Regarding the nature of damnation, substantial tension exists in the exegetical and creedal data. The attempts of theologians to resolve these tensions has resulted in many distinct and contradictory ...portrayals of the nature of damnation as a whole. Among these portrayals are what some have called a choice-model of damnation, wherein the damned themselves are the primary executors of their own punishments in the afterlife. However, to understand damnation in this way creates a problem in that God’s agency is not directly involved in damnation. God’s way of addressing the problem of sin is to not address it. This is unacceptable. To find a way around this difficulty, a model of damnation which incorporates choice-model elements whilst including a retributive and vindicative element in divine agency. Such a model must then be tested against what is acceptable for a Catholic eschatological model. After determining the exact nature of those Catholic outer limits via an examination of relevant historical and magisterial texts in the first chapter, the author distinguishes the possible variables involved in damnation: these being a one-time judgment and then a subsequent perpetual punishment. Distinguishing between these two component parts of what the author calls an economy of damnation forms the basis of the subsequent investigation of the exegetical material about Hell, as well as the survey of the last century of literature on choice-models of damnation. The author then puts forward his own suggestion for a comprehensive economy of damnation unifying the strengths of the choice-models whilst preserving God’s agency in damnation. This hybrid model of damnation is based upon scholastic and Thomistic categories, and shows theological continuity and compatibility between traditional Catholic eschatologies and contemporary theological insights.
As the presence of devices that connect to the Internet becomes more and more ubiquitous, the world has adapted itself to accommodate the changes these devices bring. That world, however, is ...appearing more and more bleak for those who live there. Many people are trying to find ways of freeing themselves from their devices because of the constant need to be available to the workaday world. While other disciplines offer their contributions, it is necessary for the Church to speak of the liberating offer that comes from friendship with Christ.Josef Pieper devoted his life to handing down the Western Christian tradition to his contemporaries in a way that they could understand. Along with other insights, he exposed the vice of acedia that quietly removed God’s joy-giving presence from the world. In the wake of modernity’s sadness, he argued, people were desperately searching for entertaining distractions. Opposed to this, he suggested that the Church offers the festive celebration of God’s redeeming work in creation.In this study, I draw from Pieper’s thoughts to show the vice of acedia that lurks behind people’s digital devices, enslaving them within the workaday world, unless they consciously act against this vice. By encouraging people to live a life formed by the celebration of sacred feasts, Pieper’s Christian teachings continue to set people free from this imprisonment.
In the not-so-distant past, the language and theology expressed variously as theosis, deification, or divinization was relegated to Eastern Orthodoxy. Scholarship over the past fifty years, however, ...has moved deification from disgrace or quiet indifference to a place of active dialogue. Not only has theosis gained the attention of Protestant and Catholic theologians alike, it has also generated a host of literature exploring how figures in the West embody this once-considered Eastern concept.This dissertation adds clarity and specificity to how John Wesley’s theology reflects deification. Wesleyan theologians, in their exploration of John Wesley’s interest in the “primitive church” and Eastern tradition, frequently gesture to the similarities between Wesley and theosis. Yet these studies, while adding rich specificity to Wesleyan-patristic studies, are often focused on parallels between Wesley and a particular figure. While tracing the lines of direct attestation and probable influence, they are not focused on theosis in particular, and as a result can only gesture toward possible resonances with Wesleyan theology.Bypassing the question of Wesley’s sources and influences, this project focused instead on identifying the content of theosis within Wesley’s writings. By creating a “lens” of what constitutes the doctrine, as gleaned from recent scholarship, the way was paved to examine in detail what ways Wesley might reflect those core components of theosis in a large swarth of his writings, including the entirety of his sermon corpus. This adds meaningfully to Wesleyan scholarship in at least two ways: 1) it is both an explicit study of deification and John Wesley; and, 2) more than merely gesturing to parallels, it traces how those emphases are present throughout Wesley’s ministry by a close reading of a large representative selection of Wesley’s writings.The close study of what constitutes deification reveals at least three theological axes which must be firmly established for the doctrine to be intelligible: 1) an understanding of God as desiring true union with humanity; 2) a theological anthropology which sees the telos of humanity as true Godlikeness; and 3) a soteriological thrust that points to redeemed humanity as participating in the Godhead. There is a deeply Trinitarian structure to this understanding of soteriology, which has corresponding anthropological implications. With an understanding of God and humanity in place to support the doctrine of deification, the final core idea is the means by which one is deified, an area that touches upon ecclesial context, sacramentology, and grace-enabled ascetic practices such as fasting and prayer.When applying this lens to John Wesley’s theology, the results of my study overwhelmingly support not only the presence of deification within Wesley as a theological theme, but it has structural significance for understanding Wesley’s theology. The Trinitarian structure of Wesley’s soteriology is a rich interplay of both an understanding of God as desiring and empowering true union with humanity on the one hand, and a theological anthropology that sees the telos of humanity as true Godlikeness on the other.
