This thesis evaluates the cultural work of gestures in the religious life of late medieval England. It exposes a void in current scholarship to suggest that gestural performances lie at the centre of contemporary modes of learning, highlighting how embodied engagements with faith allow for a new analysis of the nature of late medieval religious practices and teaching. The study establishes a sustainable grammar of religious gestures in late medieval England, tracing sources of encouragement for embodied performance before examining how established corporeal regimes could be distorted and re-appropriated. The thesis begins with an introduction to the engagements with gestural politics that have emerged in medieval textual studies in recen t years to suggest that gestural studies may be a tangible, flowering field. I turn to the liturgy as the starting point for my own examination of the gestural culture of late medieval Christianity, exploring verbal and bodily engagement by preachers and congregants with generalised notions of gestural behaviour, while highlighting distortions of practice in relation to the liturgical year. The thesis then examines how the gestures of the Church are used and misused in contemporaly religious drama, noting the distinct mannerisms that are associated with particular saints and biblical figures, while outlining the gestural transgressions that occur, especially with relation to diabolic characters. The next section focuses on the relationship between gestures and the imagination in Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ and Margery Kempe's Book to highlight the individualistic possibilities of gestural performance in the fifteenth century. The final chapter examines the theological rebuke to this gestural culture, specifically in the crafting of the Book of Common Prayer, highlighting how reformers in the sixteenth century dealt with the corporeal engagement with God which had flourished previously, with specific relation to visual and material culture.

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There has been a revived interest in the early modern sermons. Yet, relatively little work has been done on the early eighteenth century. This thesis contributes to the growing body of literature by focusing on London sermon culture from 1702 to 1763, These discourses faced increasing competition from other publications, so this study illuminates how this established genre adapted to the evolving world of print. This also was a period of religious diversity and, some argue, secularisation, so this analysis also furthers our understanding of the role of religion in society. This thesis traces the evolution of sermon culture from a highly partisan culture in the early eighteenth century to a more 'urbane' one by the mid-eighteenth century, when preachers increasingly contributed to the expanding associational environment of London. This analysis suggests that while the publication of sermons did experience some decline, preachers adapted to the evolving nature of English politics and society.

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Thesis (D.Th.)--University of South Africa, 2001.

The research documented in this thesis took place against a background of concern for the wellbeing of children, the educational standards being achieved in schools and questions about the purpose of education itself, particularly within a Christian framework. The focus of the research was an ethnographic study into the factors influencing the development and nurture of children’s spirituality in a Church of England Primary School where faith, belief and spirituality are explored as part of the educational experience of pupils. All schools are expected to provide opportunities for children’s spiritual development according to the 1944 Education Act, which replaced the term “religion” with the term “spiritual”. For Anglican Church Schools such provision is perceived to be a priority. However, because they are church schools within a state system they are subject to the differing expectations of a dual inspection system. This creates certain tensions and a degree of complexity for the schools. Beginning with a focus on the potential contribution that Philosophy for Children could make to children’s spirituality, the study broadened its scope to take account of the larger questions and concerns (outlined above) which were impacting on the potential for schools to offer opportunities for spiritual development to children during their primary school experience. The case study is analysed using Bernstein’s pedagogic theories and models to elucidate the “double tension” which exists for Anglican Church Schools as they seek to achieve high academic standards and provide opportunities to explore spirituality both of which are central to the mission of church schools. This tension was evidenced in the leadership style, language and pedagogy operating within the case study school. The study concludes that recognising this tension seems to be a prerequisite for supporting church schools as they seek to fulfil their mission within the current educational climate.

