This creative project was initiated primarily by two concerns. First, an interest into just what constituted sacredness or the sacred experience, and second, the current state of almost helplessness that man seems to exhibit when called upon to creatively address the myriad of life-threatening problems that contemporary society has spawned. The various connections betweer these two concerns constituted the foundation of this creative project, out of which emerged various hypotheses concerning the important roles that the built (and natural) environment play in the communication of the sacred experience. That this experience, communicated to individuals via the environment, can be extremely helpful in mending the almost ubiquitous mental and 'spiritual' fragmentation of our species, there is much to support. And increased holism within invariably manifests itself without. Thus it is proposed that careful and informed manipulation (ie., design) of the environment can be essential in eventually elevating the consciousness of man, much in the manner that this was achieved by ancient cultures such as the Greeks and the Egyptians, to name a few. In addition, this design intent will hopefully oblige designers to view the process of their craft in a new light - one that hopefully elevates it to a new and more enlightened level. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-92).

No description available.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and evaluate Arthur Schopenhauer’s aesthetic as it relates to the concept of Sabbath in order to see how and to what extent this aspect of his thought might correspond to a Christian view of Sabbath and thereby inform a Christian aesthetic. Chapter 1 sets the context for the discussion of art and Sabbath within the framework of Christianity and the Arts. Chapter 2 offers an overview and analysis of Schopenhauer’s metaphysic, placing his thought in the context of transcendental idealism and explaining his concept of Sabbath. Chapter 3 demonstrates the significant role that Schopenhauer’s aesthetic plays in his philosophy, explaining how the arts provide a “Sabbath” rest for Schopenhauer. Chapter 4 analyzes the empirical evidence that seems to affirm a sabbatical aspect of the arts. The chapter focuses on the fields of music and art therapy in order to provide examples of the positive effects that the arts have on the emotional and physical well-being of individuals, thereby suggesting that at least part of Schopenhauer’s aesthetic theory seems to correspond to real life in measurable ways. Chapter 5 compares and contrasts Schopenhauer’s concept of Sabbath with a biblical concept of Sabbath. The chapter concludes that while the scriptural and the Schopenhauerian Sabbaths have several points of similarity, major distinctions exist between them. Thus, a biblical approach to understanding the arts through a sabbatical lens will significantly diverge from Schopenhauer’s system. Chapter 6 highlights various Christian thinkers who have spoken of the arts in a manner consistent with a sabbatical approach to the arts. The chapter focuses on Augustine, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and C. S. Lewis. Moreover, the chapter examines several biblical passages that seem to affirm that the arts serve a rehabilitative function. Chapter 7 demonstrates how the arts can function in a manner consistent with a biblical Sabbath. The chapter also notes the limitations of viewing art as Sabbath. Chapter 8 summarizes the main points of the dissertation and reiterates the value of Sabbath in a Christian aesthetic. The chapter also offers some areas for additional research.

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-184).

The thesis enters several under-examined areas. First, improvisatory music will be considered as a human phenomenon in the widest sense (Chapter 1 ), and a phenomenon destined to suffer relative decline in the cultural environment of the modern West (Chapter 2). In consequence, the language in which improvisatory music is now discussed in the West will be shown to carry a negative charge (Chapter 3). Among various philosophies of music in the Western tradition, none appears to have foregrounded improvisatory music specifically. However Heidegger's philosophy, it will be suggested, harbours inner trends which favour the idea of music as a central component in philosophical discourse (Chapter 4) and may be used as a starting point for a re-emergent understanding of musical improvisation as a metaphysical principle (Chapter 5). Improvisation in music will be seen to be linked to the centrality of hope in human experience, and this will be exemplified in relation to certain cultures and twentieth-century composers (Chapter 6). Further to this connection between improvisation and hope, improvisation in a Christian liturgical context will be examined. There is a dearth of existing discussion, not only regarding improvisatory music in Christian liturgy, but liturgical spontaneity in general (Chapter 7).

