There are two key terms in this thesis, namely presence and shame. "Presence" is used broadly to refer to all forms of authentic "being-with". That is, it describes genuine relationality, real meeting. Shame indicates that the self is evaluating itself as defective, flawed, inferior in some way (e.g. morally, intellectually, or physically). The aims are threefold. There is an intention, first, to develop an understanding of how genuine presence functions within pastoral care and counselling. The second aim is to develop an understanding of how distorted forms of presence operate in pastoral care and counselling, with a specific reference to their shame-inducing potential. In this way, attitudes and behaviours (often subtle) which mitigate against effective care (especially through lowering self-esteem in the recipient of care) are identified in order that they may be guarded against. The third aim is to show that shame has an important role to play in the process through which a pastor or counsellor moves from distorted to genuine presence. In order to interpret presence, use is made of two notions developed by the so-called "dialogical philosophers", Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber: <I>availability </I>and <I>confirmation</I>, respectively. Availability is essentially the giving of self for the sake of the other. One disposes of oneself in the service of another. Confirmation is a process in which one challenges the other to reach for his God-endowed potential. While pastoral presence is often construed in terms of empathy and acceptance (Carl Rogers), it is contended that Marcel and Buber offer us rich conceptualisations which, while being closely related to Rogers' relational keys, also take us beyond them. The <I>primary thesis</I> that will be argued is that <I>in pastoral relationships availability is before skills and techniques and confirmation is beyond acceptance and empathy</I>. That is, it is contended, first, that availability is fundamental in pastoral care and counselling. Without it, the use of counselling techniques will be only minimally effective. It is also argued that while one must ground care in acceptance of the other, it is necessary to go beyond this to sensitively challenge her to grow into her God-given spiritual, moral and psychological potentialities.

No description available.

Frankish ecclesiastics exerted great effort in defining and regulating the life of the canonical clergy between the reigns of Pippin III and Louis the Pious. Church councils and assemblies convened by Carolingian kings, such as the Synod of Ver (755) and the Council of Aachen (816), sought to impose order. These councils distinguished between three interrelated groups: the secular clergy, the canonical clergy and monks. Separating the lives of these orders was no easy task, as there was siginificant debate over the definition of each group. In response to these queries and admonitions, bishops regulated the life of the clergy in their diocese. Notably, Chrodegang of Metz (d. 766) produced the first extant rule for canons. This text has attracted much historiographical attention and is often seen as providing the basis for the influential Canonical Institute produced at the Council of Aachen (816). This thesis examines the interplay between central attempts to establish the norms of the life of canons and local response to such efforts. Focusing on the latter demonstrates the variety of appraoches taken towards the regulation of the clergy in this period and concludes that the significance and impact of Chrodegang’s Rule has been overstated. The thesis is divided into three parts. Part I investigates how the canonical clergy were defined as a group. Part II examines the different local texts and traditions used to to regulate the clergy between c. 750 and 813. Finally, part III provides a detailed textual analysis of the Canonical Institute (816), highlighting that this prominent text drew widely on a variety of different traditions used to regulate the clergy, establishing concordance out of diversity.

This thesis is an examination and analysis of the books needed by and available to Anglo-Saxon priests for the provision of pastoral care in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Anglo-Saxon priests are a group that has not previously been studied as such due to the scattered and difficult nature of the evidence. By synthesizing previous scholarly work on the secular clergy, pastoral care, and priests’ books, this thesis aims to demonstrate how priestly manuscripts can be used to inform our understanding of the practice of pastoral care in Anglo-Saxon England. In the first section of this thesis (Chapters 2–4), I will discuss the context of priestly ministry in England in the tenth and eleventh centuries before arguing that the availability of a certain set of pastoral texts prescribed for priests by early medieval bishops was vital to the provision of pastoral care. Additionally, I assert that Anglo-Saxon priests in general had access to the necessary books through means such as episcopal provision and aristocratic patronage and were sufficiently literate to use these texts. The second section (Chapters 5–7) is divided according to different types of priestly texts and through both documentary evidence and case studies of specific manuscripts, I contend that the analysis of individual priests’ books clarifies our view of pastoral provision and that these books are under-utilized resources in scholars’ attempts to better understand contemporary pastoral care. Furthermore, this thesis will expand the corpus of manuscripts thought to have been used by Anglo-Saxon priests. In particular, I will argue that London, British Library, Cotton Vespasian D. XV and Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, I. 3311 (the Warsaw Lectionary) are best understood as Anglo-Saxon priestly manuscripts.

