Dans ce travail, nous nous proposons d'étudier des groupes de villages de la provinces d'Izumi durant l'époque d'Edo (1600 - 1868), afin de mettre en avant des types d'organisations sociales sortant des cadres institutionnels connus ainsi que les particularismes des localités étudiées.Ces ensembles de villages étant liés à la présence d'un sanctuaire commun (en plus des sanctuaires propres à chaque village ou hameau), nous partirons des relations établis entre ces établissements religieux et les groupes de villages qui leur sont liés, explorant le mode d’organisation des fidèles, leurs interactions avec les autorités seigneuriales ou shogunales. Nous nous intéresserons également à la structure interne du sanctuaire et les rôles des différents desservants, prêtres shintô et moine bouddhistes, notamment au travers des disputes qui les déchirent. Cela nous amènera également à nous interroger sur le rôle des organisations religieuses et tout particulièrement celui des organisations de prêtres shintô centrées sur les maisons curiales Yoshida ou Shirakawa, qui prennent leur essor durant cette époque.C’est en ce sens que nous nous pencherons sur les sanctuaires Kasuga, Hijiri, Kaminomiya et Shimonomiya, et Ôiseki. Explorant les groupes de villages qui leurs sont liés, nous nous attacherons à mettre en avant les interactions entre quatre groupes : les fidèles, le sanctuaire, les prêtres shintô et les moines bouddhistes. Cette analyse permettra de faire ressortir particularismes locaux, modes d’organisations non-institutionnels et structures internes de ces sanctuaires. / This dissertation examines several groups of villages in Izumi Province during the Edo period (1600 - 1868). It seeks to elucidate the non-institutional social organizations and unique characteristics of those villages. Each of the groups of villages examined in this study were closely linked with a particular Shintô shrine. This dissertation begins by analyzing the relationship between shrines and the groups of villages with which they were linked. It will then examine the functions performed by the parishioner organizations of each shrine, as well as the relationship between parishioner organizations, on the one hand, and the local authorities and shogunate, on the other. It will also investigate each shrine’s social structure and the role of Shintô priests and Buddhists monks. This dissertation will also highlight the range of shrine-related conflicts and disputes that occurred in Izumi Province during the Edo period. Furthermore, it will examine the role that religious organizations, such as the Yoshida and Shirakawa priestly orders, played in early modern society. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on five shrines in Izumi Province: Kasuga, Hijiri, Kaminomiya, Shimonomiya, and Ôiseki. Through an examination of those five shrines, this dissertation will study the interaction between four groups: local parishioners, Shintô shrines, Shintô priests, and Buddhist monks. Such an analysis will enable us to elucidate the unique characteristics of the villages surrounding each shrine, the various non-institutional organizations that developed in those villages, and the internal social structure of each shrine.

Padre Manoel Lopes de Carvalho nasceu na Bahia no final do século XVII. Foi aluno da Companhia de Jesus, ordenado sacerdote em 1707. Grande admirador do Padre Antônio Vieira, deixou a Colônia em direção ao Reino, onde apresentando-se como um 2o Profeta Jonas, escreveu um \"Memorial à Sua Majestade\" El Rey D. João V. Prognostifica uma reforma da Igreja à luz de idéias vieirianas. Encontrou no judeu-cristianismo um referencial teológico que pudesse unir a Igreja à Sinagoga. Filosemita convicto, combateu com veemência a Inquisição e a perseguição aos cristãos-novos. Após acreditar que o Messias viria do Brasil, depois de sua prisão nos cárceres do Santo Ofício da Inquisição, iniciou um processo psicológico, onde acabaria por declarar-se Messias. Por fim, combinou uma série de complexos cruzamentos teológicos, sintetizando elementos judaicos, cristãos e gnósticos. Foi condenado à morte em Lisboa como \"afirmativo, profitente da Lei de Moisés\" no Auto de Fé de 1726. / Priest Manoel Lopes de Carvalho was born in Bahia in the end of the 17th century. He was student of Jesus\' Company, ordered priest in 1707. Great admirer of Priest Antônio Vieira, he left the Colony towards the Kingdom, where presenting himself as a 2nd Prophet Jonas, he wrote a \"Memorial à Sua Majestade\" El Rey D. João V. He prognosticates a reform of the Church to the light of Priest Antônio Vieira\'s ideas. He found in the Jew-Christianity a theological referencial that could join the Church to the Synagogue. Convict philosemitic, he combatted with vehemence the Inquisition and the persecution to the newChristian. After believing that the Messiah would come from Brazil, after his prison in the jails of Saint Service of the Inquisition, he began a psychological process, where he would end for declaring himself Messiah. Finally, he combined a series of complex theological crossings, synthesizing Jewish, Christians and Gnostics elements. He was condemned to the death in Lisbon as \"affirmative, professed of the Moses\' Law\" in the Act of Faith of 1726.

