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In the first half of the nineteenth century the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were affected by social and economic changes. During that half-century the religious life of the people of the Western Isles was also transformed, so that by the time of the Disruption, Skye and the Outer Hebrides had become a stronghold of Evangelicalism. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and evaluate the different forces which moulded the religious thinking and practice of the Presbyterian population of the islands during that period. Because parishes were extensive and ministers few, religion in many remote areas must have been of a nominal nature, although there was much traditional religious lore extant among the people. Endeavours which were made in the first half of the nineteenth century to improve the educational and religious lot of the Hebrideans introduced to the Western Isles earnest men of Evangelical faith. A revival movement began whose impact is still felt in the twentieth century. For the purposes of this survey the three Presbyteries of Skye, Lewis and Uist are included in the term "Western Isles" - the Argyllshire islands, with their distinctive religious history, are omitted.

Chapters are devoted to the English Church Union, Church of England Working Men’s Society, female religious communities, the guild movement and the work of lay patrons in the field of church building. The study reveals that Ritualism, thought to be so popular in this time period, was not a primary motivation for the Anglo-Catholic laity. It also shows that, while they were intensely devoted to the movement, the groups examined were also prone to extreme tensions, petty jealousies, and financial irregularities. Of the five groups presented in this work only the female religious communities have been addressed by historians. The English Church Union and Church of England working Men’s Society have existed to this point only as footnotes to the work of highly regarded members of the clergy. The guild movement has been viewed in terms of Stewart Headlam’s Guild of St. Matthew, yet this study reveals that this organisation was the exception rather than the rule. Alexander Beresford Hope and Robert Brett have both been given fleeting mention in the literature which covers the church building projects of the era. An examination of their extensive correspondence with the bishops of the era has allowed for this study to give new insight into the characters and activities of both Hope and Brett. The organisations which are presented show the degree to which there was strong lay-led contingent in a movement that has, until now, been regarded as very much under clerical control. What is most apparent from this study is that there was a devoted laity attached to the Anglo-Catholic movement which sought to embody the High Anglican ideals of the Eucharistic Community.

In the early Church, several views on martyrdom co-existed. The ‘orthodox’ position, generally accepted by scholars, was that a Christian should choose martyrdom rather than deny the Faith, but should not, on any account, court death. Although it has been recognised that some in the early Church did in fact seek out death, by giving themselves over to arrest, most scholars have dismissed these martyrs as ‘deviant,’ ‘heretical,’ and not displaying ‘the normal Christian attitude to martyrdom.’ Therefore, instances of volitional, or <i>radical martyrdom, </i>as I term it, have been largely ignored in scholarly investigation into the theology and origins of Christian martyrdom. However, this thesis argues that, far from being a deviant strand of early Christianity, radical martyrdom was a significant, and widely held idealised form of Christ-devotion in the late first to early third centuries. Since scholars have largely carried out historical and theological investigations without reference to radical martyrdom, their conclusions are incomplete. This project aims to make up for this omission, re-examining the presentation, theology, and origins of Christian martyrdom up to the beginning of the Decian persecutions. First, I demonstrate the pervasiveness of radical martyrdom in the second and early third centuries, noting that the phenomenon is found even in those martyr texts regarded as being ‘orthodox.’ Next, I examine the theological world in which the early Christians inhabited, making radical martyrdom (at least ideally), a viable option. I argue that the early Christian construction of reality clashed so dramatically with the Roman State, that Christians could not demonstrate even the base level of piety required by the Romans. This brought Christians into conflict with their pagan neighbours; conflict which they then Imperialised. After assessing various theories accounting for the development Christian martyrdom, I conclude that a matrix of factors influenced Christian martyrology, and in particular, a Christianisation of Jewish Holy War tradition.

