selfoffering to Jesus Christ, a rhetoric of martyrdom, rooted in their authors' particular experience of the Christian tradition, their praying with the Spiritual Exercises (1548) of Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), their encounters with the spirituality of the French Jesuit Louis Lallemant (1578-1635), and their exposure to various forms of Jesuit mission literature from around the world. Published annually, these Relations were the only consistent account of the unfolding French colonial project in Nouvelle- France, and a popular read among the noblesse, ecclesiastics, and pious Christians of the kingdom. Today they form an essential collection of primary sources that continue to provide a doorway into the earliest days of Canada's history. Identifying this rhetoric throughout the narratives, this study endeavours to provide a deeper historical understanding of these Relations by contextualising their content within the particular all-encompassing religious worldview of the authors who wrote them. The religious imaginations of these Jesuit authors, Paul Le Jeune (1591-1664), Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649), Françoise-Joseph Le Mercier (1604-90), Barthélemy Vimont (1594-1667), Jérôme Lalemant (1593-1673), Isaac Jogues (1607-1673) and Paul Ragueneau (1608-1680), thus gives birth to a rhetoric in the Relations that presents Nouvelle-France as a land filled with Amerindian peoples who would only truly embrace Christianity if all of the missionaries lovingly offer their lives to Jesus Christ; just as He had done for the salvation of the entire world from sin and evil. They do so by placing their efforts on a metaphysical plane. There, the missionaries are presented as having been invited by God to join Christ crucified on a mission into a land filled with suffering and death. Where the Amerindians they evangelise must choose between a barbarous life of selfish material interest that is thought to imbue their traditions and a more human life of self-offering modelled on the Christian God. At the same time Satan, the devil, labours hard not to lose his grip on a part of the world that was as yet unaware of its true divine origins. The 'divine', the 'missionary', 'Satan', and the 'Amerindians', locked in this cosmic battle for souls that can only be won through a self-sacrificing union with Jesus Christ, combine to form the rhetoric of martyrdom in the narratives that reaches its summit as the authors describe the murders of eight of their fallen comrades, tortured and killed by some of the very people they had come to evangelise. This rhetoric, present throughout the narratives, has yet to be acknowledged, analysed, and interpreted by historians. In doing so, it is hoped that this study will deepen any reading of the Relations, advancing our understanding of their full import for both the early modern and the present-day reader.
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Merchant, Alnoor Jehangir. "Types and uses of argument in anti-Ismāʻīlī polemics." Thesis, McGill University, 1991. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61179.
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This thesis aims to present and understand various accounts composed by medieval writers against the Isma'ilis and to determine the substance of the arguments forged by each writer to counter the Isma'ilis. Such writings were accepted without question by earlier researchers, and although a revision has been undertaken in more recent studies, the specific nature and orientation of anti-Isma'ili polemics has not been adequately investigated.Through a careful study of different arguments--arguments at times quite sophisticated and difficult to appreciate fully--, we try to show the evolution and development of the style of anti-Isma'ili polemics, the different temperaments of the polemicists studied, and some of the permanent and complimentary features within this tradition.
An additional question examined in this study is the extent to which social, cultural and political factors had an impact on the shaping of this tradition and the various arguments employed within it.
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Ge, Yonghua. "The many and the one : the metaphysics of participation in connection to creatio ex nihilo in Augustine and Aquinas." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.708985.
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du, Preez Gerald T. "A history of the organizational development of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church amongst the Coloured community in South Africa 1887-1997." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/2648.
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa was planted towards the end of the 19th century. Within less than forty years after its inception, a separate Coloured department developed. This was not to be the last organizational development impacting upon the Coloured community within the Church. The problem that this study will seek to address is: "What factors contributed to the different organizational phases that the predominantly 'coloured' section of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa underwent between 1887 and 1997?" It will examine particularly the role and impact of racism on the various organizational phases.Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
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Baichwal, J. S. (Jennifer Suneeta). "Reinhold Niebuhr, sin and contextuality : a re-evaluation of the feminist critique." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=23323.
