with Prof. Lisa Cahill, Prof. Thomas Hibbs, and Fr. Michael Himes / Robsham Theater

No description available.

with Prof. Peter Kreeft, Prof. David McCarthy (Mount Saint Mary's College), and Prof. Julie Rubio (Saint Louis University) / Devlin Hall 008

No description available.

No description available.

This qualitative research study explores the role of the sermon in corporate Nazarene worship. The context of this study is located with the Christian, Protestant, evangelical, Wesleyan theological tradition as expressed through the Church of the Nazarene in Australia. The church is briefly described from a Wesleyan perspective. Seven features are identified as historically important within the worship experience of Nazarenes; Biblically centred, centrality of the sermon, connection with Christian tradition, the preacher's life, encounter with self and the divine, community, and practical and relevant to present life. The conceptual lens through which the worship experiences are described is Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as primarily articulated by Yrjö Engeström (1999). The philosophical roots of CHAT and the concept of activity are described along with the structure of activity. Additionally, the compatibility of Wesleyan theology with the conceptual understanding of CHAT is presented. The interactive context of Nazarene worship is one of the compelling reasons given for using CHAT as the conceptual base for this study. Three corporate Nazarene worship experiences in three different Nazarene congregations are examined in detail using four research methodologies; namely, video taping, video stimulated recall interviews, focus groups, and observation reports. The data gathered is by way of transcriptions based on the video taping of the sermons, stimulated recall interviews and focus groups and is managed by use of the NUD*IST (5) computer program. The observation reports are used to gain insight into specific context issues. Nazarene worship is then mapped by relating the features found to be historically important in Nazarene worship to elements of the activity system. The role of the Bible, the sermon, Christian tradition, the preacher's life, the church community, personal encounter, divine encounter, and the application and the call to decision are identified in CHAT terms. The focus of this study is within Steps 1 and 2 of Engeström's (2000) expansive development cycle. Through the mapping of Nazarene worship, tensions are identified and their possible sources explored. The tensions of confrontation versus care, creation of a quiet, meditative environment versus noisy, dynamic environment, planning versus spontaneity, and individual versus community orientation are all explored in turn. Possibilities for resolution of these tensions are suggested as a means of guiding the continued development of the activity of Nazarene worship. Possible resolution of these tensions includes the change of the focus of sermons from confrontation to empowerment, the change of the structure of sermons to encompass the visualisation of the change sought, the change of the perceptions of the preacher to one of a sojourner, and the cultivation of spontaneity within sermon delivery. The static nature of the sermon as an instrument in both the sermon's historical development and the development of the corporate worship experience points to the need for the development of the sermon as a more flexible instrument. These conclusions have implications for the teaching of preaching in schools preparing Nazarene preachers. This study contributes to the conceptual basis for the ongoing development of clergy in their preaching ministry. This study has also made visible the difficulty of applying the conceptual framework of CHAT to the complex situation of corporate Nazarene worship experience. While conceptually it may be possible to differentiate between elements within an activity system, their practical distinction is less precise. This imprecision can create confusion especially at the tertiary and quaternary levels of contradictions and may need more precise articulation of the interactions within the activity system as well as between activity systems.

