The Preface examines the concept of life in the Old Testament which is discovered to be centred firmly on this world; special reference is made to life in the Wisdom Literature. Death at the end of a long and full life was accepted with resignation. Despite the paucity of references to death and the underworld in the Old Testament, there are passages which contain references to the mythology of death. The first chapter provides a background by reviewing the relevant aspects of the mythology of death in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan. Chapter 2 lists the names for the underworld in the Old Testament end considers the mythological allusions which contain references to the location and characteristics of the underworld. Chapter 3 discusses the dwellers in the underworld. The words rp'um in the Ugaritic texts and rp'm in Phoenician inscriptions are surveyed as a background to rephaim in the Old Testament, The practices of necromancy and tomb-offerings are considered and it is concluded that while popular practice condoned them, official religion condemned them. In the fourth chapter the relation between the world ocean and the nether world is set out. As in the rest of the Ancient Near East the underworld was represented as lying in the depths of the ocean at the foot of the pillars which supported the earth. The deceased had to traverse this ocean on his way to the underworld. Chapter 5 deals with the concept of Sheol as a monster with gaping jaws and an insatiable appetite. This figure owes its ultimate origin to the Ugaritic god of death, Mot, whose ravenous appetite was proverbial. The sixth chapter surveys the personifications of death as a hunter, a shepherd and a robber. The powers of the underworld such as Abaddon, Sheol, Death the King of Terrors and the First-born of Death are discussed. In conclusion, it is observed that the mythological allusions are fragmented and moribund, serving, for the most part, a literary purpose within the context of the Old Testament. Death was an experience which meant the cessation of all life.

It was by no means conceived that this one writing could answer all the questions concerning the Christian answers or beliefs in regard to death. The theme presented here is an historical survey of representative periods and figures from the ancient Hebrew times through the Protestant Reformation which demonstrates the evolving and emerging patterns of death. No Christian perspective could be found without dealing with the fundamental concepts herein. As the title suggests, this is simply a start but nevertheless a basic start. All of Christian theology is related to the Death of Christ so it is to His Death that the Church must continually readdress itself.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between children’s grief and their perceptions of God by utilizing children’s drawings. This research was conducted by partnering with Christian counselors and teachers who interviewed two groups of children to collect data. Counselors interviewed the experimental group of children who were between the ages of 6-12 and had experienced the death of an immediate family member. Teachers interviewed the control group of children who were between the ages of 6-12 and had not experienced the death of an immediate family member. Both groups were asked specific questions in efforts to ascertain if children in the midst of grief perceived God differently. A multilevel triangulation design was used in this study with the first phase being qualitative and the second quantitative. In phase one, both the experimental group and control group of children were each interviewed and asked to respond to these questions by drawing their answers. Upon completion of the drawings, each child was asked a series of follow-up questions in efforts to provide explanations for their drawings. Select demographic information was also collected as a part of the interview process. Phase 2 utilized a quantitative approach. A panel of raters was assigned with the task of looking for specified, coded patterns or images in each child’s drawn or verbal response. Each panel member received a description of characteristics for which to look, as well as a Thurstone scale to assess the frequency of the characteristics. Upon evaluation, this data was sent back to the researcher for anecdotal analysis. The qualitative data was collected and the results were analyzed utilizing two statistical analyses methods including a Mann-Whitney test and a four-way ANOVA. While the Mann-Whitney was used to determine the correlation between death and a child’s perception of God, the ANOVA was performed to analyze the role demographics played in children’s perception of God after they experienced a parental or sibling death. Findings from the analyses are discussed in terms of implications for future research as well as possible applications for the research.