This thesis is an empirical examination of the articulation of comic offence and the practices of comic censure as conducted in media discourse. Making complaints about comic discourse is a risky endeavour. The joker can retort that it was `just a joke' or can charge the complainer with lacking a sense of humour and libels can fail and be very costly. The main focus is on the discursive strategies and practices used when claiming that comedy has caused offence. This is an under-researched area in humour studies. The ambivalence involved in negotiations between ethical and comic discourse is a central tenet of the thesis. Two main avenuesf or expressing comic offence are used in the thesis: letters of complaint written to the editor of comic discourse and charges of offensive comedy made through the law of defamation. The thesis adopts an eclectic approach to data collection and analysis. The research draws on different data sources: letters pages and readers' letters printed in the satirical magazine Private Eye, newspaper articles reporting on libel cases brought against Private Eye and interviews with editors, journalists, cartoonists and libel lawyers working for Private Eye. Content analytic techniques are used when analysing the readers' letters to provide a clear overview of the general pattern of complaint involved and the common consequences of such complaint. Composition analysis is used to assess how the editor of Private Eye constructs the letters page. Here I explore the strategies employed by the editor when defendingc criticisms that offence has been causeda nd assessh ow the editor discursively treats the offended reader. To examine in closer detail the characteristic ways in which reader's structure their expression of grievance, I then employ more qualitative modes of analysis: linguistic discourse analysis and symbolic cultural analysis. Attention then shifts to the second main avenue for expressing comic offence: the law of defamation. I conduct a quantitative content analysis of Private Eye's libel litigation history to provide an overview of the types of individual who utilise the law of defamation and the bases on which reputations are damaged. Textual analysis is used to assessh ow newspapersre port libel casesb rought against Private Eye in order to explore the press' role in the debate of comic offence and comic censure. In my conclusion I discuss what the thesis suggests about the ethical considerations of humour and comedy and I highlight the importance of the thesis for humour studies. The thesis finishes with some recommendations for future research.

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-184).

Situated within the theatrical turn in Christian theology, this project explores theatre as a model for theological ethics, looking particularly at the dynamic interplay between formation as disponibility (availability) and performance as fittingness (appropriateness). A primary goal is to demonstrate how disponible formation and fitting performance are multi-dimensional realities oriented simultaneously toward the triune God (as playwright-producer-protagonist), Scripture (as transcript and prescript), the church (as characters in company), tradition (as performance paradigms), unbelievers (as audience), and local context (as theatrical environment and place). As a result, this theodramatic approach seeks to integrate theology and ethics, describing and resourcing everyday Christian practice with reflection on the theodrama. In addition, focusing on the dynamic interplay between formation and performance represents an attempt to unify agent-oriented with action-oriented theological ethics within a holistic, theodramatic framework. Finally, through attentive interaction with theatrical theory and practice, this project contributes to a fruitful and growing dialogue between Christian theology and the arts, particularly how theatre provides imaginative, heuristic models for theological ethics pursued within the liberating constraints of confessional Christianity.

Following Russell Re Manning, I acknowledge the diversity and persistence of natural theology. Going further than Re Manning, however, I propose a 5-type taxonomy stretching from natural theology as natural religion to natural theology as theology of nature. Having met this descriptive responsibility, I then turn in a second chapter to prescriptive possibility in dialogue with the Anglican theologian Howard E. Root (1926–2007). An early advocate of natural theology and the arts, Root called in his 1962 essay, “Beginning All Over Again,” for awareness (i.e., of the arts) rather than formal argument. Critiqued by E.L. Mascall and others, Root responded in his 1972 Bampton Lectures, “The Limits of Radicalism.” Never published, I discovered these lectures in an uncatalogued box at Lambeth Palace Library, London. Drawing upon these lectures, as well as other archival materials, I consider Root's contribution to a natural theology of the arts. That said, Root's work requires further development, and so in an effort to recover Root I have supplemented his contribution with the more recent work of David Brown, his unacknowledged theological heir. In an effort to recover Root more fully I turn in a third chapter to consider the philosopher William Desmond, the result of which is a metaxologically reformulated Root-Brown hybrid. In a fourth and final chapter, I consider the American contemporary artist Jonathan Borofsky and several others in order to see how this theoretical frame might be applied in practice as a metaxological natural theology of the arts.