The primary concern in this thesis has been to examine the moral status of the embryo and whether it is morally justifiable to use embryos as research material. This has been the topic of a fervent debate in the area of bioethics for the last decade. Proponents of embryonic stem cell research proclaim the paramount importance of such research and they argue for the use of embryos in research, on the ground that they are not persons and hence, they do not have a moral worth. The opponents of embryonic stem cell research, on the other hand, insist that embryos are persons and have full moral value as a result of their humanity, therefore embryos should never be used as mere means. I believe the moral status of human embryos needs not be an 'all-or-nothing' issue. Although, embryos lack most, if not all, the characteristics of personhood, they still have something that can award to them a basic level of moral worth that is integral to their humanity. This thesis argues for the intrinsic moral value of human embryos in virtue of their intrinsic nature. First, I look at the advances of biomedical research and all the possible future benefits of stem cell research. Then, in order to reveal the intrinsic nature of human embryos and consequently human beings, an anthropological theory that takes into account the complexity of human life is required. In search for such an anthropological account a critical appraisal of the thought of John Harris, Mary Warnock and H. Tristram Engelhardt is undertaken. In contrasting the thought of Harris and Warnock, difficulties arising from their understanding of human nature have been seen to be problematic, mainly their inability to distinguish between the terms 'full moral value' and 'intrinsic moral value'. In contrast, Engelhardt being a Christian theologian, proclaims the holistic anthropological theory that is to be found in the Christian traditions. However, he argues that such an anthropological theory is not tenable outside the Christian edifice. I show that contrary to Engelhardt's view, holism can be justified not only theologically but philosophically and scientifically. I suggest that holism better captures the fundamental nature of human beings and hence, can lead us to a more accurate assessment of the moral status of the human embryo. I conclude that the deliberate creation and destruction of human embryos is morally wrong, especially when other alternatives for the continuation of this type of research are widely available.

No description available.

In May 1983 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter on war and peace, bearing the title <i>The Challenge of Peace</i>. The final text, the work of an ad hoc committee chaired by Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, came at the end of a long process of preparation characterized by consultations with theologians, political scientists, peace activists, government officials and accompanied by wide debate within the catholic community. The committee's task was complemented by a high level of teaching activity by individual bishops, and by the interest of other Catholic hierarchies and the Holy See. The issuing of the pastoral did not mark the end of the American hierarchy's engagement with war and peace: an ad hoc committee was established to promote the pastoral within the church, and subsequently another was charged with the task of considering deterrence in the light of the pastoral's teaching. In the course of 1983 several hierarchies issued statements on war and peace. The American pastoral is of great interest not only for its teaching on war and peace but for what it reveals to an outsider of the teaching task of the church.

This thesis re-examines the images of Scotland as a Christian nation, from the perspective of contextual theology. In the opening chapter, it presents the argument that several contextual theologies of Christian nationhood have been operating in Scottish history. They have affirmed the country's Christian national identity by offering practical theological models of Scotland as a Christian nation. Together, these contextual theologies of identity, and their models of Christian nationhood, have formed one diverse and yet conherent tradition, or dominant practical theological paradigm of Scotland. The central three chapters study this paradigm of the Christian nation in its three main historical forms: the medieval Catholic model of a free nation; the post-reformation Reformed model of a godly nation; and the more modern, secularized Christian ethical model of a moral nation. This paradigm of the Christian nation has been socially significant in shaping Scottish nationhood, although far less so today. It has been theologically creative in developing new models of the Christian nation, in response to the changing context of Scottish nationhood. And yet, its evangelical praxis has also been socially constrained through its establishment within the structures of power in national life. The final chapter argues that this paradigm is no longer adequate sociologially or theologically to guide Christian praxis in the late twentieth century. A paradigm shift is required, moving away from the residual older models of a Christian nation, towards embracing the emerging liberating models of church and nation - models responsive to the cultural dynamics of autonomy and self-determination in a post-modern, pluralist Scottish nation and yet faithful to the gospel. The thesis concludes by suggesting the outlines of a Scottish contextual theology of liberation and a new Christian paradigm of Scotland as an open nation - open even in its post-modern nationhood, to the horizons and presence of the Kingdom of God.

No description available.

Jesus died violently on the cross, the form of execution imposed on those who threatened the Roman imperial order. What difference does this make to Christian political theology? What is the revelatory value of Jesus’ death with regard to political theology? This thesis explores these questions, using a Christocentric methodology and taking three theologians in particular as interlocutors -– the Mennonite theologian John Yoder and the Latin American liberation theologians Leonardo Boff and Jon Sobrino – with special reference to an examination of the ways in which their political theologies are shaped by the cross. The first part of the thesis consists of a close analysis and comparison of the writings of the above theologians concerning the cross. In Yoder, the theme of a cruciform, non-violent and non-resistant church is emphasised. In Boff and Sobrino the cross is seen to represent a protest against suffering in the name of a crucified God in solidarity with a crucified people. In the second part of the thesis the perspective widens to examine two issues which particularly arise from this analysis – how a Christian doctrine of political power is affected by the crucifixion, and how the contemporary church, particularly in Britain, might adopt a ‘cruciform’ political praxis. The conclusion is drawn that the chief Christian criterion for analysing political power is victimological – i.e. from the perspective of the victims of power, rather than those who exercise it. In the light of this, and given its increasingly marginalised status, the church in Britain should abandon any pretensions to ‘Christendom’, formulate a cruciform political theology and willingly live out a cruciform status.