Les prêtres sont une partie indissociable de l’organisation et du fonctionnement de la société égyptienne. Parmi eux les prophètes avaient une grande importance dans le clergé égyptien. Leur étude nous permet non seulement une meilleure compréhension du sacerdoce égyptien, mais aussi une meilleure connaissance de la religion égyptienne. Concentrée sur l’époque thinite et l’Ancien Empire, notre recherche a fait l’examen exhaustif des titulaires des prêtrises divines afin de comprendre les mécanismes de l’obtention de celle-ci et les fonctions déléguées aux prophètes. L’examen de sources nous a parmi d’attester une relation entre fonction civile et prêtrise divine qui est étudiée en détail. Nous discuterons la chronologie des prêtrises, les divinités concernées et la nature de ses titulaires. Nous interrogeons sur l’obtention et la transmission de la prêtrise divine. Enfin, nous poserons la question sur les lieux d’exercice de la fonction sacerdotale, ainsi que sur ce que celle-ci devait être. / The priests were an inseparable part of the organisation and functioning of the Egyptian society. Among them the prophets were one of the most important for the Egyptian clergy. The study of them allows us not only a better comprehension ofthe Egyptian priesthood but also a better knowledge of the Egyptian religion. Focused on the Early dynastic period and the Old Kingdom our research examinedthe holders of the divine priesthoods in order to understand the ways of having andobtaining it. The study of the sources allowed us to attest a relation between the civil service and the divine priesthood. We discussed the priesthood’s chronology, the mentioned gods and its holders. We question about its obtainment and transmission. At last, we focused on finding the place of exercise of the priesthood and its significance.

