No description available.

No description available.

Using documentary and ethnographic information, an analogy is drawn between conquest-period (ca. 1722) and contemporary political and religious institutions among the Cora (Nayari) people of the Sierra del Nayar in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. Fundamental to these political and religious institutions-then and now-is the idea that the deceased elders of the Cora people continue as active agents in the lives of living Coras, particularly as the seasonal rains. Based on this analogy, an inference is extended from contemporary attitudes of Cora people in the town of Santa Teresa toward the political and religious customs that mediate their relationships with these deceased ancestors, to the possible attitudes of Cora people toward their religious customs at the time of the Spanish conquest of the region. Millenarian fear, an anxiety that is widespread in Santa Teresa as contemporary Coras confront their own failure to adequately continue the customs of their ancestors, is inferred to have been a motivating factor in the Cora's acceptance of Catholic religious customs during the colonial period of their history.

No description available.

Within the period 1860-1890 changes took place in the public worship of the Church of Scotland. These changes were so revolutionary that many who could recall the Church's form of public worship before 1860 confessed their astonishment at the changes which they had seen. These changes were rapid and extensive, partly because external factors facilitated change. Like most ecclesiastical reforms or revivals, the revival of Church worship in the second half of last century in the Church of Scotland was no sudden growth. There had been much preparing of the soil for a time before the growth began. The initial preparation was done by three Scottish thinkers who wrote primarily on theological, rather than liturgical questions. Yet had they not put forward their teaching, it is difficult to see how the revival of Church worship would have begun when it did, or have developed as it did. These three thinkers were Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, John McLeod Campbell and Edward Irving.

This thesis is significant for the knowledge it offers concerning the influence of Napoleon Bonaparte's personality and career upon the character and the work of Lord Byron. It is significant because of the light it throws on both Napoleon and the culture of Europe during his era. This study is significant in the insight it indirectly gives into the psychological phenomenon of hero-worship, to which it gives a more universal application through the medium of Byron's attitude toward Napoleon.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Boston University, 1939

A comparative study of the development of places of worship in Sydney was conducted primarily through the collection of data from development applications to construct or to use premises as a place of worship over a five year period from 2000-2005. The data indicated that a greater and disproportionately higher number of applications by religious minorities were rejected. The significance of the findings does not lie exclusively in identifying the likelihood of development applications gaining approval. The process of determining development applications and the impacts of the outcome of the process were also important. This is why the content of the objections raised to development applications was analysed. The underlying themes in the opposition to development applications related strongly to citizenship, particularly how the boundaries of local forms of citizenship are negotiated. In establishing places of worship religious groups seek to have their citizenship claims recognised. These citizenship claims include: the right to access, mark and use space (Dunn 2005), equality of citizenship with local residents and with other religious groups, and importantly, the right to freedom of worship. One of the main assertions made in this thesis is that by restricting access to sites that people can worship and by restricting the practice of religion, the right to freedom of worship is compromised. Churches dominate the religious landscape of Sydney. This dominance can be partially attributed to the significant levels of historical assistance from the state with the building of Churches. This included access to land, free labour, support for clergy and income support which assisted in the development of early Churches. The appropriateness of giving this type of assistance is not debated in this thesis. However, the assistance itself is significant for two main reasons. Firstly it is emblematic of the privileged relationship between the Church and the state in Australia, and secondly, it raises questions over the lack of privileges afforded to religious minorities. In responding to the question of whether secularism is likely to assist religious minorities, the establishment of places of worship demonstrates how pluralising the Church state link may be of greater utility to religious minorities than strict forms of secularism. The examination of this issue introduces the importance of an equal relationship between the state and religious groups to equality of citizenship for religious minorities. The extent to which multicultural citizenship can assist religious minorities in realising their right to freedom of worship was critically examined in this thesis. The adequacy of the institutional responses to religious diversity was assessed. This included an examination of local government, courts, the media, heritage programs and the planning profession. The planning process demonstrates how a supposedly neutral or colour-blind approach can generate uneven outcomes, which discriminate against religious minorities. The broader policy and legislative responses to religious diversity were examined in order to identify how deficiencies in the multicultural framework contributed to difficulties for religious minorities establishing places of worship.

This qualitative research study explores the role of the sermon in corporate Nazarene worship. The context of this study is located with the Christian, Protestant, evangelical, Wesleyan theological tradition as expressed through the Church of the Nazarene in Australia. The church is briefly described from a Wesleyan perspective. Seven features are identified as historically important within the worship experience of Nazarenes; Biblically centred, centrality of the sermon, connection with Christian tradition, the preacher's life, encounter with self and the divine, community, and practical and relevant to present life. The conceptual lens through which the worship experiences are described is Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as primarily articulated by Yrjö Engeström (1999). The philosophical roots of CHAT and the concept of activity are described along with the structure of activity. Additionally, the compatibility of Wesleyan theology with the conceptual understanding of CHAT is presented. The interactive context of Nazarene worship is one of the compelling reasons given for using CHAT as the conceptual base for this study. Three corporate Nazarene worship experiences in three different Nazarene congregations are examined in detail using four research methodologies; namely, video taping, video stimulated recall interviews, focus groups, and observation reports. The data gathered is by way of transcriptions based on the video taping of the sermons, stimulated recall interviews and focus groups and is managed by use of the NUD*IST (5) computer program. The observation reports are used to gain insight into specific context issues. Nazarene worship is then mapped by relating the features found to be historically important in Nazarene worship to elements of the activity system. The role of the Bible, the sermon, Christian tradition, the preacher's life, the church community, personal encounter, divine encounter, and the application and the call to decision are identified in CHAT terms. The focus of this study is within Steps 1 and 2 of Engeström's (2000) expansive development cycle. Through the mapping of Nazarene worship, tensions are identified and their possible sources explored. The tensions of confrontation versus care, creation of a quiet, meditative environment versus noisy, dynamic environment, planning versus spontaneity, and individual versus community orientation are all explored in turn. Possibilities for resolution of these tensions are suggested as a means of guiding the continued development of the activity of Nazarene worship. Possible resolution of these tensions includes the change of the focus of sermons from confrontation to empowerment, the change of the structure of sermons to encompass the visualisation of the change sought, the change of the perceptions of the preacher to one of a sojourner, and the cultivation of spontaneity within sermon delivery. The static nature of the sermon as an instrument in both the sermon's historical development and the development of the corporate worship experience points to the need for the development of the sermon as a more flexible instrument. These conclusions have implications for the teaching of preaching in schools preparing Nazarene preachers. This study contributes to the conceptual basis for the ongoing development of clergy in their preaching ministry. This study has also made visible the difficulty of applying the conceptual framework of CHAT to the complex situation of corporate Nazarene worship experience. While conceptually it may be possible to differentiate between elements within an activity system, their practical distinction is less precise. This imprecision can create confusion especially at the tertiary and quaternary levels of contradictions and may need more precise articulation of the interactions within the activity system as well as between activity systems.

Thesis (M.A. Rel.)--School of Theology, Anderson University, 1988. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-117).