All in all, the death of Jesus is presented as mysteriously God-willed. Likewise, the scenario of failed discipleship together with the eventual nurturing of genuine discipleship out of the Passion is also presented as mysteriously incomprehensible to the disciples. Yet, the cosmic struggle between God/Jesus/the Spirit and Satan/the satanic forces including the antagonistic religious authorities, the death of Jesus together with the predicted death of his disciples, and the eventual overcoming of failed discipleship are portrayed in the Markan story as part and parcel of the in-coming of the Kingdom of God, that Jesus proclaimed and he himself acted it out. / In sum, the aim of the present thesis is to lay bare that the themes of death and discipleship are inextricably bound to one another in Mark's story-telling and unfolding of Jesus and discipleship. A new and more compassionate understanding of the intertwined themes of death and discipleship is offered to explain the failed discipleship as depicted in that story-telling. / The above revisit of the overall Markan story under the intertwined themes of death and discipleship will be rolled out progressively in three phases (or chapters). Namely, the Galilean ministry of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus on his way to Jerusalem regarding the Kingdom of God and its consequent implications and demands on discipleship, and lastly the trial and arrest of Jesus in Jerusalem. / This Thesis is a narrative-critical study or revisit of the Markan story in the light of the intertwined and interconnected themes of death and discipleship. It will be argued that discipleship in the Markan context is ultimately the imperative command on the disciples to die for and like Jesus. Alike Jesus who is presented as carrying out his earthly ministry in the setting of the cosmic struggle between the God/the Spirit and Satan, the disciples are to face the persecution and suffering and even death. The author of Mark has Jesus reveal that his Passion would be followed by the passion of the disciples. In Mark, genuine discipleship is attained primarily with the ability to overcome the fear of death. For it is only by doing so can the disciples really take up their crosses to die for and like Jesus. However, the reality is that all the disciples, as depicted early in the Markan narrative as fallible sinners, would and did all fail Jesus. Yet, failed discipleship, though being portrayed as inevitable, is not the dead end or cul de sac in the Markan story. In the Passion Narrative, the author of Mark does endeavor to illustrate that there is a way out. In this sense, genuine discipleship will be nurtured out of the Passion. It is under this understanding of discipleship vis-a-vis death that the failed discipleship in Mark should be evaluated and compassionately understood, as conveyed in the utterance of Jesus at Gethsemane, "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak". (Mk 14:38) / Wan, Siu Fai. / Adviser: K. C. Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 2079. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 246-259). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

To be or not to be that is the question. The Church's Understanding of Death and the Dead with reference to the traditional Effutu people's beliefs and practices is an attempt to do theology in an African way as well as to understand the Christian Faith in terms of death and the dead. In the pervasive influence and challenge of the Christian message to Africans, Effutus not excepted, and demand upon their individual lives and their relationships with one another; in countless personal and group decisions made, and lives actually lived very differently from what they would otherwise have been, in the new high hopes and aspirations for individual and social destiny which it has awakened; in the sheer excellence of human performance in devotion and courageous, self-sacrificing service to others, and yet in other ways, Christianity still plays a role and exerts a force in the Effutu Traditional Area in particular and Ghanaians' way of life in general. This is none the less real and significant because Christianity eludes full and conclusive analysis. For instance, questions relating to the understanding of death; funeral rites; the relationship between the living and the dead - all have been issues of tension between African and the west. As a result there is widespread readiness today to repudiate the missionary past by the Africans who for more than a century now, have been doing theology regarding death and the dead in a strange language, in strange thought forms, in a strange ideology. African theology and especially that of death and the dead is at the crossroad. In some sense it finds some 'natural' affinities with Liberation Theology and historically, as far as Christ's death is concerned, could be connected with western theology. Yet, while it may and should attempt to draw from the richness of both theologies, African theology of the dead should guard against capitulating to either of those forms. It must be dynamic, ready to change and address itself to all situations in time and space. It should be liberating, freeing mankind from all chains, including social, racial, economic, cultural, and even confessional domination. In short, the primary concern of African theology and especially that of death and the dead must be the proclamation and 'incarnation' of the message that "Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world" (John 4/42), through his suffering and death, wrath 'and judgement - all working on behalf of man and his reconciliation.

