No description available.

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women contains didactic messages that teach readers valuable lessons about life through Mrs March’s very special kind of family education. It concentrates on the content of her education and her methods, relying on five main qualities—mercy, self-reliance, labor and duty, the family and modesty. These qualities are analysed from the point of view of the implied reader.

No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation examines the theology of C.S. Lewis in light of the writings of Athanasius, Augustine, and Anselm. Specifically, it looks at the role that justice and mercy play in each of these theologian’s understanding of the atonement. It proceeds on the basis that Lewis does in fact have a specific, robust, and coherent understanding of the atonement, and that his theological anthropology and his understanding of sanctification are an outworking of his understanding of the atonement. Chapter 1 lays out Lewis’ theological orientation and his method. Chapter 2 engages with Athanasius, Augustine, and Anselm on the atonement, and it lays out the particular concepts that were crucial in their understanding of the atonement, namely the justice and mercy of God. It outlines the fundamental concepts that we find in seedling form in Athanasius and Augustine and that were brought to full fruition in Anselm. It also argues that Anselm’s satisfaction theory is best understood as grounded in the nature of God, rather than in Anselm’s feudal, Medieval context. Chapter 3 examines Lewis on the atonement, and it traces the concepts that Lewis uses to describe and explain Christ’s death and resurrection. While Lewis does not adhere to any one doctrine or understanding of the atonement, there is a common thread that unites the various pictures that he takes to be true representations of the atonement. Fundamentally, for Lewis, the atonement is about the restitution of proper order that was disrupted in the Fall. Chapter 3 examines which theories of the atonement Lewis accepts and which he rejects. It also traces his understanding of the atonement to his understanding of the nature of God, relying on the concept of justitia defined as proper order, which has its source in the nature of God himself. In so doing, it aims to show that Lewis’ later understanding of the atonement is fundamentally Anselmian. Chapter 4 engages with Lewis’ theological anthropology and his understanding of sanctification, focusing on the process of “good infection” and how Lewis envisions the spread of the new life made available after Christ’s act of atonement. Sanctification, for Lewis, like the atonement, is also fundamentally about proper order. This plays out in his theological anthropology largely in terms of humility and obedience to God. Finally, chapter 5 addresses Narnia specifically and traces the concepts of justitia and proper order throughout the series and aims to show that, by focusing on proper order, we can see how the series hangs together as a whole theologically as an outworking of Lewis’ understanding of the atonement. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka kristologi och dess samband med en postkolonial feministisk teologi. Detta utifrån de två teologerna Mercy Amba Oduyoye och Jaquelyn Grants kristologi. Uppsatsen undersöker hur kolonialism, feminism och teologi har påverkat den kristologiska bilden. Den postkoloniala feministiska kristologin bidrar till att utmana den traditionella kristologin. Uppsatsens frågeställning lyder ”Vilka kristologiska bilder finner jag i en postkolonial feministisk teologi? Hur är relationen mellan kristologin och en postkolonial feministisk teologi? Och är den här kristologin rimlig?” Detta undersöks genom fyra analysfrågor som berör kontext, Jesus manlighet, befrielse och lidande. Den postkoloniala feministiska teologin som presenteras i uppsatsen utgår från Kwok Pui-lans bok ”Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology”.

