My dissertation, Agnostos Dei: Staging Catholicism and the Anti-Sectarian Aesthetic in Early-Stuart England, traces over four chapters the emergence of a literary counter-aesthetic to the increasingly violent sectarianism of Post-Reformation England. I focus primarily on popular plays that dramatize the destabilizing effects of radical beliefs on a society, whether small town or royal court, culminating in blood and exile. I argue that the plays' destructive conflicts and redemptive moments suggest the potential worth of cross-sectarian belief and ritual. In doing so, John Fletcher's The Faithfull Shepherdess (1608), William Shakespeare and John Fletcher's Henry VIII (1613), Dekker, Ford, and Rowley's The Witch of Edmonton (1621), and John Ford's `Tis Pity She's a Whore (1629) participate in an aesthetic that rejects the disunity promoted by radical sectarians and revises the rhetoric of English Protestantism. Kings James and Charles promoted, ultimately unsuccessfully, a via media (middle way) for the Church of England, seeking reunification of divergent Christian sects. At the same time, these works used the theatre as a space of free play to consider the possibility of ecumenical success in fictionalized worlds removed from the clashing rhetoric of real kings and clergy. My project responds to the revitalized return to religion in the scholarship of early modern England, which has included a renewed interest in the English Catholic experience and a reconsideration of the variety of believers within the nation, loosely grouped into categories like Puritans and High Church Anglicans. My work presents a correlative- and counter-narrative to these well-established readings. I consider the historical and literary analogues of the plays and the contemporary religiopolitical realities of the times of their staging. Rather than attempting to discover crypto-sectarian messages in the tales or intentions of the playwrights behind them, I argue that such categorizations can reduce and obscure the broader, ecumenical implications of these works. In speaking to a range of sectarian audiences, these playwrights exceed the limitations of clear affiliation to address a wider Christian possibility.

In this dissertation we are not only converned in studying the development of the ecumenical movement, but our attention will also be focused upon this question, "In what particulars in the ecumenical movement relevant to the New Testament Church?" Our first concern will be to give an account of this movement noting personnel, places, conferences, emphases, etc. Then we shall compare and contrast the ecumenical movement with the organism called the church, the earliest record of which is in the New Testament.

A survey of the life of Dr. Peter Ainslie, a prominent leader of the Disciples of Christ, and his gradual movement away from denominational Christianity and his increasing prominence in the ecumenical movement and ultimately,his position of advocating for nondenominational Christianity.

Text in German / From a Christian perspective, complete wellness is available for man. This fact is based on God's unconditional Agape-love bestowed on man in Jesus Christ. It is by this love that being is offered a perfect vision of eternal existence. The Bible clearly shows that even creation was brought forth by the very word in which the love of the creator manifested itself in a mighty way. All being is being in the love of God, apart from which it will cease to exist. It would therefore seem advisable to examine Agape as a basic ontological category, which is our intention in this treatise. Following the course of salvation history we shall demonstrate how the love of God is responsible for being in all its complexity, where the separate parts work together constructively, thus glorifying their creator. In this way we behold the order of being in Agape. We move our attention beyond salvation of the individual but rather focus on the community aspect of salvation, and thus demonstrate from a biblical point of view, the significance of the New Testament ecclesia as the spearhead of God's Kingdom. We will show that it is the intention of Agape to give a specific Christian character to the community of believers as a witness to a world which is lacking in love and therefore also without proper orientation in its being. Where the ecclesia has lost its trait of love, we advise an uncompromising return to a corrective gospel as designed by the creator for true being, keeping in mind the limits, which the church has been given as an existing body in this world. What must never leave our focus, however, is that we extend to each other the forgiveness of Christ as the core of God's love, thus holding on to the distinct difference between Christian and non-Christian being. We therefore also recommend to examine the denominational structure of Christianity whether it is in conflict with a being that carries the mark of God's love. We remind that Agape wants to cause unity in a concrete way - unity that cannot be brought about by any secular strategy, but only by the power of God. By reorganizing our personal as well as our ecclesiastical being, the love of God will also verify the truth of God completely. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Text in German / The present work deals with the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and places it within the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. Radical evangelicalism integrates insights from various theological roots into a evangelical basal concept. Radical theology succeeded, through its contextual outworking, in overcoming the narrow focus of European evangelical theology and yet it remains genuinely evangelical. It is in the position of breaking through the sterility of academic theology and the dualistic worldview which is peculiar to wide parts of the evangelical movement by a world view that is turned towards the world. Thus it is proving itself to be a highly relevant theology for the needs of a divided world. The work develops in three steps. First of all the historical development of radical evangelicalism will be traced, from its beginning at the Congress for world evangelism in Lausanne in 1974 to the present day. Thus it will become clear that in the 30 years since Lausanne radical theology has entered the mainstream of evangelicalism. There follows in a detailed section a setting out of the theology of radical evangelicalism by means of several chosen themes. It will deal with radical hermeneutics, eschatology, salvation, the meaning of mission and evangelism and the relationship between Gospel and culture. Finally the social action of radical evangelicalism will be set out and it will be demonstrated that its energetic theology is at its basic level in fact a driving sprituality. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Text in German / The present work deals with the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and places it within the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. Radical evangelicalism integrates insights from various theological roots into a evangelical basal concept. Radical theology succeeded, through its contextual outworking, in overcoming the narrow focus of European evangelical theology and yet it remains genuinely evangelical. It is in the position of breaking through the sterility of academic theology and the dualistic worldview which is peculiar to wide parts of the evangelical movement by a world view that is turned towards the world. Thus it is proving itself to be a highly relevant theology for the needs of a divided world. The work develops in three steps. First of all the historical development of radical evangelicalism will be traced, from its beginning at the Congress for world evangelism in Lausanne in 1974 to the present day. Thus it will become clear that in the 30 years since Lausanne radical theology has entered the mainstream of evangelicalism. There follows in a detailed section a setting out of the theology of radical evangelicalism by means of several chosen themes. It will deal with radical hermeneutics, eschatology, salvation, the meaning of mission and evangelism and the relationship between Gospel and culture. Finally the social action of radical evangelicalism will be set out and it will be demonstrated that its energetic theology is at its basic level in fact a driving sprituality. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Text in German / From a Christian perspective, complete wellness is available for man. This fact is based on God's unconditional Agape-love bestowed on man in Jesus Christ. It is by this love that being is offered a perfect vision of eternal existence. The Bible clearly shows that even creation was brought forth by the very word in which the love of the creator manifested itself in a mighty way. All being is being in the love of God, apart from which it will cease to exist. It would therefore seem advisable to examine Agape as a basic ontological category, which is our intention in this treatise. Following the course of salvation history we shall demonstrate how the love of God is responsible for being in all its complexity, where the separate parts work together constructively, thus glorifying their creator. In this way we behold the order of being in Agape. We move our attention beyond salvation of the individual but rather focus on the community aspect of salvation, and thus demonstrate from a biblical point of view, the significance of the New Testament ecclesia as the spearhead of God's Kingdom. We will show that it is the intention of Agape to give a specific Christian character to the community of believers as a witness to a world which is lacking in love and therefore also without proper orientation in its being. Where the ecclesia has lost its trait of love, we advise an uncompromising return to a corrective gospel as designed by the creator for true being, keeping in mind the limits, which the church has been given as an existing body in this world. What must never leave our focus, however, is that we extend to each other the forgiveness of Christ as the core of God's love, thus holding on to the distinct difference between Christian and non-Christian being. We therefore also recommend to examine the denominational structure of Christianity whether it is in conflict with a being that carries the mark of God's love. We remind that Agape wants to cause unity in a concrete way - unity that cannot be brought about by any secular strategy, but only by the power of God. By reorganizing our personal as well as our ecclesiastical being, the love of God will also verify the truth of God completely. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Text in German / The present dissertation considers the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and puts it in the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. It will be demonstrated that the evangelicals are enriched by radical evangelicalism - an evangelical basic concept with elements of anabaptism, the social gospel, liberation theology and the ecumencial theologies. Thus it will be demonstrated that radical theology is genuinely evangelical, yet is capable of overcoming the one sidedness of western evangelical theology. Special attention is given to the contributions of radicals from North America as well as from Latin America since they are of considerable importance to radical evangelicalism. The aim of the dissertation is to present radical evangelicalism, to critically evaluate it, and to make it profitable to the European evangelical scene. The first section names the sources from which radical theology flowed. The second section reviews the historical development of radical evangelicalism. It will be demonstrated that, in the thirty years of its existence, radical evangelicalism has become a significant factor within the worldwide evangelical movement. The third section presents the fundamental characteristics of radical theology within a selection of themes. It demonstrates that the radicals have confronted the evangelical movement with a transforming theory of mission, which shows itself to be relevant for today's pressing problems. The fourth section describes the social action of radical evangelicalism and demonstrates that the energetic theology of the radicals is in fact based on a compelling spirituality. The fifth section records the results of the investigation and presents conclusions for praxis and further theological study. / Die voriiegende Dissertation erfasst die geschichtlichen und theologischen Grundlinien des radikalen Evangelikalismus und stellt ihn in den Kontext ahnlicher und ihn beeinflussender Theologien. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass der radikale Evangelikalismus eine evangelikale Grundkonzeption mit Elementen des Anabaptismus, des Social Gospel, der Befreiungstheologie und der Theologien im Umfeld des Okumenischen Rates der Kirchen bereichert Dabei wird deutlich, dass die radikale Theologie genuin evangelikal ist, die Einseitigkeiten der westlichen evangelikalen Theologie aber zu uberwinden vermag. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit ist den Beitragen radikaler Nord- und Lateinamerikaner gewidmet, da diese den radikalen Evangelikalismus wesentlich gepragt haben. Ziel ist es, den radikalen Evangelikalismus darzustellen, kritisch zu wiirdigen und fur die europaische evangelikale Szene fruchtbar zu machen. Der erste Teil nennt die Quellen, aus denen sich die radikale Theologie speist. Der zweite Teil zeichnet den geschichtlichen Werdegang des radikalen Evangelikalismus nach. Es wird nachgewiesen, dass der radikale Evangelikalismus in den dreissig Jahren seines Bestehens zu einem bestimmenden Faktor in der weltweiten evangelikalen Bewegung geworden ist. Der dritte Teil stellt die Grundzuge der radikalen Theologie mittels ausgewahlter Themen dar. Er zeigt auf, dass die Radikalen die evangelikale Bewegung mit einer transformatorischen Missionstheorie konfrontiert haben, die relevant fur die drangenden Probleme der Gegenwart ist. Der vierte Teil stellt die soziale Aktion des radikalen Evangelikalismus dar und zeigt auf, dass die energische Theologie der Radikalen im Grande genommen zur Tat driingende Spirituality ist. Der funfte Teil halt die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung fest und zieht Folgerungen fur die Praxis und das weitere theologische Arbeiten. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

Text in German / The present dissertation considers the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and puts it in the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. It will be demonstrated that the evangelicals are enriched by radical evangelicalism - an evangelical basic concept with elements of anabaptism, the social gospel, liberation theology and the ecumencial theologies. Thus it will be demonstrated that radical theology is genuinely evangelical, yet is capable of overcoming the one sidedness of western evangelical theology. Special attention is given to the contributions of radicals from North America as well as from Latin America since they are of considerable importance to radical evangelicalism. The aim of the dissertation is to present radical evangelicalism, to critically evaluate it, and to make it profitable to the European evangelical scene. The first section names the sources from which radical theology flowed. The second section reviews the historical development of radical evangelicalism. It will be demonstrated that, in the thirty years of its existence, radical evangelicalism has become a significant factor within the worldwide evangelical movement. The third section presents the fundamental characteristics of radical theology within a selection of themes. It demonstrates that the radicals have confronted the evangelical movement with a transforming theory of mission, which shows itself to be relevant for today's pressing problems. The fourth section describes the social action of radical evangelicalism and demonstrates that the energetic theology of the radicals is in fact based on a compelling spirituality. The fifth section records the results of the investigation and presents conclusions for praxis and further theological study. / Die voriiegende Dissertation erfasst die geschichtlichen und theologischen Grundlinien des radikalen Evangelikalismus und stellt ihn in den Kontext ahnlicher und ihn beeinflussender Theologien. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass der radikale Evangelikalismus eine evangelikale Grundkonzeption mit Elementen des Anabaptismus, des Social Gospel, der Befreiungstheologie und der Theologien im Umfeld des Okumenischen Rates der Kirchen bereichert Dabei wird deutlich, dass die radikale Theologie genuin evangelikal ist, die Einseitigkeiten der westlichen evangelikalen Theologie aber zu uberwinden vermag. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit ist den Beitragen radikaler Nord- und Lateinamerikaner gewidmet, da diese den radikalen Evangelikalismus wesentlich gepragt haben. Ziel ist es, den radikalen Evangelikalismus darzustellen, kritisch zu wiirdigen und fur die europaische evangelikale Szene fruchtbar zu machen. Der erste Teil nennt die Quellen, aus denen sich die radikale Theologie speist. Der zweite Teil zeichnet den geschichtlichen Werdegang des radikalen Evangelikalismus nach. Es wird nachgewiesen, dass der radikale Evangelikalismus in den dreissig Jahren seines Bestehens zu einem bestimmenden Faktor in der weltweiten evangelikalen Bewegung geworden ist. Der dritte Teil stellt die Grundzuge der radikalen Theologie mittels ausgewahlter Themen dar. Er zeigt auf, dass die Radikalen die evangelikale Bewegung mit einer transformatorischen Missionstheorie konfrontiert haben, die relevant fur die drangenden Probleme der Gegenwart ist. Der vierte Teil stellt die soziale Aktion des radikalen Evangelikalismus dar und zeigt auf, dass die energische Theologie der Radikalen im Grande genommen zur Tat driingende Spirituality ist. Der funfte Teil halt die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung fest und zieht Folgerungen fur die Praxis und das weitere theologische Arbeiten. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)