The thesis presents the hypothesis that the systematic theology of Paul Tillich (1886-1965) offers significant new benefits towards church unity. The methodology used in pursuit of this aim, is a critical analysis of Tillich's early and late thought. Tillich' s work was influenced by the German philosophical and theological schools and came to expression in American academia in his publication Systematic Theology. The results of this analysis reveal Tillich's consistent commitment to the concept of Gestalt. This finding has been broadened to include the concept that the strength of ecclesial unity is dependent upon the understanding that every ecclesial denomination is an effective element in the constituency of the whole Church. This argument is supported by a deconstruction of Tillich' s system that is keyed into the hermeneutical theories of Gadamer and Derrida. The system is then reconstructed in terms of a new Gestalt that turns on the hypothesis that there is a relationship of synthesis between philosophy and theology within the Tillichian system, rather than the complementary relationship that Tillich claims. This conclusion is based upon the system being perceived as being founded upon the Western classical philosophical and theological traditions. A critique of Tillich's incorporation of modern existential hermeneutics into this system is made principally in relation to the existentialist thought of Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre. A hermeneutic of Tillich' s existential critique serves to highlight the questions that result from existential disruption rather than to label him as an existentialist per se. The system is thus moved forward into the post-modern context under new hermeneutics. An analysis of Tillich's ecclesiology reveals that this is both eschatological and Trinitarian in nature. The relationship between Tillich's system and ecclesiology is brought into dialogue by means of their being expressed in terms of an ecclesiological circle. These hermeneutics are compared and contrasted with the ecclesiologies of Zizioulas and Haight and the published ecumenical documents of The World Council of Churches in order to reveal their commonalties. When the system has thus been applied to the current ecumenical dialogue, then it becomes apparent that the raison d'etre of Tillich's system is the Church and the raison d'etre of the Church is the system. The squaring of Paul Tillich's ecclesiological circle is thus made complete.

This thesis will construct a model of person through a comparison of ideas relating to a concept of person in the Byzantine and Pratyabhijnii traditions. Questions will be asked, such as, whether a concept of person can be constructed within these two traditions, and how can ideas developed from these traditions be utilised to construct a model of person? This thesis will provide an in depth examination of terms and concepts that will be related to a concept of person within the two traditions, examining the ontological and existential implications of those terms. This work will also develop, from a subsequent convergence of the theologies of the two traditions, a model of person that is inter-religious and dialogical. Though this work is analytical in nature, in its deconstructing philosophical and theological models relating to person, it is also constructive, taking what is useful from the Byzantine and Pratyabhijnii traditions so as to construct a new model of person through the development of the term, Atman-hypostasis which looks to understanding human personhood in the fullest mystical state (deification) within the human condition. A comparison of the two traditions has not been attempted before in relation to the theological discourse of person; neither has such an extensive examination and deconstruction of the concept person in Byzantine and Pratyabhijnii traditions been undertaken in relation to contemporary studies; neither has a construction of this type of model of person been undertaken. This work, in constructing a new term Atmanhypostasis, which emerged from this research as an outcome of the comparison of terms and ideas relating to a concept of person in both traditions, will contribute to the academic theological field of personhood and this thesis will also contribute to the field of inter-religious dialogue in developing an anthropological model that aims to overcome the barriers that separate and divide.

