This thesis examines the Church of St. Benedict the Moor from 1883 to 1920. St. Benedict's was the first black Catholic church in the North. I argue that supporters of the Catholic mission to African Americans sought to incorporate the assumptions of black religiosity in order to render Catholicism as a legitimately black religion. The institutional history of St. Benedict's demonstrates the difficulties that the Catholic Church faced in attempting to overcome African American suspicion. A key contribution of this thesis is its approach to black Catholicism as a contested and propagated identity. Prompted by St. Benedict's creation in New York, black Catholics, Irish priests, freethinking radicals, and Protestants all participated in a dialogue over the nature and function of black religion vis-à-vis Catholicism. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2014. / March 28, 2014. / African American Religion, American Catholicism, Black Catholicism / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Amanda Porterfield, Committee Member; Aline Kalbian, Committee Member.

One does not have to read very far in the Old Testament to discover that war and warfare are frequently recurring motifs. Whether spiritualized, extolled in poetry, or reported in sparse narration, war is everywhere. One aspect of the ancient Israelite approach to war in the Bible is found in the Hebrew word herem (meaning "to place under a ban" or "devote to destruction"), a word that often calls for the complete annihilation of an enemy and is translated by some as "holy war." The practice of herem assaults modern sensibilities with regard to right and wrong actions in times of war and thus has proven to be a hermeneutical dilemma. How can such passages inform modern readers when the armies of Israel "completely destroyed" their enemy (often including women, children, and livestock in the annihilation), not only with impunity, but with divine direction and blessing? This dissertation examines the treatment of herem in the work of three prominent 20th century evangelical Old Testament scholars: Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Peter C. Craigie, and Tremper Longman, III. As an exercise in the history of biblical interpretation, it specifically examines how these evangelical scholars interpret a problematic biblical concept for an audience that accepts the Bible as an infallible document which is authoritative for Christian life and practice. Based on an extensive review of their writings and personal interviews with Kaiser and Longman, it takes a close look at the hermeneutical strategies they share for interpreting herem, others that they reject, and still others that are unique to each scholar. Although clearly sharing a common interpretative tradition, each scholar represents a distinct way of negotiating the simultaneous demands of historical criticism and contemporary evangelical theology. Moreover, it also demonstrates that there is no monolithic evangelical approach to interpreting this problematic military convention; rather, the works of Kaiser, Craigie, and Longman indicate that there is a multiplicity of approaches to resolving perplexing biblical stories within evangelical Old Testament scholarship. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: February 4, 2003. / Ancient Israelite Approach To War / Includes bibliographical references. / David Levenson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Eric Walker, Outside Committee Member; John Kelsay, Committee Member; Shannon Burkes, Committee Member.

"Homosexuality and the American Catholic Church: Reconfiguring the Silence, 1971-1999" examines how during the latter decades of the 20th century gay and lesbian Catholic voices and reconciling ministries emerged from a specific and confusing social, cultural, and religious climate. My investigation documents an important chapter in the religious history of the LGBT community in the U.S., one in which the agency and resourcefulness of gay and lesbian Catholics stands in sharp contrast to common narratives of their victimization by the tradition's deep homophobia. Using data collected from archives, correspondence, interviews, theological and lay Catholic journals, and newspaper reports, I construct a cultural history of a gay-affirmative Catholic ministry: New Ways Ministry (NWM). This study documents the "golden age" of gay Catholic reform, offering an important case study of how gays, lesbians, and religious actively and creatively engaged with their religious tradition. In documenting the expansion and work of a particular, tenacious community of Catholics committed to reconciling the institutional church with the people that constitute the church, my project also discloses the personal, social, and theological resources that buttressed the community's ability to withstand the pressure directed at them. Together the co-directors of NWM, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent, navigated levels of the institutional church hierarchy, creating a language of reconciliation and setting a specific platform for LGBT issues within the church for nearly three decades. By focusing on education and civil rights issues more than the theological development of Catholic sexual ethics, NWM invited priests, theologians, bishops, religious women and men to join an assimilationist, liberal model for social reform. Avoiding radical protest and staking out a pragmatic moderate position between gay Catholics and the magisterium, this community of Catholics saw much hope for inventive political action and effective change in the church. This study explores the possibilities and limits of their work for reconciliation in the decades following the Second Vatican Council while demonstrating how sexuality (and to an extent gender) were reconstituted in the process. This project challenges American religious historical narratives that have overlooked conversations of sexuality, gender, same-sex love, and queer desire as important factors to the cultural history of 20th century American Catholicism and encourages historians of LGBT culture to reassess the role of religious movements in queer history. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2007. / Date of Defense: October 29, 2007. / Catholicism, Sexuality, Gender, Religion / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robin Truth Goodman, Outside Committee Member; Amanda Porterfield, Committee Member; Amy Koehlinger, Committee Member.

