Thesis (Th. M.)--Calvin Theological Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [113]-118).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

From the preface: This Thesis is an attempt to emphasise the importance and prominence of the doctrine of election for the Christian Faith through studying its formulation in the writings of' John Calvin, one of the finest systematic theologians of the Church.

Calvinism and Pragmatism may not seem to present similar religious significance for politics. However, Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) and John Dewey (1859-1952), share a similar appreciation for the scope and depth of religiosity in public life. Although Kuyper was a Christian and Dewey did not consider himself a theist, each understands religious experience as informing every sphere of existence. According to their thought, a distinction exists between a religion and the religious. Both men may be termed "political poets," because they used language as an expression of their esthetic imaginations to create concepts and objects within society as expressions of their religious values. Kuyper's work in the Netherlands is a useful case study for Dewey's valuation of art. Kuyper wrote political philosophy and theology, founded the first widely distributed national newspaper, wrote for this publication over fifty years, founded what would be the largest university in the country, and eventually became Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Throughout his life, he used rhetoric to create change in his society. Dewey and Kuyper integrated academic work with public activity and sought to obtain consistency of being in experiences. If religiosity potentially encompasses every part of humanity's common life, then individuals and groups should be aware of their own positions and participate in honest dialogue with others. "Neutrality," "objectivity," and "uniformity" often have problematic implications according to Dewey and Kuyper. Their thought in this area is salient to a discussion of education culture in the United States. The Common School and High-Stakes Testing models are useful for grounding Kuyper's and Dewey's philosophy in current educational and schooling experiences. / Master of Arts

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leandro Antonio Lima.pdf: 9528334 bytes, checksum: 56aba09c075b0933555ebcb16dcb7977 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-30 / Approaches the movement called New Calvinism which was established by the North American media as one of the 10 ideas changing the world. Analyses the birth of the movement and its appearance in important North American media outlets such as Time Magazine and New York Times. Relates the main theological and practical points of the movement as well the authors which are most associated with New Calvinism and the main spheres of influence of the movement. Compares New Calvinism with Traditional Calvinism, emphasizing the continuity and the discrepancies the most recent movement with its predecessor. Establish the real backdrop of the movement as well as its main appeals to the modern day and age. Evaluates the psychological and social aspects of the movement and notes the small influence it has on society and culture and seeks to point out the potential that New Calvinism has to dialogue with the modern age. Supplies theological material for complementation in light of Kuyper's ideas. Concludes that New Calvinism has not yet truly influenced the world in a lasting way, but it surely points a possible way to do so. / Aborda o movimento chamado de Novo Calvinismo que foi estabelecido pela mídia norte-americana como uma das dez idéias que estão mudando o mundo. Analisa o surgimento do movimento e seu destaque concedido por importantes mídias norte-americanas como Time Magazine e New York Times. Relata os principais pontos teológico-práticos do movimento e de seus autores representativos, bem como as principais esferas de atuação do mesmo. Compara o movimento denominado Novo Calvinismo com o Calvinismo tradicional, enfatizando a continuidade e as discrepâncias do mesmo em relação ao seu antecessor. Estabelece o verdadeiro pano de fundo do movimento, bem como seu principal apelo à época atual. Avalia os aspectos psico-sociais do movimento, constata a fraca influência sócio-cultural dele e busca estabelecer os potenciais do Novo Calvinismo para dialogar com a época atual. Fornece subsídios para uma complementação teológica do movimento à luz do Kuyperianismo. Conclui que o Novo Calvinismo ainda não é uma influência real e duradoura para o mundo, mas aponta os caminhos para como poderia ser.

