There is an ongoing change in our society within the fields of sexual relationships. Along with new experiences there is a need for a shifting Christian ethical and theological reflection. The first aim of the dissertation is to analyze four models of Christian sexual ethics, all with an ambition to be reconstructive towards more traditional sexual ethics. The second aim is to criticize the models and make constructive proposals to a Christian and feminist sexual ethics. The theoretical outlook of the study is feminist theology with inspiration from the work of Michel Foucault on sexuality and Anthony Giddens on relationship. Lisa Sowle Cahill provides and argues for a sexual ideal from a Catholic tradition. By observing the functions of the body she distinguishes an ideal of heterosexual and fertile sexual relationships in a context of equality. Margaret Farley, representing the second model, is with Cahill arguing for a feminist view. Farley though turns to the norm of justice and puts the questions of just relationship in the center of her sexual ethical reflection. The third model is from the work of the Anglican theologian Adrian Thatcher. He puts the love of Christ and a life for others in focus. Mark Jordan is the last model and is working with the Christian tradition from a queer perspective. The work and life of eros, together with sexual pleasure, is what should govern sexual relations. My main objections are the idea of an essence of sexuality and a supposed connection between the same essence of sexuality and norms for relationships. Instead I suggest a strategic understanding of sexuality, where the norm of right relationships should decide how sexuality should be understood. What I propose in the constructive part of the dissertation is that a person should be understood as both having authority and responsibility. What is of importance is to pay attention and criticize social structures that prevent people to act with authority and responsibility in their intimate affairs. From the norms of Margaret Farley, I draw the importance of commitment, making authority as well as responsibility possible within relationships.

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This study is a content analysis of female-oriented magazines aimed at three different age groups: women, teen, and preteen. Magazine content from Girls’ Life, J-14, Seventeen, Cosmo Girl!, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour was examined for themes of sexuality, romance, and the opposite sex. The evidence suggests that topics are presented to women in a progressive manner in which preteen girls are first learning about the opposite sex, teens are learning how to behave in order to attract the opposite sex, and women are being told how to please the opposite sex erotically. While the idea is never overtly stated, it appears that women are still sexual objects for men’s pleasuring. However, they are also in charge of “taming” the man and making him knowledgeable on topics of sexuality and romance. / Department of Sociology

In this study, the supportive nature of the parent-child relationship was examined for how it relates to young adults' romantic development, as measured by indicators of attachment relationship importance and romantic involvement. Attachment and social support theories suggest that parents continue to play an important role as their young adult children form romantic relationships. Prior research has indicated that perceived support from parents is positively related to young adults' expressing attachment relationship importance, as evidenced by attachment motivation and engaging in exploration about romantic relationship topics. Furthermore, support from parents has been negatively related to romantic and sexual involvement. Therefore, it was believed that support in the parent-child relationship would predict both the indicators of attachment relationship importance and the indicators of romantic involvement in the present study. Additionally, an interaction of parental support and participants' gender was expected for the indicators of attachment relationship importance but not romantic involvement. A sample of 157 women and 144 men, ages 18-22 completed questionnaires. These measures assessed the supportive quality of relationships with each parent and indicators of the young adults' romantic development. For the indicators of attachment relationship importance, results indicated that exploration was predicted by gender and a conflictual relationship with father while motivation was predicted by a supportive relationship with father. Regarding the indicators of romantic involvement, sexual involvement was predicted by gender. Given these unexpected results, the role of parental support in young adults' romantic development continues to appear important, though the nature of its influence needs further research. Theoretical and methodological issues were discussed in light of these findings.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of tenderness on problem solving. Thirty-four female undergraduates participated. In the experimental condition, participants received instructions to reproduce a specific respiratory-posturo-facial pattern that had induced tenderness in previous studies. Participants in the control condition performed a non-emotional exercise. After either the pattern or the control exercise, participants completed one of two jigsaw puzzles. One puzzle had only an empty room while the other had a family scene. For participants who worked on the room puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to longer completion times. In contrast, for participants who worked on the family puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to shorter completion times.

