Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita. Description based on Print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-213).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Columbia International University, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-246).

This thesis is the first study of 'Christian radicalism' in the Church of England between 1957 and 1970. Radicalism grew in influence from the late 1950s, and burst into the national conversation with John Robinson’s 1963 bestseller, Honest to God. Emboldened by this success, between 1963 and 1965 radical leaders hoped they might fundamentally reform the Church of England, even though they were aware of the diversity of their supporting constituency. Yet by 1970, following a controversial turn towards social justice issues in the late 1960s, the movement had largely reached the point of disintegration. The thesis offers five central arguments. First, radicalism was fundamentally driven by a narrative of epochal transition, which understood British society in the late 1950s and early 1960s to be undergoing a seismic upheaval, comparable to the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Secondly, this led radicals to exaggerate many of the social changes occurring in the period, and to imagine the emergence of a new social order. Radicals interpreted affluence as an era of unlimited technology, limited church decline as the arrival of a profoundly secular age, and limited sexual shifts as evidence of a sexual revolution. They effectively created the idea of the ‘secular society’, which became widely accepted once it was adopted by the Anglican hierarchy. Third, radical treatment of these themes was part of a tradition that went back to the 1940s; radicals anticipated many of the themes of the secular culture of the 1960s, not the other way round. Fourth, far from slavishly adopting secular intellectual frameworks, radical arguments were often framed using theological concepts, such as Christian eschatology. Finally, for all these reasons, Christian radicals made an original and influential contribution to the elite re-imagination of British society which occurred in the 1960s.

The thesis follows the development of charity, both as a theological concept and as the activity of increasing number of social institutions, over two centuries. The main narrative of the thesis follows these two themes, but it also identifies other background factors, particularly developments in social history. It uses insights from anthropological gift theory, reflected in part in the concept of noblesse oblige, a standpoint which both demands support from the rich to the poor and legitimates social divisions: points frequently made in charity sermons. The thesis explores the development of theologies of charity, in particular in the writings of Butler, Wesley, Sumner, Chalmers, Maurice, and Westcott, and also considers the philosophy of J S Mill and T H Green. From these, it is argued that the key development in theoretical analyses of charity is a shift in discourse from an emphasis on the duty of the rich to behave charitably (as in Butler's concept of benevolence) to a concern with the outcome of such giving on the recipients of charity. This is first seen in the writings and practice of the early leaders of the evangelical revival who saw the poor as children of God, but also as being in need of moral reformation. With the advent of a Christian approach to economics based on the thinking of Malthus and Sumner, a harsher approach developed which saw charity as undermining a divinely ordered social economy and was expressed in the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The reaction against this led to a split in thinking about charity: on the one side a mix of economic theory, Comtean altruism and Greenian Idealism resulted in the growth of an autonomous, secular and professional approach to charity exemplified by C S Loch, and on the other a changing Christian approach to the position of the poor in society, going back to Maurice which was expressed in a call for justice rather than charity by the Christian Socialists of the late nineteenth century. Meanwhile, other political developments were resulting in a greater state involvement in what had hitherto been an independent field of charitable work, and resulted in very different patterns of welfare, in which charity took second place to state provision. The thesis ends by revisiting the split in discourse between givers and receivers of charity, and argues that both sides need to be considered in any theological discussion, including the need for recipients to be allowed to reciprocate to others.

With Dr. Ph Josef Čeněk of Wartenberk, auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Hradec Králové, later of Salzburg, we find ourselves in the Austrian Empire, at the time of Josephinism, in a turbulent era of the first half of the nineteenth century. Josef Čeněk enters actively into the era of national revival, when it is possible for him to publish several volumes of his Sermons in Czech language, in order to shape believers and bring them to deeper knowledge of the Catholic faith. In this work, we follow his concept of Christology and Soteriology, how he understands the person of Jesus Christ and how he presents him to believers. Keywords: Josef Čeněk of Wartenberk; Christology; Soteriology; Jesus Christ; Sermons

