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Why this study now? As the Catholic Church advances through the twenty first century it continues to be deeply influenced by the great legacy of its previous pontiff Pope John Paul II (1920- 2005). This legacy includes his championing of a new evangelisation; the pivotal role that he gave to catechesis in this process and his desire to eliminate unacceptable departures from liturgical norms. Recalling his own words at the Congress of Liturgical Commissions (1984) Pope John Paul II stated: In the work of liturgical renewal, desired by the Council, it is necessary to keep in mind "with great balance the part of God and the part of man, the hierarchy and the faithful, tradition and progress, the law and adaptation, the individual and the community, silence and choral praise. Thus the Liturgy on earth will fuse with that of heaven, where ... it will form one choir ... to praise with one voice the Father through Jesus Christ" (Vicesimus Quintus Annos #23). The words of Pope John Paul II call for a liturgical perspective which is characterised by moderation and an appreciation of the eschatological dimension of the sacred liturgy. Through his liturgical writings, Pope John Paul II sought to be a corrective voice in trying to ensure universal fidelity to the liturgical law. This is exemplified in his exposition of the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church in Ecclesia de Eucharistia (2003), a work that was intended to remedy the liturgical ‘abuses’ that had become apparent in the Church’s worship. It is acknowledged here that the word ‘abuse’ carries connotations associated with offenses of a moral nature. Turner (2012), expresses caution about an overuse of the word ‘abuses’ in the context of how the Church prays and the manner in which the sacred mysteries are celebrated (p,169). In this discussion on the liturgy (and throughout this thesis) the word ‘abuse’ is applied in a technical manner to describe 2 significant departures from liturgical norms which falsify and damage the Church’s liturgy as well as the tradition and authority of the Church in relation to public worship 1 In Ecclesia de Eucharistia Pope John Paul II recognises the positive signs of Eucharistic faith and then he refers to “the shadows” (#10) identifying these as the abandonment of Eucharistic adoration and also those unorthodox liturgical practices which resulted in confusion and a weakened understanding of liturgy: It is my hope that the present Encyclical Letter will effectively help to banish the dark clouds of unacceptable doctrine and practice, so that the Eucharist will continue to shine forth in all its radiant mystery (#10). Redemptionis Sacramentum seeks to develop a deeper appreciation of the value of liturgical norms so that the whole Church, Bishops, Priests, Deacons and lay faithful can carry them out according to their responsibility. There is also recognition of a clear link between the liturgy of the Church and its faith and the use of unapproved rites, texts or practices damages this link. The use of the word ‘banish’ in the words cited above is interesting since it denotes a dramatic and immediate attempt to dispel rather than a gradual elimination or negotiation. This communicates the urgency and the level of concern about the unacceptable practices that have obscured the Eucharistic celebration. In Spiritus et Sponsa (2003), in observance of the fortieth anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Pope John Paul II reflects on the degree to 1 The Instruction from the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) states: “Certainly the liturgical reform inaugurated by the Council has greatly contributed to a more conscious, active and fruitful participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar on the part of the faithful” (#4). Even so, “shadows are not lacking”(10). In this regard it is not possible to be silent about the abuses, even quite grave ones, against the nature of the Liturgy and the Sacraments as well as the tradition and the authority of the Church, which in our day not infrequently plague liturgical celebrations in one ecclesial environment or another (11). Whenever an abuse is committed in the celebration of the sacred Liturgy, it is to be seen as a real falsification of Catholic Liturgy (171). Among the various abuses there are some which are objectively graviora delicta or otherwise constitute grave matters, as well as others which are nonetheless to be carefully avoided and corrected. 3 which the spirit and liturgical mandate outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium has been implemented by the Church. Pope John Paul’s "chirograph" on sacred music, in observance of the 100th anniversary of Pope Saint Pius X's document on the same subject, Tra le sollecitudini (1903), was also intended “to offer the Church practical guidelines in that vital section of the liturgy…presenting a juridical code of sacred music” (#1) In all of these writings his deep concern for the sacred liturgy is clearly evident. Pope John Paul II’s successor to the See of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), has continued and developed this focus on the centrality of the liturgy in the life of the Church, although he has approached the matter from a different perspective. Benedict is a prolific writer on liturgical matters and the dominant focus of his work on the liturgy is to establish an understanding of its objective nature. As the current pontiff he is leading the Church into the twenty first century during what is a challenging and also a privileged time. The English speaking world is both cautiously and eagerly undertaking the implementation of the new translation of the Roman Missal (Advent 2011) - a process which will continue to require significant and sustained programmes of Liturgical Formation and Liturgical Catechesis over several years. At this stage in its history the Catholic Church faces various other concurrent pastoral and liturgical challenges in terms of dwindling congregations, a diminishing number of priests and what some perceive to be a widening of the perceived gap between the Church and people in the context of a dramatically changed social landscape (Taylor 2007, p513-516). Despite these massive societal and ecclesial changes and their sometimes pernicious effects, (or perhaps because of them), there is also a sense that the Church is entering a vital and exciting era in liturgical and catechetical development. 4 The major themes of this thesis are ‘Church’, ‘Liturgy’ and ‘Catechesis’ from which an associated secondary theme of Liturgical Formation emerged. Part of the discussion will explore the relationship between these various elements. The current relevance of this study comes from three main sources. Firstly, the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI is signalling a new phase in the life of the Roman Catholic Church where sociological influences, ecclesial concerns, catechetical endeavour and a liturgical agenda are meeting and interacting. His pontificate is producing a creative synthesis leading the Church into a new stage in the organic development of the sacred liturgy and the result is prolific liturgical homilies and writings. Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy is characterised by a desire to ensure a deeper understanding of the essence of liturgy coupled with a leadership which demonstrates a reforming zeal for the sacred liturgy. At the centre of the pontiff’s vision to restore the liturgy (as expressed in The Spirit of the Liturgy), is a belief that a deeper understanding of, and fidelity to, its objective nature, will help to restore reverence and beauty in the celebration of sacred rites (2000, p9). He also insists on fidelity to the authentic vision of liturgical renewal expressed by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council (2000, p, 8; p,171).

