The purpose of this thesis: 1. To indicate the variants between 160 descendant returned missionaries and two other groups consisting of eighty non-descendant, and 193 mixed returned missionaries and 2. To denote the implications and importance of the most significant variants introduced.

There have been a few studies related to the religion education movement of the Reorganized Church, but little has been done to research the total program of the Department of Religious Education and its development. The purpose of this study was to trace the historical development of the religious education program of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1860 to its present organization as the Department of Religious Education; to summarize the church's philosophy of education; and to determine the present status of the Department of Religious Education of the Reorganized Church.

It is felt by some historians that Joseph Smith was a product of his environment; that his teachings were the amplifications of religious doctrines surrounding his life experience in early America.Some writings which have been published show similarities between Joseph's "Mormonism" and contemporary religions.It should be rememebered, however, that if Joseph Smith's call, as restorer, were all that he professed it to be (and he was not alone in that profession), there would, indeed, exist paralleling truths surrounding his "restored" gospel. For, as Joseph tells us, the gospel was preached from the beginning. If that is true, we should then be able to find remnants of its existence throughout the world at practically any time and at any place that we might look. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to explain parallels, throughout the history of the world, to Joseph Smith's doctrines.

In written history, Joseph Smith's colonizing efforts have been overshadowed by the Mormon settlement of the west. No one has really made a study of Joseph Smith as a colonizer. To this founder of the Mormon way of life, religion was more than a code of Sunday ethics. According to President Smith, man was created as an actual child of God and his Heavenly Father was concerned with providing for all his needs. Therefore, the revealed word of God in addition to listing a spiritual code of ethics, also contained provisions for the physical, social, political, economical, educational, safety needs, and quality of life. Joseph Smith attempted to combine all these principles into a new society he said was patterned after the order of heaven. It was called the Kingdom of God because Christ was its head and it contained the principles of life which he taught.

As one peers across the vistas of the past two types of holy men stand out with striking prominence and significance. The advance of religious thought and life has largely been due to the activities and contributions of these two, the priest and the prophet. It has been the purpose of this research to seek to discover the particular functions of each of these, to show their correlation in producing religious advance, and to make certain suggestions as to how the values each has to contribute to the program of the modern Christian church may be more adequately realized.

This paper does not purport to be an examination of Zen or Taoism, but rather a view of certain aspects of Zen and Taoism, but rather a view of certain aspects of Zen and Taoism from the vantage point of contemporary psychology, to see if a metaphysic, a philosophical resting-place, might not be found for the admittedly pragmatic science of clinical psychology. The questions the paper asks, then, and attempts to answer, are (1) can such a formulation be made, and (2) does psychotherapy conducted from this point of view move satisfactorily.

The reason I am writing this dissertation is to introduce another side of Zen, Soto, which is completely unknown in the Western world; and at the same time to bring Dogen's teaching to the attention of Western scholars, since it is famous in Japan as the most profound branch of the philosophy of Zen. Unfortunately, none of Dogen' s teaching has yet been translated into English except Masunaga's private publication given above. Therefore I am taking this opportunity to translate and to add a commentary of my own for the better understanding of Dogen as well as the historical survey of the Soto school. Also I have included the research of Bankei, who was in the line of Rinzai, but his distinguished teaching did not appeal to his contemporaries among the Zen Buddhists; rather he was rebuked by the Rinzai School because of his method of teaching Zen. Later the strict Rinzai School became largely connected with the civil authorities and social leaders, but Bankei's lineage died out because of the opposition. Recently Bankei's Zen and his distinguished teaching. method became very important among Japanese Zen scholars and many of them have done careful research on them. I have translated some of his work and briefly wrote his biography to try to introduce Bankei in the English-speaking world. Incidentally Bankei's teaching was introduced by D. T. Suzuki very briefly; thus my attempt is to supplement it and at the same time to contribute some more of it to Western scholarship.