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This thesis examines the involvement of members of the London Missionary Society in drafting law codes in Tahiti. It seeks to establish the missionaries’ reasons for participating in the process and the explanations they gave of their actions. The thesis also considers the way in which the LMS presented these events to the public. The role played by the Tahitian Mission in drafting the law code in 1819 assisted Pomare II in increasing his authority beyond traditional limitations. Pomare II, through the advice of the mission, appropriated Western institutions which strengthened his claim to be king. The missionary fostering of a Tahitian monarchy had its roots in earlier European descriptions of Polynesian “monarchs” upon which cross-cultural relations had already been established. The early missionaries developed a special relationship with Pomare II, their patron and protector, which eventually led to his adoption of Christianity in 1812.  The Tahitian mission did not dominate Pomare but it did have a significant influence in the creation and presentation of Tahiti as a Christian Kingdom. The willingness of the missionaries to help Pomare II transform himself into a Christian monarch can be traced to factors in the origins of the LMS. The genuinely ecumenical character of the LMS in its early years resulted in the presence of missionaries and directors whose acceptance of close relations between Church and State was not typical of the Congregationalists who later dominated the Society. The influence of the Anglican Rev Thomas Haweis, architect of the South Sea Mission, was particularly important in the years before 1819.

The Dinka, largest of Sudan's ethnic groups, were central to early missionary ventures on the Upper Nile, both Roman Catholic and Anglican. Committed to their cattle-based manner of life, however, the Dinka proved among the most resistant of Southern Sudanese peoples, largely indifferent to missionary education and evangelism. Only after Sudanese independence, amidst the upheaval of civil war, did they find reason to embrace Christianity in large numbers. Increasingly Dinka in urban and rural settings adapted Christian faith and teaching to their needs, spiritual, social and political. This thesis seeks to document the history of Christianity among the Dinka both during and after the missionary era. An introductory chapter examines aspects of Dinka anthropology, theories of Nilotic derivation, and speculations as to their earliest religious influences. The problems of missionary translation and variations in Dinka vocabulary are discussed and key Dinka religious terms defined. Chapters II. and III. document Dinka encounters with the soldiers, merchants and missionaries who penetrated their lands during the 19<SUP>th</SUP> Century. Memory of the slave trade and the <I>Mahdiyya</I>, maintained in oral literature, continued to influence Dinka attitudes toward alien religion. Though short lived, the initial Roman Catholic initiatives among the Dinka impacted the thought of Daniel Comboni whose efforts to redeem and educate young slaves led to the conversion of several notable Dinka. Chapters IV. and V. examine 20<SUP>th</SUP> Century Protestant and Roman Catholic mission in Dinkaland.

Medieval pastoral care of the sick, the dead, and the bereaved was largely composed of sacramental sets, confession, the mass, extreme unction. Priestly aid at death was virtually indispensable. In many situations people died without receiving the sacraments - occasions to be feared and prayed against. At least afterwards the souls in purgatory could still be helped through masses and prayers. The Catholic reformers wished to cleanse and utilise this sacramental structure. The Protestant movement's challenges undermined it, leaving the Protestant pastor with baptism, the eucharist, sometimes confession and absolution, all with newly-defined significance. The Protestants' critique of the seven sacraments from a pastoral viewpoint reveals many of their assumptions about proper pastoral ministry, and the dimensions of their agreement on the instruments of that ministry and their meaning. Their ministries to the sick, the dying, and the bereaved were woven of proclamation of the gospel and of the law, of instruction and discipline, of views on temptation, the meaning of suffering and death, and providence. The reformer's own pattern tried to integrate the society in which he worked and his theological opinions. Concentrating on the sections on visiting the sick and on burial in Church Orders of southern Germany and Switzerland, with some from other areas for comparison, the practical expressions as well as theological explanations are sought. These reformers tried to find in a given situation an appropriate balance between certainty and confidence, and repentance and desire for correction. The dying were not to be isolated from the healthy. The former needed the comfort and support from the contact; the latter could be reminded and taught of proper preparation for death. The rituals of a particular community's worship and their interpretation were reflected in the patterns at the bedside. Thus differences between Lutheran and Reformed churches can be traced in their pastoral care, but also distinctions within each group. These sometimes cut across Lutheran/Reformed lines, and in this geographical area, these categories can mislead as much as clarify. While attacking what they saw as the dismal pomp and superstition of Catholic practices, the Protestants were concerned that interment be decent. They agreed that acts surrounding burial served only the living. Some arranged for ministerial participation, others did not. Burials were seen as public occasions, opportunities for expressions of love, social solidarity, belief in the resurrection, and if a sermon were held, for admonitions to repentance and reform. Attitudes and practices regarding deaths of children, sudden deaths, executions of prisoners, suicides, and deaths in epidemics are discussed. They were specific applications of the basic motifs of the Protestant response to deaths - comfort and instruction, patient acceptance of God's will, and grief tempered by hope.