The Novgorod icon of Divine Wisdom is a great innovation of fifteenth-century Russian art. It represents the winged female Sophia flanked by the Theotokos and John the Baptist. Although the icon has a contemporaneous commentary and it exercised a profound influence on Russian cultural history (inspiring, among others, the sophiological theory of the turn of the twentieth century), its meaning, together with the dating and localisation of the first appearance of the iconography, has remained a great art-historical conundrum. This thesis sheds new light on this icon and explores the message, roots, function and historical context of the first, most emblematic and most enigmatic Russian allegorical iconography. In contrast to its recent interpretations as a Trinitarian image with Christ-Angel, it argues that the winged Sophia is the personification of the Orthodox Church. The Novgorod Wisdom icon represents the Church of Hagia Sophia, that is Orthodoxy, as it was perceived in fifteenth-century Rus’: the icon together with its commentary was a visual-textual response to the Florentine Union between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, signed in 1439 but rejected by the Russians in 1441. The thesis is based on detailed interdisciplinary research, utilising simultaneously the methodologies of philology, art history, theology and history. The combined analysis reveals that the great innovation of the Novgorod Sophia icon is that it amalgamates ecclesiological and sophiological iconographies in new ways. Hence the dissertation is also an innovative attempt to survey how Orthodoxy was perceived and visualized in medieval Rus’. It identifies the theological questions that constituted the basis of Russian Orthodox identity in the Middle Ages and reveals the significance of the polemics between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches for the history of Medieval Russian art.

Esta tese procura estudar as relações entre o humanismo erasmiano e os processos de confessionalização desenvolvidos no contexto da Europa ocidental a partir da década de 1530. Um dos pressupostos da investigação é a existência de grande distância entre as perspectivas de Erasmo, moldadas segundo as noções de minima dogmata (a definição de um conjunto de dogmas reduzido ao mínimo essencial) e de condescendência para com as diferenças secundárias de doutrina dentro da fé cristã, e a atitude que norteou os processos confessionais, assinalada pelo enrijecimento doutrinário e pela multiplicação de dogmas. Apesar dessa distância, o humanismo erasmiano foi elemento importante na configuração da atitude confessional, tanto pela centralidade que deu à pregação enquanto instrumento catequético, quanto pelo estímulo que proporcionou à abordagem filológica nos estudos bíblicos. Nesse processo frustrou-se o projeto da minima dogmata: a multiplicação de dogmas trouxe, também, a multiplicação das acusações de heresia. Esse resultado ambíguo nos ensina algo sobre as ambiguidades de Erasmo e do seu humanismo. Ambos encontravam-se num contexto de enormes mudanças em todas as áreas, mas ligavam-se profundamente a estruturas sociais e a formas de pensamento do passado. A luta de Erasmo contra a tirania, marcada pela defesa dos antigos privilégios dos ordines contra as intromissões da centralização política, representou uma apropriação criativa dos valores que caracterizaram, cento e cinquenta anos antes, o humanismo cívico florentino; mas se revelou também um programa desprovido de qualquer viabilidade. Como humanista, Erasmo procurava adequar o mundo ao livro (à sabedoria dos Antigos, somada à sabedoria da fé cristã); nesse processo, deu respostas inadequadas aos problemas de sua própria época. Situado num momento de contrastes, na confluência de dois mundos e pertencendo, por formação e por convicção, ao mundo que se dissolvia, o humanismo erasmiano nos ensina muito, tanto sobre as estruturas do mundo medieval em crise como sobre as novas realidades que despontavam. / This thesis aims to study the relations between Erasmian humanism and the processes of confessionalization developed in Western Europe context from the 1530s. One of the assumptions of the research is that there are great distances between the perspectives and ideas of Erasmus, molded according to the notions of minimal dogmata (defining a set of dogmas reduced to a minimum) and condescension toward the minor differences of doctrine within the Christian faith, and the attitude that guided these confessional processes, marked by doctrinal rigidity and by multiplication of dogmas. This distances notwithstanding, Erasmian humanism was an important element in shaping the confessional attitude, both by the centrality that it gave to catechetical preaching and by the stimulus to philologycal approach in biblical studies. But the project for minima dogmata was thwarted; the multiplication of dogmas brought also the multiplication of heresys accusations. This ambiguous outcome teaches us something about the ambiguities of Erasmus and his humanism. Both were in a context of profound changes in all areas; but both were deeply linked to social structures and ways of thinking of the past. Erasmuss struggle against tyranny, marked by the defense of ordiness ancient privileges against the intrusions of political centralization, represented a criative appropriation of the values of old Florentine civic humanism; but it also revealed a program lacking any viability. As a humanist, Erasmus sought to adapt the world to the book (the wisdom of the Ancients, and the wisdom of the Christian faith); in doing so, Erasmus gave inadequate answers to the problems of his own time. Set in a time of contrasts, at the confluence of two worlds and belonging, by formation and conviction, to the fading world, Erasmian humanism teaches us a lot about the structures of the medieval world in crisis, and about the new realities that was about to breaking out.

