Celebration of the Lord's Supper with children. Theological assumptions and current practice in Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. Summary This thesis researches the presence and participation of children at the Lord's Supper. The main aim of the thesis was to research whether also today it is possible to find understanding for the reception of children around the Lord's Table in Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. First of all it was the issue, whether the participation of children at the Lord's Supper is sufficiently accepted in the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. The first part is focused on the historical and theological background of the Lord's Supper, on the practice in the Old Testament and Apostolic times. This chapter deals with the question: What is the Lord's Supper and what is its meaning? The second part is devoted to the issue of children and their participation in the Lord's Supper. It focuses on the period from the Early Church through the Middle Ages to the Czech and World Reformation. Different views of churches in the Czech Republic are described in the third part of the thesis. I focus here mainly on their current practice. The fourth part together with the annex contains questionnaire survey, statistical and practical data. This chapter contains the hypothesis and their...

My thesis deals with the history of the Evangelicals in Jindřichův Hradec from the time of the issue of the Patent of Toleration to the establishment of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. The first chapter deals with the situation in Jindřichův Hradec just after the issue of the Patent of Toleration. The following chapters survey the origination and development of individual congregations and preaching stations. The aim of this thesis is to acquaint the reader with the development of evangelical religiosity in Jindřichův Hradec between 1781-1918. Keywords: Patent of Toleration Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren Lutherans Reformed Horní Dubenky Zahrádky Strmilov Jindřichův Hradec

The thesis aims to contribute to the theoretical grounding of diakonia as the Christian-oriented practice of helping in modern society. Methodologically the author works with the social systems theory developed by Niklas Luhmann, which enables a differentiated description of the multidimensional reality of Christian helping action in its historical development and present situation. In the first part, the topic is theologically grounded ? biblically, historically and dogmatically. Then the main features of social systems theory are presented. Emphasis is placed on the dual ? primary (functional) and secondary (social) ? differentiation in society and its consequences for understanding diakonia. In this context diakonia is observed as the structural coupling of the systems of social help and Christianity and subsequently defined as helping in gospel perspective, which can be observed at micro-, meso- and macro-levels, i.e., in the context of interaction, organization and society ? and at the same time different theories must be developed for Christian helping at the individual levels. In the second part, the sociological description of the differentiation of diakonia is first confronted with theologically-oriented descriptions of differentiation in the context of Christianity and, following especially Wichern?s division of diakonia into civic, free and ecclesial, attention is focused on the ?tripod of diakonia? in the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in the form of Diaconia of ECCB, Christian service and diaconate. This multi-focus view of diakonia makes it possible to reflect on its mutually irreducible layers and search for adequate theories for each of them. In the formation of the Christian dimension of the organization emphasis is placed on cultivating an adequate organization culture. Interaction has to do with the mutual ?neighborly? help within a community. The specific function of diaconate is identified in constructing bridges between the ecclesial level of Christianity and its connection with the system of social help, as well as other partial systems in society ? and in this sense it is perceived as again highly relevant. In the concluding chapter, the communication-based approach of social systems theory is correlated with the practical-theological paradigm of gospel communication. In this context diakonia is understood as an inseparable part of ?gospel communication?.

This diploma thesis focuses on the roots and activities of Christian Peace Conference (CPC) in the years 1958-1968 when it was presided by Josef L. Hromádka. The author of this thesis examines the roots of the organization in Czechoslovak and German context starting in the interwar period. The thesis analyses how the beginnings of CPC were impacted by the Second World War experience of the generation of founders of the organization and also how they were impacted by the events preceding and following the war. Specifically, the focus of the research is the relationship between Christians and Marxists and furthermore the Christians' perception and experience of socialism as a social order as it was presented in CPC. Simultaneously, the thesis focuses on the possibilities of an existence of international organization during the Cold War and the role it played for the actors at that time.

This diploma thesis focuses on the roots and activities of Christian Peace Conference (CPC) in the years 1958-1968 when it was presided by Josef L. Hromádka. The author of this thesis examines the roots of the organization in Czechoslovak and German context starting in the interwar period. The thesis analyses how the beginnings of CPC were impacted by the Second World War experience of the generation of founders of the organization and also how they were impacted by the events preceding and following the war. Specifically, the focus of the research is the relationship between Christians and Marxists and furthermore the Christians' perception and experience of socialism as a social order as it was presented in CPC. Simultaneously, the thesis focuses on the possibilities of an existence of international organization during the Cold War and the role it played for the actors at that time.