In this thesis I explore the debate over the state funding of Muslim schools in Britain, examining the arguments used for and against by the stakeholders involved. Qualitative interviews were conducted with head teachers, politicians, Muslim parents and representatives from a number of stakeholder organisations, to identify their reasons for supporting or opposing state funded Muslim schools. This research is necessary because until now the opinions of those directly involved have not been systematically researched, resulting in assumptions and generalisations about their views. Muslim schooling has become an increasingly fractious and polarised issue, and only by analysing the actual arguments used by those directly involved can we gain insight into the complexities underlying this debate. This data also allows me to explore how the issue of Muslim schooling relates to broader sociological questions about the rights, responsibilities and forms of belonging appropriate for minority communities in multicultural societies. In the findings I begin by reporting that the main arguments used in favour of state funded Muslim schools were equal rights, a better society, strengthened identity and educational benefits. I then move on to question why, given these strong favourable arguments, so few Muslim schools are currently in receipt of state funding. I ask whether this is due, at least in part, to Islamophobia. I then utilise models of political philosophy to evaluate the arguments surrounding state funded Muslim schools, and find that discourses of equality, social cohesion and identity are employed by both opponents and proponents. It is therefore possible to argue either for or against the state funding of Muslim schools from a liberal, a communitarian or a multiculturalist perspective. Finally I assess alternative solutions to the educational difficulties faced by Muslims in Britain, and conclude with my opinion about whether there should be state funded Muslim schools.

In light of growing evidence of exogamy among Jews and diminishing levels of community engagement, the question of how to sustain and cultivate Jewish identity has become a major preoccupation in the Jewish world since the early 1990s. Among the numerous organisations, programmes and initiatives that have been established and studied in response, Limmud, a week-long annual festival of Jewish life and learning in the UK that attracts an estimated 2,500 people per annum and has been replicated throughout the world, remains decidedly under-researched. This study is designed to understand its educational philosophy. Based upon qualitative interviews with twenty Limmud leaders, and focus group sessions with Limmud participants, it seeks to explore the purposes of the event, its content, its social and educational processes, and contextual environment. It further explores the importance of relationships in Limmud's philosophy, and the place of social capital in its practice. The study demonstrates that Limmud's educational philosophy is heavily grounded in the interaction of competing tensions, or polarities, on multiple levels. Major categorical distinctions drawn in educational philosophy and practice, and Jewish and general sociology, are both maintained and allowed to interact. This interaction takes place in a "hospitable and charged" environment – one that is simultaneously safe, respectful and comfortable, whilst also edgy, powerful and challenging - that allows the individual freedom to explore and navigate the contours of Jewish community, and the Jewish community opportunity to envelope and nurture the experience of the individual. The study suggests that the interaction of these competing forces, in the context of an intensive Jewish experience, may be an important feature of Jewish educational initiatives attempting to respond to the identity challenges described above. More generally, in detailing a contemporary educational model that sustains religious/ethnic identity whilst emphasising critical thought and openness to competing claims and ideas, it presents an approach that may be applicable in other religious and ethnic communities.

This thesis sets out to answer a central question: is it possible to engage in the Christian religious education of adults without resorting to indoctrination? It looks first to the concepts in the literature connected to the Christian religious education of adults. This literature deals with education overall, the education of adults in particular, and then education as it relates to faith. The concepts of indoctrination, preaching and nurture are then examined as they relate to education. A visual representation of the relationship between these concepts is offered, showing that there is a progression from indoctrination, through preaching, nurture, to education understood in a pure sense, which has only the intention of facilitating (any) worthwhile learning. Alongside this work based on conceptual analysis from the literature, field work undertaken in a Roman Catholic Diocese in England and Wales is used to support the research. The field work is an illustrative snapshot, rather than representative; its purpose is to illuminate the conclusions reached in the first part of the research. In both the questionnaire and interview section of the field work, data was obtained from three groups of respondents: administrators, tutors and participants. This grouping covers all those involved in the Christian religious education of adults in the diocese, and allows triangulation of data. The results of the field work is then related back to the chart proposed from the literature review, and conclusions drawn about gaps in the literature and proposals made for further study. Overall, the data from the field work support the conclusions of the first part of the research, with minor adjustments.

Thesis (D.Th.)--University of South Africa, 2001.