This thesis intends to define Christian hope in the context of the author’s grappling with disenchantment in his own spiritual journey during the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis will first analyze conceptions of Christian hope put forth by Augustine and Hans Urs Von Balthasar. It will then compare them by analyzing the personal and communal dimensions of hope. The analysis of the two theologians will rely on historical surveys of hope from their respective time periods as well as examinations of their own periods of disenchantment. This thesis will identify hope as harmonizing for both individuals and humankind writ large to God; this harmony has soteriological implications for the next life after this one for individual Christians, the larger Christian community, and the world at large.

It is commonly held that Augustine’s Confessions provides an early source for the modern “turn to the self.” But as many critics of modernity note, along with this accentuated sense of self has come a decreased sensitivity to the value and significance of the other. Perhaps the thinker credited (or blamed) for being the source of the modern notion of the self can also be a source for the postmodern retrieval of the other. This dissertation examines the understandings of the self presented in Augustine’s Confessions and Sartre’s Being and Nothingness to highlight and challenge structures latent in standard modern conceptions of the self derived from these very works. Despite their many similarities, these models differ fundamentally due to the fact that one arises from within an ideology of radical autonomy and freedom while the other arises from within an ideology of radical heteronomy and givenness. Sartre rejects givenness and leaves us with a system which asserts that the human self “is a useless passion,” and “Hell is other people;” Augustine assumes givenness and presents a model in which a fully-integrated self is possible only in becoming inseparably bound to the other. By examining how their contrasting ideologies contribute to constituting the stark difference in their conclusions about the similar selves they detail, I explore how structures of a religiously constituted self can preserve the possibility for communion in human relationships that are precluded by a worldview based on an atomistic and autonomous self as exemplified by Sartre. Closely examining the ways in which the self is experienced, expressed, and actualized in these two works, I highlight the fact that their opposing modes of engaging alterity are in fact entailed by their respective religious and modernist orientations. In exploring the role of religion in holding open possibilities for integration and communion between self and other, this work contributes to the contemporary conversation about the “turn to religion” as being a potentially productive response to the failure of modern and even postmodern notions of self to secure a basis for meaningful human experience.

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Music theory of Hildegard of Bingen’s era articulated a cosmological worldview, providing thinkers with a way of understanding human beings, the world, the heavens, and how they all interact with each other in musical terms. Hildegard was familiar with this music theory through her theological predecessors. This dissertation argues that a better understanding of Hildegard’s theology requires a deeper consideration of how this musical cosmology influenced her because of the way music pervades her work. Music theory is a major piece of what undergirds her Benedictine, liturgical worldview. To demonstrate this, I take up the task of explicating and illuminating Hildegard’s Christology in terms of her understanding of music and music theory. This task is different from previous scholarship which analyzes Hildegard’s writing about music in terms of her broader theology. I bridge the gap between musicologists and liturgists, on the one hand, who focus on Hildegard’s theology of music but neglect broader consideration of her theology and, on the other hand, theologians who acknowledge music as an integral part of Hildegard’s life but largely consider her theological visions in abstraction from it. I argue that Hildegard uses music theory to define and explicate Christ and Christ’s interactions with the world, sometimes explicitly, but primarily implicitly. Her theological vision centers Christ in a resounding universe. By understanding Christ as symphonia, Hildegard emphasizes the Son’s unique relationship with humanity. While readers cannot understand every aspect of Hildegard’s Christology by considering music theory, music theory helps to illuminate it in a particular way, enabling us to understand Hildegard’s theology more deeply. Thus, this study provides an example for how future scholars can continue to interpret Hildegard’s understanding of various theological loci. In addition, it submits Hildegard as an example of how to unite music/liturgy and theology in a fruitful way for both the Academy and the Church. / 2025-04-25T00:00:00Z

This thesis is an examination of the unique conditions for African-descended slaves in St. Augustine, Florida, during the First Spanish Period. St. Augustine was an important garrison at a remote point in the Spanish Empire at the edge of a hostile frontier. As such, economics were less a priority than defense. Slaves, therefore, received different treatment here than in English colonies or even other Spanish colonies. Due to the threat of Protestantism, religious adherence was more important as a test of loyalty than ethnicity and slaves and freed-people were able to integrate better than in other Spanish holdings. In order to explore this integration, the meticulous records of the St. Augustine clergy are used. Infant baptism rates are used to show the influence of Spanish culture as well as at least a semblance of adherence on the part of African-descended people. The baptism of adults, meanwhile, and the role of the godparent are examined to show integration and the complex nature of this unique religious phenomenon.

During Augustine’s early years in ministry, he promoted the idea of using the pen rather than the sword when it comes to converting those who were not Christians. However, during the Donatist Controversy, Augustine advocated the use of violence to convince the Donatists to return to the Catholic fold. This dissertation argues that disgust played a crucial role in Augustine’s change of heart. Emotions play a huge part in an individual’s decision-making process. Studies on disgust discuss its role in interpersonal conflict and in religious violence. The dehumanizing language present in Augustine’s letters when he describes the Donatists helps create an atmosphere where disgust’s strong presence can be felt. The question of purity became an important question since both groups argued that they were the “true, pure Church.” Both groups traced their spiritual lineage to Cyprian as proof that they belonged to the true African Church. By examining Augustine’s Letters, one can see the shift in tone and characterization of the Donatists by Augustine. Over the years, the disgust felt by Augustine led to a shift in his attitude, leading him to sanction the use of violence against the Donatists. Initially, the role of disgust was to prevent humans from coming into contact with harmful pathogens. As a result, humans developed a strong revulsion against harmful substances in order to protect themselves from harm. While disgust has this physical component, it also has a sociomoral component where it manifests itself against disgusting stimulus. Within this schema, anything that it deems as a moral transgression, especially as it involves question of purity, is considered as a stimulus to be avoided and rejected strongly and vehemently. While it poses no problem for a human to avoid what it deems as a disgusting stimulus such as a cockroach, it does pose a problem when another human being is seen and labelled as a cockroach. Disgust has the power to “other” human beings and creates a very strong us-vs-them mentality. Once this us-vs-them mentality is enforced, it is only natural to label another group as a “cockroach” and kill them as such. In examining Augustine’s relationship with the Donatists, it is important to acknowledge disgust’s role in this particular theological and historical event. This dissertation will conclude with a contemporary application of disgust in modern theological controversies, especially as it relates to homosexuality and the role of women in leadership. Disgust’s ability to elicit such a strong and violent response in humans is a reminder of the strength of emotions to govern our actions. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Throughout the history of the United States, its inhabitants have looked upon their nation as a special place. In some cases, this has exceeded the natural and simple love of home and country and taken a more extreme form. Important to this bent is the tendency to see the nation, its beliefs, and its actions around the world as divinely sanctioned and inspired in some regard. This is a generally necessary component to the idea of American Exceptionalism, which views the United States as a nation with a divinely imposed mission to spread civilization, freedom, and democracy to the ends of the earth. In many ways, the Roman Empire shared these pretentions of being the bearers of civilization to the rest of the world and of being a divinely chosen nation with that vocation. Voices within Christianity, as it developed, provided a potent antithesis to this aspect of Roman imperial ideology, critiquing Roman ideas of their own exceptionalism. By comparing the ideological basis of Roman and American concepts of exceptionalism, this thesis will attempt to apply the critique made by people like Jesus, Paul and Augustine to the United States today.

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The original document does not provide an abstract. McMaster Digitization Centre, 14 March 2019. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)