Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-103).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 266-287). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ27305.

I present a critical analysis and comparison of the early modern critiques of Christianity and of the institutional strategies for achieving religious toleration through an examination of the thought of Rawls Hobbes, Locke, and Tocqueville. I argue that the contemporary dialogue over religion is limited by its uncritical acceptance of the American experience with the constitutional regime of religious freedom, which takes its bearings from the scheme of religious disestablishment that Locke articulated in the Letter Concerning Toleration. The aim of my dissertation is to correct this distortion of the history and theory of liberalism, to restore the original theological and practical flexibility of liberal politics, and to articulate competing constitutional arrangements for theocratic reform and transition that are not exhausted by “neutrality.” Instead of presenting a monolithic argument in favor of disestablishment, the early modern liberal thinkers favored a combination of different institutional and educational strategies, tailored to national and local conditions, for reforming the Church and for advancing popular enlightenment. I turn to Hobbes and Hume to recover this case for religious establishment, and contrast and compare their arguments to those of Locke and Smith. In revealing the peculiar strengths and weakness of both church establishment and free exercise, early modern rationalists presented a set of flexible institutional and practical guidelines that could inform political statesmanship in its pursuit of the agenda of popular religious reform. Through an analysis of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and the Old Regime, I show that the uncritical focus on Locke’s regime of disestablishment captures only one side of the complex and multifaceted historical experience of liberalism with religion in Europe and America, and does not do justice to the rich theoretical and political debate that shaped liberalism. Not just Hobbes and Hume, but even Locke himself, in his early Two Tracts and even in the Letter, presented strong practical arguments for and theoretical justifications of limited but real state religious establishments as institutional engines of theological reform. The recovery of this debate is meant to contribute to the capacity of liberal theory to engage in a critical dialogue with non-liberal religion, and to its capacity to articulate competing constitutional and institutional structures that , while unfamiliar to us, may be more suited for theocratic transitions in non-Western and non-Christian societies than the regime of neutrality. / text

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1945 marks the beginning of Soviet occupation in Eastern Germany. This was followed by the gradual implementation of a communist regime and its attendant atheist ideology in a region where over 80% of the population subscribed to protestantism. This thesis examines the policies of the SED towards the Protestant Church in Eastern Germany and attempts to define the various phases, motives, methods, and principles underlying that religious policy from 1945 to 1953. / The SED's atheist ideology alone fails to explain all the measures taken with regard to the Church. The religious policy of the SED depended in large part on the overall political situation, on developments during the Cold War and Soviet projects aimed at Germany. While the SED ultimately sought to eliminate the Church, it was nonetheless prepared to solicit its support through compromise, when necessary for the stability of the regime.

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Prior to the passing of the Education (Religious Instruction) Act 1950, religious instruction was permitted in State schools in Victoria, but had to be given outside the hours prescribed for secular instruction. Within these limitations, representatives of the non-Roman Catholic Churches provided basically non-sectarian teaching under the auspices of the Joint Council for Religious Instruction in State Schools. The 1940's, however, saw a growing dissatisfaction in the Churches with the secular nature of the Education Act and a desire for statutory recognition of the place of religion in the education of children. Through the Joint Council and its successor, the Council for Christian Education in Schools, and through a series of conferences of the Heads of Churches begun in 1943, negotiations were initiated in order to seek common ground for an approach to the Government. The Anglican desire for segregation and the unstable political situation were the biggest obstacles to progress. By 1950, after protracted negotiations and many disappointments, the member-Churches of the Council for Christian Education in Schools had reached agreement, and with Roman Catholic support, secured the 1950 Amendment.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 240-255).