According to some scholars, religion is inseparable from the African-American experience. Others viewed race as almost a separate ontological category from religion. How can it be possible for scholars to view the relationship between race and religion so differently? "Henry Ossawa Tanner: Race, Religion, and Visual Mysticism" seeks to understand the complex relationship between religion and race and to explore Tanner's visual mysticism by examining his life and paintings. Tanner was an African-American artist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, whose body of work consisted of landscapes, genre paintings, and religious narratives. It will be argued that he considered his religious paintings to be his most important work. The case of Henry Ossawa Tanner, his life and art, demonstrates the dialectical relationship between race and religion. These two identities were in conversation with each other in his life and in his art. Tanner was shaped by his African Methodist Episcopal background, which provided the religious lens through which he viewed life and drew inspiration for his art. Tanner also faced racism, because he was an African-American artist in the time period when to be such was an anomaly, and criticism from his peers because he chose to paint religious themes instead of racial ones. Despite criticism, Tanner remained devoted to his religious works, and many proposed that Tanner was a mystic. This thesis will promote that Tanner was not only a mystic but also a visual mystic by painting on canvas his religious experience and its universal elements. The artist hoped to communicate religious experience to the viewers of his paintings, and he desired to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the world and the interaction between divinity and humanity. For Tanner, painting was a way to connect to viewers, but it was also an act of religious devotion the moment his brush touched the canvas. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: September 10, 2003. / Religion and Art, Religion, Mysticism, Race, Henry Ossawa Tanner / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Amanda Porterfield, Committee Member; Amy Koehlinger, Committee Member.

The right to religious liberty and the tolerance of difference that this right engenders are central components of the American national identity. As a result, many in the United States are perplexed by current events in the Middle East. Rising sectarian violence and the imposition of Islamic law throughout the region have made it clear that the values associated with liberalism are not gaining traction in this part of the world. This dissertation uses the tools of comparative religious ethics to challenge two popular explanations of this phenomenon. The first contends that liberalism is not gaining traction because it is incompatible with certain "exceptional" features of Islamic history and theology. The second explains the phenomenon in terms of a general incompatibility between liberalism and all religions that seek a public role for religion. To challenge these theses, I compare the arguments of John Rawls, John Courtney Murray, and three contemporary Muslim reformers: Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Khaled Abou El Fadl, and Abdulaziz Sachedina. In so doing, I show that it is possible to make religious arguments in support of liberal democracy and that Islamic struggles to do so are in no way exceptional. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / July 7, 2009. / Development of Doctrine, Moral Reform, Natural Law, Human Rights, Religious Pluralism, Public Reason, Limited Government, Popular Sovereignty, Religious Liberty, Comparative Religious Ethics / Includes bibliographical references. / John Kelsay, Professor Directing Dissertation; M. Victoria Costa, Outside Committee Member; Sumner B. Twiss, Committee Member; Aline Kalbian, Committee Member; Adam Gaiser, Committee Member.

Hellenistic Jewish interpreters of the Bible often restructured and modified biblical texts in an effort to further their own ideological perspectives. Among the many adaptations they made, these exegetes often sought to transform the familiar stories to better fit or express their own constructs of gender identity. This study attempts to uncover the ideologies of masculinity in three first-century Hellenistic Jewish texts: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus, Philo's De Somniis, and the anonymous Joseph and Aseneth. The texts were studied by means of a close reading for the rhetorical structures of each author, particularly noting the ways terminology and literary structures describing maleness are held in opposition to femaleness, and assuming that gender was a culturally constructed (rather than innate or essential) category. In the course of the study, a variety of constructions are confirmed: masculinity as dominance over the self (Josephus), as sexual propriety and non-violence (Joseph and Aseneth), and as avoidance of eunuchism, feminine company, and violating establish hierarchies (Philo). As these three exegetes represent only a small number of those writing at the time, this variety suggests that there may be many more constructions of maleness present in Hellenistic Jewish literature of the era. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 24, 2006. / Joseph and Aseneth, Josephus, Philo, Gender, Hellenistic Judaism, Masculinity, History of Interpretation / Includes bibliographical references. / David Levenson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Karen Laughlin, Outside Committee Member; Nicole Kelley, Committee Member.