<p>This thesis is based on the recognition that there are similarities and differences between two notions of Christian ministry, that is, a &ldquo / discipleship of equals&rdquo / as defined by Elizabeth Sch&uuml / ssler Fiorenza (1989) and a &ldquo / partnership of both men and women&rdquo / as defined by Mercy Amba Oduyoye (1990).</p> <p><br /> In this thesis, Christian ministry is assessed through the perspectives of both feminist theology and African women&rsquo / s theology. The question which is addressed here is how the similarities and differences between Elizabeth Sch&uuml / ssler Fiorenza&rsquo / s notion of Christian ministry as a &ldquo / discipleship of equals&rdquo / and Mercy Amba Oduyoye&rsquo / s notion of Christian ministry as a &ldquo / partnership of both men and women&rdquo / should be understood and assessed. The main purpose of this thesis is to offer a critical comparison of these two female theologians so as to encourage new visions of Christian ministry in the contemporary church and society.</p> <p><br /> To accomplish this task, a literature survey of books, essays, and articles published on the subject of Christian ministry in feminist and African women&rsquo / s theology by African and Western theologians, between 1960 and 2003, was conducted.<br /> Two notions of how Christian ministry should be understood are offered. Fiorenza emphasizes that both women and men need to be recognized as disciples of Christ who can equally, yet within diversity, minister to God&rsquo / s people by virtue of their baptisms. Oduyoye notes that reciprocity and mutuality is crucial for both men and women who minister to God&rsquo / s people by forming strong partnerships through their respective vocations and ministries, by virtue of their baptisms.</p> <p><br /> This thesis argues that a comparison of the views of Elizabeth Sch&uuml / ssler Fiorenza and Mercy Amba Oduyoye on Christian ministry reveals similarities based on a shared experience of being women within a male-dominated Christian church and differences emanating from the different contexts within which they practice theology, namely, that of Euro-American feminist theology and that of African women&rsquo / s theology. It is argued that there are significant differences between feminist theology and African women&rsquo / s theology, with reference to their context, rhetoric, experiences and modes of expression. A critical assessment of Oduyoye&rsquo / s notion of Christian ministry as a &ldquo / partnership of both men and women&rdquo / reveals that there is an internal problem within African theology. The predicament within which African women theologians find themselves is that they have to struggle not only against patriarchy in church and society but also against the remaining distortions within what is deemed to be a more progressive theology. African women theologians acknowledge their solidarity with African theologians but also identify fundamental flaws within African theology. African women theologians are therefore engaged in a battle on more than one side. They need to unmask and support at the same time. On the other hand, it is clear that Fiorenza is far less critical of the feminist movement, from which she derives the term &ldquo / feminist hermeneutics&rdquo / . She is, of course, quite aware of the various and successive strands of the feminist movement, but she remains at least sympathetic to this movement and seeks to explore its significance for biblical scholarship and especially the Roman Catholic Church, of which she is a member. She recognises the need to complement the (sometimes reductionist) secular manifestations of feminism by highlighting the oppressive but also the potentially liberative role which religious traditions may still have in a secularised civil society.</p> <p><br /> One may therefore conclude that African women&rsquo / s theology remains distinct from other feminist theologies. In a similar way, African-American womanist theologians have insisted that their situation is distinct from that of Euro-American women in what is described as the &ldquo / triple&rdquo / oppression of black women: being women, relatively poor, black and formerly enslaved. This calls for further reflection on the similarities and differences between African-American womanist theology and African women&rsquo / s theology. Important differences which come to mind here are the legacy of slavery, differences in economic status, and military power. African women are often engaged in a struggle to secure a sustainable livelihood in ways that African-American women are not. More importantly, the relationship between American black theology and womanist theology deserves further attention in this regard.</p>

Toni Morrison chose to revisit the neo-slave narrative genre twenty-five years after the publication of Beloved with A Mercy in 2008. With these two texts, Morrison offers her readers one story that shows the descent into slavery and one that shows progression towards freedom. The purpose of this thesis is to place Morrison’s two neo-slave narratives, Beloved and A Mercy, next to one another in order to better understand the journey to freedom through self-love. This work examines the concept of self-love and the necessary components—maternal nurturance, ancestral connection, and communal interaction—that must come together to help Morrison’s characters learn to love and see themselves as their “own best thing.” The repercussions that self-love’s absence has for both individual characters and their larger communities is also discussed and illustrated by the struggles of Florens in A Mercy and Sethe in Beloved.

This thesis describes the formation of religious communities (orders, congregations) and their development in the world and in our country. They are described with a view to their charitable activities. It further deals with the persecution of the church in general and the persecution and the life of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo with regard to Prague in the period of 1945-1989. This section is divided into six particular periods according to the importance of the influence of the state on the activities of the church and the Congregation. Each of these periods is divided into two parts. The first part illustrates the development of the relationship between the state and the church generally. The second part describes the relationship between the state and womens` orders and with the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo in particular. The thesis utilizes relevant literature and archives. Archival documents come from the National Archives in Prague, mostly from the funds of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, the Military Historical Archives and the archives of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Charles Borromeo in Prague. The thesis is closed with some thoughts of the role of religious communities in today's world. Key words...

Main aim of this thesis is to find out and refer to the importance of service as it is proclaimed in the Old and New Testament and how was the concept of service changing in time. First part deals with definitions of service and its meaning in four texts of the Book of Isaiah. Second part studies the importance of service in the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles and Epistles. The thesis describes Christ, who was dedicated to service, and his Mother Mary, the Servant of God. Some of the parables in New Testament also deals with service. It introduces three saint women of last millenium and their attitude, by which they followed Christ. The last part of the thesis focuses on importance of service in helping professions from the theological perspective.