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This thesis comprises a re-evaluation of the feminist theological critique, as given by Valerie Saiving, Judith Plaskow, Daphne Hampson and Susan Nelson Dunfee, of Reinhold Niebuhr's doctrine of sin. The re-evaluation proceeds from a contextual interpretation of Niebuhr's theology in general and a contextual reading of his doctrine of sin in particular. My argument is that Niebuhr is deliberately and consistently a contextual theologian. I locate his contextual methodology in the open-ended approach of Christian realism.The feminist critique is based on the assumption that Niebuhr universally defines the primary sin as pride. It is argued that pride is in fact a distinctly male characteristic, and, while quite plausibly the primary sin for men, is clearly not the primary sin for women. Niebuhr is guilty, that is, of confusing male reality with human reality in the doctrine. Saiving and Plaskow then develop a definition of women's sin which they correspond with Niebuhr's sin of sensuality. This type of sin, rather than being self-aggrandizing, is characterized by inordinate and destructive self-effacement. Their subsidiary argument is that Niebuhr erroneously treats sensuality, which should be equal but opposite to pride, as a secondary form of sin.
My argument in this thesis is that the critique rests on a mistaken assumption about the universality of Niebuhr's claim. His concerns were with the powerful. The contextual claim that pride is the primary form of sin in those who are empowered is being mistaken for a claim that pride is the primary sin for all people, regardless of gender or context. My subsidiary argument is that the correlation of women's sin with Niebuhr's understanding of sensuality is mistaken. What the feminists refer to as women's sin is in fact not sin at all for Niebuhr but evidence of injustice. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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Hollis, Hilda. "The phrase "God is one" in the New Testament : a study of Romans 3:30, Galatians 3:20, and James 2:19." Thesis, McGill University, 1985. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=63325.
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Morgan, Boyd. "Bishopspresbyters : an investigation into the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. John Chrysostom." Thesis, McGill University, 1985. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=63348.
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Milne, Garnet Howard, and n/a. "The Westminster confession of faith and the cessation of special revelation." University of Otago. Department of Theology and Religious Studies, 2005. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20070201.162915.
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The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), drawn up in London in the 1640s, has been one of the most influential confessions in the history of Reformed theology. It has occupied a very significant place in the life of a great many Protestant churches since the seventeenth century, and continues to serve as a chief subordinate standard in several major denominations today.
In the opening chapter of the Confession, the divines of Westminster included a clause which implied that there would no longer be any supernatural revelation from God for showing humankind the way of salvation. Means by which God had once communicated the divine will concerning salvation, such as dreams, visions, and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, were said to be no longer applicable. However, many of the authors of the WCF accepted that "prophecy" continued in their time, and a number of them apparently believed that disclosure of God�s will through dreams, visions, and angelic communication remained possible. How is the "cessationist" clause of WCF 1:1 to be read in the light of these facts? Was it intended as a strict denial of the possibility that any supernatural revelation for the purposes of salvation could take place after the apostolic period, or did its authors, as some modern scholars have argued, allow for a more flexible view, in which such divine revelation through extraordinary means might still take place? This thesis explores these questions in the light of the modern debates over the interpretation of the Confession�s language and its implications for the church today. It considers the difference between "mediate" and "immediate" revelation as understood by the Westminster divines, and attempts to show that only "immediate" revelation was considered to have ceased, while "mediate" revelation, which always involved Scripture, was held to continue.
A detailed analysis of the writings of the Westminster divines reveals that these churchmen possessed both a strong desire to maintain the unity of Word and Spirit and a concern to safeguard the freedom of the Holy Spirit to speak to particular circumstances through the language and principles of Scripture. God still enabled predictive prophecy and spoke to individuals in extraordinary ways, but contemporary prophecy was held to be something distinct from the prophecy of New Testament figures. In the minds of both the Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans, prophecy was considered to be an application of Scripture for a specific situation, not an announcement of new information not contained within the Bible. The Scriptures always remained essential for the process of discerning God�s will.
The Introduction to the thesis considers the debate over WCF 1:1 in its modern setting. Chapter One outlines the socio-political and theological context of the Westminster Assembly, and discusses the question of how to assess the respective contributions of the divines to the documents it produced. Chapter Two investigates the Westminster view of the necessity and scope of special revelation, and discusses the nature of the "salvation" which was conveyed by this means. Chapter Three surveys the exegetical traditions underpinning the teaching that former modalities of supernatural revelation had ceased. Chapter Four seeks to respond to modern claims that Puritan theology allowed for a "continuationist" position, by canvassing evidence both from seventeenth-century Reformed thinkers themselves and from their critics, who maintained that Westminster orthodoxy was indeed cessationist in style. Chapters Five and Six explore the claims to and explanations for "prophecy" in Reformed theology in both England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. Chapter Seven examines the question of the theological status of the Westminster Confession in its own time. To what extent were subscription requirements envisaged by the Assembly and the governments of the day, and what form did these requirements take?