Benjamin Keach, the most prolific Particular Baptist theologian of the seventeenth century, described himself as a defender of ‘Reformed Orthodoxy’. Despite this self-identification, modern scholarship has largely relegated Keach to a self-educated dissenting pastor whose major achievement could be found in his controversial support of hymn singing. Two recent dissertations have attempted to revise this view of Keach, but no scholarly work has yet attempted to wrestle holistically with Keach’s view of himself as a Reformed theologian. This work fills that void by reviewing Keach’s own understanding of the term ‘Reformed Orthodoxy’, reconstructing Keach’s connections both in the personal contacts available in dissenting London and Buckinghamshire and in the books at his disposal, examining the major aspects of his theology, and placing that theology within the spectrum of Reformed Orthodoxy. From the time of his entry onto the public theological stage, Keach quickly became identified with those with whom he networked intellectually. From his branding as a Fifth Monarchist to his identification first as a General Baptist and later as the most prominent Particular Baptist, those connections proved to be the most idiosyncratic characteristic of Keach’s theological pilgrimage. Those connections crossed the conventional lines of systematic theology and boundaries of religious sects, resulting in Keach’s theology crossing those same lines yet remaining Reformed in its major assertions. Following the organizational structure of Keach’s catechisms and confessions, this work proceeds by expounding and interrogating Keach’s major theological positions—his understanding of the Trinity including this doctrine’s foundational role in ecclesiology, the significance of the covenants, justification, and eschatology. Throughout this exposition, Keach’s theological lenses, shaped by his contacts and his independent, creative thought, become clear. Ultimately, Keach proves himself to be a capable Reformed theologian, able and willing to dialogue with the most influential theologians, yet consistently forging his own ground within Reformed Orthodoxy as a whole and more specifically Particular Baptist theology.

Rather than the expression of mystical Je^ire tor unity with God, Ignatius' letters are interpreted (using Weber's charismatic type) as the efforts of an 3 ut ho r-ity using his extraordinary position to protect communities from divisive house-church meetings. Protection from false teaching was initiated by reinforcing the position of bishops (the hosts of the common euchanstic assembly).

This thesis describes the theology and praxis of philosopher/theologian Dr. Dallas Willard and its effect on contemporary forms of evangelicalism in America. Willard’s works have become increasingly attractive to emerging generations of Christians protesting the perceived excesses and hegemony of mainstream evangelical culture. Willard presents a positive alternative to contemporary versions of evangelicalism seen by many as increasingly devoted to soteriological escapism, modern consumerism, individualism and sectarianism. Alternatively, Willard proposes a return to the original (proto) message of good news (evangel) articulated by Jesus in the New Testament. For increasing numbers of disaffected evangelicals with postmodern sensibilities, this protoevangelical vision offers a more robust doctrine of God, a return to the primacy of discipleship to Christ, and the experience of a holistic and integrated life in the Kingdom of God. Ethnographies of four evangelical organizations applying Willardian theology provide insight into the current evolution within American evangelical theology and praxis.

The dissertation aims to highlight Lactantius´s position among other authors of Christian antiquity and tries to analyze and assess Lactantius´s views pertaining to selected theological topics. First two chapters summarize available findings on Lactantius´s life and integrate his work into the context of early Christian literature. The following part of the dissertation discusses Lactantius´s apologetic method as well as his ideological points of departure and pays attention to his relation toward ancient culture. The focal point of the dissertation lies in the assessment of Lactantius´s views of selected theological issues, such as the teaching about a sole God, teaching about creation, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and anthropology. The dissertation espacially looks into overlapping of ancient and Christian world of ideas as they are mirrored in Lactantius´s theological considerations.

The aim of the thesis is to present the portait of forming, development and forms of the Czech catholic liturgics from the standpoint of original works written in the Czech language by Czech authors in the territory of the Czech lands prior to the Second Vatican Council. On the basis of the bibliography of Czech liturgics (licentiate thesis), the project of the developmental tendency of this theological discipline is demonstrated, specifically in two independent courses - clerical liturgics and lay liturgics. The thesis further focuses on educational institutions and the position of liturgics within the study curriculum. It presents the history of the Czech catholic liturgics as a component of the history of the Czech catholic theology and in the context of general and Czech ecclesiastical history. Key words History of Theology, Czech Catholic Theology, Liturgics, History of Czech Catholic Liturgics