The thesis aims to provide a critical assessment of Camilo Torres' concept of efficacious love in the light of a hermeneutics and ethics of liberation, to contribute theoretically to theological reflection upon the mission of the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Colombia, and generally in Latin America. It proposes the thesis that the theology of Camilo Torres, viewed from the perspective of a hermeneutics and an ethics of liberation, can be foundational for seeking, constructing, and sustaining peace with justice in a context of oppression and violence. Based on the theological analysis, the academic and spiritual motivation should respond to two fundamental questions in our academic inquiry: what foundation exists in Camilo Torres' theology for the construction of a just, peaceful, liberative society and to enable proximity to the excluded, victimized, and poor population in Colombia to be achieved? And how can we as Christians respond to the grace of God in living efficaciously the values of the Kingdom of God, in order to bring structural changes in Colombia? The implications of the answers to those questions would result in the possibility to execute an integrating theological proposal for peace with justice for the church in Colombia. In an interpretative mode, we consider critically the multidisciplinary interaction of some of the theological foundations of liberation theology. Our task consists in clarifying and constructing theological presuppositions for a dialectical examination of the historical and current situation in Colombia, viewed in the light of the internal problems and realities. Thus, it is our intention in order to attempt a significant interdisciplinary juncture, to examine and interpret such relevant concepts as efficacious love, faith with works, kenosis, hypostatic union, hermeneutics and ethics of liberation, social justice, personal and collective socio-political conversion, and a praxis of faith as the church's mission in response to the Colombian context of poverty and violence.

This research is an ethnography which investigates the effects of Hurricane Katrina upon the capacity of African American Protestant churches in New Orleans to provide spiritual and social ministry to the city's underprivileged. More than three years after Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury upon the city, fifty per cent of the churches remain as the hurricane left them. Pre-Katrina, fifty per cent of the population lived at or below the poverty line and depended upon faith-based programs as part of their support network and ladder toward selfsufficiency. Because of the disaster, there was substantive loss of parishioners, financial resources, and program operational infrastructure that severely limited or destroyed faith-based capacity to serve. The purpose of the study is to examine what social vulnerabilities and barriers hinder churches' capacity to serve community needs in four particular areas, including providing and advocating for affordable housing, quality health care, strategies for eliminating poverty, and disaster evacuation education, preparedness and response. The researcher hypothesizes that structural and institutional racism were already undermining that capacity pre-Katrina and continues to hinder it more than three years since. The study investigates the veracity of this hypothesis. It attempts to offer strategies to help mitigate the social vulnerabilities and increase the community's resiliency and sustainability against future disasters. This research is important because it provides increased awareness and understanding of how pre-existing social vulnerabilities in combination with Hurricane Katrina contributed to the lingering diminished capacity of the church and community. It also provides insight into how the faith community's attitude and action toward handling its vulnerabilities lead to increased resiliency and sustainability, and suggest a course of action toward the alleviation of marginalization of both the faith institutions and the people they serve.

A presente dissertação investiga as possíveis consequências jurídicas imputáveis a descumprimentos de deveres anexos de boa-fé ocorridos em negociações coletivas trabalhistas. Para tanto, pesquisa-se a negociação coletiva trabalhista em si mesma, suas origens, os interesses nela envolvidos, suas funções, seus princípios, delineando-a como uma fase negocial análoga ao momento pré-contratual dos contratos em geral. Após, estuda-se o princípio da boa-fé, desde seu berço natural, no Direito comum, especialmente na sua vertente objetiva, que tem papel primordial na limitação do princípio da autonomia negocial, para então analisar-se sua aplicabilidade ao Direito Coletivo do Trabalho, especificamente no tocante as negociações coletivas trabalhistas, com a visualização dos deveres anexos de boa-fé incidentes nas mesmas. Também verificam-se as consequências jurídicas imputáveis aos descumprimentos de deveres anexos de boa-fé na negociação coletiva trabalhista, que parecem exigir, para harmonização do sistema e atingimento da finalidade do próprio instituto negocial coletivo laboral, respostas que, de fato, estimulem, privilegiem e otimizem a negociação coletiva laboral como um direito fundamental, eficaz e democrático-construtivo das relações de trabalho. Em conclusão, questiona-se se essa verificação não seria necessária para um futuro saudável das relações coletivas trabalhistas. / This dissertation investigates the possible legal consequences attributable to the noncompliance with good faith obligations in collective labor bargainings. Therefore, the collective labor bargaining is researched in itself, its origins, the interests involved, its functions, its principles, delinating it as a negotiation phase comparable to the pre-contractual moment of contracts in general. After, the principle of good faith is studied, from its birth in commom Law, especially in its objective strand, which has a primordial role in limitating the principle of negotiation autonomy, for then analyse its applicability to the Collective Labour Law, specifically about collective labor bargainings, with the visualization of its incidents good faith obligations. Also, the legal consequences for the noncompliance of good faith obligations in the collective labor bargaining are verified, which seems to require, to harmonize the system and to reach the purpose of the very institute of the collective labor bargaining, responsaes that, in fact, stimulate, privilege and optimize the collective labor bargaining as a fundamental, effective and democratic-constructive right. In conclusion, it is questioned whether this verification would not be necessary for a healthy future of collective labor relations.