林津. / 論文(神學碩士) -- 香港中文大學硏究院宗敎及神學學部, 1995. / 參考文獻: leaves 61-64. / Lin Jin. / Chapter 第一章： --- 導論 --- p.一 / 基督敎對其他宗敎的立場 / 絶對主義 --- p.四 / 包容主義 --- p.七 / 相對主義 --- p.九 / 以上三個立場的共同困難 --- p.十二 / 宗敎對話 / 宗敎對話的立場 --- p.十五 / 宗敎對話的條件 --- p.十七 / 宗敎對話的落實 --- p.十九 / 本文所選取的對話範圍 / 死亡作爲宗敎對話的起點 --- p.二十一 / 佛敎作爲中國傳統思想的代表 --- p.二十二 / 兩點補充 --- p.二十五 / Chapter 第二章： --- 佛敎與基督敎的死亡觀 / 佛敎中的死亡觀 / 宇宙和人類的根源 --- p.二十六 / 人的組成部份 --- p.二十七 / 人生的目的 --- p.二十八 / 人生的景況 --- p.二十九 / 死亡的定義 --- p.三十 / 死亡出現的原因 --- p.三十一 / 每人死亡的次數 --- p.三十二 / 人死後即時的景況 --- p.三十三 / 人死後最終的歸宿 --- p.三十五 / 基督敎中的死亡觀 / 宇宙和人類的根源 --- p.三十六 / 人的組成部份 --- p.三十七 / 人生的目的 --- p.三十八 / 人生的景況 --- p.三十九 / 死亡的定義 --- p.四十二 / 死亡出現的原因 --- p.四十二 / 每人死亡的次數 --- p.四十三 / 人死後即時的景況 --- p.四十五 / 人死後最終的歸宿 --- p.四十六 / 佛敎與基督敎死亡觀之比較 --- p.四十九 / Chapter 第三章： --- 不同立場在宗敎對話中可能出現的情況 / 絶對主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十一 / 包容主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十二 / 相對主義與宗敎對話 --- p.五十三 / 宗敎對話立場中可考慮的幾點 --- p.五十五 / 結語 --- p.五十九 / 附件： 書目 / 英文書藉 --- p.六十一 / 中文書藉 --- p.六十二 / 期刊文章 --- p.六十三 / 工具書藉 --- p.六十四

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis introduces a spiritual understanding of terminal care as life care within a pastoral approach to death and dying. The presupposition is that life and death are unavoidably connected, and that a meaningful approach to death and dying in terms of a Christian theological hermeneutics needs to start with the question “What is life?” The concept of a theological hermeneutics serves as an overall paradigm, which is implied within the interplay of life and death. The aim of a hermeneutical approach is to find meaning in living and dying in the fundamental God-human relationship. The eschatological perspective plays a significant role, as it emphasises the already and not yet of eschatology that become evident in every life event. An analysis of the theoretical paradigms and philosophical presuppositions behind a widespread “psychology of death and dying” shows that the phenomenological, client-centred models suffer from an overreliance on inner human potentials in coping with dying. Although these models provide valuable insights into the needs of the dying, they fail to equip individuals with a meaningful paradigm that lasts despite the reality of death. As a result, I propose a “theology of death and dying” that opts for a much more holistic approach to terminal care. Based on the impact of a Christian spiritual concept of life and a pastoral anthropology on a pastoral approach to terminal care, I argue that we do not have to cope with dying by ourselves but can trust in the faithfulness of God who will keep us strong to the end (1 Cor 1:8). As fear of death can effectively only be coped with by caring for life, pastoral care to the dying needs to emphasise the fundamental God-human relationship that guarantees life in spite of death. A unique stance of hope follows from a Christian spiritual understanding of life that overcomes the paradigmatic gap left by psychological approaches to death and dying, and makes us aware that the new life in the Spirit is a quality that we already possess. Eventually, the life care approach is applied to a pastoral prevention strategy in the context of the HIV pandemic. I argue the thesis that prevailing HIV prevention programmes suffer from a lack of an overall frame of reference from which to reflect on the necessity for behavioural change. To fill this gap, a spiritual life care approach to the HIV pandemic emphasises the development of a Christian ethos based on an internalised assurance of the purpose and destiny of human life, which can function as an overall paradigm behind a prevention strategy. This pastoral prevention strategy is based on the assumption that positive change, the anticipation of a better future and true hope derive from an understanding of who we are as human beings before and in relationship with God. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis stel ʼn spirituele begrip van terminale sorg as lewensorg binne ʼn pastorale benadering tot dood en sterfte bekend. Die voorveronderstelling is dat lewe en dood onlosmaakbaar verbind is, en dat ʼn betekenisvolle benadering tot dood en sterfte in terme van ʼn Christelike teologiese hermeneutiek met die vraag “Wat is lewe?” ’n aanvang moet neem. Die konsep van teologiese hermeneutiek dien as 'n oorkoepelende paradigma, wat geïmpliseer word binne die wisselwerking van lewe en dood met die doelwit om betekenis te vind in lewe en dood in die fundamentele Godmens- verhouding. ’n Eskatologiese perspektief speel ’n beduidende rol, aangesien dit die alreeds en die nog nie van eskatologie beklemtoon, wat in elke lewensgebeurtenis duidelik word. ’n Ontleding van die teoretiese paradigmas en filosofiese voorveronderstellings rakende die wydverspreide “sielkunde van dood en sterfte” toon aan dat die