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This study concentrates on the scientific writings of Thomas Chalmers, David Brewster, John Fleming and Hugh Miller. All belonged to the Evangelical party in the Church of Scotland and all joined the Free Church of Scotland at the Disruption in 1843. The thesis begins with a brief history of natural theology between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. It also reviews previous work on science and belief in the first half of the nineteenth century, pointing out that much of the emphasis in studies of Christian natural theology has been on the Anglican Broad Church. Chapter two describes the divisions in the Church of Scotland and the events which led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. It also indicates the particularly favourable circumstances for Evangelical intellectuals at the start of the nineteenth century by charting the rise and decline of the Moderate party during the second half of the eighteenth. Chapter three documents interactions amongst the four Evangelical scientists and describes their roles in the Disruption and in the formation of the Free Church of Scotland. Chapters four and five trace common threads in their natural theologies and in their views about the reconciliation of science and Scripture. Comparisons are made with opinions expressed within the Evangelical party as a whole. Chapter six describes Evangelical reactions to the dissemination of materialism and deism, concentrating especially on the activities of George Combe and his circle. Combe's natural theology is shown to have been specially threatening to Evangelicals in the Established Church because of the potency of the Book of Nature metaphor in challenges to the clerical supervision of education. Chapter seven examines similarities and differences in the geological work of Miller and Fleming and examines the role of rival natural theologies in the development of theories about the Earth's origin, history and development. Particular attention is given to the astronomical nebular hypothesis and to the transmutation theory put forward in Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. Chapter eight summarises the various functions of natural theology for the Evangelicals and for the Combeists.

The title- "James Hog of Carnock (1658-1734), Leader in the Evangelical Party in Early Eighteenth Century Scotland" -has been the limiting factor in the development and scope of this thesis. It is not without significance that Hog is described as "Leader in the Evangelical Party": the claim is not that he was the leader of that school; but he is presented herein as one of the leaders in the Evangelical party. This means that the share of Thomas Boston, the Erskines, and others of that group in Evangelical leadership is by no means denied, but it is not the scope of this thesis to give an exhaustive study of these particular men, of their party, or even of the various controversies herein discussed. Their contributions are for the most part not included in the thesis, or are included only insofar as is necessary to establish Hog's function in the various scenes, to balance the discussion, or to throw light upon the overall picture. In other words, the various subjects presented in the thesis are developed as James Hog impinged upon them, or as they impinged upon James Hog. The words "Evangelical Party" are intended to apply in a broad way, for it is an accepted fact that there was, during the period under consideration, no hard and fast Evangelical--as opposed to Moderate--party. It was more properly an Evangelical school and as such the words are understood and developed. It is the early eighteenth century with which the thesis is concerned primarily, but as it is impossible to plunge into the current of events and thought in ecclesiastical and theological studies without a retrospective presentation of the contextual situation preceding the immediate problem, an introductory section, rooted in the seventeenth century background, is placed at the beginning of each chapter. The decision to take this approach was taken after consultation with my principal adviser, Principal Emeritus Hugh Watt, whose wise counsel has led the writer clear of many Charybdian hazards. In thus presenting the introductory sections, each chapter serves as a setting for that which follows, climaxing in the crucial chapter on the controversy concerning The Marrow of Modern Divinity.

The dissertation focuses on Karl Barth's theology as it relates to present issue in Evangelical thought. Chapter 1 states that an Evangelical theology of religions can affirm and apply particular aspects of Barth's doctrine of the Holy Spirit that will serve to redefine some present Evangelical approaches to the content of divine revelation. Chapter 2 surveys the theology of religions models constructed by Karl Rahner, Clark Pinnock, Amos Yong, and Terrance Tiessen. These scholars affirm in some respect that non-Christians need not have explicit knowledge of Jesus Christ and His work in order to appropriate the benefits of redemption. Chapter 3 examines Barth's trinitarian-oriented doctrine of revelation. For Barth, the doctrine ofthe Trinity provides the key to genuine divine revelation because revelation's content cannot be separated from its form in Jesus Christ. Chapter 4 addresses Barth's evaluation of the phenomenon of religion and natural theology. His attack on both concepts as human attempts to fashion God in their own image will be discussed. Chapter 5 will discuss and analyze the Christ-centered nature of Barth's doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The discussion shows how for Barth the Holy Spirit is the sole mediator of Christ's presence who guides persons into objective knowledge of Christ and equips them for Christian service. Chapter 6 details Barth's use of secular "parables" of truth in the world in relation to the one Truth-Jesus Christ. The focus is how these "lights" of truth in creation never exist apart from Christ's reconciling work. Chapter 7 evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Barth's thought as it relates to thesis of the work. Particular attention is given to Barth's rejection of general revelation and the doctrine of common grace as juxtaposed with the work of Herman Bavinck, whose thought is utilized as a useful alternative to Barth's thought in this area. Chapter 8 will conclude by briefly addressing Bavinck's position in contrast to Barth. Finally, the work seeks to reaffirm the thesis that use of selective aspects of Barth's thought can serve as an aid to on-going Evangelical efforts to formulate a viable theology of religions.

