Lee, Ka Keung Caramon. / "December 2010." / Thesis (M.Div.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-89). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Identity and Metaphors --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1) --- Introduction --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2) --- Aspects of Identity --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3) --- Construction of Social Identity as Revealed on Texts --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4) --- Functions of Metaphors --- p.10 / Chapter 1.5) --- Light as an Ancient Metaphor --- p.13 / Chapter 1.6) --- Outline of the Thesis --- p.14 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- The Metaphor of Light in the Gospel of John --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1) --- Introduction --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2) --- Johannine Symbolism --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3) --- Old Testament Sources of the Johannine Light --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4) --- Anti-Language in the Gospel of John --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5) --- Exegesis of Johannine Light Passages --- p.22 / Chapter 2.6) --- Self-understanding of the Johannine Community and Unity of the Enemy --- p.29 / Chapter 2.7) --- Parting of the Ways? --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Metaphor of Light in the Writings of Pseudo-Dionysius --- p.33 / Chapter 3.1) --- Introduction --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2) --- Historical Context --- p.34 / Chapter 3.3) --- Opponents of Pseudo-Dionysius --- p.36 / Chapter 3.4) --- Light and Darkness . --- p.38 / Chapter 3.5) --- Unknowability of God --- p.40 / Chapter 3.6) --- The Dionysian Hierarchies --- p.42 / Chapter 3.7) --- The Celestial (Angelic) Hierarchy --- p.43 / Chapter 3.8) --- The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy --- p.44 / Chapter 3.9) --- The Relationship between the Two Hierarchies --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- The Metaphor of Light in the Writings of Symeon the New Theologian --- p.49 / Chapter 4.1) --- Introduction : --- p.49 / Chapter 4.2) --- Introducing Symeon the New Theologian --- p.49 / Chapter 4.3) --- Conflicts Faced by Symeon --- p.53 / Chapter 4.4) --- Key Theological Elements of Symeon --- p.56 / Chapter 4.5) --- Establishment of Christian Identity as an Individual --- p.59 / Chapter 4.6) --- Establishment of Christian Identity as a Community --- p.66 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Conclusion --- p.71 / Chapter 5.1) --- "Relationship Between John, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Symeon the New Theologian" --- p.72 / Chapter 5.2) --- Major Findings --- p.74 / Chapter 5.3) --- Future Works --- p.76 / Bibliography --- p.78

My dissertation study portrayed how mature adults who had and practice their religious or spiritual convictions learned to develop spiritual friendships and how what they then learned from these friendships contributed to their own spiritual identity development. The study investigated how spiritual friendships, as learning schemes, gravitated towards learning and change by fostering critical reflection and encouraging the participants in such friendships to strive to be their best selves. The study also showed that spiritual friendships fostered personal and professional development that was linked to spiritual development. In particular, the study examined four spiritual friendships, involving nine participating spiritual friends (three dyads and one triad). It first uncovered how a spiritual friendship was initiated, developed, and maintained; then secondly, discussed how spiritual friendship cultivated the development of people in mature adulthood; and thirdly, explored how the learning and growth that occurred during the development procedure of the friendship contributed to the participants’ spiritual identity development. The study also defined what a spiritual friendship is as perceived and practiced by the research participants. The study employed portraiture, a qualitative research methodology, to paint a detailed representation of the participants’ lives, including their educational biographies, and to present their learning, formation, and development through practicing spiritual friendship. The study offers an in-depth and holistic portrayal of the paths the participating dyads and triads of the friendships walked as “fellow travelers” on their life voyages as these related to the formation of their spiritual selves in and through their spiritual friendships. It also sought to shed light on the triumphs of midlife and beyond: when people have gained greater experience, maturity, and capabilities, while at the same time they continued to grow and develop.

Building on social psychological theories of identity, social networks, and religion, I developed and empirically tested a social network framework of civic and religious identity development among Muslim adolescents. In Chapter 2, I explore the social networks of Muslim high school students in the classroom in four European countries, finding that Muslim adolescents’ network centrality in the classroom erodes over time, which has an impact on academic outcomes. In Chapter 3, I explore social relationships in an identity-boosting after-school program to understand how Muslim adolescents develop their social connections with other Muslim peers. I found that participation in the event has an overall main effect of increasing civic intentions, enhancing affiliation and communion language, and developing a larger trust radius in a network of other Muslims. I also determined that Muslim girls and boys experience civic engagement differentially and discovered that meta stereotypes about their religious identity and centrality within a civic social network predict greater civic outcomes among Muslim girls. In Chapter 4, I build on the findings from Chapters 2 and 3 to develop a social network framework of religious and civic identity development among Muslim adolescents. In Chapter 5, I take a broader look at existing literature within social psychology studying Muslim populations through a content analysis. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for social and cultural psychology, network science, and intervention science.

