Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [41]-46).

Thesis (M.A.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass., 1998. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-109).

由於歷史和神學的複雜原因，自二十世紀後半葉至今的數十年時間里，正教神學經歷了一場十分可觀的復興，使得正教神學在國際學術界得到廣泛重視和熱烈的討論，其中尤為引人注目的是一嚮被視作正教特有的古老教義──成神論。它一經現代學者關注，便迅速發展成為普世教會對話的重要論題，為更多來自西方基督教傳統的神學家所研究。而現時，關於成神論的一個研究熱點就是發掘西方傳統中重要神學家思想中的成神論因素，或是探討其思想與成神論的關係。本研究關注的正是巴特（Karl Barth, 1886-1968）與成神論的關係。 / 現有對於巴特神學與成神論進行比較研究的文獻數量極少，而且存在著一個重要問題，即沒有能夠展現一個在規模上和深度上相當的成神論綜述，作為與巴特神學進行比較的參照。為解決這一問題本文選擇了洛斯基（VladimirLossky, 1903-1958）、茲茲奧拉斯（John Zizioulas）與斯塔尼萊（Dumitru Stăniloae,1903-1993）三位現代正教神學大家為代表，通過他們三人的神學來展現正教成神論的一個較為全面的風貌。 / 在這三位神學家中，洛斯基的神學主要繼承了聖帕拉瑪（St. Palamas,1296-1359）的思想，著力闡發上帝的神聖能力與神聖本質相區分的傳統教義，以此為進路通嚮成神論；茲茲奧拉斯則是以卡帕多西亞教父的論述的"位格"概念為核心，逐漸擺脫了神聖能力與神聖本質相區分的既定格局，發展出一種通過人與上帝的位格相遇而實現的成神論；斯塔尼萊作為一位集大成的正教神學家，在其巨著《正教教義神學》中系統展現了正教神學的全貌，說明了以人論、基督論、拯救論為主要支點的成神論，其實是正教教義神學的終極歸宿和總目標。 / 在考察過三位正教神學家的成神論思想后，轉入巴特的神學。針對與成神論關係密切相關的論題，著重考察巴特的基督論、人論，以及基於這二者的救贖論，並與東正教相對應問題的比較。通過比較最終發現，雖然兩者間在某些論題確實存在著難以抹殺的分歧，但巴特神學以基督論為基礎建構起的人論則與東正教傳統有著顯著的親和力，尤其在對罪觀的闡述上，已然突破了東西傳統之間的壁壘，形成了具有普世意義的教義理論，說明巴特的拯救觀已然超出了傳統西方的救贖論模式，與正教成神論有趨同之勢。 / 最後，在對整個研究做出總結的基礎上，闡明本研究的內在動機和現實意義，即進一步推進漢語學界對東正教神學的了解和認識，進而改善因了解的片面性造成的、在漢語學界仍然存在的對基督宗教的成見。並通過說明東正教神學思想與中國傳統思想的親和性，展現東正教神學研究對於建構漢語神學的積極意義。 / Due to both historical and theological reasons, the Orthodox theological tradition underwent a significant revival during the past several decades. Some themes in the Orthodox tradition drew the attention of international academia. Among them, the ancient doctrine of deification is unquestionable the most attractive one, which quickly became an important topic in the ecumenical dialogue. Nowadays, one of the hot issues concerning the study of deification is the comparison between the Orthodox and Western understandings of theosis or deification. In this thesis, the relation between Karl Barth(1886-1968)'s theology and the Orthodox doctrine of deification will be explored. / There are only a small number of existing studies dedicated to the comparison between Barth and the Orthodox doctrine of deification, and they focused rather exclusively on Christology. In order to give a comprehensive and extensive comparison between Barth and the Orthodox doctrine of deification, this thesis choose three masters of modern Orthodox theology as the reference points for comparison, and they are V. Lossky(1903-1958), John Zizioulas, and D.Stăniloae(1903-1993). / Following St. Palamas(1296-1359), Lossky based his theology of deification on the distinction between divine energy and essence. Zizioulas inherited Cappadocian Fathers' thought, and explained deification in terms of personal encounter. Staniloae articulated a comprehensive Orthodox dogmatic theology with deification as the centre or key of the whole system, and took theological anthropology, Christology, and Soteriology as the three pillars of the doctrine of deification. / After exploring these three orthodox theologians' thought, the discussion will turn to Barth’s theology, especially his Christology, anthropology, and doctrine of salvation. We will find that Barth’s theological anthropology, which is oriented by his Christology, shows certain similarities to the anthropology in Eastern Orthodox theology, and they share similar understanding of unio hypostatica and communicatio idiomatum. Furthermore, Barth’s understanding of sin together with salvation is not only quite far away from the hamartiology prevalent in western theological tradition, which is focused on original sin and its redemption, but also comes closer to the Orthodox theological tradition. Though there are undeniable differences between Barth and Orthodox theology, there are also significant affinities between them on the issue of deification. / To the end of this study, this thesis will discuss the significance of the studies of Orthodox theology for the Chinese academica. It is foreseeable that a careful study of Orthodox theology will clear some of the misunderstandings of or even biases against Christianity prevalent in the Chinese-speaking world. Meanwhile, the studies of Orthodox theology can also contribute a lot to the construction of Sino-Christian Theology due to the similarities between Orthodox theology and traditional Chinese religious-philosophical thought. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 張少博. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). / Abstracts also in English. / Zhang Shaobo.

