This thesis explores significant theological and pastoral questions associated with the integration of youth into worship leadership in Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations. Chapter 1 develops an Anabaptist-Mennonite understanding of worship. Chapter 2 outlines an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective on worship leadership. Chapter 3 addresses adolescence from developmental, cultural, biblical, historical and contemporary theological perspectives. In Chapter 4 the theology of worship and worship leadership, and the understanding of adolescence are brought together in a proposal that encourages the integration of youth into regular involvement in collaborative congregational worship leadership. The conclusion describes a Youth Worship Sourcebook that is currently being developed as a resource to equip youth for and integrate youth into worship leadership in Mennonite churches.

The sixteenth century Bavarian Anabaptist, Balthasar Hubmaier (ca. 1480-1528), has had a disputed role in Anabaptist historiography ever since his martyrdom in March, 1528. On the one hand he is known as the most erudite and prolific writer of the early Anabaptists, and on the other he has been separated from the original Zurich Brethren by his rejection of two major principles, total separation from the world and absolute non-resistance, that were supposedly held unanimously by the Zurich Brethren. Today Hubmaier’s reputation for militancy has been endorsed by most writers, but this militancy is not expressed in any of his writings except On the Sword, the last tract written before his death. Using the well-documented biography of Hubmaier by Bergsten and his own writings collected and translated by Pipkin and Yoder, the thesis explores the question of the extent to which Hubmaier was willing to advocate the use of lethal force by government or against government. It is found that only one source, Johann Faber, accused Hubmaier of inciting peasant revolt , and that witness would seem dubious by any modern standard. Arguments that Hubmaier was ostracized by the Zurich Brethren are found to be conjectural and dependent upon anachronism. Thus in the critical years 1524-26, Hubmaier was a veritable Swiss Brethren. On the Sword indicates a major change in Hubmaier’s thinking, and the reasons for that change are explored.

This thesis analyzes H. G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness within the context of nineteenth-century evolutionary theory. I explore how Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley used evolution by natural selection to develop differing explanations of the origins of ethics and how this impacted the place each scientist gave morality in civilization. By exploring how Huxley and Darwin understood morality to derive from the phenomena of sympathy and restrain, I illustrate how Wells’s and Conrad’s novellas interrogate these discourses of altruism.

This study explores the connections between justice understood biblically, and restorative justice. Restorative justice theory has argued that its foundational principles and its forms of practice draw directly from the taproot of biblical justice. This study argues that biblical justice as conceived by restorative justice is incomplete. More, the primary theological and biblical work in the field has not drawn the connections to the way restorative justice is practiced. This study argues that judgment and forgiveness are essential components of biblical justice that are missing from discussions of restorative justice. It concludes by drawing some of the implications of incorporating judgment and forgiveness for restorative justice practice by suggesting language that can be used by mediators. Chapter 1 outlines the main principles of restorative justice and describes the ways in which these principles were initially grounded on a description of biblical justice. The ways in which recent writing about restorative justice has identified an apparent loss of vision are explored, a loss that flows from a theological grounding that has failed to adequately reflect the fulness of biblical justice. Chapter 2 explores the main themes of biblical justice. Drawing connections between biblical understandings of peace, covenant, and justice, it discusses the ways in which restitution, vindication, vengeance, retribution, punishment, mercy, judgment, and forgiveness are all constitutive of a full understanding of biblical justice. Finally this understanding of justice is described as central to repentance and reconciliation. Chapter 3 draws the connections between biblical justice and restorative justice. Arguing that biblical justice is a justice for the nations, that it is what justice ought to be, the role that judgment and forgiveness can play within restorative justice is described. Chapter 4 connects the discussion to the work that mediators do in restorative justice. Offering potential language for restorative justice practitioners, it seeks to find ways for the biblical and theological discussion to influence their work with victims and offenders. Chapter 5 draws the argument together, and identifies the necessity of restorative justice programmes remaining rooted in the church so as to retain the courage and creativity to continually experiment with new forms of practice.