This diploma thesis deals with so called "transfer movement" in Mělník in 1921. The term "transfer movement" refers to a strong campaign which tried to persuade people to leave the Roman Catholic Church before the census of February 1921 in or der to the emancipation of our nation from the Church would have been expressed. The general principle of the movement was that the Rome had always been our enemy, that the reformation is the very essence of our national identity and that the Catholic Church had been an ally of the Habsburg dynasty. The thesis tries to explore the role of the leading groups of the "transfer movement" (especially Czechoslovak Church, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and Freethought) and of the press in Mělník as well as the reaction of the local catholic clergy. The core of the work is based mainly on primary sources (both archive and published). It was found that the transfer movement was rather successful. No violent clashes were reported. The local press played an important role and supported the transfer movement. Keywords: transfer movement, Mělník, Czechoslovak Church, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, Freethought, discourse analysis

The hypothesis of this study is that there is a relationship between race attitudes and "denominocentrism, " and with certain social categories, e.g., age, social class, income, education, etc., in the Church of the Brethren in the Pacific Coast Region. If a relationship can be identified and analyzed, the results will be of value as tools in helping to understand, predict, and change human behavior. It might be further suggested that if there is a strong relationship between attitudes and certain social categories in the church, attitudes of the Brethren on these issues, and perhaps on many more, are, to a large extent, conditioned by, if not the direct outgrowth of, certain socio-economic factors.

This theses researches the bequest of The Unity of the Brethren in the lore and practice of the contemporary protestant churches in the Czech Republic. The first part evaluates numerous sources to concretize the bequest of The Unity of Brethren to ten points, which represent the most specific characteristics of its lore. The second part focuses on comparison of the previously specified bequest of The Unity of Brethren with practice and lore of particular contemporary churches. Through analysis of church sources and structured interviews with the heads of contemporary churches the thesis shows which points of the bequest of The Unity of Brethren actually appear in the lore of the examined churches and to what extend these points influence the real life of the communities. The main objective of the thesis is to examine whether the rich Brethren tradition can be found in today's Czech churches. Moreover this work also asks to what extend these churches manage to keep the Brethren bequest alive in the modern social environment.

This thesis looks at the general character of the synod of the Evangelical church of Czech Brethern (ČCE), based on archival documents since 1990. (The) first chapter describes how the Synod functions within the church and briefly mentions the issue of coping with communism, especially how some pastors got involved politically. I also touch on the events of the Velvet Revolution. The next chapter focuses on an analysis of the Synod's work based on classifying the synod's resolutions into different catogories. The results are given in three diagrams. The goal of this analysis is to show which types of resolutions dominate and which types are more unusual. The third more extensive chapter deals with the most important topics being resolved in the synod. It describes the origin of …, its progress and consequences for the church. To show the character of the ČCE Synod, I highlight its internal discussions regarding church law, the practical and theological discussions on …(church education, ordination and baptism…). Then I discuss the ČCE Social Welfare organisation, a free standing topic, as well as subjects that have revealed the Synod's views. This third group address the church's outside concerns. The synod talked about these topic both inside and outside the church as well as with the ecumenical...

This thesis is concerned with the issue of the publication of church newspapers and magazines and the regulation thereof by state institutions and organs of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the period 1956-1989. The first chapter gives a general overview of the policy of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the field of mass media and is divided into three parts: after the Second World War, after the communist putsch in February 1948 and after the invasion by armies of the Soviet Block in August 1968. To better understand the situation of the church in that period of time it was necessary to include a chapter that outlines the general context of the way in which the Communist Party perceived and understood the church and religion as such, and therefore the second chapter offers a short introduction to the 'church policy' of the Communist Party. The third chapter monitors general facts related to the publishing business of the time, with special reference to the church newspaper and its control and restriction by the Central Church Publisher and Secretariat for Church Affairs of the Ministry of Culture. The fourth and main part of this study focuses on the newspaper and magazines of the Czech Brethren Church, with each subsection containing a detailed description of the publishing...