This thesis demonstrates both the legitimacy and the suitability of the sabbath as a symbol of the eschatological age. Chapter one introduces the topic and hermeneutic of this thesis. In particular, it approaches the text in its final form, and with a background of postmodern influence. An overview of the sabbath in Jewish and Christian tradition in chapter two shows that the history of these traditions contains numerous concepts of the sabbath and how it is to be observed. A similar diversity of opinion is also found among contemporary scholars as to the origin and nature of the sabbath in the Hebrew Scriptures and in ancient Israel. Chapter three compares and contrasts the sabbath with other holy festivals. While the sabbath shares with these festivals the connection with the number seven, the proscription against work and even the title 'sabbath', it is unique in that it is connected with the attributes of blessedness, rest and holiness, and is presented as a memorial of creation and as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. The connection with the concept of 'remembrance' is also confined to the sabbath and to the passover alone. Chapter four makes a more detailed examination of the sabbath passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, paying special attention to the topics of scholarly debate concerning the sabbath that were identified in chapter two. From these Scriptures, the sabbath may be legitimately interpreted as both a day of rest and a day of worship. The sabbath is also primarily presented as a Mosaic institution rather than a creation institution, and the Hebrew Scriptures contain no reference to its observance by foreigners outside of Yahweh worship in Israel. Nor is there any explicit indication that sabbath was a monthly institution, or that it had relatively little prominence during this time. An examination of the seventh-year festivals and the jubilee supports this understanding of the seventh-day sabbath. The concept of the eschatological age as a state of eternal sabbath also contains within it the implicit concept of holiness as a universal state. Chapter five investigates the legitimacy of viewing holiness in the Hebrew Scriptures as both perpetual and universal. While the Hebrew Scriptures contain mixed attitudes to the foreign nations, it does envision them as sharing in Israelite's salvation; and thus anticipates a state of universal holiness. Using the results of chapters two to five to demonstrate the legitimacy of this thesis' concept of the sabbath, the legitimacy of using this concept of the sabbath as a symbol of the eschatological age is also demonstrated. Drawing heavily on Gowan's work Eschatology in the Old Testament, chapter six identifies the primary themes of the eschatological age to be the end of sin, the presence of God, spiritual transformation, social transformation and the transformation of nature. It then examines how these themes are also found in connection with the sabbath, and shows that the nature of the sabbath is in many respects similar to the nature of the eschatological age. This makes the sabbath an especially suitable symbol of this eschatological age. Chapter seven explores what attributes of the sabbath may have made it an especially suitable symbol of the eschatological age in later Jewish and Christian traditions. In doing so, part one focuses on those unique attributes of the sabbath that were identified in chapter three; holiness, blessedness, rest, remembrance, creation and a covenant symbol. These attributes are then used to develop the sabbath as a symbol of creation and recreation. Part two then examines how Christian tradition developed new layers meaning for this symbol. In conclusion, chapter eight notes that the use of one or more of these attributes has been a frequent aspect of interpretations of the sabbath and eschatology. It is this thesis' presentation of all of these attributes together, however, as well as its identification of the uniqueness of these attributes to the sabbath, which demonstrates so strongly the suitability of the sabbath as a symbol of the eschatological age.

Among church folk in Australia today, there are concerns that soon ? with the surge of secularism in our society ? there will be no Christian tradition left for their children to inherit. At the same time, there is also a rising desire for spiritual renewal among Australians. It seems that the church and society are worlds apart. It is my contention that feminist liturgical artists are in a unique position to bridge the gap between the church and the world, and to promote the spiritual renewal of both. My task in this thesis is to devise a feminist model of liturgical art practice which is both aesthetic and prophetic. In this model, liturgical art is capable both of inspiring people to contemplate divine meanings and of calling the people to discipleship in the service of God in the world. It is also able both to encourage hope and challenge injustices. A balanced approach to the aesthetic and prophetic is suggested in Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's (1992) four-step model of feminist research, which shapes my project. The principles which form the framework of my feminist understanding of liturgical art are widely applicable, and do not just apply to women. Even so, I maintain that women are more gifted than men at understanding the world in terms of relations rather than hierarchies. In the Catholic church today, we need this sense of relation more than ever. The church needs to be in creative relation with contemporary culture, or we are going to lose the young people from our ranks, and consequently our future. Within the church, the hierarchy needs to be in creative relation with the laity, and this requires a more collaborative approach to leadership ? including ministry. Within the liturgical environment, the church needs images which are able to draw heaven and earth into creative relation. These inclusive and holistic ideas are basic to a feminist practice of liturgical art as I describe it in this project. To demonstrate what such a practice might look like, I use examples from my own liturgical artwork. I aim to show how theory/theology and practice are inextricably interrelated in a feminist practice of liturgical art, and that practice precedes theory/theology, and that theory/theology leads to renewed practice. This has certainly been my experience while writing this thesis. The model of feminist liturgical art practice, which I formulate in this thesis, is postmodern. The largest theoretical challenge for me in this project was to come to terms with beauty theory, a conceptual framework which underpinned modernist art theory. By training and by inclination, I am disinclined to favour an art theory in which the highest value is beauty. Beauty theory was significantly deconstructed in the artworld in the 20th century and the new understandings of beauty arising today show the signs of paradigm shift. In the case of beauty theology, however, nothing comparable has caused theologians to significantly refigure their core value. Coming to terms with beauty theology was my largest theological challenge. My solution in both cases was to enlarge the category of beauty by adding ugliness. I call this category 'beautiful ugliness' (Boyd 1960, 200). However, 'beautiful ugliness' is not the focus of my aesthetic approach. I use 'life' as the core value. Into the mix of feminist postmodern art theory/theology, I add some elements of classical American pragmatism. In a pragmatic frame, ideas need to be tested out in the realities of everyday life. In line with my chosen core value, I use the terms life-relevant and life-enhancing (Miles 1985, 6) as criteria for testing the value of liturgical art. This project represents my attempt to draw a picture of what a feminist, postmodern, pragmatic, aesthetic/prophetic practice of liturgical art might look like in 21st century Australia. My hope is that there are other women and men artists, like myself, who work with 'passionate purpose' (Alexander 1933, 53) - driven by their faith in God; by their fidelity to the Christian tradition; by a desire to imaginatively explore, express and stretch the boundaries of that tradition; and by a powerful sense of place-connection and of community-belonging ? who will find this model useful and perhaps inspiring.

