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Painters of Christian subjects in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance developed a complex system of geometry which they used to order the various elements in the image. They did this because they were convinced that the aesthetic dimension of their work resided in the structure of the work. More specifically, the artists of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance believed that the particular aesthetic experience which geometric compositional structure provides corresponded to Christian mystical experience. Thus a work of art that combined geometric structure, naturalistic style, and Christian imagery could provide an experience analogous to that of Christian revelation. This paper traces the development of this idea from its origin in the Old Testament tradition, its formalization in Greek thought and its full flowering in early Christian painting.

A satisfactory definition of the imagination has proved elusive in Western philosophy. Two contemporary French thinkers, Gilbert Durand and Paul Ricoeur, are concerned with establishing a fundamental philosophy of imagination. For Durand the imagination is the source of symbolic mediations that are both therapeutic and theophanic. His theory is grounded in a Platonist-esoteric tradition which he supports by a philosophy of the imaginal (coined and articulated by Henry Corbin, a French Islamicist). Ricoeur, in contrast, sees the imagination as a creative cognitive mediator in a dialectic model of knowledge. Within a critical framework the imagination functions at the limits of experience and expression as a catalyst provoking new insights and ways of being. Both theories support a philosophy that rehabilitates the imagination from its former denigrated and suspect categorizations, though Ricoeur's programme is more relevant to contemporary philosophical issues.

Several contemporary theologians have maintained that the proper setting for Christian theology is an ecclesiastical one. The formation of character, the internalization of beliefs and values, and the representation of these principles and behavioural patterns in religious and political practices should be the priority of the church. / Other have argued that this circumscribed "confessional" approach is not enough. Biblical stories and religious convictions are not only rooted in faith communities but are also reflected in universal concerns. The reciprocal relationship between text and reader, church and world, requires a broadly-based "apologetic" method. / These two models are used to evaluate Gordon Kaufman's epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and theologies of revelation, divine agency, and construction. One of the surprising discoveries of this dissertation is that his relative theory of knowledge and employment of a Christian categorial scheme undergird a confessional approach. The thesis nevertheless concludes that his thought is oriented towards a realistic empirical method. The discussion ends with a recommendation that Kaufman link his apologetic concerns to a more identifiable corporeal structure.

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Three significant theories have been advanced to explain the development of 19th century Canadian Church history: frontierism, metropolitanism and the church-sect typology. Consequently, the conclusion is that revivalism in Central Canada began to decline with the disappearance of the frontier from about 1820 or with the emergence of a complex society. For example, S. D. Clark suggested that the British Methodist organization had a profound influence on the Canadian Wesleyan Methodists, thereby resulting in the development of a sophisticated Methodist organization in Central Canada after 1832 and the decline of revivals. / No detailed studies of revivalism in Central Canada have been made for the period from 1830 to 1860. By studying the Wesleyan Methodist Church during the period delineated, this thesis demonstrates that the revival movement in Central Canada survived until at least 1860. Its success was determined more by Methodist preaching, programmes and doctrine than by any external factors.

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This dissertation addresses the problem of whether the Gospel of Matthew reflects a Jewish Christian or gentile Christian stance within the early church. A study of the principal theories of the evolution of the early church provides the background against which the terms "Jewish Christian" and "gentile Christian" may be understood. The dissertation examines the bases on which Matthew has been classified as either Jewish Christian or gentile Christian. This previous work on Matthew is found to be unsatisfactory because of the lack of adequate criteria for classifying Matthew. A study of Acts and the letters of Paul reveals that the practice or rejection of Jewish dietary purity was a cause of division in the early church, and thus constitutes a suitable criterion for distinguishing between Jewish and gentile Christianity. Examination of Mt 15:1-20 shows that Matthew does not accept Jewish dietary purity as a part of God's will. Matthew thus reflects a gentile Christian position.

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Evaluation of Heidegger's ethical thinking or "originary ethics" is necessary due to recent ethical questions resulting from Heidegger's biography. According to John D. Caputo, Heidegger does not care for the "other". This thesis analyzes Caputo's basis for those claims along with his rejection of Heidegger's notion that our relation to poetizing is needful for an ethics in a scientific, technological age. Heidegger's ethics of non-objectification offers hope with regard not only to the domination and oppression of humans but also for non-humans as well. Heidegger's understanding of 'technique qua metaphysics' is important for addressing the political claims of Caputo.