Young people are currently affected in the realm of self-esteem, identity development and relational behaviour amidst advancing technology. There is the need for research in this area. Obstacles include fragmented homes, distance job–location and back-log parental education. There is the need for spiritual direction and for the formation of Christian spiritual principles. This is evident in the attraction of young people to cults and the influences of the New Age. The study will explore the complexity of relationships, identity and behaviour in young people. The empirical research will be obtained with permission from a school in the Eastern Cape; the focus group of this study is ages 11 – 18 years. The aim of this study will be to explore interventions which can help facilitate better personal, family and peer relationships in adolescents. The aim will further be to help bring about better integration in their personalities, relationships and communication. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

中国基督徒的身份问题一直是中国基督宗教研究领域的热点问题。做一个基督徒与做一个中国人，两种身份如何统一？怎样协调中国文化与基督教之间的张力？这是每一个中国基督徒都会面对的难题。 / 中国现代著名作家林语堂（1895-1976）以跨文化双语写作蜚声海内外，他以英文写就的《吾国吾民》、《生活的艺术》等著作畅销全世界，使其成为20 世纪享有最高国际知名度的中国现代作家。鲜为人知的是，林语堂是一个有着特殊信仰经历的基督徒。他生于闽南一个基督教家庭，父亲是长老会牧师。他从小接受基督教教育，曾就读于著名教会学校上海圣约翰大学，青年时期却宣布离基督教，自称为“异教徒，到晚年又宣布重回基督教怀抱。这既是一条追寻上帝的信仰之旅，也见证了林语堂作为一个中国基督徒对自我身份的努力寻索。 / 本文将林语堂的一生划分为六个时期，通过分析他在不同时期与基督教的关系来研究他如何面对与解决中国基督徒的身份认同问题。方法论上本文借鉴了心理学家埃里克森的身份认同理论以及当代文化研究关于文化身份的学说。研究资料除了林语堂大量的中英文作品，还包括他的信件、手稿、相关档案等第一手资料。 / 本研究发现，林语堂之离基督教是出于身份危机，在做中国人与做基督徒之间产生矛盾的情况下他选择做中国人。尽管长达三十多年以“异教徒自居，并不意味着他放弃信仰。对他笔下的“异教徒一词需审慎辨析。尽管对基督教有公开批判，林语堂并不是反基督教作家。自童年时期形成的基督教价值观一直影响着他，他从来没有停止过信仰上帝，只是出于各种原因与基督教保持距离，直到他找到适合自己的信仰方式，融合基督教与中国文化，形成具有中国人文主义色彩的基督教思想，建立起既是中国人又是基督徒的身份认同。 / The identity problem of Chinese Christians has always been a hot issue in the studies of Chinese Christianity. Chinese Christians are generally caught at the horn of a dilemma as how to unify their Chinese identity and Christian identity, and how to handle the tensions between Chinese culture and Christianity. / Lin Yutang (1895-1976), one of the most influential modern Chinese writers, was renowned for his extensive writings in both Chinese and English. His best-sellers in English, including My Country and My People and The Importance of Living, earned him highest international fame among modern Chinese writers. A less-known but momentous facet of him is his special encounter with Christianity. Lin Yutang was born into a Christian family in a poor mountain village in Southern China, his father being a Presbyterian minister in a local church. He received secondary education at Talmage College, and tertiary education at St.John’s University, both of which were missionary schools. However, Lin renounced Christianity in his twenties and claimed to be a pagan for over thirty years until declaring his return to Christianity in his sixties. Lin’s journey of faith witnessed his lifelong search for the identity as a Chinese Christian, which was constantly undergoing transformation and construction. / In addition to the general introduction and conclusion, this thesis consists of six main chapters, each of which elaborates Lin’s relationship to Christianity during the different stages of his life, focusing on the ways in which he encountered and solved the identity problem of being a Chinese Christian. This thesis adopts E.H. Erikson’s theory on identity as an overall framework, while also referring to theories on cultural identity proposed by some scholars of cultural studies like Stuart Hall. This research makes extensive use of primary materials including Lin’s letters, manuscripts, and other relevant archives apart from his published works. / According to the findings of this research, Lin renounced Christianity in the midst of his identity crisis when he was compelled to choose between being a Chinese and being a Christian. He had described himself a “pagan for more than thirty years, but it doesn’t mean that he forsook his Christian faith. Lin’s particular use of “pagan necessitates careful interpretation and scrutiny. Lin should not be regarded as an anti-Christian writer in spite of his open criticisms of Christianity. It can be seen that Christianity had always been a major contributing factor in shaping Lin’s values and morality since his childhood. In fact, Lin Yutang had never ceased in his faith in God, even though he deliberately kept some distance from Christianity until he found his own way of worshipping God. When he returned to Christianity, he personally merged Christianity and Chinese culture, and established his Christian thoughts characterized with Chinese humanism, and hence reconstructed his identity as a unique Chinese Christian. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 楊柳. / "2013年7月". / "2013 nian 7 yue". / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-191). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in Chinese and English. / Yang Liu. / 中文摘要 --- p.I / Abstract --- p.III / 致谢 --- p.IV / Chapter 绪论 --- p.1 / Chapter 一、 --- 选题意义 --- p.1 / Chapter 二、 --- 研究现状 --- p.3 / Chapter 三、 --- 研究资料、研究方法与论文框架 --- p.7 / Chapter 第一章、 --- 基督教的保护壳（1895-1911） --- p.18 / Chapter 一、 --- 永远的典范：牧师父亲 --- p.19 / Chapter 二、 --- 宗教体验：山地的孩子 --- p.23 / Chapter 三、 --- 另一种福音：与西方文明的初次接触 --- p.28 / Chapter 四、 --- 正统与孤立：寻源中学的宗教教育 --- p.30 / Chapter 五、 --- 小结 --- p.33 / Chapter 第二章、 --- 身份的焦虑：基督教保护壳的延续（1911-1916） --- p.35 / Chapter 一、 --- 西化中的民族身份：半个洋人VS中国人 --- p.37 / Chapter 二、 --- 宗教身份的动摇：基督教教义VS现代性 --- p.39 / Chapter 三、 --- 《约翰声》上的三篇英文短篇小说 --- p.42 / Chapter 四、 --- 小结 --- p.50 / Chapter 第三章、 --- 身份的危机：从基督徒到“异教徒（1916-1919） --- p.52 / Chapter 一、 --- 边缘者的叩问：在中国做一个基督徒有什么意义？ --- p.53 / Chapter 二、 --- 逆流而上：新文化运动的“非典型影响 --- p.58 / Chapter 三、 --- 政治与文化的双重民族主义 --- p.62 / Chapter 四、 --- 现代性的挑战 --- p.66 / Chapter 五、 --- 最后的一击：从神本到人本 --- p.67 / Chapter 六、 --- 小结 --- p.69 / Chapter 第四章、 --- 身份的暧昧：徘徊在“自我与“他者之间（1919-1935） --- p.70 / Chapter 一、 --- 心系文学革命：白话文运动的海外支持者 --- p.71 / Chapter 二、 --- 取法西洋、整理国故：短暂的语言学家生涯 --- p.76 / Chapter 三、 --- 自我东方主义：“根本败类的民族VS“爽爽快快讲欧化 --- p.82 / Chapter 四、 --- 在基督教青年会工作：为欧战华工服务 --- p.87 / Chapter 五、 --- 论基督教与文化侵略 --- p.90 / Chapter 六、 --- 声援赛珍珠：批判基督教在华传教事业 --- p.92 / Chapter 七、 --- 小结 --- p.98 / Chapter 第五章、 --- 离散（Diaspora）：身处中、西话语的边缘（1936-1957） --- p.99 / Chapter 一、 --- 前奏：30年代“大转向--谁是西崽？ --- p.101 / Chapter 二、 --- 被别人表述：“西洋传教士的眼睛 --- p.107 / Chapter 三、 --- 戴着脚镣的自我表述：补足式的叙事策略与被他者化 --- p.112 / Chapter 四、 --- 边缘者的宣告：我是异教徒 --- p.120 / Chapter 五、 --- 小结 --- p.124 / Chapter 第六章、 --- 回家：文化融合与身份重建（1957-1976） --- p.126 / Chapter 一、 --- 返台背后的政治认同与文化认同 --- p.127 / Chapter 二、 --- 反共与返教：现代社会宗教信仰之必要性 --- p.131 / Chapter 三、 --- 文化的差异与融合：“趋向于全人类的共同遗产 --- p.133 / Chapter 四、 --- 道不远人：林语堂的“近情基督教思想 --- p.138 / Chapter 五、 --- 以耶释道：一个中国基督徒对《道德经》的解读 --- p.149 / Chapter 六、 --- 叠合的身份认同（adhesive identities）与包容的宗教观 --- p.153 / Chapter 七、 --- 小结 --- p.155 / 结论与反思 --- p.157 / Chapter 一、 --- 对林语堂与基督教关系的新诠释 --- p.157 / Chapter 二、 --- 引发的争议 --- p.160 / Chapter 三、 --- 历史意义 --- p.165 / 参考书目 --- p.168

This study offers an overdue exploration of the early years of the deaconess community in Neuendettelsau from a gender perspective. Drawing on rich archival material, it focuses on the process of the formation of a distinctive collective identity. Central to this study is the assumption, drawn from the social sciences, that collective identity is a social construction which requires the participation of the whole group through identification and which is consolidated by developing specific rituals, symbols, codes and normative texts, which facilitate integration, and by constructing external boundaries, which separate from the world and wider church. The centrifugal forces which came into play when deaconesses were sent out in isolation were counterbalanced by a communal life which offered forms of participation and identification for the individual members and which consolidated their sense of belonging. The first chapter introduces the methodology. Chapter Two explores the social, cultural and theological context of the foundation of the Deaconess Institute, and offers a brief outline of the institution's historical development. The third chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the initiation ceremony as a rite which both admitted into the community and conferred an ecclesiastical office. Chapter Four analyses formative and normative texts that shed light on the community's norms, values, and expectations. In the fifth chapter, non-literary means of consolidating and affirming the deaconesses' collective identity are explored. This study concludes that the process of the emergence of a specific deaconess culture was pervaded by bourgeois norms, values, patterns of behaviour and notions about gender roles which measured out the women's radius of action and were at times difficult to reconcile with the deaconess profession.

Young people are currently affected in the realm of self-esteem, identity development and relational behaviour amidst advancing technology. There is the need for research in this area. Obstacles include fragmented homes, distance job–location and back-log parental education. There is the need for spiritual direction and for the formation of Christian spiritual principles. This is evident in the attraction of young people to cults and the influences of the New Age. The study will explore the complexity of relationships, identity and behaviour in young people. The empirical research will be obtained with permission from a school in the Eastern Cape; the focus group of this study is ages 11 – 18 years. The aim of this study will be to explore interventions which can help facilitate better personal, family and peer relationships in adolescents. The aim will further be to help bring about better integration in their personalities, relationships and communication. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Furthermore, the present research is going to indicate that many historians and theologians have failed to take serious the diasporic context when articulating their concepts of traditional Chinese culture and of the Chinese identity. In fact, Xie Fuya, as a diasporic Chinese after 1949, did not define his Chinese identity and the Chinese culture in territorial or political terms. Instead, he shared the viewpoints of those overseas Chinese who were struggling to survive in diasporic contexts. And his diasporic experience and horizon generated a critical understanding of Chinese culture and indigenous theology as well as their relationship. Even now, some scholars in Mainland China continue to emphasize that indigenous theology should be understood, discussed and applied within the social, political and cultural contexts of Mainland China only. However, their understandings of Chinese culture and Chinese identity, as well as the related methodology of indigenous theology they have employed, need to be examined critically. / In addition, the thesis will argue that this diasporic identity constitutes a significant ingredient of Xie Fuya's indigenous theology and contributes to Xie's new understanding of his own indigenous theology of Christianity in a post-1949 diasporic environment. Xie's indigenous theology, especially his theological method, aroused furious discussion among Chinese Christian intellectuals in and after the 1960s. Such discourse was identified as a significant break of historical continuity between the past generation and the next of Chinese Christian intellectuals in Hong Kong. / The present research aims at pointing out that the relevant historical materials do not support the above conclusions-that Xie Fuya did not concern the social and political situation of his homeland and indwelling place(s). In fact, historical evidences show that Xie as an indigenous theologian, not only spent time on bridging the relation between Christian message and Chinese culture, but also paid much effort in social construction and political participation. All these were done both before and after 1949. / The present thesis aims at investigating how the Chinese Christian intellectual Xie Fuya, responded to a diasporic movement resulting from the drastic political change of China in and after 1949. He tried to construct a unique and new identity that he had never had before-an identity that helped him to face the diasporic environment and generated a new horizon of his understanding of his faith. Showing the contents of this identity; the thesis illustrates how unique Xie's diasporic identity was expressed in the community of Chinese intellectuals and Chinese Christians during the 1950s and 1960s. That identity could not have been created, experienced and articulated by any Chinese and Christians inside Mainland China at that time. / The significance of this research does not only rest in its showing that a significant and important figure like Xie Fuya has been neglected in the historical and theological studies of Chinese Christianity in the past; it is significant also because it discloses how the thought behind the identities of a diasporic Chinese and Chinese Christian bears significance in a historical context and contributes to a new understanding of the Chinese identity, the Chinese culture and indigenous theology from a different perspective---which is different from the past and is closely related to cultural, anthropological and theological studies of our times. / The thesis will argue that it is Xie Fuya's experience of being forced to leave his homeland and the reflection of his Christian thought and experience that helped formulate his diasporic identity. Furthermore, both the fate of Chinese overseas in different areas because of the change of international politics, and the understanding of his own ethnicity and culture through the discourse among the Chinese intellectuals in Hong Kong, helped reinforce the articulation of that dislocating identity. / Xie Fuya (1892-1991), one of the most prolific Chinese theologians of the 20th century, has so far been largely ignored in the historical or theological studies of Chinese Christianity. Even worse, Xie Fuya has been seriously misunderstood by some historians of Chinese Christianity. Some of them labeled him as a representative of the indigenous theologians who focused exclusively on the relation between Christianity and Chinese culture without any concern for the relevance of the Christian message to the contemporary social change. Some stereotyped him as one of the Chinese Christians who made a far-fetched comparison between Chinese culture and Christianity. However, these prevailing paradigmatic "conclusions" on Xie Fuya are not properly based on in-depth historical investigation and the derived theological criticisms were merely built on some a-historical assumptions. / 何慶昌. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 282-307). / Adviser: Pan-Chiu Lai. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0607. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 282-307). / He Qingchang.