The thesis concludes that the Westminster divines intended the cessationist clause to affirm that there was to be no more extra-biblical, "immediate" revelation for any purpose now that the church possessed the completed Scriptures. The written Word of God was fully capable of showing the way of "salvation" in its wider scope as either temporal or eternal deliverance. At the same time the divines did not intend to deny that God could still speak through special providences that might involve dreams or the ministry of angels, for example, but such revelation was always to be considered "mediate". The primary means was held to be the written Scriptures, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The unity of the Word and Spirit was maintained, and God�s freedom to address individual circumstances remained intact.
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Guiler, Peter Scott. "Quaker Youth Incarcerated: Abandoned Pacifist Doctrines of the Ohio Valley Friends During World War II." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1312390917.
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Zuidema, Jason Nathanael. "Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) and the outward instruments of divine grace." Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=102776.
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The Reformed exegete and theologian Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499--1562) was an unoriginal, but consistent thinker. Theological insights were not packaged separately from each other, but consistently linked together. In all his thought he sought to steer the middle course between theological extremes in taking what was good and rejecting what was bad from each. Typical of this tendency to steer the middle course are his insights into the outward instruments of divine grace. According to Vermigli such instruments---the human nature of Christ, the audible words of Scripture and the visible words of the Sacraments---should not be over-carnalized, nor over-spiritualized. Although God could work immediately (i.e. without instruments), he has chosen to work through these instruments for salvation. Hence, the inward spiritual power and the outward instrument must not be divorced from each other. The Spirit of God does not normally work without the outward instrument, nor can the outward instrument effect grace without the Spirit's power.Modern scholarship has done much to define the sources of Vermigli's thought, but more needs to be said. The more Vermigli is studied, the more it is necessary to qualify characterizations of him. He is not a thinker who is easily pigeon-holed into a certain theological school or movement. As a well-educated biblical and humanistic scholar, Vermigli took independent and well-reasoned positions on the whole variety of theological questions current in his day. As such, this study attempts to view the inter-connected nature of Vermigli's thought so as to gain a better view of the whole of his thought.
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Wilson, Louise Elizabeth. "Miracle and medicine in medieval Miracula ca. 1180 - ca.1320." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610374.
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Potter, Dylan D. "Angelology in situ : recovering higher-order beings as emblems of transcendence, immanence and imagination." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3032.
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The aim of this study is twofold: to identify the theological purpose underlying the depiction of angels at certain key points in the history of their use, and to explore how far that deeper theological rationale can be re-appropriated for our own day. This study first traces the progression of the angelic motif in the Hebrew Scriptures. By examining numerous pericopes in the Pentateuch, major prophets and Daniel, I demonstrate that the metamorphosis of higher-order beings like the angel of the Lord, cherubim and seraphim, is directly related to the writers' desire to enhance God's transcendence. Next, I evaluate pseudo-Denys' hierarchical angelology, which prominent theologians like Luther and Calvin condemned as little more than a Neoplatonic scheme for accessing God through angels. I propose that not only has pseudo-Denys' Neoplatonism been overstated, but that his angelology is particularly noteworthy for the way it accentuates Christ's eucharistic immanence to the Church. Then I maintain that because assessments of Aquinas' angelology are often based upon the Summa Theologiae, his views are wrongly portrayed as overtly philosophical, rather than biblical and exegetical. In his lesser-known biblical commentaries, however, Aquinas pushes the semantic range of the word ‘angel' to include aspects of the physical world, which unveils an imaginative, Christocentric, and scriptural dimension of his angelology that is rarely acknowledged. The conclusion considers how contemporary figures and movements relate to these three angelologies. Barth emphasises the transcendent God but unlike Hebrew Scripture, weakens connections between God and angels. New Ageism affirms the immanent angel but unlike pseudo-Denys, does so at the expense of Christology and ecclesiology. Contemporary ecological discourse generally lacks Aquinas' appreciation for an imaginative, supernatural approach to the world. Finally, I ground the angels' relationship to transcendence, immanence and imagination in an experiential, eucharistic context.