Thesis advisor: Judith Wilt / Though contemporary evangelical Protestants have shown an increased interest in the fine arts, scholars have often seen the aesthetic history of Anglo-American evangelicalism as one marked by hostility and indifference. In contrast to this view, this study argues that the history of evangelicalism's intellectual engagement with the fine arts has been complex and varied. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, evangelicals writing in a variety of denominational periodicals carried on a robust inquiry into aesthetics. This study traces the rise of this discourse among Anglo-American evangelicals and maps some of the main features of the evangelical theoretical landscape between 1830 and 1900&mdash;a high point of evangelical critical activity. <italic>Christians, Critics, and Romantics</italic> describes how evangelicalism's contact with Enlightenment thought initiated a break with the Puritan aesthetic tradition that contributed to the growth of a modern aesthetic consciousness among some eighteenth-century evangelicals. By the 1830s, evangelical aesthetic discourse had come under the influence of romanticism. Not only did many evangelical writers define art according to the expressivist principles adduced by major romantic critics but some went even further in asserting, after Coleridge and the German idealists, that art is an embodiment of a higher reality and the imagination an organ of transcendental perception. Evangelical critics, moreover, valued art for its contribution to the stability and progress of &ldquo;Christian nations&rdquo; such as England and the United States. By refining the moral feelings of individuals, fine art helped to safeguard the socio-moral cohesion of Protestant &ldquo;civilization.&rdquo; For a time, evangelical critics attempted to celebrate art in romantic terms while insisting on art's subordination to traditional Christianity, but such an arrangement ultimately proved unsustainable. By the end of the nineteenth century, a rift had opened up within Anglo-American evangelicalism between conservatives and liberals. This rift, caused in part by the spread of romantic thought and by various other secularizing trends, had important implications for evangelical aesthetic thought. While liberals continued to advance high claims for the spiritual and educational potential of art, conservatives largely abandoned the philosophical exploration of art in order to turn their attention to the threats of Darwinian evolution and biblical criticism. Nevertheless, both liberals and conservative fundamentalists retained in their respective ways many of the aesthetic assumptions of the romantic tradition. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English.

In Part One, I first argue that the life and thought of educated Graeco-Romans was profoundly shaped by a tension between characteristions of a primary reality and the social experiences of everyday reality. The tension surfaced in various models, images, and expectations of the real-the-essence-the-ideal-the-perfect which both reflected and reinforced the presumption of a higher reality lying somewhere other than in the stuff of everyday life. The second chapter sketches the broad contours of Paul's preoccupation with Jesus Christ. I note how his focus on Christ spilled over into a penchant for the historical, the personal, and the social. I explore these as three interdependent axes of his thought. In chapter three I use the vantage point constructed in the first two chapters to see the distinctiveness of Paul's thought and experience over against the patterns of Graeco-Roman philosophy, theology, religion, and morality. Part Two, explores the ways in which Paul's knowledge of Christ offered coherence within the contingencies of everyday experience. Chapter four focuses on Paul's conversations for change. The topic of these chapters are really inseparable not only from each other, but from those of the previous chapters on Paul's life and thought. Thus certain themes recur through chapters two to five so that the four chapters form a continuous presentation of Paul's life and thought, albeit from several different perspectives. Part Three carries the conversation forward to evangelicalism. In chapter six, I view the sermon as a critical event in the life of evangelicalism, and as the bridge between the academy and the congregation. I concentrate on the intellectual and social phenomena which highlight an evangelical's experience of the movement as a system and a culture. This leads me to consider how evangelical meanings have broken down in the experience of some evangelicals. In chapter seven, I look at ways in which the system and culture and evangelicalism shape the reading of Paul. My focus here is on the drive to attach the epithets 'biblical' and 'unbiblical' to people, propositions, and behaviours. I argue that the intellectual and social phenomena suggest that being 'biblical' or otherwise has as much to do with social acceptability as it does with proximity to the biblical texts. This brings me full circle to the analogies which evangelicalism holds both Paul and to his Graeco-Roman milieu. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This manuscript traces the development of sexual abstinence and virginity as a commodity and describes how this development has contributed to modern conceptions of sexual abstinence. Within this analysis, the author provides what demographic and statistical information is available on abstinence practice in North America as well as outlines some of the perspectives critical of abstinence and abstinence-only sex education. More importantly, the author argues that within many Evangelical churches a defined social spacea sexual marketplaceexists where individual agents exchange and convert this commodity, among others, to attract potential marital partners. Furthermore, the manuscript outlines the effects and implications of this marketplace on its participants. The author derives these conclusions from the ethnographic observations and interviews he conducted while attending an urban Canadian Pentecostal Church.

Thesis (Th.M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [87]-93).

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-110).

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