The Reformed church in Hungary and Transylvania had extensive connections with western Calvinist churches during the early seventeenth century, and became more closely linked with co-religionists abroad during this period. In this thesis I shall examine the ideology and shared interests of this international Calvinist community, and assess the significant impact which contacts with fellow Calvinists beyond Hungary's borders had on the development of the Hungarian Reformed church. The early seventeenth century saw increasing numbers of Hungarian student ministers travel to western Reformed universities, western Calvinist teachers travel to work in Hungarian schools, and the transfer and translation of foreign Reformed theological works for use in Hungary and Transylvania. This pattern of broad engagement with western Europe heavily influenced the development of education in the Reformed schools of Hungary and Transylvania, as well as the forms of worship and ceremony adopted by the Hungarian Reformed church. Godly princes, godly gentlemen and clergy were partners in the building-up of the Reformed church of Hungary and Transylvania. The church was indeed reliant in the early seventeenth century on patronage and support from a series of Reformed Transylvanian princes, and from Hungarian nobles. The continuing commitment of these parties to further religious reformation in the region was challenged by some Reformed ministers who, inspired by their experience of Calvinist churches abroad, sought to introduce presbyterial government and reforms of church ceremony and discipline, an agenda dubbed locally as Puritanism. International Calvinist contacts however largely served to bolster the theological orthodoxy of the Reformed community of Hungary and Transylvania against its confessional rivals, invigorating the Reformed church's zeal to defend its position with a stridently anti-Catholic ideology. Comparisons with other Reformed churches reinforced commitment in Hungary to tighten standards of discipline with an ethos of morality which was distinctively Reformed. International Calvinism therefore assisted the Reformed confessionalisation of Transylvania and eastern Hungary in the early seventeenth century. However the ties binding Transylvania with the rest of the Calvinist world in this period also encouraged Transylvania's princes to adopt a diplomatic policy of Protestant cooperation tinged with apocalyptic ideas, which was ultimately to jeopardise the stability of the principality and the place of Reformed religion in east-central Europe.

The theology of John Calvin, while not differing primarily in substance from traditional Reformation thought, was revolutionary in its impact on the cultural life of the believer. For Calvin, Christ was the Cosmic Redeemer through whom all of life was effected. Nothing in the life of the believer therefore was secular. Society, as a whole, was but a reflection of the grace of God and hence was an arena of concern for all people. Consequently, Calvin, the man, and Calvinists, later took an active role in the temporal life of man, concerning themselves with the governing of the state as well as the church, and the propagation of the arts and sciences.

This thesis attempts to provide a new reading of the organic motif as found in the works of the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921). Noting the recent collapse of the previously dominant 'two Bavincks‘ hypothesis, one explores the impact of this now defunct hermeneutic on the normative reading of Bavinck‘s organic motif in the work of Jan Veenhof. In probing Veenhof‘s general reliance on the failed 'two Bavincks‘ model and view of the motif through this lens, it becomes evident that a new general reading of Bavinck (which will be used to interpret specific portions of his theology) is required. One must 'reunite‘ the 'two Bavincks‘ by tracing the basis for conceptual unity in his thought. This basis for unity is located in Bavinck‘s doctrine of God. In handling the divine paradigm of unity-in-diversity via both triadic and non-triadic emphases, one argues that Bavinck attempts to understand all of nature and history as a broad sweep of Trinitarian divine self-revelation. The redemption and modification of the Augustinian notion of the vestigia trinitatis enables Bavinck to see the Trinity revealed in all of life. He thus commandeers the common organic language of nineteenth century Europe and, in so doing, loads it with Trinitarian meaning. The working hypothesis developed is that for Bavinck, a theology of Trinity ad intra leads to a cosmology of organism ad extra. Such a hypothesis is probed in chapters on Bavinck‘s doctrines of God, general revelation, Scripture and ecclesiology. In all of these, one finds that Bavinck invokes the organic motif to explain the sense in which the archetypal unity of the Godhead acts as the foundation for all consequent ectypal unity in the creation. As such, the organisch is understood to be Bavinck‘s motif of choice when accounting for the triniformity which abounds in all created reality. In this exploration, it becomes apparent that as Bavinck uses the organic motif, he draws on the heritage of both Patristic and Reformation theology. However, he does not merely repristinate this tradition. Rather, his use of the motif is a highly creative development in the intellectual context of the late nineteenth century.