The World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001 fundamentally transformed the context of reception for Muslim immigrants in the U.S., shifting it from neutral to negative while also brightening previously blurred boundaries between established residents and the Muslim minority. This study explores how second-generation Muslim immigrants have experienced and reacted to post-9/11 contexts of reception. It is based on an analysis of ten semi-structured in-depth interviews that were conducted throughout the Portland Metropolitan Area from January to April of 2016. It finds experiences of discrimination to be primarily affected by two factors: public institutions and gender. It also finds, furthermore, that research participants react to negative post-9/11 contexts of reception by redrawing bright boundaries to include themselves within the American mainstream. Because Islam itself has become politicized within post-9/11 contexts of reception, this study also explores how second-generation Muslim immigrants construct and maintain religious meaning as a form of political identity. It finds that research participants unilaterally construct a Localized Islam that is dynamic and variable in its response to familial and social pressures. The thesis concludes by putting forward a typology outlining its four primary forms of localization within contemporary social and political environments.

The notion of identity has always been central to the human person's understanding of self. The question "who am I?" is fundamental to human being. Answers to this question have come from a wide range of academic disciplines. Philosophers, theologians, scientists, sociologists and anthropologists have all sought to offer some insight. The question of individual identity has traditionally been answered from two broad perspectives. The objectivist approach has sought to answer the question through empirical observation - you are a mammal, you are a homo-sapien, you are male, you are African etc. The subjectivist approach has sought to answer the question through phenomenological exploration - I understand myself to be sentient, I remember my past, I feel love etc. A recent development in the field of computer science has however shown a shortcoming in both of these approaches. Ray Kurzweil, a theorist in strong artificial intelligence, suggests the possibility of an interesting identity crisis. He suggests that if a machine could be programmed and built to accurately and effectively emulate a person's conscious experience of being `self' it could lead to a crisis of identity. In an instance where the machine and the person it is emulating cannot be either objectively distinguished (i.e., both display the same characteristics of the person in question), or subjectively distinguish themselves (i.e., both believe themselves to be the `person in question' since both have an experience of being that person. This experience could be based on memory, emotion, understanding and other subjective realities) how is the true identity of the individual validated? What approach can be employed in order to distinguish which of the two truly is the `person in question' and which is the `emulation of that person'? This research investigates this problem and presents a suggested solution to it. The research begins with an investigation of the claims of strong artificial intelligence and discusses Ray Kurzweil's hypothetical identity crisis. It also discusses various approaches to consciousness and identity, showing both their value and shortfall within the scope of this identity conundrum. In laying the groundwork for the solution offered in this thesis, the integrative theory of Ken Wilber is presented as a model that draws on the strengths of the objectivist and subjectivist approaches to consciousness, yet also emphasises the need for an approach which is not only based on individual data (i.e., the objectivist - you are, or subjectivist - I am). Rather, it requires an intersubjective knowing of self in relation to others. The outcome of this research project is an African Theological approach to self-validating consciousness in strong artificial intelligence. This takes the form of an African Theology of relational ontology. The contribution falls within the ambit of Christian anthropology and Trinitarian theology - stressing the Christian belief that true identity is both shaped by, and discovered in, relationship with others. The clearest expression of this reality is to be found in the African saying Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A person is a person through other persons). / Systematic Theology / D. Th.