This study brings together the scattered body of criteria contemporary scholars have used to identify divine communications (a sub-category of religious and spiritual experiences), presented as a new Model of Academic Criteria for Divine Communication. It compares the scholarly criteria in the Model of Academic Criteria for Divine Communication to the criteria that participants themselves (thirty-two Catholic sisters) used to distinguish divine communications from other types of experience. On the basis of this comparison, it suggests a new, altered set of criteria for future use in studying divine communications, formulated as a Model of Participants\' Criteria for Divine Communication. It expands upon current research focused on the experiences of evangelical Protestants by providing the first scholarly report of modern American Catholic experiences of divine communications. / Master of Arts

Over the few years that led to the creation of the constitutional law of the Islamic republic of Iran, I (the author) noticed a series of ambiguous and often contradictory points in its contents. Discovering the roots and the causes of such contradictions became my priority. After the Iranian Revolution (1979) intellectuals were confronted with very new experiences. For example, Shi'ah has always been a minority in the history of Islam. Therefore, Shi 'ah Fuqaha never experienced direct rule over people. Direct pressures from this new experience brought about the desire and the need for a shift in certain interpretations of the Shi'ah tradition. It became evident that religious laws did not have in them the power and the wisdom to provide answers to the issues and dilemmas of the modern times, hence the need for a fresh approach. One such issue was the discussion of legitimacy of power. 18 years on, the heated debate is still ongoing. Traditional Shi'ah theorists believed that all rulers are illegitimate except the one that represents the 12th Imam who has been absent for the last 1000 years. According to Shi'ah, this representation can only be made by elite clergy who have the ability to understand, fully, the history of Islam and Shi'ah. They also claim that Shari 'ah laws must be implemented in their entirety and according to the teachings of Qur'an and the 12 Infallible Imam. They further argue that the people as a whole have no role in determining the legitimacy of the ruler, as He has been appointed to implement divine laws and people must obey. With time, though, such attitudes were modified. Especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran (1979), new interpretations began to surface. Discussion of three fundamental elements relating to the shift of the Islamic viewpoints during the last 100 years and in particular after the Iranian revolution (1979) forms the main body of this thesis. These are: " Divine law " Divine Ruler " Role of the People The hypothesis of the thesis is that fundamental philosophical positions on all of the above three issues have been the subject of change and modification, to some extent and according to "time" and "place". This change does not reflect the abandoning of the Islamic faith by Muslims, but rather indicates the ability of this dynamic religion to modify itself with time'. These changes have also been associated with varying degrees of ambiguity and contradiction, which will be the subject of detailed discussions in this work. Viewpoints of other outstanding scholars who tried to address these issues will also be presented. Two theories have been expressed in relation to the shift in the Shi'ah political thinking; " Islam's ability to adapt with "time" and "place" and new issues " "Change", in itself, defies the very existence of religion Both theories have been the subject of extensive debates. Traditional Muslims and Non-Muslims criticise Islam for supporting the latter view, whereas revivalists sympathise with the former. It must be mentioned also that reference throughout 1 Iqbal. Enayat. Lambton II this work is only made to those scholars who have used Islamic sources for their reasoning, i. e., not to many others who have engaged in these discussions as independent figures. Also discussed- will be the traditional Islam represented by the majority of the Assembly of the Islamic Experts (Majles-i Khobregan) which in effect was the main creator of the Iranian Constitution.

