<p>'This thesis examines various interpretations of the book of Job.These interpretations are found to be inadequate for different reasons. It is then proposed that an examination of certain key concepts - wisdom, justice and knowledge - and their usages Suggests that the poet's objective is the definition of human knowledge and its relation to the divine.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This study is an analysis, of the actions and attitudes of Caitanya in the light of the ideals of the Bhāgavta Purāna. The basic sources for the study are: the Caitanya Caritāmrta of krsnadāsa Kavirāja, the Bhāgavata Purāna and the devotional poetry of the Bengal Vaisnava cult. It is the contention of this thesis that the distinctive religious contribution of Caitanya. is that his life was seen as the concretization of the love romance of the Bhāgavata. Max Weber's concept of charisma is introduced in order to demonstrate the relevance of this thesis to the wider study of religion.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The point of departure for the thesis is the relative lack of systematic, descriptive, empirically-based generalizations in the four major traditional schools of psychology of religion, stemming from the work of Freud, Jung, James, and Adorno and the postwar social/personality psychologists. It is argued that all of these suffer from severe limitations of conceptual scope and data base, consequently falling short of developing a taxonomic, typological, and explanatory psychology of religion.</p> <p>It is suggested that sociological conceptions of religion have tended to be more comprehensive and to possess greater explanatory power than psychological theories, and that theory from the former discipline might be fruitfully applied to empirical data from the latter. Mol's theory of religion as "sacralization of identity" is chosen, and its psychological contents are made explicit and subjected to verification through a search of empirical studies from the present decade relating religious variables to attitudes, behavior, personality constructs and psychological health.</p> <p>The main findings are that religious individuals and non-religious individuals may be characterized by a basic structural difference in personality organization, with more religious individuals typically exhibiting an internalization of the "collective ideal", and less religious individuals possessing a personality which is organized toward greater autonomy.</p> <p>The social dynamics of sacralization and secularizationg it is concluded, correspond to the two basic personality types epitomized by the principles of "integration through adjustment" and "self-actualization through autonomy", each of which represents a viable mode of adjustment.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This dissertation has a two-fold aim: (1) to give an accurate analytic account of the transition from primitive Christian eschatology to that which, in the wake of Luke's Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles, became classical Christian eschatology; and (2) to define and resolve, in principle, the problems which the historical consciousness of contemporary man poses for classical Christian eschatology. Specifically, this has been done in two steps: (1) by an analysis of why primitive Christian eschatology became a problem, together with the Lucan solution to that problem; and (2) by an analysis of why the Lucan solution also became a problem to the modern mind. Using the Lucan achievement as a paradigm, the dissertation concludes with an attempt to specify a way toward resolution of the contemporary problem.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The aim of this dissertation is first to detail the changes that have taken place in two Roman Catholic seminaries in southern Ontario in the course of the decade 1962-1972; second, to discern the direction of these changes as well as the forces that are powering them and their impact on priestly self-understanding in the Catholic Church of southern Ontario. In virtue of the social organization of Catholicism, such developments have far-reaching significance. They affect not only the clergy but the church at large and they are an index to the evolution of Catholic self-understanding far beyond the borders of southern Ontario.</p> <p>This dissertation is in two parts. Part One is informational, reporting changes that have taken place from 1962 to 1972 in the two major seminaries of southern Ontario: Saint Augustine's in Toronto and Saint Peter's in London. These changes are detailed under three headings: philosophical, theological and spiritual formation. Part Two is analytic in the manner of contemporary social religious history. It attempts to say what the changes mean; that is, "what is going forward" in our time in and through the changes. The hypothesis of Part Two: the priesthood is being re-conceived in terms of ministerial function (on a "prophetic-deaconal" model) rather than as "state of life" (on a "sacro-hierarchic" model) and the priestly function (preaching and Eucharistic celebration) is increasingly seen:</p> <p>a) in the larger context of a common Christian task.</p> <p>b) the task being to create, sustain and develop Christian Community</p> <p>c) a Community which interacts and shares.</p> <p>Thus the ,barriers created by previously authoritarian structures are laboriously given way to the expression in Community of a "holistic" environmental dynamic," favouring the fuller charisms of all individuals.</p> <p>This changed priestly ideal and self-understanding has emerged from an ancient understanding of the Church and one attested in our day by the documents of Vatican II. But if this vision of the Church is to make its way as the Catholic self-understanding of our time, it would be through a new priJestly self-understanding, ready to acknowledge the existence of charisms among the laity and to invite and capitalize on their expression. Such is "the meaning of the changes" reported and analyzed in the present study.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to examine, define and critically evaluate Professor Philip Rieff's central thesis which may be stated in the following way. After the great theoretical works of Freud and his successor-critics, the western world has seen the emergence of a new self-understanding which is the most important symptom of a fundamentally new culture in which therapy replaces religion.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A critical examination of two of Oscar Cullmann's books to determine the extent to which his exegetical work is adversely affected by his theological presnppositions. Cullmann's presuppositions are isolated and described. Then a critical examination reveals that the presuppositions are not inherent in the New Testament mateirial but are imposed upon it. Cullmann's "theological exegesis" is shown to be an inadequate method of biblical interpretation.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis is a detailed and systematic study of Karl Rahner's philosophy of religion as it is developed and presented in his book. Hörer des Wortes. Special attention is directed to Rahner's conception of the proper relationship between philosophy of religion and theology, and to Rahner's emphasis upon the importance of human history in attempting to work out his philosophy of religion.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)