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Homedes-Palau, Marc. "Le mariage comme "res sacra" et comme consécration sacramentelle dans le magistère de l'église catholique : contribution d'histoire doctrinale à une théologie de la "consecratio sui generis" du sacrement de mariage." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Strasbourg, 2023. http://www.theses.fr/2023STRAK006.
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La thèse examine le développement de la doctrine du sacrement de mariage entre le pape Pie VIII (1829) et le pape François (2022) sous l’angle de deux notions : la sacralité du mariage et sa consécration sacramentelle. La première apparaît comme une notion clé jusqu’au concile Vatican II, mais perd ensuite son importance, bien que Jean-Paul II l’ait remise en valeur dans un discours en 2003. Le mariage est – déjà en tant qu’institution naturelle – une « res sacra », une réalité sacrée en lien avec Dieu. La notion de consécration émerge dans le Magistère en 1930 et se réfère plus directement au mariage chrétien, dans sa spécificité de sacrement de la Loi nouvelle. L’usage de cette notion est hésitant dans un premier temps (les époux sont « comme consacrés ») et son sens ne sera approfondi que par Jean-Paul II. Deux lignes d’interprétation vont se développer : une ligne morale, fondée sur la pensée de Pie XI, et une ligne ecclésiologique, fondée sur la pensée de Pie XII. Bien que la première ait dominé la réflexion jusqu’aux catéchèses de Jean-Paul II sur l’amour humain (1984), c’est la seconde qui passera ensuite au premier plan. Le pape François la consolidera. La thèse accorde une attention particulière aux travaux du Concile, ainsi qu’au magistère de Jean-Paul II et du pape FrançoisThe thesis examines the development of the doctrine of the sacrament of marriage between Pope Pius VIII (1829) and Pope Francis (2022) from the perspective of two notions: the sacredness of marriage and its sacramental consecration. The first appeared as a key notion until the Second Vatican Council, but then lost its importance, although John Paul II re-emphasized it in a speech in 2003. Marriage is – already as a natural institution – a “res sacra”, a sacred reality in relation to God. The notion of consecration emerged in the Magisterium in 1930 and refers more directly to Christian marriage, in its specificity as a sacrament of the New Law. The use of this notion is hesitant at first (spouses receive “a kind of consecration”) and its meaning will only be deepened by John Paul II. Two lines of interpretation will develop: a moral line, based on the thought of Pius XI, and an ecclesiological line, based on the thought of Pius XII. Although the first one dominated reflection until the catecheses of John Paul II on human love (1984), it is the second one which will then come to the fore. Pope Francis will consolidate it. The thesis pays particular attention to the work of the Council, as well as to the magisterium of John Paul II and Pope Francis
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Machen, Chase E. "The Legacy of Purgatory: The Continuing English Eschatological Controversy." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2006. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5315/.
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This work examines particular attributes of the purgatorial phenomena from pre-Christian history of the Indo-European world to the Early Modern Period of England. An attempt has been made to identify and concentrate attention upon examples which provide the most significant and penetrating look into this evolution. For example, a portion of this paper attempts to determine just how widespread purgatorial customs were throughout England and the various types of community that supported these beliefs pre and post Reformation. By comparing life before and after the reigns of Henry and Edward a conclusion is reached that reveals the Protestant Reformation in England stripped the laity of a fundamental instrument they needed to support their religiosity and custom. This becomes evident in further years as some of those same customs and rituals that had been considered anathema by Protestants, slowly crept back into the liturgy of the new religion. Strong evidence of this is provided, with a strong emphasis placed upon late seventeenth and early eighteenth century death eulogies, with a section of this paper being devoted to the phenomena of the Sin-Eater.
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Carroll, Jason Scot, and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Arts and Science. "Reconstructing celibacy : sexual renunciation in the first three centuries of the early church." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Arts and Science, 2007, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/534.
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This thesis explores the philosophical and theological motivations for early Christian celibacy prior to the appearance of monasticism. This thesis will challenge recent scholarly positions that portray early Christian celibacy only in light of the emergence of monasticism in the fourth century, and which argue that celibacy as an ascetic practice was motivated primarily by resistance to the dominant social structures of antiquity. The practice of celibacy was a significant movement in the early church well before the appearance of monasticism or the development of Christianity as the dominant social force in the empire, and although early Christian sexual austerity was similar to the sexual ethics of Greco-Roman philosophical constructs, early Christian sexual ethics had developed in relation to uniquely Christian theological and cosmological views. Moreover, a segment of the early Christian community idealized celibacy as an expression of the transformation of human nature amidst a community that continued to remain sexually austere in general.vi, 267 leaves ; 29 cm.