fenomenologiese, kliëntgesentreerde modelle gebrek lei as gevolg van hul heftige aanspraak op die innerlike menslike potensiaal om sterfte te hanteer. Alhoewel hierdie modelle kosbare insigte ten opsigte van die behoeftes van die sterwendes bied, faal hulle daarin om individue toe te rus met ’n betekenisvolle paradigma wat volhoubaar is, afgesien van die werklikheid van die dood. Ek staan dus ’n “teologie van dood en sterfte” voor wat ’n veel meer holistiese benadering tot terminale sorg meebring. Gegrond op die impak van ’n Christelike, spirituele konsep van lewe en ’n pastorale antropologie op ’n pastorale benadering tot terminale sorg, argumenteer ek dat ons nie nodig het om die dood op ons eie te hanteer nie omdat ons op die getrouheid van God, wat ons sterk sal hou tot die einde (1 Kor 1:8), kan vertrou. Aangesien die vrees vir die dood slegs deur die omgee vir lewe hanteer kan word, is dit noodsaaklik dat pastorale sorg aan die sterwende die God-mens-verhouding, wat lewe te midde van dood waarborg, beklemtoon. ’n Unieke gesigspunt van hoop volg vanuit ’n Christelike, spirituele begrip van lewe, wat die paradigmatiese gaping wat gelaat word deur psigologiese benaderings tot dood en sterfte vul. Dit maak ons bewus dat die nuwe lewe in die Gees ’n kwaliteit is wat ons alreeds besit. Die lewensorg-benadering word uiteindelik in ’n pastorale voorkomingstrategie in die konteks van die MIV-pandemie toegepas. Ek argumenteer in die tesis dat heersende MIV-voorkomingsprogramme gestrem word deur ’n tekort aan ’n algehele verwysingsraamwerk, vanwaar oor die noodsaaklikheid van gedragsverandering nagedink kan word. Om hierdie gaping te vul, stel ek ’n spirituele lewensorg-benadering voor, wat die ontwikkeling van ’n Christelike etos beklemtoon, gegrond op ’n inwendige sekerheid van die doel en bestemming van menslike lewe, wat as ’n algehele paradigma vir ’n pastorale voorkomingstrategie kan funksioneer. Hierdie voorkomingstrategie is gegrond op die veronderstelling dat positiewe verandering, die verwagting van ’n beter toekoms, en ware hoop voortspruit uit ’n begrip van wie ons as mense voor en in verhouding met God is.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-09-04T18:06:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sérgio Lucas Câmara.pdf: 1112617 bytes, checksum: 7568d006df1768b592ed6fbfb5a82f6f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-04T18:06:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sérgio Lucas Câmara.pdf: 1112617 bytes, checksum: 7568d006df1768b592ed6fbfb5a82f6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-23 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Considering the studies on death in the field of psychology, the relationship between psychology and religion and the continuous action of Catholic priests in situations of finitude, this study had the objective of carrying out a systematic and critical review of the production of psychology in Brazil, articulating the themes of death with religion, especially the Catholic Christianity. Researches were performed on the BVS-PSi Platform, integrated to Scielo, from 2011 to 2016, and papers published in Qualis/CAPES A1, A2, B1 and B2 journals were selected, originally written in Portuguese, published in Brazil, having at least one psychologist among the authors. According to the established criteria, only six articles were selected. Of these, none of them explored the religious or spiritual dimension in dealing with death, although the theme had emerged in the researches. The collected material was submitted to analysis, according to three categories: identification characteristics, methodological characteristics and content characteristics. A survey was also made with the documents of the Catholic Church with reference to the formation and guidance to priests, regarding death and dying. The results obtained on psychology production revealed a low number of published articles which link death to religion, and even when it appears in the articles on death/mourning, the theme of religion/spirituality is not explored. Likewise, the articles on religion/spirituality in psychology did not explore the subject of death/mourning. Nevertheless, we have identified significant possibilities of articulation between psychology and religion in the situation of death. With specific reference to Catholicism, the articles produced in psychology are depleted of knowledge about the three moments organized by Catholic Christianity to deal with death and dying. On the other hand, the guidance of the Church to the priests regarding the situation of death is more significant in the organization of rituals, but without references to the advances of production in psychology, which evidences the need for the religious formation to approach the psychological knowledge. In the field of psychology, this research exposes