Hildegard von Bingen, religiosa beneditina que viveu no século XII, alegava ter escrito sua primeira obra, o Scivias, obedecendo a um comando divino, que ela teria recebido em uma visão. Segundo Hildegard, suas visões a acompanhavam desde sua infância, e nelas ela via uma Luz Viva e recebia mensagens divinas. O Scivias que, segundo Hildegard, consistia na transcrição dessas mensagens divinas, era uma obra com ensinamentos em ortodoxia doutrinária. O caráter profético da obra aliado à sua ortodoxia garantiu-lhe pronta aceitação no meio eclesiástico e deu a Hildegard a reputação de profetisa. Devido à sua fama de profetisa, Hildegard passou a ser buscada como a um oráculo espiritual, como conselheira espiritual em diversos assuntos. Monges, abades, abadessas, bispos e imperadores consultavam Hildegard em busca de conselho, consolo e mesmo solução para os seus problemas. A vasta correspondência da religiosa atesta este fato. Neste estudo, procuramos entender, através da análise de um relato mítico incluído no Scivias e de parte de sua correspondência, de que maneira profecia e ortodoxia, como expressões da espiritualidade de Hildegard, manifestaram-se em sua obra. / Hildegard von Bingen, religious Benedictine woman who lived in the twelfth century, claimed to have written her first book, the Scivias, under a prophetic call, that came to her in a vision. According to Hildegard, her visions had been with her since her childhood, and in them she saw a Living Light and received divine messages. The Scivias which, according to Hildegard, consisted of the transcription of these messages, was a work with teachings in doctrinal orthodoxy. The prophetic character of the book, allied to its orthodoxy, guaranteed it with acceptation in the ecclesiastical environment and gave to Hildegard the reputation of a prophetess. Due to her fame as prophetess, people began to search Hildegard as a spiritual oracle, as a spiritual counsellor in different subjects. Monks, abbots, abbesses, bishops and emperors consulted Hildegard in search of admonition, advice, consolation and even solution for their problems. The vast correspondence of Hildegard bears witness to this fact. In this study, we try to understand, through the analysis of a mythical account included in the Scivias and of part of her correspondence, in what ways prophecy and orthodoxy, as expressions of Hildegards spirituality, were manifested in her work.

Este trabalho procura mostrar aspectos de dois fenômenos contemporâneos que se entrecruzam e que convergem em Israel: a disseminação e importância das séries televisivas e a visibilidade adquirida pela ortodoxia judaica na sociedade israelenses a partir dos anos 1990. Dessa maneira, a partir da análise de uma série produzida para a televisão israelense, Shtisel, busca-se compreender quais são os mecanismos que operam para que audiências das mais diversas, espalhadas pelo mundo, possam se identificar com um grupo tão específico como a ortodoxia judaica. No decorrer do trabalho, para que também se possa entender o fenômeno da visibilidade da ortodoxia nas telas, analisa-se a expansão de um cinema de comunidade, como aqueles produzidos por e para judeus ortodoxos. / This work seeks to show aspects of two contemporary and interwoven phenomena: the dissemination and importance of television series and the visibility acquired by Jewish orthodoxy in Israeli society from the 1990s. Thus, from the analysis of a series produced for the Israeli television, Shtisel, the work seeks to understand what are the mechanisms that operate so that audiences of the most diverse, scattered around the world, can identify themselves with a group as specific as Jewish orthodoxy. In the course of the work, in order to understand this phenomenon of the visibility of orthodoxy on the screen, we analyze the expansion of a community cinema, such as those produced by and for Jewish Orthodoxy.