Writers tend to exude political views and ideas in their works. Robert A. Heinlein and his works havebeen interpreted from multiple political standpoints, yet almost no such interpretation has beenapplied to his later works. In this paper Lazarus Long, the protagonist in Heinlein’s Time Enough forLove, is interpreted through a libertarian looking glass, focusing on the novel’s societal critique andideas regarding liberty, power, government and economy. This paper is written with the goal ofshowing that the protagonist in Time Enough for Love can be said to be libertarian in perspective andattitude. This is done by using libertarian concepts divided into five categories, these categories beinginterpreted from David Boaz´s primer on libertarianism: societal criticism, governmental criticism,economic criticism, flourishing and observations. Conclusively this paper states that Robert A.Heinlein’s protagonist in the novel Time Enough for Love seems to have many influences by libertarianideals and can be said to be libertarian in perspective and attitude.

ABSTRACT THE DUTY OF LOVE TO GOD: THE SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY OF JOHN LEADLEY DAGG (1794-1884) Jared Richard Longshore, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Chair: Dr. Tom Nettles This dissertation argues that the duty of love to God is the central theme that shaped John Dagg’s life, doctrine, and ministry. Chapter 2 defines Dagg’s concept of the duty of love to God. This chapter serves a fundamental function in the dissertation as it identifies the precise nature of the duty of love to God. Chapter 3 surveys Dagg’s writings with a view to how the duty of love to God is expressed in each of them. Chapter 4 investigates Dagg’s doctrine of God in relationship to the duty of love to God. Chapter 5 explores Dagg’s understanding of doctrine itself. This chapter explains that it is Dagg’s emphasis on doctrine as the divine communication of the Trinity that leads to his experiential theology. Chapter 6 transitions from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of man. This chapter reveals that Dagg’s focus on the duty of love to God permeates his anthropology. Chapter 7 concerns Dagg’s soteriology. Dagg’s understanding of saving grace is shaped by his understanding of the duty of love to God. Chapter 8 brings the duty of love to bear on Dagg’s ecclesiology. This chapter examines Dagg’s understanding of the local and universal church. Chapter 9 concludes the dissertation stating its significance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate Sarah and Ruth – the matriarchs and women of The Old Testament – as women in a world dominated by men, and the issue in this study is about what contextual symbolism and function Sarah and Ruth have with the starting point from their contextual roles and status in a world of patriarchs. The method of this study is the hermeneutic attempt to create an interpretive community combined with descriptions from religious texts and research. This study comes to the conclusion that the biblical women Sarah and Ruth in their chosenness have the gift and values of timelessness sprung from virtues of faithful love, smartness, firmness, pride and loyalty in a world where men, for good and for worse, set the boundaries but women suffer the consequences.

Le « martyre d’amour » n’est pas seulement un thème relevant du « mal d’aimer » à l’époque médiévale.C’est aussi un lieu du lyrisme d’où un « je » souffrant tourne sa douleur en poème d’amour, ou en chanson, à l’instar des troubadours et des trouvères. L’étudier dans le roman en vers de la seconde moitié du douzième à la fin du treizième siècle, ce n’est donc pas observer qu’un thème ressortissant à la douleur d’aimer, à la mélancolie amoureuse de nombreux héros, amants, c’est plutôt essayer à travers ce thème, de reconnaître comment, le « je » souffrant du romancier donne naissance au roman en vers. C’est tenter de mettre en relief la part de lyrisme qui émane de ce roman à travers les images qu’il renvoie à la fois de lui même,de son mouvement, de sa forme, et de son créateur et observer comment le roman en vers devient un objet d’amour littéraire, un travail d’art. Enfin c’est montrer comment le roman du « je » assure une transition entre le grand roman courtois et le « dit » d’amour. / Not only is the « martyre for love » a theme rooted in the « pain for loving » at medieval times. This isalso a lyricism place from where a suffering « I » turns his martyrdom into either a poem of love or a song,as troubadours and trouveres use to do. Considering this theme in verse romance from the second half ofthe twelfth century to the end of the thirteenth is more than observing a theme bound to the pain in lovingand the love-melancholy of numerous heroes and lovers ; instead, the intent is to recognize how the verseromance originates from the poet’s suffering « I ». It is about highlighting the lyricism share that comesfrom the romance through the images it projects from itself, its rhythm, its form, and its creator, then,observing how the verse romance becomes a literary love object, a work of art. Lastly, the intent is to showhow the romance of the « I » ensures a transition from the great courtly romance to the « dit » of love.