Christian evangelism in Asia often faces opposition from various political and religious forces. Although the specific types of opposition vary between different locations, opposition to evangelism and resistance to Christianity are nearly always the result of the view that Christianity is "foreign" and that the spread of the religion poses a threat to the existing power structure in any given area. In India, various anti-conversion laws prohibit conversion to Christianity in many cases, while Hindu nationalist organizations often attempt to "re-convert" Christians from tribal or Dalit communities. In both the Christian and Hindu attempts to convert these individuals, the question of what constitutes conversion by "force" or "coercion" is often an issue. In China, the governmental agencies responsible for controlling religion ultimately decide who may preach, what they may preach, where they may preach, and to whom they may preach. As a result, many evangelical Christians choose not to register with the official church and participate instead in illegal underground organizations, while some choose to remain within official church groups yet continue to participate in unauthorized evangelistic activity. In the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, foreign missionary activity is still at a relatively early stage, and very little information is known about the methods that missionaries are employing. By examining the failures of various historical missions among Tibetan Buddhists, the current methods and hopes of missionaries in the TAR are placed in an historical context. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2007. / March 30, 2007. / PRC, TAR, World Missions, Evangelicals, Three Self, TSPM, Hindu-Christian Relations, Hindu Nationalism, Missions, Hindutva / Includes bibliographical references. / Bryan J. Cuevas, Professor Directing Thesis; Kathleen Erndl, Committee Member; Amanda Porterfield, Committee Member.

This paper addresses the formation of gender identity through the presence of female deities and related mythology. Using the theory developed by Luce Irigaray in "Divine Women", it proposes that women need a religious mythology that includes complex females in order to create a whole self and to build a healthy society. In order to demonstrate an example of this theory, the paper examines the way that divine women are created in the stories of Santeria as well as how through ritual, female (and male) practitioners gain a better sense of self; they are able to become divine women through their human characteristics, are able to heal through an enhanced intimacy with the deities and through a deeper connection to their selves, their bodies and their environment. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2005. / March 30, 2005. / Luce Irigaray, Gender, Healing, Santeria / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Amy Koehlinger, Committee Member; Amanda Porterfield, Committee Member.

In this study, I will examine the iconography of Mahisâsuramardinî, the slayer of the buffalo demon. The imagery emerges from a narrative tradition in which the goddess wages war with the demon. I will evaluate representations of Mahisâsuramardinî throughout its history within the contexts produced. The interpretations of divinity and its relationship with humanity within the periods of production will illuminate the theological understanding of the deity within its era. The iconography will be explored in three distict contexts. The first context will be from within the religious tradition with which it is most commonly associated – Brahminical Hinduism. I will show how the image emerged from a mundane representation and was elaborated to fit the mold of the celestial Brahminical pantheon. Next, I will evaluate depictions of the goddess in traditions with which the deity is not typically associated. I will discuss the iconography of the Jain yaksî Jvâlâmâlinî to display the appropriation of Mahisâsuramardinî, a martial deity in to a religion that emphasizes non-violence. I will also discuss the appropriation of the image into Javanese ancestor traditions and other traditions. Lastly, the imagery will be discussed in the modern context as the depictions become categorized as 'art.' I will show the modern categorization to alter the perception and usage of the image. I will demonstrate how the image ceases to have the same ritual life as in antiquity but becomes a symbol of cultural identity / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master’S of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2008. / April 8, 2008. / Divinity, Goddess, Durga, Iconography, Hinduism, Art, Religion, India, South Asia, Identity / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen M. Erndl, Professor Directing Thesis; Bryan J. Cuevas, Committee Member; Adam Gaiser, Committee Member.

There is strong pressure among Hindus to prefer sons, and this is most apparent through the example of India's exceptionally high prevalence of sex-selective abortions, and by other practices such as female infanticide and neglect that contribute to excess female mortality. The paper examines how, why, and to what degree son preference has a detrimental impact on the survival and status of Hindu females in India. Drawing from persistent socio-religious themes--reverence for the female in the traditional roles of wife and mother; a pronounced emphasis on the importance of the family unit; goddess worship; the strong desire for sons; dominance of the male; and subordinate status of the female--there is evidence of both discrimination against the female and a corresponding acknowledgement of her special powers and value. It is concluded that the widespread practice of dowry is the major, but not sole, cause exacerbating son preference to the extent that India sex ratios are abnormally imbalanced in favor of males. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2004. / March 23, 2004. / Son preference, Sex selection / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen M. Erndl, Professor Directing Thesis; Bryan J. Cuevas, Committee Member; Aline Kalbian, Committee Member.