<p>This dissertation examines the modern transformation of orthodoxy within the Otani denomination of Japanese Shin Buddhism. This history was set in motion by scholar-priest Kiyozawa Manshi (1863-1903), whose calls for free inquiry, introspection, and attainment of awakening in the present life represented major challenges to the prevailing orthodoxy. Judging him a principal player in forging a distinctively modern Buddhism, many scholars have examined Kiyozawa's life and writings. However, it is critical to recognize that during his life Kiyozawa remained a marginal figure within his sect, his various reform initiatives ending in failure. It was not until 1956 that Otani leaders officially endorsed and disseminated Kiyozawa's views. Taking my cue from Talal Asad's critique of Clifford Geertz's definition of religion, I move beyond interpretation of the "meaning" of Kiyozawa's life and writings to the historical study of how they came to be invested with authority, impacting the lives of millions of sect members and influencing the perception of him among scholars. </p><p> I approach this history on three levels. On an individual level, I examine the lives and writings of Kiyozawa, his followers, and his critics, as revealed in their books, journal articles, newspaper articles, diaries, and letters. On an institutional level, I examine the transformation of the Otani organization's educational, administrative, and judicial systems, as documented in institutional histories, denominational by-laws, official statements, and administrators' writings. Finally, on a national level, I examine the effect of major political events and social trends on Kiyozawa's followers and the Otani organization. </p><p> This study reveals that one critical factor in the transformation of Otani orthodoxy was the strategic use of a discourse of "empiricism" by Kiyozawa's followers. As the Otani organization's modern university gradually came to supercede its traditional seminary, Kiyozawa's followers positioned themselves as authoritative modern scholars. At the same time, this study shows that the transformation of Otani orthodoxy was contingent upon broader historical developments far outside the control of Kiyozawa's followers or Otani leaders. Specifically, the state's persecution of Communists, war mobilization policies, and the post-war context of democracy building all shaped the views and fortunes of Kiyozawa's followers. I argue that by better acknowledging and examining the contingent nature of religious history, scholars can approach a more realistic view of how religions are formed and reformed. Specifically in regard to modern Buddhist studies, I also argue that more attention should be paid to how sectarian institutions continue to grow and evolve, shaping all aspects of Buddhist thought and practice.</p> / Dissertation

This dissertation uses the public career of Harvard evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould to examine the place of evolution in American culture from 1960 to 2002. Gould was a professional paleontologist and public science writer who rose to fame through his participation in a series of American controversies over biology and society. Prior to the 1980s, Gould publicly disagreed with other biologists over the relationship between liberalism and scientific research. As a New Left activist, Gould advocated caution over public pronouncements on evolutionary explanations of race and sex. His opponents believed that science could provide objective standards for understanding human difference. This thesis shows how the resurgence of creationism in the context of the New Right brought a new community into dialogue with these generally left-oriented academics. Evolutionary scientists and writers solidified a new evolutionary orthodoxy in their attempt to close ranks against the political, social and intellectual threat of creationism. Gould's intellectual and political struggles with the rise of this Darwinian orthodoxy demonstrate the impact that the American public had on the terms of debate within professional evolutionary biology. By studying the impact of public religious controversy on scientific knowledge production, this dissertation brings a fresh perspective to histories of both American evolutionary science and American cultural formation. / History of Science

The theme of this thesis is the significance of Holy Scripture for the life of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; the main emphasis is on the influence of the Old Testament. This work thus deals with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the classical Ethiopic and peculiarities of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon compared with other canons of the Church. In this case the emphasis is on the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees and the impact of these books on the life of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It also deals with the tradition of commenting on Holy Scripture in the Ethiopian ambience and the particular elements of the life of the Ethiopian Church, which can be linked with the Old Testament and Jewish tradition.