Cette thèse présente les réponses données à la question du fondement du possible et de l’impossible dans la scolastique jésuite espagnole de l’époque moderne : en vertu de quels critères jugeons-nous que telle chose ou tel événement sont possibles, alors que tels autres nous paraissent impossibles ou contradictoires ? La double nature de ce travail, philosophique et historique, s’incarne dès lors en deux volumes à la fois distincts et complémentaires. Le premier volume est consacré à l’analyse philosophique des différentes réponses apportées au problème du possible, entre les premiers pas académiques de la Compagnie de Jésus espagnole jusqu’à son expulsion définitive du royaume en 1767. Après quelques préliminaires généraux sur le développement institutionnel et doctrinal de la scolastique moderne, on y présente successivement les solutions des écoles dominicaine et franciscaine espagnoles du XVIe siècle avant de passer aux différents grands modèles jésuites : les synthèses de Gabriel Vázquez et Francisco Suárez ; l’émergence d’un courant ultra-essentialiste ; la critique inspirée par le nominalisme de Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza ; le développement d’une ontologie conditionnaliste par Juan de Lugo et ses nombreux élèves ; la critique néo-augustinienne de toutes les traditions antérieures par Antonio Pérez et ses nombreux élèves ; le développement d’une ontologie des états de choses par Sebastián Izquierdo ; et enfin le développement d’une série d’autres solutions marginales à la fin du XVIIe siècle. Le travail se clôture sur l’expulsion d’Espagne de la Compagnie de Jésus en 1767 et par quelques réflexions sur la « migration » de ces problématiques vers l’Europe Centrale. Le second volume est quant à lui purement historique et textuel. Il propose l’édition de différents textes, tirés d’ouvrages imprimés anciens ou bien de manuscrits inédits, rédigés par vingt des principaux auteurs engagés dans la querelle des possibles, à savoir, dans l’ordre chronologique : F. Albertini, P. Hurtado de Mendoza, J. de Lugo, R. de Arriaga, Th. Compton Carleton, A. Pérez, F. de Oviedo, M. de Elizalde, T. González de Santalla, T. Muniesa, S. Mauro, S. Izquierdo, G. de Ribadeneira, I.F. Peinado, J. de Sousa, A. Sémery, J. de Campoverde, E. Láriz, Á. Cienfuegos et J. Rufo. Chaque édition de texte est précédée d’une biographie intellectuelle retraçant les principales étapes de la carrière de l’auteur, avec des indications sur ses maîtres, collègues et disciples, ainsi que sur le contexte institutionnel de son enseignement. L’ensemble est précédé d’une étude sur les rapports entre les cours imprimés et manuscrits dans la tradition scolastique moderne. Un troisième et court volume se compose d’un bref « who’s who » scolastique ainsi que d’une bibliographie générale, reprenant toutes les sources primaires et secondaires utilisées.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The subject of this essay is the concept of omnisubjectivity, which is a form of omniscience introduced by Linda Zagzebski. I will analyse the concept in detail, its possible implications, objections and further developments and critically examine these.      Omnisubjectivity is the idea that God has constant access to our consciousness and all our mental states and that God can grasp all conscious creatures’ first-person perspectives at the same time as God has his own first- and third-person perspective. As a model for this Zagzebski uses human empathy, where she means that God has perfect total empathy which implies that God has constant access to all our mental states at the same time as God never forgets that those mental states aren’t God’s own.      Some of the possible implications that I bring up in this essay are that omnisubjectivity can explain how God hears prayers, how God’s love and providence can deepen, how God might or might not be affected by humans’ mental states, especially their failings and immoral actions and thoughts, and how God’s judgement can be perfectly fair. The objections concern Zagzebski’s use of empathy as a model for omnisubjectivity, the definition of perfection, God’s relation to time and what the first-person perspective contributes to. The developments concern Thomas Aquinas thought of God as everything’s first cause and christology.      This essay’s conclusion is that omnisubjectivity is, to a large extent, already a part of omniscience, but that it also contributes with new aspects and opens up for new questions and deepens the meaning of omniscience and God’s relation to his created creatures.

Scholarship has tended to depict John Owen as a “Reformed catholic” attempting a synthesis of Reformed principles with a largely Thomist doctrine of God. In this thesis, I argue that this depiction risks losing sight of those aspects of Owen's doctrine of God that are intended to support a distinctly Protestant account of the economy of grace. By an examination of the principles of divine government, I argue that Owen employs the theme of God's “dominion” in order to establish the freedom and gratuity of God's grace, and to resist theologies that might otherwise use the doctrine of creation to structure and norm God's government of creatures. In chapter one, I argue against prevailing readings of Owen's thought that his theology of the divine will is, in fact, “voluntarist” in nature, prioritizing God's will over his intellect in the determination of the divine decree. I show that Owen regards God's absolute dominion as an entailment of his ontological priority over creatures. Chapters two and three examine the character of God's dominion over creatures in virtue of their “two-fold dependence” upon him as both Creator and Lawgiver. Chapter four takes up Owen's theology of God's remunerative justice in the context of his covenant theology. I show here that his doctrine of divine dominion underwrites his critique of merit-theology and attempts to establish the gratuity of that supernatural end to which humans are destined. Finally, in chapter five, I examine the principles of God's mercy, expressed in the work of redemption, where I demonstrate how Owen's conception of divine dominion underwrites the freedom of God in election and his account of particular redemption.