Teenagers living in this generation are forced to unilateral choices in various worldviews created by the world. They are confused whether what to choose among the worldviews. The purpose of this ...study is to propose a worldview through Tong Bible to teenagers who find it hard to form their own worldview in the midst of various worldviews and to those who accept the wrong values given by the world. Therefore, this research intends to study and present the effect of Tong Bible on effectively forming a worldview by considering various characteristics of teenagers. For the research, I used the literature research method that refers to, synthesizes, analyzes and organizes the literatures related to the worldview and Tong Bible. Through this, I presented the theoretical and theological grounds of Tong Bible worldview and examined the worldviews of the kingdom of priests and the kingdom of God, which are the core values of the Tong Bible worldview. The core value is redefined with four worldviews designed by researchers according to the situation and environment of the teenagers living in this generation. In order to form the worldview of teenagers, I examined the process of change through preaching Tong Bible world view, study group, and four weeks of world view formation project. The teenagers who participated in the project were able to speak Tong Bible naturally and fluently in the field of life, and to the extent that they could recommend the advantages of Tong Bible world view to others. At every moment of choice, I could assure that these teenagers choose and decide with Tong Bible world view. It was found through research to see that the results of behavior change and change as Tong Bible world view is firmly established within the teenagers. Through this research, I realize that the ultimate change of teenagers begins with a change in the innermost world view. I look forward to this study through Tong Bible world view and to stand firmly in the flood of the world views.
The Vatican Council II constitution, Gaudium et Spes, has been widely regarded as a significant contribution to Catholic Social Teaching. This paper examines the process of formation and redaction ...that Gaudium et Spes underwent and provides a synopsis of the document, focusing especially on articles 67-72 which pertain to economic principles. A review of significant commentaries on these economic principles follows, as well as an examination of the emphases of Pope Paul VI in Populorum Progressio. American commentaries pertaining to the economic teaching of Gaudium et Spes are then addressed, including Economic Justice for All which was released from the United States bishops, and a sample of thought from Cardinal Avery Dulles and J. Brian Benestad, a modern American theologian.My examination of the response to Gaudium et Spes manifests that the constitution was well-received and that commentaries and subsequent economic writings were affirming of its teachings as they were applied to specific situations in the United States and in the world. The most significant critique comes from J. Brian Benestad and Cardinal Avery Dulles, who warned of severing social justice from the fullness of the Gospel and the life of the Church. Tithing is also briefly addressed as a missing point of emphasis that would have strengthened the response to the economic teachings of Gaudium et Spes.
This dissertation contributes to contemporary scholarship on the historical and theological significance of Christian iconodulia—the appropriate veneration of holy persons, places, and things. By ...accentuating the economic aspect of the Byzantine image debates it illustrates how the concerns raised by those defending the holy images in the eighth and ninth centuries proved to be precisely the issues that would accompany the resurgence of Christian iconoclasm in the Protestant Reformation. What should be clearer from the standpoint of this study is that debates concerning the legitimacy of the production and veneration of holy images touch on the fundamental claims of the Christian faith as at the heart of the theological defense is the mystery of God-made-man and the implications of this mystery for how God continues to seek union through his own body, that is, in the sacrifice of the Eucharist and in the Church itself. Attending closely to the economic aspect of the theological defense of iconodulia, we can see that the “economic appropriation” of the incarnation funds theological claims about the ontological stability, or unicity, of the Church. That is to say, to speak about the history and theology of iconodulia in the Christian tradition one must acknowledge the ecclesiological claims inherent to the orthodox defense. Therefore, this dissertation also contributes to contemporary ecumenical discussions and challenges some of the presumptions at the heart of that discussion.
The focus of this research was the development of biblical interpretation training for Cornerstone Church Waterloo, Wisconsin. The need was born out of the importance and present situation in society ...regarding the manner in which Scripture is handled by preachers and laypeople. Therefore, I developed a curriculum that I used to train adult members of CCWW in order to spark their interest in reading, studying, understanding, and improving their ability to interpret and teach Scripture accurately. In view of such use, this project examined the biblical and theological basis for accurate interpretation of Scripture, the canonization of the Scripture, the basic principles of interpreting Scripture, and the principles of interpreting Old and New Testament narrative.