This thesis examines and critiques the doctrine of baptism in the theology of Thomas Torrance and utilises aspects of Torrance’s doctrine to recover and enrich the meaning of baptism in Westminster theology. Torrance’s doctrine of baptism has suffered from misunderstanding and has been widely neglected. This arises from Torrance introducing a new soteriological paradigm, that is claimed by Torrance, to be both new, and at the same time to be a recovery of the work of the early church fathers and Calvin. It is the contention of this thesis that Torrance’s soteriological paradigm is more ‘new’ than it is a recovery of either the early church fathers or Calvin. Torrance’s new paradigm is not easily identified as ‘new’ because of Torrance’s creative use of Irenaeus, Athanasius and Calvin. His theology is further misunderstood by many because it is partly seen to derive from his criticism of a caricature of Westminster theology. The purpose here is to provide an exposition of Torrance’s doctrine of baptism, identifying union with Christ and Christ’s vicarious humanity as key doctrines that inform his theology of baptism. Torrance has a distinct and unique soteriological paradigm based on an ontological healing in the incarnation. He refers to this as a ‘dimension in depth’ where the atonement takes place from the virgin birth through to the ascension, where the work of Christ is the person of Christ. It will be argued that Torrance exaggerates the degree to which his views may be found in the early church fathers and in Calvin. It is also suggested that many of his criticisms of Westminster theology have some basis, but that his detailed arguments diminishes his more valid general criticisms. The thesis identifies Torrance’s distinct voice from the early church fathers and Calvin and attempts to dismiss Torrance’s caricature of Westminster theology, so that Torrance’s distinct soteriology can be recognised, his genuine criticisms of Westminster theology considered, and the contribution that he has made on baptism be recovered. The doctrine of baptism that emerges from incorporating many of Torrance’s insights is a reformed covenantal doctrine of baptism that stresses the importance of ontological union for covenantal solidarity, but will reject Torrance’s redemptive understanding of ontological healing. Torrance centres the meaning of baptism in Christ and Christ’s one vicarious baptism for the church, and serves to identify how the church has lost its focus on what lies at the centre of baptism. However Torrance’s doctrine of baptism that argues for the theological primacy of infant baptism lost the debate in the Church of Scotland, which now places a greater emphasis on adult baptism. It is suggested that the reasons for this failure is that Torrance’s doctrine of baptism was developed outside of the framework of covenant theology, and that his doctrine of soteriology on which his doctrine of baptism was based left little room for the human response. The thesis concludes that Torrance’s doctrine of baptism can serve as a model for the recovery of the meaning of baptism. While the central thrust of Torrance’s redemptive ontological union with Christ is rejected, Torrance’s emphasis on union with Christ, the incarnation, the person and work of Christ, and Christ’s vicarious baptism can be incorporated into the reformed doctrine of baptism to recover its meaning.

ABSTRACT George Gissing has experienced a fluctuating reputation among critics in the period of over one hundred years since his death in 1903. Curiously, during the last decade of his life, many critics put Gissing on a par with Thomas Hardy and George Meredith among writers living at that time. Early in his career, however, his reputation suffered from the notion that Gissing was simply a naturalist with a pessimistic, atheistic streak. To some extent, this appraisal has some merit. Gissing pronounced himself an unbeliever to family and to acquaintances such as Fredrick Harrison as early as 1880. Nonetheless, Gissing maintained an interest in religion throughout his life, a fact made plain by his use of religious material in his novels. Furthermore, he was far from merely dismissing religion, nor did he adopt a uniformly unsympathetic view of belief. My dissertation will demonstrate that, starting with his first published novel, Gissing made extensive use of religious subject matter in the form of imagery, symbolism, plot elements, and characterization. More significantly, he also examined the relationship between religion and capitalism. Often, one detects in Gissing’s work a sense of what I will call economic Calvinism, an idea that has received extensive explication by Max Weber and others. I will show that Gissing’s characters are often divided into class and economic lines, a fact not in itself particularly novel, but one which finds expression in Gissing in terms very evocative of the Christian division of humanity into categories of damned and saved. I will also reveal patterns in Gissing’s work that depict the ongoing dialogue between religious issues and other social concerns such as feminism, philanthropy, poverty, church affiliation, philosophy, and marriage. The dissertation covers selected novels from roughly the first half of Gissing’s career in an attempt to bring to light the pervasiveness of religious reference in a representative assortment of Gissing’s work. My paper will show that more concentrated attention to the use of religion in Gissing will contribute to a greater understanding of him as an artist. It will also suggest that more study in this area needs to be done.