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Yap, Joaquin Choy. "Word and wisdom in the ecclesiology of Louis Bouyer." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2003. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:82c95c9f-26ba-4fb4-89bb-de0ba93f9e10.
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Chapter Five finally argues that Bouyer's construal of the Church's principal actions (liturgical celebration, evangelical witness, and the total life of prayer and Christian discipleship) is consistent with his christological and trinitarian horizon, and that these ecclesial actions respond most appropriately to the divine initiative manifested in the Word and Wisdom.
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Cook, Brendan. "Pursuing eudaimonia : re-approaching the Greek philosophical foundations of the Christian apophatic tradition." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.722138.
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Joubert, Johann van Dijk. "A comparative study of the Paraclete statements and references to the Holy Spirit in the Johannine Gospel." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04192007-073525/.
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Ho, Man Kei. "A critical study on T.F. Torrance's theology of incarnation." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683219.
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Kirby, W. J. Torrance. "The doctrine of the royal supremacy in the thought of Richard Hooker." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1987. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c7daf0c8-7415-400f-b5f8-819f5cb73428.
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The subject of this dissertation is Richard Hooker's defence of the royal headship of the church in the final book of his treatise Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie. His treatment of this political question is remarkable for its depth of theological analysis. Hooker approaches the issue of the royal headship from three main theological angles: first, from the standpoint of the crucial distinction of Reformation soteriology between the so-called 'Two Realms' or 'Two Kingdoms'; secondly, according to the categories and distinctions of basic systematic doctrine, notably Chalcedonian Christology and Trinitarian dogma; and thirdly, he applies the magisterial reformers' test of ecclesiological orthodoxy. Modern students of Hooker's political thought have been very reluctant to bridge the gulf between the theological and political realms of his discourse. As a result, the theological matrix of Hooker's doctrine of the Royal Supremacy has been quite neglected. The erection of such a bridge is indispensable to our understanding of the alien mentalite which underlies this important Elizabethan controversy. We shall attempt to demonstrate that Hooker's employment of theological argument in defence of the Royal Supremacy was central to his ultimate apologetic purpose. He wrote the Lawes with a view to 'resolving the consciences' of the Disciplinarian-Puritan critics of the Elizabethan Settlement. He sought to convince these opponents by the most compelling mode of argument they knew - theological argument - that the royal headship was wholly consistent with the cardinal principles of the ecclesiology and political theory of the magisterial Reformation. In the first chapter there is a consideration of the methodological difficulties of modern Hooker scholarship. This is followed by an examination of Hooker's apologetic intention and a division of the chief theological elements of the controversy over the Royal Supremacy. Chapter two explores the soteriological foundations of Hooker's doctrine of the Two Realms and Two Regiments as well as his relation to the authority of the magisterial reformation. Chapter three examines Hooker's ecclesiology as the pivotal link between his soteriological 'first principles' and his political theory. Finally, in chapter four, the considerations of the previous chapters will be applied directly to the interpretation of Hooker's theology of the royal headship as presented by him in Book VIII of the Lawes.
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Scharper, Stephen B. "The Role of the Human in Christian Ecological Literature." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ37021.pdf.
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Irish, Charles W. ""The participation of God himself" : law and mediation in the thought of Richard Hooker." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=29508.
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This study focuses on the relationship between Hooker's doctrine of law and his concept of "participation," which is an important feature of his sacramental doctrine. In The Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie (V.50--67), Richard Hooker discusses the saving work of Christ and man's participation in him through faith and the sacraments. How does Hooker understand participation in God? Hooker speaks of the Atonement, Justification and sacraments in the vocabulary of the magisterial Reform, but (perhaps uniquely) understands the same doctrines within the framework of law, the instrument by which God orders his creation. Hooker defines law in terms of Aristotelian causes to describe a process of participation: the causes that inform the natures, operations and ends of creatures accomplish a hierarchical process of emanation of being from God and return to God. Law therefore mediates between God and creation. Creatures participate in God through the natural law, but after the fall, man's participation is restored through the divine law. Hooker's account of the Incarnation and Atonement, justification through faith, and sacramental participation---the main features of the divine law---therefore takes into account the idea of law. Hooker's treatment of participation, then, is based on categories in classical physics, and his doctrine of law influences his treatment of specific theological loci.