a gap in the studies that articulate death/mourning with religion/spirituality, especially regarding the Catholic Christianity, which counts with the adhesion of a considerable portion of the Brazilian population. Therefore, this research suggests more exploratory studies that appropriate the importance of religion in, at least, two perspectives: expansion of psychological knowledge and clinical practice with mourners. The partnership between religion and psychology can therefore benefit the performance of both psychologists and priests in dealing with the situation of death / Considerando os estudos sobre morte no campo da psicologia, a relação entre psicologia e religião e a frequente atuação dos padres católicos em situações da finitude, este estudo teve por objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática e crítica da produção da psicologia no Brasil, que articule os temas da morte com a religião, especialmente o cristianismo católico. Foram realizadas buscas na Plataforma BVS- -Psi, integrada à Scielo, no período de 2011 a 2016 e selecionados artigos publicados em periódicos Qualis/CAPES A1, A2, B1 e B2, escritos originalmente em português, publicados no Brasil, tendo pelo menos um psicólogo entre os autores. De acordo com os critérios estabelecidos foram selecionados apenas seis artigos. Desses, nenhum explorou a dimensão religiosa ou espiritual ao tratar da morte, embora o tema tenha emergido nas pesquisas. O material coletado foi submetido à análise, de acordo com três categorias: características de identificação, características metodológicas e características de conteúdo. Realizou-se também um levantamento junto aos documentos da Igreja Católica que se referem à formação e orientação aos padres, com relação à morte e ao morrer. Os resultados obtidos sobre a produção em psicologia revelam um baixo número de artigos publicados que relacionam a morte à religião e ainda, quando aparece nos artigos sobre morte/luto, o tema da religião/espiritualidade não é explorado. Da mesma forma, os artigos sobre religião/espiritualidade em psicologia não exploraram o tema da morte/luto. Entretanto, identificamos significativas possibilidades de articulação entre psicologia e religião em situação de morte. No que se refere especificamente ao catolicismo, os artigos produzidos em psicologia não revelam conhecimento sobre os três momentos organizados pelo cristianismo católico para lidar com a morte e o morrer. Por outro lado, a orientação da Igreja aos padres quanto à situação de morte revela-se mais significativa na organização dos rituais, mas sem referências aos avanços da produção em psicologia, o que evidencia a necessidade de a formação dos religiosos aproximar-se do conhecimento psicológico. No campo da psicologia, esta pesquisa expõe uma lacuna nos estudos que articulam a morte/luto com a religião/espiritualidade, especialmente quanto ao cristianismo católico, que conta com a adesão de uma considerável parcela da população brasileira. Assim, esta pesquisa sugere mais estudos exploratórios que se apropriem da importância da religião em, pelo menos, duas perspectivas: expansão do saber psicológico e atuação clínica com enlutados. A parceria entre religião e psicologia pode, portanto, beneficiar tanto a atuação dos psicólogos quanto dos padres, no atendimento à situação de morte

Factual accounts of revenants – the risen dead – seized the medieval imagination in the early eleventh century, and were recorded by serious historians and ecclesiastics as true. They then began to appear in secular imaginative literature and art, growing progressively more elaborate and frightening throughout the Middle Ages whilst retaining many of the religious overtones expressed overtly in the ecclesiastic tales. By the early modern and modern period, the tales were removed from any overt religious context and were told as purely imaginative literature. The academic half of this thesis explores the influence on the tales of the Christian doctrine of resurrection and the cult of the body of Christ and of the saints, then traces the migration of those tales into imaginative literature from the Middle Ages to the present. It identifies key motifs from the medieval chronicles and imaginative literature that continue to appear in modern stories, and explores the extent to which Christian eschatology altered perceptions of the dead and why, in an increasingly secular context, fascination with such tales continued into modern literature, what part fear of death played throughout this period, and how that fear was expressed, first in an ecclesiastical context, then in imaginative literature through horror stories. The creative half of my thesis is a literary fiction novel updating a medieval revenant tale, the Legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead, to twenty-first century New England.