The aim of the current project was to test two competing views on the study of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), namely the feminist and violence perspectives. The feminist perspective views IPV as having an individual etiology and should not be considered within the context of other types of aggression (see for example, Dobash & Dobash, 1979). The violence perspective sees IPV as something to be studied alongside other aggression by examining the characteristics and psychopathology of the perpetrator (see for example, Felson, 2002; 2006; 2010). The first part of the thesis used IPV and same-sex aggression measures (a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale; Straus, 1979) alongside a measure of controlling behavior (Controlling Behavior Scale; Graham-Kevan & Archer, 2005) to test a number of hypotheses derived from the feminist theory of IPV – including Johnson’s (1995) typology. Results provided contradictory evidence for this theory including, but not limited to, women’s preponderance to perpetrate IPV and controlling behaviors at a greater frequency than men, the lack of significant differences in classification for Johnson’s typology and the finding that same-sex aggression perpetration was associated with controlling behaviors towards a partner. The second part of the thesis then went onto to explore studying IPV within a violence perspective. This involved examining associations between aggression and other personality and psychopathology variables to determine their predictive power. These chapters were further presented within Finkel’s (2007) I3 framework as either impelling or inhibiting forces. The series of studies involved examining both stable and dynamic risk factors that have been found in the previous literature to be associated with IPV and same-sex aggression namely: (1) attachment styles and psychopathic traits; (2) self-control, empathy, anxiety and perceived physical retaliation and (3) paired variables of cost-benefit assessment and instrumental-expressive beliefs. Results revealed several important findings for the theoretical literature and implications for treatment and interventions. Firstly, IPV and same-sex aggression shared similar significant risk factors; this indicates the similar etiology of aggression in general and provides support for studying IPV within the “violence perspective”. Secondly, men and women shared some similar risk factors. The differences supported the view that women have better inhibiting control than men and that the inhibiting forces within Finkel’s framework may be more useful in predicting women’s aggression with the impelling forces being more useful for men’s aggression. Thirdly, it demonstrated the importance of both impelling and inhibiting forces in predicting aggressive behavior, the latter of which has received relatively less research attention. Finally, and following on from the previous point, the current project has drawn attention to the research potential of Finkel’s framework. The implications here involve the way IPV perpetrators are treated within both the criminal justice system and in terms of intervention programmes. This project has provided contradictory evidence to the feminist theory that underpins the current treatment programs in use. Suggestions for future research and how interventions can be improved are discussed.

Forgiveness might be said to involve a certain kind of intellectual suffering: we forgive, and are forgiven, whilst a great many questions remain undecided, and while it is far from obvious that they are unimportant. This thesis explores the way in which the difficulties in submitting forgiveness to thought may be significant. Contemporary accounts of forgiveness are put into creative dialogue with the work of Simone Weil, Rene Girard and Jacques Derrida in an attempt to assess different forms of approach to the resistance forgiveness offers to thought. Utilising the work of Simone Weil in particular, and through a creative interpretation of some of the gospel sayings from which the modern notion of forgiveness originates, the argument is made that forgiveness can be seen to involve a process of transformation of understanding that is akin to spirituality of death and resurrection. On this account, forgiveness is paradoxical and resistant to thought not because it involves a simple suspension of, or opposition to reasoned forms of judgment, but because it involves a way of holding together attitudes, concerns and insights that do not easily cohere. As such it calls for a ‘posture’ that cultivates and waits with this tension, rather than a theory that allows the meaning and goodness of forgiveness to appear unambiguously. In this sense forgiveness is an expression of a love that both hopes all things and bears all things; a way of accepting the worst whilst desiring the best.

Over the second half of the 20th Century and the beginning part of the 21st Century, major change has occurred in the worship practice of many churches. Within this time frame enormous change has occurred in the social, economic, political, technological, scientific and religious framework of British society. Worship practice has been influenced by these changes. This doctoral dissertation sets out to explore how British Methodist worship has changed over the same time period. The focus of this dissertation is on change in the practice of non-Eucharistic worship in British Methodism. This is the form of worship practiced most frequently in the British Methodist Church. It examines the form, content, style and ordering of worship and explores how the very ethos of worship has altered. In this time period there has been expressed discontent about worship. This thesis examines what the Liturgical Movement has promoted as a way toward renewal of worship, and explores how British Methodism might appropriate from the Liturgical Movement ideas and lessons that would aid the renewal of worship in the Methodist Church.

This thesis explores young lay women’s experiences of Communion in the Church of England within a framework of practical feminist theology. After grounding the study in a review of relevant feminist literature on the Eucharist, the use of qualitative research methodology is described. Semi-structured interviews with ten young women revealed three central themes: ways in which women experience and respond to exclusion and alienation from Communion; the importance of relationality and community; and how experience leads women to construct their own understandings about Communion. Ambiguity and difference within women’s experience are key concepts. Some embrace traditional understandings and practices of Communion; others subvert these to claim new and liberating understandings for themselves and their communities. The thesis points to a desire to deconstruct boundaries, creating a vision of inclusive and egalitarian Eucharistic community where loci of power and authority are challenged by the quest for personal autonomy and relationship in community. The research process is shaped by the pastoral cycle method of theological reflection. This leads to the suggestion of a metaphor of birthing as a means of responding to the experiences and needs revealed by the research and a model for developing liberational Eucharistic theology for