The following study seeks to explore the subjects of Christianisation and Christian identity during the transitional period of the fourth century from an ecclesiological perspective, and argues that the very question of Christian identity is, indeed, an ecclesiological one. It approaches the subject through the writings of Cyril of Jerusalem, specifically his Catechetical Lectures, the earliest complete catechetical programme that has come down to us, making it an invaluable resource for anyone hoping to understand the Catholic Church's efforts to preserve and construct its identity in the wake of Constantine's formal conversion to its faith. Moreover, Cyril, who became bishop of the Holy City around 350, affords us a unique perspective on the question at hand, teaching as he did from the 'very centre of the earth', following the creation of a Christian holy land and pilgrimage centre in the midst of what remained a largely pagan province, and in a city still central to Judaism. The ability to possess the sites and relics associated with the life of Christ and the Prophets for the first time in Christian history not only made the drama of salvation tangible in Jerusalem like nowhere else, but raised new and important questions around the extent to which this sacred topography was compatible with Christianity's departure from the temple-centred worship of the Old Testament. It also provides valuable insight into the relationship between the local and the universal as regards notions of the Church's catholicity, Cyril's definition of &kappa;&alpha;&theta;&omicron;&lambda;&iota;&kappa;? in his eighteenth lecture arguably being the earliest. Membership of the Church, and therefore Christian identity, is for Cyril primarily ontological, defined and effected through mysteriological participation, with baptism - the believer's death, rebirth, and union with Christ - representing the dividing line between insider and outsider, a fact enforced by the so-called Disciplina Arcani, by which all knowledge of the Church's sacraments were jealously guarded from the unbaptised. The thesis explores how this notion of ontological membership underpins and informs Cyril's dealings with the various groups against which he sought to define his own community - the Greeks, Jews, and heretics - while also looking at the ecclesiological significance of the baptismal act itself.

abstract: Lost and Found: Jewish Women Recovering Tradition, Remaking Themselves This study explores the turn towards stringently observant Orthodox Judaism among lesser observant Jewish women ages late 40s to early 70s residing in a rapidly growing Sunbelt city. It seeks to answer three questions: what is the impulse that inspires such a fundamental life change; what is the process for making that change; and how does that change impact the sense of self, as individuals and within families and communities? It is an ethnographic study that uses a qualitative, modified grounded theory methodology to gather and analyze data, allowing themes to arise from extensive field observation and intensive participant interviews. The data establish an underlying phenomenon of lost and found, a personal loss, compounded by a lessening or loss of religious grounding, which inspires a recovery of traditional religion and a remaking of identity. Other key findings manifest a fluidity of religious identity and a propensity for change; the social nature of such identity and the significance of communal belonging in its progression; the impact of memory, history, generation, life course position and geographic location in inspiring and informing such a progression; a reframing of feminist assertions and gender roles within a traditional religious framework; an assertion of the existence of women’s interior life and assumption of personal responsibility for its realization; a reconciliation of a rhetoric of choice and individual autonomy within a traditional religious system. In contrast to this study, previous scholarship focused on younger men and women, most in their 20s or 30s, the majority unmarried and without children. The prior studies took place several decades earlier in major metropolitan areas, most along the Eastern seaboard and in the Midwest, more densely populated with larger, older and more established Jewish communities. This study elucidates a shift towards more traditional religion within American Judaism and within the broader context of American religion. It provides fertile ground for future study of age and stage of life, feminism and gender roles, individual autonomy, choice, communal responsibility and religious change. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Religious Studies 2018

Friedrich Mildenberger's Theology. The submitted dissertation represents generally first presen- tation of Friedrich Mildenberger's theology with distinctive concentration on his opus magnum three-volume Biblical Dogmatics. Friedrich Mildenberger is the only systematic theologian who was developing "pan-biblical theology" lifelong. Overwhelming majority of his work is con- nected with his working at the theological faculty in Erlangen. Mildenberger strove for the proper use of scripture in church which historical-critical interpreting cannot meet. His Biblical Dogmatics principally combines biblical theology with dogmatic questioning and endeavours to understand scripture applicably. Biblical Dogmatics is conceived of as posing the questions to which the biblical texts are to be discussed as answer For Mildenberger's interpreting of the Bible, it's peculiar to interlacing theology (the constitution of reality in God) and economics - or with James Barr rather oikonomia -, i.e. the restitution of reality by God. The specificity of his questioning and originality (!) determines the abandonment of the traditional encyclopaedic separation/division and theology study. Mildenberger follows the Lutheran Orthodoxy tradi- tion, Enlightenment, the so-called dialectical theology and contemporary theological...