This thesis is a context-sensitive study of key epistemological commitments and concerns presented in Philo’s two series of exegetical writings. The major conclusion advanced in this thesis is that two theological epistemologies, distinct yet related, can be detected among these writings. The first epistemology is specific to the Allegorical Commentary. The second epistemology is specific to the ‘Exposition of the Law.’ The epistemology of the Allegorical Commentary reflects a threefold conviction: the sovereignty of God, the creaturely contingency of the human mind and its inescapable limitations. In conversation with key epistemological notions of his day, Philo develops this threefold conviction in exegetical discourses that are grounded in Pentateuchal texts portraying the God of Moses as both possessing epistemic authority and aiding the aspiring mind to gain purification and perfection in the knowledge of God. Guided by this threefold conviction, Philo enlists key metaphors of his day – initiation into divine mysteries and divine inspiration, among others –in order to capture something of the essence of Moses’ twofold way of ascending to the divine, an approach which requires at times the enhancement of human reason and at other times the eviction of human reason. The epistemology of the ‘Exposition’ reflects Philo’s understanding of the Pentateuch as a perfect whole partitioned into three distinct yet inseverable parts. Philo’s knowledge discourses in the ‘creation’ part of the ‘Exposition’ reflect two primary movements of thought. The first is heavily invested with a Platonic reading of Genesis 1.27 while the second invests Genesis 2.7 with a mixture of Platonic and Stoic notions of human transformation and well-being. Philo’s discourses in the ‘patriarchs’ segment reflect an interest in portraying the three great patriarchs as exemplars of the virtues of instruction (Abraham), nature (Isaac), and practice (Jacob) which featured prominently in Greek models of education. In the ‘Moses’ segment of the ‘Exposition,’ many of Philo’s discourses on knowledge are marked by an interest in presenting Moses as the ideal king, lawgiver, prophet and priest who surpasses Plato’s paradigm of the philosopher-king. In keeping with this view, Philo insists that the written laws of Moses represent the perfect counterpart to the unwritten law of nature. The life and laws of Moses serve as the paradigm for Philo to understand his own experiences of noetic ascent and exhort readers to cultivate similar aspirational notions and practices.

Les penseurs de l’herméneutique du XXe siècle ont redéfini essentiellement l’humain comme un être en quête de sens, interprétant sans cesse le ‘monde’ à travers ‘son propre monde’, cette compréhension transformante contribuant à son devenir. Serait-il pertinent dans une recherche de sens qui caractérise une démarche de foi, d’utiliser des outils herméneutiques ouvrant les Écritures sur d’autres possibles que ce que la Tradition chrétienne propose aujourd’hui ? Le présent mémoire veut répondre par l’affirmative à ce défi, en appliquant une approche processuelle sur le chapitre 16 du livre d’Ézéchiel, un prophète avec lequel la tradition juive a gardé une certaine prudence et un texte particulièrement osé que la pastorale chrétienne a ignoré. Après une mise en situation qui trace les paramètres fondamentaux de la démarche entreprise dans ce mémoire (chapitre 1), une traduction littérale du texte hébreu est proposée, faisant ressortir les nuances que suggèrent les formes verbales et les éléments particuliers que révèle une analyse macro-syntaxique (chapitre 2); la méthode d’analyse processuelle choisie pour interpréter le texte est inédite dans le monde francophone, tout comme la perspective processuelle de l’étude telle qu’elle se déploie dans les chapitres 3 et 4 du mémoire. L’analyse débouche sur des propositions théologiques originales, redéfinissant notamment la Toute-Puissance divine comme un entêtement qui cherche à convaincre, et inscrivant le pardon divin au creux de la liberté et de la responsabilité humaines. / Hermeneutic thinkers of the twentieth century have essentially redefined man as a being who is in search of meaning, constantly interpreting the 'world' through 'his own world', with this transformative understanding contributing to his future. Is it therefore relevant, in the search for meaning that characterizes a journey of faith, to read the Scriptures in ways that open new possibilities other than those currently offered by the Christian tradition? This essay proposes an affirmative answer to this challenge by applying a Process Approach to the text of Chapter 16 of the Book of Ezekiel, a prophet whom Jewish tradition has historically treated with suspicion and a particularly bold text that the Christians disregarded. After setting the parameters of the study (Chapter 1), a literal translation of the Hebrew text is presented, highlighting the nuances suggested by language choice as well as particular elements revealed by macro-syntax analysis (Chapter 2). The process analysis method chosen to interpret the text is unprecedented in the Francophone world, as is the process context of the study outlined in Chapters 3 and 4. The conclusions identify original theological concepts, most notably redefining God as a stubborn will that seeks to convince, and inscribing his forgiveness deeply in human liberty and responsibility.

The present study covers the causes of victory and defeat in the light of chapter eight of the Holy Qur'an. It has been prompted by the current situation facing Muslims in many parts of the world, which is characterized by despair, reversals and loss, This study is thus reflexive in nature. In order to obtain a satisfactory response to this predicament, the relevant text in addition to several of its commentaries were scrutinized. The latter search remained unsatisfactory since their focus of inquiry was merely exegetical and failed to reveal any didactic element, which is crucial for obtaining guidance. This work has successfully managed to deduce this aspect from the text which amplifies the importance of extensive sacrifice for gaining glory. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic studies)