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [106]-131).

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [106]-131).

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [106]-131).

abstract: In 1999, Geneviève Hasenohr announced the discovery of a fragment of Marguerite Porete's Mirouer des Simples Ames, a work condemned by the Church at the University of Paris in 1310, hidden in a manuscript at the Bibliothèque municipale in Valenciennes. The fragment corresponds with roughly two chapters in the only extant French version of the manuscript (Chantilly, Musée Condé MS F XIV 26), and when compared with other editions of the Mirouer, it appears to be composed in what might have been Marguerite Porete's native dialect. The discovery changed scholars' perceptions of the weight of the various versions and translations - the Chantilly manuscript had been used previously to settle any questions of discrepancy, but now it appears that the Continental Latin and Middle English translations should be the arbiters. This discovery has elevated the Middle English editions, and has made the question of the translator's identity - he is known only by his initials M.N. - and background more imperative to an understanding of why a work with such a dubious history would be translated and harbored by English Carthusians in the century that followed its condemnation. The only candidate suggested for translator of the Mirouer has been Michael Northburgh (d. 1361), the Bishop of London and co-founder of the London Charterhouse, where two of the three remaining copies of the translation were once owned, but the language of the text and Northburgh's own position and interests do not fit this suggestion. My argument is that the content of the book, the method of its translation, its selection as a work for a Latin-illiterate audience, all fit within the interests of a circle of writers based in Yorkshire at the end of the fourteenth century. By beginning among the Yorkshire circle, and widening the search to include writers with a non-traditional contemplative audience, one that exists outside of the cloister - writers like Walter Hilton, the anonymous authors of the Cloud of Unknowing and the Chastising of God's Children, and Nicholas Love - we may have a better chance of locating and understanding the motives of the Middle English translator of the Mirouer. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2011

My dissertation investigates the concept of ‘divinization’, or becoming like (or identical to) God or the Buddha in the thought of two early medieval monk-philosophers from radically different religious-philosophical traditions, Maximus the Confessor (580-662 CE) and Kukai (774-835 CE). I use this as a means of comparing the relationship between understandings of identity and praxis advocated by these two thinkers. Maximus was a Christian monk who lived during a period of great theological and political turmoil in the Byzantine Empire and participated in the theological debates of his day. Kukai was a Japanese monk who studied esoteric Buddhism in China and returned to establish an esoteric lineage in Japan, allowing it to survive after its demise in China. In the first half of my dissertation, I investigate their philosophical understandings of identity, what makes a thing what it is and not something else. I consider this their metaphysic (using the term in the broadest sense of an account of reality). I begin by looking at their religio-philosophical contexts which informed their thought and then on texts written by my principles themselves. Maximus’ understanding, shaped by Greek philosophy and early Christian theologians, is embodied in a triad of concepts – logoi, divine ideas and wills which bestow being on created things and hold them in existence; tropoi, the modes of existence of particular creatures and hypostasis, the individual existent or creature which exists in the tension between logoi and tropoi. The core of Kukai’s understanding is funi (不二) or non-duality, a doctrine that has both epistemic and ontological implications. It is grounded in the experience of meditation as well as the esoteric Buddhist teaching of muge (無礙), the mutual interpenetration and non-obstruction of all things. It is a doctrine central to esotericism but also has roots in prajnāpāramitā (“perfection of wisdom”) literature, important to many schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. How they understand ‘identity’ is central to their philosophy and will reflect in both the practices they advocate and the rationale for them After establishing and explicating their understanding of identity, in consequent chapters I look at the praxes that they advocate and their metapraxis or reasoning behind these practices. I focus on regimes of self-cultivation, such as meditation, prayer, virtuous behavior, various ritual activities and how they lead to the ultimate goal of divinization. In Maximus, this process of divinization is called theosis (θέωσις), ‘deification’. He follows in a long line of Christian thinkers who hold that God created human beings in order to make them like himself, to become by grace what God is by nature. In Kūkai, this process is known as sokushin jōbutsu (即身成仏), ‘becoming a Buddha in this very existence’. He is the heir to an esoteric tradition that holds that all sentient beings are originally enlightened, they have Buddha-mind or already are the Buddha, but this reality is obscured by a profound miscognition of the reality which gives rise to egoistic craving. In the final section, I look more closely at these respective accounts of divinization, to show the profound parallels and divergences found in their thought and elucidate the source of these differences in their respective metaphysic, their accounts of identity; how does identity shape practice? What informs this understanding of identity? This is the larger question I am seeking to address. In doing so, even though my research is limited in focus to two particular thinkers, they do act as representatives of two larger traditions, Early/Eastern Christianity and Japanese Buddhism. The answers they give to this question reflect the insights and positions offered by these larger traditions. / Religion