This dissertation addresses Joseph Ratzinger’s interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas on the nature of the human person and Trinitarian persons. Ratzinger claims that the philosophical concept of the ...created person in Aquinas is insufficiently relational. He agrees with Aquinas’ Trinitarian theology which holds that divine persons are subsistent relations. From this, it follows for Ratzinger that personhood as such is a relation, and so human persons are relations. For Ratzinger, then, Christian revelation has transformed the category of relation as, now, a category that is as primary as substance. Two ideas in Ratzinger’s initial thesis are developed subsequently by David L. Schindler, W. Norris Clarke, S.J., and Kenneth Schmitz. The first idea is epistemological. In contrast to these followers of Ratzinger, I argue that revelation does not transform philosophical truths and that holding otherwise will end up, however unwittingly, compromising genuine philosophical knowledge. Grace presupposes the natural order and so natural knowledge is normative within theology. The second issue is metaphysical and is about how a human person could be a relation while holding to a difference between divine and human persons. I argue that the Ratzingerian idea fails to observe sufficiently the difference between creatures and God. As a result, it entails a more univocal understanding of being and denies that divine simplicity is something unique to God. Similar ideas are found in the early Franciscan school – in Alexander of Hales, in the Summa halensis, and in St. Bonaventure. Aquinas was aware of them and purposefully sought an alternative approach. Moreover, I argue that the relation of creation understood as an accident, as it is in Aquinas, is able to secure the creature’s being radically from God, and distinct from God, in a metaphysically coherent way that affirms the greater difference between God and creatures.
The fourth century debates about the status and personhood of the Son later expanded to reflections on the status and person of the Holy Spirit. In this dissertation I examine the pneumatology of ...Ephrem the Syrian, who is often over-looked in discussions about fourth century pneumatology. I argue that Ephrem displays a high pneumatology that fits within the broad contours of the pro-Nicene movement. I begin with a discussion of Ephrem’s Syriac heritage and focus on the themes and language surrounding the Holy Spirit in pre-Nicene Syriac texts. Pre-Nicene Syriac authors speak about the Spirit’s role in liturgical practices, often using feminine or maternal language to describe the Spirit’s work. I proceed then to a discussion of the grounding principle of Ephrem’s theology, the concept of true and borrowed names. Ephrem’s focus on divine names shows a clear concern for and response to the theology of Eunomius and Aetius. The logic that Ephrem uses to combat Eunomius’s understanding of divine names bears a marked similarity to Basil’s logic in Contra Eunomium. Next, I assert that Ephrem affirms the unity of divine operations in the Trinity because of his assertion that the Holy Spirit participates in the act of creation. Ephrem does not believe that the Holy Spirit is the “wind/spirit” that hovers of the primordial waters in Gen. 1:2b, because creation does not proceed from those waters. In addition, he does affirm the Spirit’s creative action in the waters of baptism. Because Jesus left the Spirit to his followers after his ascension, Ephrem believes that the locus of the Holy Spirit’s activity is the life of the church. In the sacraments the Holy Spirit forgives sin and creates new believers, thus performing the same actions as the Father and Son. Lastly, in his most vivid image of the Trinity, Ephrem affirms that God is the undiminished giver, who is present to all without suffering loss in God’s self. God’s presence is evident in the life of Christians by the presence of the Holy Spirit who is present everywhere without diminishing. Ephrem’s pneumatology affirms several key pro-Nicene commitments without recourse to the same exegetical traditions. Such an affirmation highlights that the transmission of orthodox theological ideas, based upon the common sources of the Bible and sacraments, integrated into the contexts beyond the traditional Latin and Greek divide.
This thesis argues that fantasy literature carries unexplored potential for articulating queer and feminist theologies and religious imaginaries. Adopting a deconstructive methodology within a ...Christian theological framework, it posits that fantasy texts can serve as fictional spaces in which theology can be reimagined, and potentially transformed, from queer and feminist standpoints. My argument considers fantasy as a genre with potential not only for communicating religious doctrines, but also for interrogating them, holding them to account, and transforming them. Throughout, the novels Till We Have Faces (1956) by C.S. Lewis, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Passion of New Eve (1977) by Angela Carter serve as close reading case studies, with intermittent discussion of other fantasy texts. Chapter One of this thesis, ‘Saving Face?’, elaborates a theory of fantasy as a deconstructive opening toward the other in theology, examining existing theories of fantasy in relation to the deconstructive philosophy of Jacques Derrida and the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. Chapter Two, ‘Dragons in the Neighbourhood’, carries this discussion of alterity into an exploration of the relationship between fantasy and the concept of écriture feminine (feminine writing) developed by Hélène Cixous, considering the extent to which fantasy can be read as a disruptive counter-discourse to theology. Meanwhile, Chapter Three, ‘Hetero-doxies’, initiates a much more ambivalent engagement with Luce Irigaray’s quest for a feminine incarnation of the divine. While Irigaray’s project is indispensable for re-visioning the sexual and gendered nature of Christianity’s theological imagination, it also shores up the difficulty of creating an alternative imaginary without re-inscribing patriarchal exclusions and hierarchies. These discussions open onto the further horizon of queer theology and fantasy. Chapter Four, ‘Theology in Drag(ons)’, draws on the queer theologies of Marcella Althaus-Reid and Linn Marie Tonstad, as well as queer theories elaborated by Judith Butler and Jack Halberstam, to suggest that fantasy literature is theology dressed in drag.