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O'Connor, Cornelius. "A comprehensive analysis of the history and doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God (Armstrongism), together with an exegetical commentary and discussion of some of the radical doctrinal changes in the post-Armstrong era of the Church." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683110.
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Campbell, William Hopkins. "{u2018}Dyvers kyndes of religion in sondry partes of the Ilande{u2019} : the geography of pastoral care in thirteenth-century England /." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/238.
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The Church was not the only progenitor and disseminator of ideas in medieval England, but it was the most pervasive. Relations between the ecclesiastical and lay realms are well documented at high social levels but become progressively obscure as one descends to the influence of the Church at large on society at large (and vice versa). The twelfth century was a time of great energy and renewal in the leadership and scholarship of the Church; comparable religious energy and renewal can be seen in late-medieval lay culture. The momentum was passed on in the thirteenth century, and pastoral care was the means of its transfer. The historical sources in this field tend to be either prescriptive, such as treatises on how to hear confessions, or descriptive, such as bishops’ registers. Prescription and description have generally been addressed separately. Likewise, the parish clergy and the friars are seldom studied together. These families of primary sources and secondary literature are brought together here to produce a more fully-rounded picture of pastoral care and church life. The Church was an inherently local institution, shaped by geography, personalities, social structures, and countless ad hoc solutions to local problems. Few studies of medieval English ecclesiastical history have fully accepted the considerable implications of this for pastoral care; close attention to local variation is a governing methodology of this thesis, which concludes with a series of local case studies of pastoral care in several dioceses, demonstrating not only the divergences between them but also the variations within them.
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Padley, Kenneth. "A reception history of the Letter to the Hebrews in England, 1547-1685." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ee8a6b13-fd4d-4a81-ab76-f682e4faa431.
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The interpretation of the letter to the Hebrews made a distinctive contribution to doctrinal construction, polemical controversy, and evolution of scripture-critical technique in the early modern period. This was because many of its themes and passages were considered significant to contemporary theological debates. Hebrews therefore offers an important case study for biblical reception history. This thesis adopts a diachronic approach, highlighting the priorities and worries of English Hebrews exegetes between the reigns of Edward VI and Charles II, and asks how these shifts catalysed hermeneutical advances towards higher biblical criticism. Calvin interpreted Hebrews' theology of sacrifice as an antidote to Catholic christology, soteriology, and beliefs about the mass. His thinking was adopted by Elizabethan Protestant readers, popularised through public documents like the Reformation Bibles (chapter one), and analysed in detail by sermons and lectures (chapter two). The reception of Hebrews also illustrates established historiography about the break-down of Reformed hegemony in England. Chapter three demonstrates how the use of the epistle by anti-puritans clashed with the censored Reformed exegete William Jones. Scholars of the seventeenth century have largely ignored how Hebrews' latent supersessionism promoted innovation in Church and society. Chapter four explores the way in which civil war Socinians expounded Christ's priesthood in terms of heavenly expiation, while radicals seized on the epistle's potential to support their vision of politico-religious liberation. Initially the Reformed countered by defending the trinity and Chalcedonian christology, as shown from mid-century exegesis in chapter five. However, two writers realised the underlying challenge of supersessionism and wrote Hebrews commentaries which served as systematic rebuttals. William Gouge deployed typology and Ramism to rebind the two dispensations (chapter six), and John Owen revised received expressions of the covenant in order to permit more development within God's plan while retaining unity of purpose before and after Jesus (chapter seven).
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Hirji, Boustan. "A study of al-Risālah al-bāhirah." Thesis, McGill University, 1994. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=35401.
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A study of al-Risalah al-Bahirah presents a departure in the interpretation of Abu Y`acqub al-Sijistani's (d. approximately between 386/996 and 393/1002--3) writings. It is the first critical edition and translation of al-Risalah al-Bahirah .Previous scholarship has concentrated on the quest for the historical Sijistani and his alignment with the Fat&dotbelow;imid Imams. This thesis explains Sijistani's relationship with the Fat&dotbelow;imids through a critical analysis of his doctrines of revelation, resurrection and retribution using the Bahirah as its focus.
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Cullen, John Austin. "The patristic concept of the deification of man examined in the light of contemporary notions of the transcendence of man." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1986. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8940cf95-41b6-4c1c-bdb1-1d454853408b.