This research arises from personal experience. The thesis is divided into two parts in order to reflect and symbolize the dichotomy which the subject of homosexuality, in general, and gay clergy, in particular, creates within the Church of Scotland. This thesis seeks to explore this dichotomy The Prologue provides an autobiographical backcloth to the research, it acknowledges my own personal experience and seeks to place the debate, with regards to the inclusion of gay clergy in the Church, in context. Chapter One outlines the research methodology and, in particular justifies the use of discourse analysis as an appropriate research tool to investigate the subtext of the Church of Scotland’s 1983 Report of Study Group on Sexuality. Chapter Two focuses on the 1983 Report of Study Group on Sexuality. Although there have been later reports which have dealt with various aspects of sexuality this remains the Church’s official stance on the particular subject of homosexuality. Chapter Three outlines the research methodology for the second part of my research where I interview five members of the clergy who have self-identified as being homosexual. It will justify, as an appropriate research tool, the use of case studies and semi-structured interviews as a means of uncovering information that would be impossible to gain otherwise. Chapter Four contains a summary of the interviews that I have conducted allowing the voices of those who are hidden in the Church to be heard. Chapter Five focuses on the five interviews and identifies common themes which have emerged from the semi-structured interviews and offers theological reflection and explores the wider implications which such reflection implies. The conclusion seeks to offer a way forward in the present climate which will allow gay clergy to play a full part in the life of the Church, free from the current constraints that being open about their sexuality forbids.

This thesis on Calvinist subjectivity within the work of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) explores how the dialectic of word and image, and subsequently the Word, Logos, and word as rhetoric constructs conceptions of selfhood necessarily associated with and bound by the rhetoric of sinfulness. In contrast to studies that synthesize Edwardsian, and, in turn, Calvinist schemas of sin and selfhood within religious doctrine and treatises, this project examines the experiential nature of sinfulness as expressed through language or poetics. Given such examination, this work posits three things. First, in general terms, it contends that, during the Reformation, the displacement of icons led the Word to acquire the positive and negative functions of religious imagery that it meant to displace: to lead persons to God and to lead them away from him. Second, the project finds that the work of Edwards, which emphasizes feeling and personal spiritual experience, signals another shift in the Calvinist dialectic of word and image, and, then heralds the possibility of a type of ecstatic or ‘sweet’ communion with God outside of sin and language itself. Third, and more particularly, this text argues that despite Edwards’ rhetoric of ‘sweetness’, the geography of sinfulness that both pervades and varies within Edwards’ language, creates a Calvinist subjectivity, as it filters through the word/image dialectic, that becomes trapped within Edwardsian rhetoric, and, in turn, encounters difficulty experiencing the salvation to which it portends. In the end, then, this project both challenges and expands the corpus of Edwards’ scholarship in two ways. First, it demonstrates that, although valuable, sole attention to historical and theological exegesis of Edwards’ texts does not adequately account for the paradoxical tensions and meaning of Calvinist selfhood posed by the Puritan’s work and evidenced by the word/image dialectic. Second, and most importantly, the project indicates that, in actuality, apart from what the majority of Edwardsian, particularly Evangelical, scholarship contends, the ‘sweetness’ and spiritual sensations Edwards speaks of selfhood only partially open to the divine and salvific assurance. True, Edwards can still be celebrated as the Father of American Evangelical thought and practice. This project, however, questions if Edwards’ interpreters have ignored the signposts of his language and created an icon(s) of himself, and, subsequently, of a type of Calvinist selfhood that figures the narrative of their own story. In the end, then, this thesis finds itself back at its beginning as it confronts the nature and work of icons and the possibilities and variances of language—as icon and idol itself—that lay in their wake.

