In the 20th-century, the advent of Taylorism led to a radical reconceptualisation in the organisation of human work. The formal scientifically-conceived aim of increased “efficiency” behind this project masked the moral and psychological changes which were also inherent in the project which is still ongoing. Now, at the turn of the 21st century, given the profusion of corporate scandals and the complicity of unscrupulous business practice in the current ecological and economic crises, researchers in a number of fields focused on work and its organisation have begun to warm to the possible relevance of religious ethics to social responsibility in business practices, offering some promise for a new rapprochement. In this dissertation, I offer a close study of the biblical texts that have nourished a moral vision of work for Christian and Jewish communities. I seek to nuance my study of these texts in Hebrew and Greek with an agrarian sensibility in order to highlight the moral vision of human / non-human interaction in the forms of work described and the ecological sensibility which undergirds this ancient vision of “good work” which is preserved in these texts. More specifically, I explore the moral relationship between work and worship through a close study of two related themes. In Part 1, I begin with a sustained look at the details of “good work” as narrated in the Tabernacle construction account in Exodus 25-40. This study of Exodus provides a platform upon which to explore work themes of volition, design, tacit knowledge, and interaction between the sociality and agency of work. In subsequent chapters, I go on to analyse subsequent temple construction accounts in 1 Kings, Jeremiah 22, Isaiah 60, Zechariah 14, 1-2 Chronicles, and across the New Testament. In this deliberately intertextual study, I attend to the transformation of the meaning of the Tabernacle/Temple across the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament, as temple building texts in particular assume an eschatological aspect. My study of these subsequent construction accounts also adds nuance and texture to my account of moral making in conversation with several contemporary theorists, particularly with regards to work agency, aesthetics, sociality, skill and wisdom, and the material culture of work. This section culminates with the conclusion that in the New Testament, the church becomes both the product and the site of moral work building a new “temple”. Following this conclusion, in Part 2 of the dissertation, I develop a more detailed account of the relational dynamic between work and worship as it is delineated in Hebrew and Christian offertory practice. For this study, I turn to close readings of offertory practices in the Hebrew Scriptures (with special focus on Leviticus 1-3 and other Pentateuchal offertory texts), the New Testament and early Christian (1-4c.) moral philosophy. I highlight the relationship between worship and work in these liturgies and argue that in their practical logic, work is “drawn into worship.” In particular, I argue that three aspects of offertory practice may provide a framework for rehabilitating contemporary worship so that it may once again draw work into a morally formative dynamic. These three aspects correspond to the material and practised details of specific offerings and include: (1) the relativisation of utility with the burnt offering (2) the engagement of work quality and aesthetics through consecratory firstfruits offerings and (3) the sociality of liturgical work with the shared meal in the peace offering. These texts and the early Christian practices through which their liturgies were deployed hint at possible avenues for a rehabilitation of the moral work life of contemporary Christians. I argue that the proper performance of worship must “draw in” and engage the ordinary work of the people of God, and that a rehabilitation of offertory practice, particularly in light of the rich range of practices demonstrated in the Christian tradition offers a promising place for the reconceptualisation of work.

The majority of academic study on the epistle to the Colossians focuses primarily on issues related to Christology, the identification of the heresy that threatened the church, or the ongoing debate surrounding authorship of the epistle. Current research leaves several lacunae in the broader understanding of the writer’s intent with the Colossian epistle. There is very little attention given to the existence of a process by which the Colossian believers can mature in Christ and face any theologically aberrant teachings with a growing faith and solid doctrine. There is also a gap in the research within the field of Christian spirituality regarding the application of specific principles of spirituality to sacred canonical texts and early Christian writings. This thesis seeks to fill these research gaps through the use of socio-rhetorical strategies and principles of Christian spirituality. The primary text for this research is the pericope of Colossians 3.1-17. The research on the epistle examines the pericope for an embedded process of character transformation by which the Colossian believers grow towards Christlikeness. As the Colossians grow in maturity, their lived experience of God changes. There are spiritualities embedded within the text that begin to impact the growth of the believers through the embodiment of the text. The identification of these spiritualities as well as the process of character transformation allows for the filling of research gaps and a richer understanding of the epistle writer’s intent. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Phil. (Theology)