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This thesis examines the proposition that there is a correspondence between the concept of human self-transcendence and the concept of the deification of man in that both are concerned with the bringing of human nature to its fulfilment by a process of 'redemption'. The first issue addressed is what it means to speak of man participating in divinity, and this notion is then traced through the religion and philosophy of the ancient classical world and the later Graeco-Roman world as the background against which early Christian doctrine emerged. Some modern interpretations of the notion of transcendence as it relates to the human existent are then reviewed, with particular attention being given to the suggestion that it is legitimate to speak of man rather than God as the 'locus' of transcendence by virtue of the inherent openness of human nature to the transcendence of being that meets it in its ex-sisting in being. The second, third and fourth chapters examine the development of the concept of deification as a way of speaking of humanity being brought to a resemblance to God, partaking of the divine nature, and thereby being enabled to realize the image of God in which man was originally created. The fifth chapter investigates the contributions of a selection of contemporary thinkers on the notion of man's quest for fulfilment by the process of self-transcendence, that process of overcoming the aspects of being human which compromise and threaten actual human existence. The final chapter shows how the insights of contemporary thought on the concept of self-transcendence can illuminate for us the patristic concept of deification as a way of speaking about the nature and destiny of human existence and the thesis concludes with a suggestion of three areas of contemporary investigation to which this study might be related.
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Holland, Thomas Seaward. "The Paschal-New Exodus motif in Paul's Letter to the Romans with special reference to its Christological significance." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683150.
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Harley, John. "An evaluation of the soteriology of John Murray." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683174.
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Bidwell, Kevin. "'The church as the image of the Trinity' : a critical evaluation of Miroslav Volf's ecclesial model." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683363.
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Van, Zyl Frederick William James. "The contribution of William Gurnall (1616-1679) to the puritan concept of spiritual combat, with special emphasis on the role of faith." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003916.
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The Central figure in this thesis is William Gurnall M.A. (Cambridge) who lived from 1616 to 1679. He was the Rector of the Lavenham Parish church for 35 years, 1644/45-1679. He was one of the few Puritans who remained in the Established Church after the 1662 Act of Uniformity had been promulgated. His 'The Christian in Complete Armour' is one of the greatest practical-pastoral works to come from the pen of any Puritan. It is firmly based on Calvinistic theological principles. While holding common beliefs in many areas, Gurnall nevertheless was at odds with his fellow Puritans over certain crucial issues that directly affected his attitude to the Puritan revolution. His analysis of the person, being, nature, wiles, strategies and weapons of the Christian's great enemy and description of the Christian's resources such as the role of the shield of faith in its multiple uses, which constitute an important contribution to pastoral theory and practice are shown to arise out of Gurnall's theological stance, his own personal history, the history of East Anglia and of Lavenham in particular; his reflections on the 'Days of Great Confusions' and his deep concern for the breakdown in orderly society and the decline of genuine piety in the church. Basically we will concentrate on three issues: First. The real nature and locus of the Christian's spiritual warfare. Second. -- The means used for his investigation, namely, an examination of the person, power, methods and wiles of the Christian's great enemy and the vital role of the shield of faith. -- Third. His conclusions.
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Squires, Timothy James. "Whitehead's vision and the possibilities for the Christological adventure." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13884.
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The Intention of this thesis is to develop a Process christology which is valid and coherent with respect to the principles of Whitehead's Process philosophy and adequate with respect to Christian faith. As indicated by the title, the study moves from Whitehead's vision to the christological adventure. Although this necessitates that the criteria are essentially philosophical, it is stressed that the discussion finds its inspiration in faith. For that reason the second chapter describes the Process christologies of Norman Pittenger. John Cobb, Schubert Ogden and David Griffin. That discussion isolates the major questions and issues which arise. Chapter three is an examination of the philosophical principles of Whitehead's vision. A central thesis of the work is that the theory of "initial aims" is inadequate to account for the idea of a Divine purpose relevant to human beings. I illustrate why this is so and, after presenting a Process theory of the "self", describe how the notion of purpose mediated in history is Intelligible. Chapter four is a synthesis between the issues raised in the second chapter and the philosophical themes of chapter three. This chapter presents the christology which is valid with respect to Whitehead's vision. The following chapter observes that the Church is an essential aspect of Process christology, and then evaluates Christ and the Church with respect to some of' the themes of Biblical and traditional christology. The intention is to justify its status as an appropriate expression of faith, although it is accepted that the essential subjectivity of faith renders an objective evaluation impossible. The final chapter offers some concluding remarks, noting particularly how Process christology is a theology of liberation : freedom and responsibility.