This study offers a critical assessment of Letty Mandeville Russell’s contributions to feminist theology with a view to gleaning wisdom for Muslim women who also wrestle with the issue of justice for women. As a liberation theologian, Russell’s definition and construction of feminist theology is based on two elements: commitment to Christianity and strong advocacy of feminism. Russell believes that in human communities, marginalized people, particularly women, are kept down and disempowered in society, history, and the church. Russell recognizes tradition as the key challenge for feminists and she struggles with “all oppressive expressions of Christian tradition.” She notes the androcentric and sexist elements of the Bible, but she refuses to leave the church. Rather, her attempt is to proclaim the “prophetic- messianic” message of the gospel while advocating a critical approach to the biblical text. Thus this thesis will explore the question: Is it possible to reconstruct a theology in a systematic way that is faithful to religious convictions while advocating feminism. In addition to Russell’s books and articles, which form the primary sources for this study, two other Christian feminists (Fiorenza and Harder) will be drawn into the discussion in order to further illuminate the various building blocks that women use to link faith and feminism. Chapter one provides a background for the feminist movement and introduces feminist theology, in order to position Russell within the wide spectrum of feminist theologians who attempt to reconcile their Christian faith and their convictions and vision for women. Chapter two looks Russell’s claim that she is both Christian and feminist. Russell’s definition of feminism, faith, and their inter-relationship will be illuminated as a key to her identity as a feminist theologian. The chapter shows not only how Russell understands these two commitments, often understood as contradictory, but also shows how Russell’s roots in liberation theology have aided her in building a bridge between faith and feminism. Chapter three deals with the methodology that Russell uses to build a bridge between faith and feminism. She proposes a process of action-reflection in which women gain a new understanding of faith and add new perspectives to Christian theology. Chapter four analyzes Russell’s contributions in dealing creatively and faithfully with tradition while being both a Christian and a feminist. She proposes a paradigm shift for the community that does theology; a shift from a paradigm of domination to a paradigm of partnership. She believes that through this shift, all marginalized people, including women, can find their own voices and thus be included in the promises of God to his people. The concluding chapter, chapter five, offers a grandstand view of all of the building blocks that Russell uses to construct a bridge between faith and feminism, thus making apparent how it is possible to advocate feminism and also be committed to Christianity. At the same time, this chapter will also consider whether the same building blocks can be used to build the same kind of bridge for Muslim women.

This thesis explores significant theological and pastoral questions associated with the integration of youth into worship leadership in Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations. Chapter 1 develops an Anabaptist-Mennonite understanding of worship. Chapter 2 outlines an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective on worship leadership. Chapter 3 addresses adolescence from developmental, cultural, biblical, historical and contemporary theological perspectives. In Chapter 4 the theology of worship and worship leadership, and the understanding of adolescence are brought together in a proposal that encourages the integration of youth into regular involvement in collaborative congregational worship leadership. The conclusion describes a Youth Worship Sourcebook that is currently being developed as a resource to equip youth for and integrate youth into worship leadership in Mennonite churches.

The sixteenth century Bavarian Anabaptist, Balthasar Hubmaier (ca. 1480-1528), has had a disputed role in Anabaptist historiography ever since his martyrdom in March, 1528. On the one hand he is known as the most erudite and prolific writer of the early Anabaptists, and on the other he has been separated from the original Zurich Brethren by his rejection of two major principles, total separation from the world and absolute non-resistance, that were supposedly held unanimously by the Zurich Brethren. Today Hubmaier’s reputation for militancy has been endorsed by most writers, but this militancy is not expressed in any of his writings except On the Sword, the last tract written before his death. Using the well-documented biography of Hubmaier by Bergsten and his own writings collected and translated by Pipkin and Yoder, the thesis explores the question of the extent to which Hubmaier was willing to advocate the use of lethal force by government or against government. It is found that only one source, Johann Faber, accused Hubmaier of inciting peasant revolt , and that witness would seem dubious by any modern standard. Arguments that Hubmaier was ostracized by the Zurich Brethren are found to be conjectural and dependent upon anachronism. Thus in the critical years 1524-26, Hubmaier was a veritable Swiss Brethren. On the Sword indicates a major change in Hubmaier’s thinking, and the reasons for that change are explored.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, men occupied a contested and transitional space in British society. The effects of the women's movement, the Great War, and industrialization changed their life at home, at work, and at their places of recreation. This dissertation examines how the British male writers E.M. Forster, D.H. Lawrence, and George Orwell depict this "crisis of masculinity" and its effect on the male population. I argue that one of the ways the writers convey their understanding of the changing gender codes and the ways in which men were attempting to manage the adjustments to their daily lives is through the description and purpose that they attach to masculine spaces. These three threshold writers occupy an important place in the canon of British modern literature. They all are a part of a masculine literary tradition that privileges male bonding and additionally rituals that seek to reinforce and carry on the patriarchal narrative of men to distinguish between homosocial male bonding and patriarchal privilege (which is heterosexually based). While Forster demonstrates the gender tension between men and women in the exclusive masculine spaces of the text, Lawrence characterizes masculine private space as a site for healing and revitalization for men after the war, and Orwell describes underground male spaces as sites where men can prove their masculinity by enduring intense suffering from pain that is inflicted by the work that they perform. In each chapter, I demonstrate that understanding masculine spaces provides a more complete understanding of each writer's masculine paradigm in literature and to some extent gives us a new way of thinking about the author and his own gender insecurities. Whether it is the swimming hole or the automobile, the smoking room or the dining room, the battlefield war trench or the coal mine, the domestic and public spaces of male life are under siege in the modern era, according to Forster, Lawrence, and Orwell. In order to preserve and sustain the rites and traditions that are upheld in those settings, the writers remind readers about the genealogy of men that reinforces the necessity of male space in hopes of preserving it for future generations.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Santiago de Compostela--Universität, 2005. / Bibliogr. p. 233-248. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 330-346). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.