The Church of England's approach to urban regeneration has been shaped by government-led regeneration and its own social, political and financial situation, rather than its theology. The encouragement towards partnership working as a means of financing parishes in deprived areas in its 2006 report Faithful Cities is a result of the Church's inability to finance its work in deprived areas using its own resources. This thesis evaluates the impact of Faithful Cities within the dioceses of Worcester and Birmingham. It does this through geographical mapping of deprivation in each parish; review of diocesan policies on urban regeneration; the assessment of resource allocation to parishes with differing degrees of deprivation, and through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders (Bishops, Archdeacons, Diocesan Staff, Parish Clergy) in each diocese. Barriers to resourcing parishes in deprived areas through redistribution of internal resources are noted in both dioceses. However, partnership working is found to be impractical for overworked and untrained parish clergy to manage, and volunteers from churches lack the skills and interest to deliver projects which have partnership funding attached. Partnership funding is therefore potentially as problematic as the reallocation of internal resource as a way to fund Church presence in deprived areas.

This doctoral work examines the thesis that mutuality is an effective form of resistive and transformative postcolonial praxis. This thesis is explored through the interpretation of six texts from the Gospel of Mark, read in dialogue with groups of people who have variously experienced poor mental health. When juxtaposed next to biblical scholarship, these reading group interpretations offer emphases and expansions on the roles of identity, agency, and dialogue within the relational dynamics of the Markan characters. Mutuality was found to operate in these texts as a praxis that works within hegemonic power dynamics, that enables other praxes of resistance, and that is transformational of relational dynamics in supplemental ways. Within the milieu of postcolonial criticism, whilst it is not concluded that mutuality leads to the end of hegemonic power, this work finds it to be a biblically informed heuristic for the re-imagining of that power with regards to mental health in 21st century societal contexts.

This thesis is an ethnographic study into 'Experiment with Light', a reflexive spiritual practice within contemporary British Quakerism, based on seventeenth century Quaker writings. This is the first academic study of British Quakers to focus on religious experience. It demonstrates how Experimenters' religious experience and transformation supports them in changing the wider group's behaviour. I interweave heterotopia, reflexivity, religious experience, religious transformation and examination of internal Quaker conflict handling to argue that the Experiment is a heterotopian process leading Experimenters to find heterotopic places within themselves and that they sit in a heterotopic position vis-à-vis British Quakers generally. I extend Foucault's concept of heterotopia to show how (heterotopian) process interacts with (heterotopic) site to reveal heterotopia's multi-dimensionality and its potential to change its context, thus demonstrating that applying an analytic concept in an empirical study can reveal new aspects of that concept. I also show how using heterotopia as an analytical lens reveals how power plays out amongst British Quakers and thus how heterotopia is particularly useful for the nuanced sociological analysis of groups generally. This thesis is the first study in the sociology of religion to apply heterotopia to the experience, practice and structure of a religious group.

With stereotypes of imperial complicity and idealistic fantasy firmly in place, tentative assumptions as to the motives of early missionaries often prove less than satisfactory. The need for new master narratives which move beyond the old paradigms of Western expansion and African victimization are being called for by scholars of both North and South; narratives which allow room for strong archival evidence of an egalitarian joint endeavor and African cultural vitality without avoiding the investment in imperialism practiced by colonial personnel. Based on extensive archival research this study advocates an alternative proposal; missionaries caught in the grinding of contradictory opposites. Alfred Robert Tucker, as a professional artist, captured this tug-of-war on canvas but similar dichotomies are found in his approach, as a bishop and Church Missionary Society Director, to marriage contracts, slavery, mission and church organizational structure, alliance with the colonial government and African partnership. Tucker, neither a consistent imperialist nor a complete egalitarian idealist, operated in both spheres without creating a third. This thesis is a piece of revisionist historiography of the Victorian encounter with Africa – a specific micro-narrative questioning the old consensus and calling for a wider discussion and a shift in perspective.