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Smalridge, Scott. "Early American Pentecostalism and the issues of race, gender, war, and poverty : a history of the belief system and social witness of early twentieth century Pentecostalism and its nineteenth century holiness roots." Thesis, McGill University, 1998. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21265.
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Early American Pentecostalism had an ambiguous social witness, which contained both radical and conservative elements. The millennarian-restorationist core of the Pentecostal belief system was prophetic and counter-cultural in that it inspired adherents to denounce the injustices of the status quo and announce the justice of the soon-coming Kingdom of God. Consequently, in the earliest years of the American movement, many Pentecostals, professed and practiced (1) racial equality, (2) gender equality, (3) pacifism, and (4) anti-capitalism. However, this prophetic social witness co-existed, from the very beginning, with a strong conservative ethos, which defended the norms, beliefs, and values of nineteenth-century 'Evangelical America' against the apparent religious and cultural 'anarchy' of modern society. As Pentecostal groups (especially white Pentecostal groups such as the Assemblies of God) organised, institutionalised, and rose in socioeconomic status, the prophetic voices of early Pentecostalism were increasingly ignored, and the conservative ethos grew to dominate Pentecostal social concerns.
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Tooley, W. Andrew. "Reinventing redemption : the Methodist doctrine of atonement in Britain and America in the 'long nineteenth century'." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20230.
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This thesis examines the controversy surrounding the doctrine of atonement among transatlantic Methodist during the Victorian and Progressive Eras. Beginning in the eighteenth century, it establishes the dominant theories of the atonement present among English and American Methodists and the cultural-philosophical worldview Methodists used to support these theories. It then explores the extent to which ordinary and influential Methodists throughout the nineteenth century carried forward traditional opinions on the doctrine before examining in closer detail the controversies surrounding the doctrine at the opening of the twentieth century. It finds that from the 1750s to the 1830s transatlantic Methodists supported a range of substitutionary views of the atonement, from the satisfaction and Christus Victor theories to a vicarious atonement with penal emphases. Beginning in the 1830s and continuing through the 1870s, transatlantic Methodists embraced features of the moral government theory, with varying degrees, while retaining an emphasis on traditional substitutionary theories. Methodists during this period were indebted to an Enlightenment worldview. Between 1880 and 1914 transatlantic Methodists gradually accepted a Romantic philosophical outlook with the result that they began altering their conceptions of the atonement. Methodists during this period tended to move in three directions. Progressive Methodists jettisoned prevailing views of the atonement preferring to embrace the moral influence theory. Mediating Methodists challenged traditionally constructed theories for similar reasons but tended to support a theory in which God was viewed as a friendlier deity while retaining substitutionary conceptions of the atonement. Conservatives took a custodial approach whereby traditional conceptions of the atonement were vehemently defended. Furthermore, that transatlantic Methodists were involved in significant discussions surrounding the revision of their theology of atonement in light of modernism in the years surrounding 1900 contributed to their remaining on the periphery of the Fundamentalist-Modernist in subsequent decades.
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Patterson, Patrick. "The Debate over the Corporeality of Demons in England, c. 1670-1700." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12180/.
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According to Walter Stephens, witch-theorists in the fifteenth century developed the witchcraft belief of demon copulation in order to prove the existence of demons and therefore the existence of God. In England, during the mid-seventeenth century, Cartesian and materialist philosophies spread. These new philosophies stated there was nothing in the world but corporeal substances, and these substances had to conform to natural law. This, the philosophers argued, meant witchcraft was impossible. Certain other philosophers believed a denial of any incorporeal substance would lead to atheism, and so used witchcraft as proof of incorporeal spirits to refute what they felt was a growing atheism in the world. By examining this debate we can better understand the decline of witchcraft. This debate between corporeal and incorporeal was part of the larger debate over the existence of witchcraft. It occurred at a time in England when the persecution of witches was declining. Using witchcraft as proof of incorporeal substances was one of the last uses of witchcraft before it disappeared as a valid belief. Therefore, a better understanding of this debate adds to a better understanding of witchcraft during its decline.