This thesis examines the portrayal of outsider, or ‘stranger’ groups in the series of Protestant martyrologies known as the Livre des Martyrs. The book’s compiler, editor, and publisher, Jean Crespin, placed the defence of religious doctrine as a mark of a true martyr, and a central theme of the book. He also, in the manner of his contemporaries John Foxe and Ludwig Rabus, wished to write a history of the true persecuted Church, which led him to search for martyrs from a wider range of groups who had come into conflict with the Catholic Church. These two impulses, towards theological purity and the inclusion of outsiders, respectively, came into conflict with the inclusion of ‘strangers’ who held views divergent from the French Reformed norm. Comparison of the succeeding editions of the martyrology with each other and, where possible, with the original sources allows us to see that Crespin often altered the content of his narratives, especially by removing theological elements which conflicted with official Reformed doctrine to in effect render their content ‘safer’. The changes that he made to Lutheran and Hussite passages reveal a marked concern with the nature of the Eucharist, one of the primary disputes between Protestant denominations of that period, while omissions from his passages from the German Peasants’ War and the Vaudois reveal an uncertainty about the permissibility of resistance to the State. The Livre des Martyrs, by presenting an idealised vision of the wider Protestant movement allows us some insight into the self-definition of the French Reformed Church, and the ways in which they perceived their relationship to other groups.

Bodleian Library MS Douce 114 contains the unique copy of four Middle English texts, translations of Latin vitae, all describing Continental women saints whose unusual forms of devotion set them apart from the often more sober atmosphere of late-medieval English spirituality in which the texts appeared. The texts first attracted scholarly notice following the publication of The Book of Margery Kempe and the subsequent interest in the lives of the Continental women mystics whom Kempe resembled far more than her own English contemporaries; however, the texts have yet to be examined in any detail. This study investigates both the physical production of the translation and the context of book production in which the manuscript appeared, as well as the ideological context and controversies which would have informed the reading and reception of the texts.

The research presented within this work proposes and develops a new approach to the analysis of early medieval carved stone monuments in North-western Europe. Three data sets of stone monuments, and their associated archaeological sites from disparate regions of north-western Europe—Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia—are considered through a uniquely developed comparative methodology. This comparative approach was developed to create new insights and understanding of the use and functions of stone monuments during the early medieval period. Undeniably, this period witnessed one of the deepest and most significant transformations in European society and culture with the spread of Christianity across north-western Europe. The emergence and establishment of Christianity not only altered the beliefs of people, but also facilitated shifts in power between secular and ecclesiastical elites. The use of carved stone as a medium is an important characteristic in northern societies. And indeed, from the 5th century onwards, these monuments became prominent in the landscape, as objects of devotion and marks of political power, both secular and ecclesiastical. The comparative approach developed for this study encompasses three major themes, place, movement, and monument, through which the case studies selected are analysed and discussed. The results are interpreted from a multi-scaled perspective: on a small level, through the monument, its identity and use as a mnemonic object; on a middle level, through the landscape settings and connection to ancient places; and on a large level, through the use and function of stone monuments within the conversion process and first centuries of Christianisation. For the latter perspective, the relationship between secular elites and the Church is closely examined. Each regional selection is analysed from a holistic perspective comprising the study of the monument, and when available, its landscape setting and place-name, and mentions in historical sources. The results of this research demonstrate that analysing monuments, and their contexts, through a thematic approach rather than a geographical one enables the comparative process to emphasise similarities and contrasts, while allowing deeper understanding and new interpretations. Consequently, this exhibits the need for future research on carved stone monuments utilising the theoretical and methodological approaches developed by this work to further our understanding and interpretations of the place and role of these monuments in the early medieval world.