<p>Sir Isaac Newton’s famous discovery of gravity marks the rapid advancement of science in the English seventeenth century, and a permanent shift away from the scientific methods of antiquity. Natural philosophers were beginning to look at the physical world in new and dynamic ways. However, much of this new theory conflicted with traditional theology, which was problematic for Christian followers of this ‘new science’. To negotiate this conflict, a group of natural philosophers developed a new branch of science entitled physico-theology. This stream aims to prove that science does not dismiss religion, but is able to reinforce the existence of God and the truth of Biblical texts. John Woodward is a largely overlooked participant in physico-theology, but his literary works<em> </em>supply key information to modern readers in the understanding of this field. This study critically examines Woodward’s <em>Natural History of the Earth</em> for its significant contributions to early modern science and literary techniques of this discipline. This work is indicative of an emerging scientific method that aims to accommodate both physical observation and creative thinking. I argue that Woodward’s reliance on theology, while scientifically problematic, does not hinder his research, but is perversely productive by challenging him to pursue innovative hypotheses. This prominent, understudied text is remarkable for its fusion of science and theology, and for what it can illuminate about the interdependence of faith and reason in early modern science.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This dissertation is concerned with two of the largest questions that we can ask about the nature of physical reality: first, whether physical reality begin to exist and, second, what criteria would physical reality have to fulfill in order to have had a beginning? Philosophers of religion and theologians have previously addressed whether physical reality began to exist in the context of defending the Kal{\'a}m Cosmological Argument (KCA) for theism, that is, (P1) everything that begins to exist has a cause for its beginning to exist, (P2) physical reality began to exist, and, therefore, (C) physical reality has a cause for its beginning to exist. While the KCA has traditionally been used to argue for God's existence, the KCA does not mention God, has been rejected by historically significant Christian theologians such as Thomas Aquinas, and raises perennial philosophical questions -- about the nature and history of physical reality, the nature of time, the nature of causation, and so on -- that should be of interest to all philosophers and, perhaps, all humans. While I am not a religious person, I am interested in the questions raised by the KCA. In this dissertation, I articulate three necessary conditions that physical reality would need to fulfill in order to have had a beginning and argue that, given the current state of philosophical and scientific inquiry, we cannot determine whether physical reality began to exist.</p>

This thesis examines whether the theological method currently known as inculturation was used in the Supper Narratives of the New Testament. A methodology is set up in which texts are examined against the backdrop of Graeco-Roman, Judaic and early Christian cultures. This methodology focusses on family resemblances and analogies, rather than genealogy or causal dependence to examine the links between text and context. It also avoids claims for orthodoxy dependent on claims about origins. Engaging with the claims of writers from Schweitzer, through Jeremias and up to the present, three themes are identified: meals, sacrifice and eschatology. The manifestations of each are examined against the three cultural groups:Judaic, Graeco-Roman and early Christian. The Supper Narratives (Mk 14:12-26, Matt. 26:17-30 and Luke 22:7-23 and 1 Cor 11:17-34) are then mapped against these themes. Analogies to the cultural groups are then traced. This process leads to conclusions that the New Testament writers did use a methodology which can be identified as inculturation. It manifests itself particularly through patterns identified by anthropologists as bricolage and re-accentuation. A notable example is "sacrificialisation", in which events and items are invested with a fresh sacrificial significance. Judaic concepts (e.g., covenant and Atonement) and rituals (e.g., sacramentals and Passover) dominate the interpretations of Jesus' last meal with his disciples. This does not mean that inculturation only took place in relation to Jewish culture. Many of the concepts used (e.g., sacrifice and sacrament) share commonalities with Graeco-Roman thought which allows them to engage with such world-views. This process sees Judaic understandings used as correctives to Graeco-Roman thinking about sacraments. It also sees Jewish concepts used to address Graeco-Roman values, and give an added historical depth (antiquitas) to a comparatively recent event. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D.Th. (New Testament)