La présente étude est une analyse et une reconstruction interprétative de la centurie de Calliste Cataphygiotès, intitulée De l'union avec Dieu et de la vie contemplative, chapitres syllogistiques et hauts. Notre approche à ce texte pluridisciplinaire est prioritairement philosophique. Dans le but de mettre en valeur l'intérêt philosophique qu'il représente, nous avons concentré notre analyse sur les problèmes liés au rapport de l'intellect avec l'Un, sur l'étude du concept de l'infini, sur son rôle dans la contemplation et sur la méthode dialectique dont Calliste Cataphygiotès s'en sert. Nous avons reconstruit la doctrine de la contemplation, implicite au texte de Calliste et nous avons tenté une reconstruction globale de la centurie qui permettra au lecteur d'apprécier les qualités spéculatives et l'esprit synthétique de ce mystique byzantin presque inconnu. / The present study is an analysis and an interpretative reconstruction of Callistus Cataphygiotes's syllogistic chapters, entitled The union with God and the contemplative life. Our approach to this multidisciplinary text is primarily philosophical. In order to emphasize the philosophical aspect of the text we focused our analysis on issues related to the concept of infinity, its role in contemplation, the relation of the intellect with the One, as well as the dialectical method used by Callistus Cataphygiotes. We rebuilt the doctrine of contemplation, implied in the text of Callistus and we tried to do a complete reconstruction of the text that will allow the reader to appreciate the speculative and the synthetic spirit of this almost unknown Byzantine mystic.

The Christian tradition, both East and West, has developed various models and theories of the atonement as explanations of what it means to speak of the reconciling activity of God in Christ. Central to these has been the claim that God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ. One way of testifying to the reconciling love of God has been the adoption of the metaphor theosis (�divinization�, �deification�) as an explanation of salvation. While central to Eastern Orthodoxy, a doctrine of theosis also has a rich tradition within Western, especially Reformed theology. The Reformed theologian, Thomas Forsyth Torrance, represents an attempt to construct a soteriology that incorporates both Eastern and Western models of the atonement around the controlling metaphor of theosis. A close reading of his theology presents a robust and clearly articulated doctrine of theosis as a key way of expressing God�s reconciling activity in Christ. As the true Man and the last Adam, Christ represents the arche and telos of human existence, the one in whose image all humanity has been created and into whose likeness all humanity is destined to be transformed from glory to glory. Through the Incarnation the Son becomes human without ceasing to be divine, to unite humanity and divinity together and effect a �deification� of human nature, mediated to men and women who are said to be �in Christ� by the work of the Holy Spirit. By means of a �wonderful exchange� Christ takes what is ours and gives us what is his. For Torrance, this is the heart of atonement. The goal of humanity is worship, something Torrance defines as the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son�s communion with the Father. The locus of worship, and thus of theosis, is the church, the communion of saints created by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Throughout Torrance�s doctrines of creation, anthropology, incarnation, reconciliation, and pneumato-ecclesiology, the concept of theosis plays a central and constitutive role in explaining a Christian theology of salvation. Theosis is thus foundational to Torrance�s theology and is one way in which he holds together in systematic fashion his diverse theological oeuvre.