Responding to the absence of readily available models in Australia for thinking about Christian higher education, this thesis investigates what might constitute its foundational principles and distinctive character. The thesis considers the Western Christian tradition, the history of the university, and the contemporary experience of Christian higher education in the United States to identify models for thinking about Christian higher education. It is argued that a central issue to be addressed in developing a distinctively Christian approach to scholarship is the relationship of faith and reason, an issue to which the Christian tradition offers a range of approaches. The question of faith and reason has a wider cultural significance since, it is argued, Western culture is fundamentally constituted by the relationship of Jerusalem and Athens, in which the inherent tensions do not obscure an ultimate commitment to the unity of truth. In contemporary debates over Christian higher education, the concept of faith-learning integration is a central issue. Given the variety of definitions and models proposed, the thesis considers the approaches which have been adopted in the Christian tradition. The approaches of Philo and the Church Fathers to classical learning are considered, with extended attention given to the 'faith seeking understanding' model attributed to St Augustine. Drawing upon Neoplatonism, Augustine's theory of illumination explained why true knowledge was dependent upon divine revelation. Augustine's approach also held that 'all truth is God's truth', and justified the appropriation of classical learning as analogous to the Hebrews 'spoiling Egypt' at the time of the Exodus. The Augustinian approach offers significant insight into the role of the will and the affections in knowing, and justifies belief as a reliance upon authority. While Augustine's is not the only model that might validly be termed 'Christian', and is not without its problems, it is a model which still has much to offer to Christian higher education today. The Augustinian approach has a profound historical significance since it established the epistemological framework for western Christendom throughout the middle ages. In responding to the criticism that the term 'Christian university' is an oxymoron, the thesis also considers aspects of the history of the medieval and Reformation universities, seeking to establish the extent to which it is possible for the university to be regarded as a Christian institution. It is argued that the university did not arise out of the rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy, and that it is indeed possible to regard the university as a Christian institution for much of its history. The possibility of a Christian university today is thus not inconsistent with the history and institutional character of the university. The contributions to thinking about faith and learning and Christian higher education of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Henry Newman are also discussed. One of the critical tasks of Christian higher education generally, and of a Christian university specifically, is the synthesis or integration of faith and learning, of which both Augustine and Thomas Aquinas were exemplars. It is argued however that, while the Thomistic approach can validly be termed 'Christian', it has been more successfully pursued in Catholic institutions than in their Protestant counterparts in which a central authority to regulate the boundaries of the domains of faith and reason is absent. A critical issue for Christian higher education today is that of secularising pressures, and thus the recent history of the secularisation of Christian higher education institutions in the United States is also considered. It is argued that the secularisation of these institutions was due particularly to the view of faith and learning which they had adopted. The study concludes that the 'worldview' approach advocated by Abraham Kuyper offers an approach to scholarship which is both resistant to secularisation, and consistent with the Christian tradition, particularly as expressed by Augustine and Calvin.

The aim of this paper was to explore how teachers perceive Christian ethics. All swedish schools are affected by the values Skolverket phrase as the values all school´s must follow. These values are displayed throughout the teachers profession. This paper addresses the following content: ...the ethics which have been managed by the Christian tradition...”. This paper is based on seven interviews, made with teachers, where they describe their views on what a christian ethics might contain, if they want the content to remain and how a potential reformulation could be designed. One of the results is that all respondents want a reformulation that does not have a religious attitude. The majority of the teachers had a positiv view on what a Christian ethics includes, but would still prefer a reformulation. The result was analyzed by Max Weber's theory of rationalization and the area's previous research where the thoughts of Anders Piltz and Ola Sigurdson gained additional space. The interviews have been processed in agreement with grounded theory.