The heart of Pentecostal practice has always been an experience of the Holy Spirit. These experiences are often claimed to have the direct guidance of the Spirit and form the decisions and actions that result in the ongoing of the development of practices and doctrine. It is my contention that the third and fourth so-called waves of the Spirit are not truly waves of the Spirit, neither are they new. They are the rebirth, albeit in a new manner, of three disappointing and tragic movements of past Pentecostal history, namely the (New) Latter Rain, the Shepherding Movement, and the Prosperity Movement. I maintain that these two waves do not follow a solid Pentecostal doctrinal stand of an experience in the Holy Spirit of separability and subsequence, neither do they draw their doctrinal stand from the book of Acts, but rather the Synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, even though Pentecostal scholarship is on the rise, the majority of the prolific writers of these last two waves are extremely eisegetical in regards to their dealing with the Word of God. They claim vision and direction from Heaven, as opposed to an exegesis of the canon of Scripture. I maintain that these two, so called waves of the Spirit are not Heaven sent but man conceived and thus dangerous heresy to the church. `I believe that courage is the most important virtue, the foundation that underlies and gives realty to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage we become conformists. Conformity is not the fibre good and courageous leaders are made of… Do not be frightened by the aloneness that may come with your holding unpopular positions. It is in aloneness that wisdom will visit you and smile upon you'. These are not, as a theologian might be entitled to expect, the words of Elijah or Jeremiah. They are quoted from a speech given in 1999 by Mamphela Ramphele, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Her context was the silence that has so often fallen on African societies once liberation has taken place. It is just such silent acquiescence, she insists, that allow former `heroes of the struggle' to become despots and dictators. Her words are challenging to Pentecostal theologians for at least two reasons. The first and more mundane is that Pentecostalism is most vibrant today in precisely those countries, which can be termed `postcolonial'. The second, and to my mind the most relevant to the movement, is that Pentecostalism was at its beginning a powerful spiritual force because it inherited an ethos of radical difference and because its proponents were unflinching in refusing to be co-opted into any other agenda than the one for which they knew they had been empowered by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In this sense it was a prophetic religion, a religion similar to that of Elijah and Jeremiah. It is my plea then in this presentation that the so-called `postcolonial' countries will not swallow this new error, which has been called the new Pentecostal rhema from Heaven, which stems, as do so many new theological trends from the Western world. The new emerging Pentecostal Charismatic churches, particularly of the Third World need to have the courage not to be conformists, for such is not the fiber good and courageous leaders have. The hermeneutical pneumatology of the Pentecostal tradition has always been questioned. The early Pentecostals did not even bother to develop a theological hermeneutical position of a subsequent experience of the Spirit; they accepted their experience as from God . When they did begin to develop a Pentecostal theology it was often ridiculed as being primarily experiential, thus in the minds of most, devoid of Biblical theology. Fifty years after the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street many Pentecostal scholars began to re-examine the pneumatology of Luke's writing. In the latter part of the 20th Century many Pentecostal scholars came into their own, examining and challenging many of the previously accepted conclusions of theologians, in regards to the Classical Pentecostal doctrinal position . Their position was that there was a separable and subsequent experience of the Spirit following salvation, which was accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues. The initial evidence was for a few, and still is for some, questionable evidence. Such a position stood in opposition to those who declared that there was no second experience of the Holy Spirit for any person other than salvation. If those who believed in the `conversion-initiation, which included the baptism in the Holy Spirit' were indeed correct, then everything that Luke talks about in relation to pneumatology in his two-volume work is totally in relation to salvation. This was the theological pneumatological position prior to Classical Pentecostalism. It did and has resulted in many theological challenges. Scholars who take this position do so on the premise that Pentecost is more of a historical situation for the church. However scholars convinced of the Classical Pentecostal position are refusing to accept this position and have and are continuing to develop an exegetical position for a secondary work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. This is my personal position made vitally real for me since I did not grow up in a Pentecostal church setting, but rather came into the Pentecostal experience in my early 20's. It is my contention that the theological impact of Christ's ascension prior to the public ascension witnessed in Acts 1 has not been fully examined. Few scholars have dealt with the typological fulfillment firstly, of the work of the High Priest as seen completed in the life of Jesus Christ, or secondly, of His fulfillment of the first four feasts which the Jews were commanded to keep. Both of these aspects very clearly enhance and form a clear indication that the classical Pentecostal theology was and is correct in speaking of a separable and subsequent work of the Spirit following a clear salvation experience. I will seek to elucidate this by an examining the historical background of the first two waves of the Spirit, followed by a preview of the work of the Holy Spirit as seen in the canon of Scripture with emphasis on the New Testament. I will follow this by the development of the idea of regeneration in the New Testament. Finally I will examine Lukan writing in regards to the experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These chapters will then serve as a base for comparison with the material, which will follow. In the late 20th and early 21st century the Classical Pentecostal doctrine has been challenged by the last two charismatic waves of the Spirit, both of which have spawned a plethora of writings. It is my contention first; that the traditional Pentecostal understanding of the authority of Scripture has been abandoned in that now experience takes precedence over Scripture. Secondly it is clear that these last two waves do not fall within the same parameters as the first two waves in their understanding of a doctrine of separability and subsequence, since they revert to a pre-Classical Pentecostal theological position of only one experience of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, in a day when Pentecostal scholarship is seeking to become acceptable in their exegesis, the authors of these waves are almost totally eisegetical. The question needs to be asked `Have they subtly taken on a title to glean a following?' It is thus my contention that a survey of these waves shows that they have no common ground with the initial two waves of the Spirit. The indication is that they have deliberately chosen a different Biblical basis and thus disqualify themselves from the Pentecostal Charismatic stream. I will seek to elucidate this by examining the historical background of the last two waves of the Spirit, followed by an examination of the Pentecostal hermeneutic and their lack of hermeneutics, as seen so clearly in their writings. This will be done by pointing out the comparisons to the latter two waves of the Spirit both in theory and in the voluminous writing, which are largely based on eisegesis. The stated desire to `have church without making anyone sick' has broached and taken the movements far into left field. Finally, it is my contention that the third and fourth waves of the Spirit are not new at all. They are simply a rebirth of three disappointing and tragic movements in Pentecostal history. Thus I hope to clearly substantiate that the third and fourth wave of the Spirit are not really waves of the Spirit at all. They are not such in terms of their Biblical theological basis, neither are they such exegetically. They are simply the result of those desirous of the moving of the Holy Spirit who have reached back into the past and reintroduced past aspects of renewal, which unfortunately were man centered and resulted later in much havoc among Christians. I will seek to elucidate these facts by an examination of the history and practice of the (New) Latter Rain, which still haunts Saskatchewan, Canada where tragedies still exist, and the Shepherding movement out of Florida, which after a few years was denounced even by the leaders and finally totally disbanded. Then, finally the Prosperity Movement, which rose and fell as an unacceptable, illegitimate deduction of so called truth of the canon. One hopes and prays that the tragedies in lives will not live to haunt the church if Jesus tarries. We do not want the "heroes of spiritual struggles" to become the despots and dictators of the Pentecostal churches in the Third World. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