The present diploma thesis is an exegetical attempt to interpret Paul's parenesis in his Letter to the Romans 14,1-15,13. It tries to find answers to the following questions: Who are the "strong in faith" (15:1)? Who are the "weak in faith" (14:1)? What "day" is meant in chapter 14:5? What kind of dietary restrictions are in the background of 14:2? What is the solution that Paul suggests? The analysis has led to the following conclusions: Paul is trying to resolve a particular dispute between two groups of believers in Rome. The "weak" probably had a problem with the "strong" eating the meat and drinking the wine defiled with idolatry (14:21) and not keeping fasting days, or certain Jewish feast days (14:3). So, the "weak" may be identified as the Jewish Christians and the "strong" with the Christians of gentile origins. Paul tries to move both groups away from judging each other (14:3) to respect the opinion of the other group (14:4) and leads them above all to mutually build loving relationships to each other (14:19). Key words: weak in faith, strong in faith, day, food, dietetary restriction, Lord, Christ, Kingdom of heaven

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This study investigates the relationship between faith, communication, and organization in a large Baptist church. A chief purpose of this study is to describe and interpret potential communicative dimensions and consequences of immateriality (e.g., faith-oriented influences) for organizations and their members. This investigation also interrogates organizational communication scholars’ theoretical understandings of how communication constitutes complex organizations (McPhee & Zaug, 2000; Taylor & Van Every, 2000; see also Putnam & Nicotera, 2009). Toward this end, I conducted an extended case study of a large Baptist church. This research process was guided by descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative questions regarding (a) the nature and interplay of various discourses in the organization, (b) member interpretations and communicative consequences of these discourses, and (c) the implications for a communicative ontology of organizational constitution. Data collection consisted of formal meeting observations, semi-structured interviews, and examination of multiple organizational documents that presumably inform the church’s organizational processes. In total, I observed 26 formal meetings (52 hours of observation), conducted 40 interviews with pastors, support staff, and lay leaders, and examined seven documents generated by the church and related institutional bodies. Two forms of analysis were employed to strengthen the case studying findings, an ethnographic discursive analysis of the meeting interactions and a narrative analysis derived largely from the interview data. The ethnographic discourse analysis examines three communication codes that governed the organization’s meeting interactions. I refer to these codes as keep the faith, secular thinking, and business as usual and explore potential patterns and consequences of their collective use. This analysis was supplemented by an additional narrative analysis of interview data that highlighted four narratives representing the varied ways that participants shape and are shaped by the organization. The congregationalist and spiritual authority narratives are more widely espoused and endorsed in organizational literature while the rubber stamp and separation narratives reveal a more hesitant or regretful confession of church organizing processes. I synthesize these findings by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of immaterial influences on organizational constitution, particularly in non-profit or third sector contexts. / text

Habilitacijos procedūrai teikiamoje mokslo darbų apžvalgoje „Reformacija ir religinės minties plėtra Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaištystėje“ aptariama monografija Maištininkų katedros. Ankstyvoji reformacija ir lietuvių-italų evangelikų ryšai (2008) bei mokslo straipsniai, nagrinėjantys LDK reformacijos ir protestantų literatūros problemas. Pagrindinis mokslinės analizės chronologinis objektas – ankstyvojo LDK reformacijos etapo kultūros procesai (XVI a. 5-6 dešimtmetis), tačiau analizuojami ir kai kurie vėlesni, XVI a. antros pusės – XVII a. pirmos pusės protestantų literatūros ir kultūros raidos ypatumai. Tai tarpdalykinis tyrimas, integruojantis LDK kultūros, bažnyčių ir konfesijų bei literatūros istorijos tyrimų užduotis. Pagrindinės analizuojamos temos: reformacijos pradžia Lietuvoje ir Lietuvos evangeliškosios minties pradininko Abraomo Kulviečio intelektualinė biografija; du ankstyvieji LDK evangelikų išpažinimai (Kulviečio Confessio fidei, 1543) bei Mikalojaus Radvilos Juodojo atsakymas popiežiaus nuncijui Aloisijui Lippomanui (Duae epistolae, 1556); lietuvių ir italų evangelikų ryšiai bei Italijos protestantizmo vaidmuo ankstyvojoje LDK reformacijoje; Italijos disidentų Bernardino Ochino ir Piero Paolo Vergerijaus ryšiai su Lietuva; Lietuvos evangelikų konfesinio identiteto raida ir santykiai su Vakarų liuteronų ir kalvinistų ortodoksija; LDK evangelikų oficialiosios bažnytinės literatūros (katekizmų, giesmynų) šaltiniai ir raidos bruožai; trinitoristinės polemikos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The review of the scholarly publications by Dainora Pociūtė „Reformation and the Development of the Confessional Thought in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania“, which has been submitted for the habilitation procedure, discusses the monograph of the said author titled Rebellious Cathedrals. Early Reformation and the contacts between Lithuanian and Italian Evangelicals (2008) as well as her various scholarly papers on the topic of Reformation and Protestant literature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). The main subject of her study deals with the cultural processes of the early Reformation of GDL (the first two decades of the Reformation); however some aspects of the later development of Protestant literature and culture at the second half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century have also been taken into consideration. This interdisciplinary research integrates the issues and concerns of the history of culture, churches, confessions and literature of GDL. The main issues of the research are: the beginning of the Reformation in Lithuania and the reconstruction of the intellectual biography of Abraomas Kulvietis (Abraham Culvensis Gynvilionis), the pioneer of Lithuanian Evangelical thought; the two early Lithuanian confessions of Evangelical faith: Confessio fidei by Culvensis (1543) and Radziwiłł the Black’s answer to the Papal Nuncio Aloisio Lippomano (Duae epistolae, 1556); the links between Lithuanian and Italian Evangelicals and the role of the Italians in... [to full text]

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Magister Legum - LLM

Univ., Diss.--Münster, 2005. / Literaturverz. S. [237] - 257.