My thesis brings into conversation, Buddhist spiritual teachings with the medieval contemplative Christian understanding and modern ontological thoughts, to investigate the dynamic characteristics of spiritual transformation. The thesis explores the following questions: Is there a spiritual journey? To what extent the journey itself is the transforming energy? To whom is transformation happening? How do we become the truth uncovered? Have we always been living in a ‘plenum’ with respect to the Buddha nature teaching? Is the Buddha and his teachings revolutionary agents of continuous transformation. Does the spiritual path focus on the cultivation of a Nirvanic-mind only, what about the body? My conversations revealed the following: That it is possible to become aware that conditioned thoughts are thinking the person. That it is possible for the conditioned (klesha) mind to become aware of its own Nirvanic mind-nature. A deluded mind uncovers its own wisdom nature by practising an unconstructed knowing. Thus, the enlightened mind perfects ‘objectless awareness’ and encounters reality as wisdom itself. The transformative power of failure is a yoga and as such it is perfected in the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings. Central to sustaining the spiritual path is to have a question such as ‘Is what I am doing what God is doing’. Life and the spiritual path are unpredictable; the unpredictable challenges the mind’s tendencies to conceptualize experience. The body holds the unpredictable energy of the disowned, which relates to as ‘flashing’ energies in the body. Transformation is the recognition of the first pure moment of awareness which also recognizes that goodness is at the heart of all things. The liberating doctrine is that everything is open (empty) and unbounded thus all matter is redemptive and as such we are always in the realm of truth.

The ancient theory of virtue ethics has been rejuvenated in recent years, and many believe that this ‘new’ approach to ethical theory might not only revitalise the sometimes stale and often intractable nature of contemporary moral debate, but also serve as a viable alternative to traditional normative theories. This thesis aimed firstly to test this claim, and secondly, to construct a modified version which would not only be useful for the theist, but could also serve as a heuristic device for reading the text of the Old Testament. The method employed to conduct this investigation was to identify and critique the essential features of a virtue-based theory, and then suggest theological interpretations of each based on the text of the OT. These interpretations would be subsequently tested through a canonical reading of the Book of Amos. It was found that an Aristotelian form of virtue ethics admitted the closest parallels with the biblical text, and provided the best framework for the construction of a theistic version. But it was also found that virtue ethics, in all its contemporary forms, was unable to justify an account of right action, and so explain the source of normativity. We concluded that, while a theistic version of virtue ethical theory could indeed provide a useful heuristic device for reading the biblical text, virtue ethics alone could not provide a viable alternative to traditional normative theories. However, it was suggested that this shortcoming could be rectified through a partnership with a modified natural law theory.

This thesis explores the significance of Protestantism in North Korean politics, culture and international relations from the 1970s to the early 1990s. It focuses on the activities of the Korean Christian Federation (KCF), against the background of inter-Korean and international relations as well as domestic changes in the Protestant sphere. In the early 1970s, in pursuit of an advantageous position over the South Korean government on issues surrounding inter-Korean relations, the North Korean government began to demonstrate a certain degree of flexibility in foreign policy. However, in the mid-1970s, long-running disputes on inter-Korean issues in the UN General Assembly ended in stalemate, with no clear plan for achieving a generally acceptable compromise. At this point, the DPRK regime turned its attention towards international non-governmental organisations. In order to form a united front against the South Korean government, the DPRK government established several non-governmental organisations, of which the KCF was an example, in order to make contact with these external groups. Two main findings emerged from my analysis of the KCF’s policies. First, the revival of the KCF and Protestant community in North Korea was based on political necessity. In other words, the KCF’s exchange activities with Protestants outside North Korea were political despite their religious identity. Through examining the exchanges between the KCF, overseas Korean Protestants, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches in [South] Korea (NCCK), this thesis provides evidence that the DPRK government revived the KCF for the political purpose of gaining the upper hand over the South Korean government in dealing with inter-Korean issues. In particular, what the North Korean regime expected to gain from the KCF’s exchanges with Protestant organisations outside North Korea was moral ascendancy over the South Korean government. Second, from an ecumenical standpoint, the thesis also argued that the political association between the KCF and other Protestant organisations outside North Korea was made possible thanks to their common Protestant identity. In order to associate the KCF with Protestant organisations outside North Korea, the DPRK regime understood that the authenticity of North Korean Protestantism must first be acknowledged by the outside world. To establish the ties of religious kinship, the DPRK not only revived a proper ecclesiastical form, including the establishment of two churches in western style, but also made changes to its legal regulations and even to the national Juche culture, in order to accommodate Protestant activities in North Korea. In this thesis, Gramsci’s theory of hegemony was employed as a research framework to reveal how the DPRK’s policies towards Protestantism were confined not only to the religious sphere, but were often intertwined with politics. Religious policies are therefore considered as a form of implicit cultural policy; that is, an intangible political strategy that produces relevant normative values for stabilising a political regime.