Writing in seventh century India, the Buddhist philosopher Dharmakirti developed a system of epistemology in which he recognized yogic intuition as a valid source of knowledge crowning the practice of meditation and capable of causing the psychological transformation necessary for the achievement of nirvana. But his account of the epistemological character of yogic intuition was controversial. Indeed, while it consists in a full understanding of a conceptual object (i.e. the four noble truths), Dharmakirti insisted that, due to its clarity, the yogin's intuition be considered a category of sensation, which by definition is non-conceptual and pertains to particular objects. This thesis is an analysis of Dharmakirti's account of yogic intuition as a category of cognition allowing the non-conceptual knowledge of conceptual objects.

The Particular Baptists of England emerged in the middle of the seventeenth century around the time of the Revolution. The first half of this thesis looks at the history of the first two London Particular Baptist Confessions of Faith written in 1644 and 1689. It examines the history behind the making of both Confessions as well as the sources from which they drew their material. The second half of the thesis is a comparison study. Firstly, the two Baptist Confessions are compared with each other in the areas of the atonement, baptism, the Church, and religious liberty, to see if Particular Baptist beliefs had changed. Secondly, the 1689 Baptist Confession is compared with the two leading English Calvinistic Confessions of the seventeenth century, the Presbyterian Westminster Confession and the Congregationalist Savoy Declaration, in order to see their similarities and differences in the same four areas.

This thesis will investigate the significance of the Eastern Orthodox perspective of theosis, for the bioethical principle of autonomy, specifically with regard to its respect for the elderly. Theosis is a central doctrine of the Orthodox Church which pertains to the salvation of human persons and their free and cooperative response to God's grace, and as such, has an intimate relationship with the Eastern Orthodox understanding of personhood. / On the one hand there are a number of areas of mutual concern or overlap between the concept of respect for autonomy and the Orthodox understanding of personhood and the goal of theosis. There are, however, significant differences which prevent them from being viewed as synonymous or even as totally compatible. / There are complementary aspects, some of which will be identified in this initial study. It is hoped that such an investigation can help to further develop Eastern Orthodox thinking with regard to bioethical issues and be of value when dealing with the complex issues related to the elderly. This topic will also be of interest to a wider audience involved in bioethical reflection from both Christian and secular perspectives.

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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.

The use of the exodus theme in the interpretation of scripture has been espoused by a number of liberation theologians, notably Jose Severino Croatto. The responses to the use of this theme vary. This thesis examines Croatto's use of the hermeneutic circle, as a method of biblical interpretation, in its application to the narratives of Exodus 1--15. The process of interpretation and application are examined against the background of the liberation movement and liberation theology. As an advocate of the liberation movement, Croatto uses the hermeneutic circle to relate the meaning of the exodus narratives to the socio-political situation of oppression in Latin America. This use of the hermeneutic circle, therefore, allows the meaning of the exodus narratives, in interaction with a contemporary socio-political context, to facilitate the creation of a message of liberation for the present.

In the following paper I will attempt to define the genre of Daniel 2 according to its dream characteristics. To demonstrate that this literary style is not unique to Daniel 2 but was widespread in the ancient near east over a long period of time, I will survey what I believe to be parallel dream narratives from the Old Testament as well as from Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, and Egyptian texts. The numerous similarities of these narratives will not only provide a sufficient base for positing a dream genre, but will also clarify the fundamental theme of Daniel 2 which has many times been cluttered or overlooked by its identification with other overlapping genres. By including details from most of the dream narratives of antiquity, I believe it will become clear that Daniel 2 is not so much about wisdom, courts, or even an apocalypse, so much as it is about the acknowledgement of an ultimate power who is omniscient and lord over kingdoms past and future.

Until his untimely death in 1988, George Grant was considered the foremost political philosopher Canada had produced. He was a critic of technological globalization who perceived early on its destructive potentialities on all facets of life, public and private. His writing focused on how the development of technological globalization endangered national sovereignty, undermined indigenous cultures and traditions, and threatened individual and communal rights. What is less known about Grant is the importance of faith in his life and how it informed his thought. Indeed, even though Grant did not write about his faith to any great extent, he claimed that it was the inspirational centre of everything he thought and wrote. This thesis will attempt to uncover the substance of Grant's faith and how it informs his thought. Grant was a Christian and a Protestant whose faith is best expressed in the words of Martin Luther: "A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the thing what it actually is." (Luther's Works, vol. 31, p. 40) This quote is not incidental. Grant found in Luther's words and the theological orientation Luther named a "Theology of the Cross," the basis of his critical and constructive critique of the contemporary realities that concerned him. But even though Luther gave the words for this theological orientation, its significance in shaping Grant's thought was developed through his struggle with other theologians and philosophers, the most influential of whom was Simone Weil. This thesis will be an attempt to define this theological orientation as expressed by Luther, how Grant came upon it through formative influences and experiences along with formal studies in theology and philosophy, how Simone Weil gave intellectual and existential voice to this orientation in him, and how it informed Grant's perspective on all the thinkers he struggled with and all the issues that preoccupied his thought. Finally, this thesis

Given the sheer volume of scholarship which has been devoted to examining Paul and his congregations, it is surprising that so little attention has been paid to what the texts portray as the apostle's main concern: not what his congregations were in any 'objective', historical sense, but what they were 'in Christ'. / Building on this observation, my thesis may be stated as follows. Traditional Pauline studies, with their emphases either on the apostle's thought or on his congregations' historical situation, obscure the importance of the 'church in the work', a reality established in the text, structured to engender change, and made real rhetorically for readers. / These, then, are some of the questions posed: What influence should an awareness of Paul's hortatory, theological image of his congregations have on our efforts to reconstruct them historically? May the well-known Pauline 'indicative-imperative' be taken as a rhetorical strategy? And: In what way does the text try to make its portrayal the definitive reality lived out by its readers? / The focus of this thesis is on Paul's congregations as the letters indicated 'they should be', and on the linkage this vision in the letters provides between theology and history, author and reader.

Mid-seventeenth-century England saw numerous religious sects come into existence, one of which was the Calvinistic Baptist group. During the upheaveal of the revolutionary years this group was often accused of heresy by their orthodox/reformed contemporaries. At that time Hanserd Knollys, one of their London pastors, was personally charged with holding heterodox beliefs, in particular, Antinomianism, Anabaptism and Fifth Monarchism. In addition, Knollys has been accused of hyper-Calvinism. This version of Calvinism was held by some eighteenth-century English Calvinistic Baptists. Some Baptist historians have suspected Knollys of holding this teaching in the seventeenth-century, or at least they have felt it necessary to defend him against it. All of these charges are serious, and consequently bring into question Knollys' orthodoxy. This thesis will systematically examine each charge made against Knollys in its context, and comprehensively from Knollys' writings seek to determine if they were valid. Furthermore, this thesis will elucidate Knollys theology, particularly his soteriology, ecclesiology and eschatology.