Gerard Manley Hopkins produced poetry in the Victorian era which was noted for its originality of syntax and form. The essence underlying a large body of his poetry was his Catholic religion. His early religious poetry utilized nature-based metaphors to express his love of Christ and trace the immanence of God within nature. He borrowed heavily from the aesthetics of Pater and the philosophy of Duns Scotus. The dissertation explores these early influences and assesses their contribution to the formation of a unique religious interpretation of life and the formulation of an aesthetic congruent with this religion. The dissertation dissects early symptoms of religious doubt within his poetry and finally analyses his `Terrible Sonnet' phase in detail to ascertain whether the crisis so often described as occurring during this period was religious or merely reflected a loss of creative ability. / English Studies / MA (English)

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of the written inheritance of the priest Martin Vích. It analyses and focuses on his written preparation for the preaching during liturgical year. The goal of this thesis is to bring a view about his preaching activity, and to get his characteristics, interesting images and ideas. The main section of this thesis is a practical part focused on an analysis of the preserved preaching in Christmas time, Easter time and in liturgical interim. The preserved preparation for the sacramental and funeral preaching is attached in conclusion. The thesis is also focused on a comparison with other preachers.

Submitted diploma thesis describes the life of priest František Pravda, born Vojtěch Hlinka. He was well-known writer and founder of short stories with rural theme. The thesis introduces Hlinka as a writer, but primarily as a man of many other professions and interests. The way of life brought him to Hrádek u Sušice to work for an aristocratic family of Sturmfeders. Attention is concerned with mutual relations between the Czech patriot and four generations of German baronial family. Hlinka worked as an educator of feeble-minded Ottokar Sturmfeder in Hrádek´s castle. His extraordinary psychopaedics talent is compared with usual provincial and European contemporary standards. There is also depicted Hlinka´s political, writing and religion career and his other interests. The thesis doesn´t overlook Hlinka´s contacts with important representatives of artistic and political life, which helps to complete the picture of Hlinka´s personality.

Pastoral care, or persuasion? The influence of church leaders and their control of clergy and believers. Research of religiosity, communication strategies of priests and their image in letters in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tomáš W. Pavlíček SUMMARY The author of the Ph.D. thesis examines the religious culture in Bohemia in the late 19th century. Contrary to the concept of secularization and the prevalent opinion about an extraordinary decline of religiosity in the Czech society, he attempts to explain the interdependence of social and religious changes in the modern times. Within the sociological concept of secularization and disenchantment of the world, the author focuses on three phenomena: the vocation of a priest, religious practices and conversion, which he treats as religious concepts and at the same time applies them in historical research. The biggest part of the thesis is devoted to the first object of the research - the attitude of a priest towards his vocation, as the clergy is the agent of religious change. The thesis contributes to the current discussions about the relationship of the church and the state and the role of clergy in the society. The main questions are: What is the role of a priest in the religious changes? In what way or under what circumstances does a person get the...

This study looks into Malachi’s emphasis on the offering aspect of the cult within Israel’s prophetic heritage. Malachi presents a different attitude toward offerings than his pre-exilic predecessors who spoke harshly against the cult focusing on religion’s ethical and spiritual aspects. The thesis of this study argues that pre-exilic anti-cultic statements do not diminish or reject the cult per se but a corrupted form of it conditioned historically and religiously. Malachi’s post-exilic pro-cultic emphasis presents a different context in which criticism of the cult’s corrupted usage takes place while remaining positive toward the cult itself. The key to understanding properly both anti- and pro-cultic attacks on different aspects of the cult is the covenantal relationship with Yahweh. Malachi’s positive attitude toward offerings balances the anti-cultic prophetic heritage of Israel showing that there was never a rejection of the cult, only misunderstandings and misuses of it. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The work is engaged in pastoral care of ill people in the hospitals in Czech Republic. The theoretic part shows up the concept of illness, basic needs of ill people and the concept of pastoral care of ill people in the view of chosen authors. The practical part contains the comparison of two forms of pastoral care of ill people. It is the service of five pastoral assistants, who are exercising their service in hospitals, and the service of five priests, who are visiting hospitals within their service in parishes. The pastoral assistants work in hospital four up to eight hours a day during working days and they exercise the pastoral care in the form of accompanying of ill people {--} that means they are in a dialogue with ill people and they participate in their life situations. The priests visit hospitals mainly in order to sacrament dispense. By the confrontation of the service of both groups of persons involved in pastoral care of ill people with that, what chosen authors write about this service, appeared that only the pastoral assistants fulfil the intention of the pastoral care of ill people, that is the accompanying of ill people in their difficult situation of illness.