Thesis advisor: Stephen J. Pope / This dissertation develops a Roman Catholic account of the flourishing and virtuous agency of people with schizophrenia in the United States. At least two million people in the United States live with this brain disease, whose symptoms (e.g. delusions and avolition) complicate virtuous living. This dissertation remedies the neglect of schizophrenia in Catholic ethics and advances Christian ethics beyond the best available work done on the flourishing and virtuous agency of people with it by Protestant authors by: a) drawing its understanding of the content of human flourishing and of the theological and cardinal virtues from Christian theological and ethical commitments rather than from non-Christian sources; b) grounding the social supports that would increase the likelihood of clinical recovery and, therefore, of agency, habituation, virtue, and flourishing; c) showing via careful work in virtue theory whether, why, how, to what extent, and under which circumstances people with schizophrenia can live virtuously; and d) clarifying the meaning of the theological and cardinal virtues and their relevance for people with schizophrenia. Chapter One elucidates the challenges confronting people with schizophrenia in the United States from their illness itself and from the nation’s failed social response to them, as well as the opportunities available to them through clinical, functional, and personal recovery. Chapter Two concludes that, despite their liabilities, recent secular interpretations of the good life can or do conceptualize flourishing as possible even as constraints such as those associated with schizophrenia endure rather than only after they have been removed. Chapter Threes and Four find that Roman Catholic magisterial teachings about schizophrenia and an analogized reading of Luke 8:26-39 can helpfully ground necessary social supports, but the former requires greater conceptual clarification and development, while the latter emphasizes Jesus’s agency rather than that of the Gerasene man and depicts a total healing from total brokenness that is unavailable to or not fully representative of people with schizophrenia today. Chapter Five argues that Thomas Aquinas’s understandings of perfect and imperfect beatitude provide the best way for Christian ethics to conceptualize the possibility, content, and requirements of the flourishing of people with schizophrenia. Thomistic ethics can ground necessary social supports, and Aquinas’s virtue theory, as interpreted by William C. Mattison and developed by the scientifically-informed and socially-attuned threshold thesis, can show whether, why, how, to what extent, and under which circumstances people with schizophrenia can live virtuously before onset of illness, between onset and the threshold point of clinical recovery, and at and beyond the threshold. Chapters Six and Seven use Thomistic virtue ethics to explain the meaning of the theological and cardinal virtues, respectively, and their relevance for people with schizophrenia. The result is a wider and deeper Christian assessment of their possibilities for agency, habituation, virtue, and flourishing, even as schizophrenia’s challenges continue to varying degrees. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Even the most casual contemporary observer of Christianity must recognise that the notion of Christian community being identifiable through the mutual love of its members (John 13:35) is difficult to reconcile with the schismatic reality of current ecclesial life, dominated in the public sphere by divisive debates on matters such as gender or sexuality. Given the constant presence of disagreement throughout the church’s history, it remains an ethical subject neglected by scholars. This study examines how New Testament texts might inform Christian approaches to disagreement. It is the first systematic consideration of disagreement as a New Testament theme; it follows, and critiques, the methodological approach of Richard Hays in The Moral Vision of the New Testament. The context is public disagreement among Christians: how the church speaks in public when facing its inevitable disagreements, and what theological and ethical concerns might inform how this speech proceeds. The thesis is in three parts. Part One is an examination of the New Testament in relation to disagreement, following Hays' 'descriptive task'. In Part Two, the 'synthetic' and 'hermeneutical' tasks of Hays' methodology are critiqued and some modifications are proposed; a theology of disagreement that emerges from the New Testament is outlined. Part Three considers some ecclesiological implications of this theology of disagreement. Following Hays' 'pragmatic task', it examines how moral theological insights from the New Testament interact with the life of the contemporary church. Illustrative examples consider the church's public theological witness, its pneumatology, and its liturgy, to demonstrate the need for a Christian ethic to engage with extra-Biblical authority with greater enthusiasm than Hays. The thesis concludes by affirming the particular value of reading the New Testament in pursuit of ethical wisdom, but without excluding insights from tradition, reason and experience. The challenge for the church is identified as a move Towards Loving Disagreement; an integral part of its mission is to disagree Christianly.

The aim of this essay is to examine the significance of the concept of sanctification in biblical theological reflection on economics through a comparative textual study. The theologians analyzed are Albino Barrera, Wayne Grudem, and Kathryn Tanner. In what way are their biblical and systematic theologies of economics related to their understanding of the concept of sanctification? What is the relationship between sanctification and the Bible’s words on economics? In a broader perspective, the essay aims to reflect on how the concept of sanctification can be viewed and enunciated in the light of a capitalist economic system. The theologians used in the essay all have their origins in disparate theological discourses, Christian communities, and academic disciplines. Barrera is a biblical scholar, economist and a priest in the Catholic Church. In Biblical Economic Ethics, Barrera writes an economic theology with an emphasis on social justice. Grudem is a Calvinist Baptist biblical scholar and systematic theologian, active in conservative evangelical theological discourse. In Politics according to the Bible, Grudem presents his biblical theology on politics and society. Tanner is a systematic theologian in the Episcopal Church, active in the disciplines of feminist and constructive theology. In Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism, she critiques the economic paradigm she describes as the new spirit of capitalism. Barrera, Grudem, and Tanner all make different readings of what the Bible has to say about economic life. Grudem actively endorses the economic system of today, while Barrera and Tanner have a more critical voice. Barrera sees sanctification as a gift of divine friendship from God. Grudem views sanctification as what comes after conversion from sin and the blessings granted by God. Tanner means that sanctification takes place through the work of the Spirit and by Jesus’ gift of a life in holiness. Through the essay a connection has been established between a person’s view on sanctification and their biblical theology on economics. Barrera’s, Grudem’s, and Tanner’s biblical theology on economics is closely connected to their understanding of the concept of sanctification. There seems to be a connection between the biblical material that is being analyzed, how it is analyzed, and what is being left out. A central finding in the essay is the connection between the understanding of sanctification as either a gift or a reward.