Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-58).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Siegen, 2007. / Includes sources and bibliographical references (p. 265-278).

Diss.--Fachbereich Gesellschaftswissenschaften--Giessen--Justus-Liebig-Universität, 1989.

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Kiel--Christian-Albrechts-Universität, 1991.

Thesis (M.A.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1990. / Title page in English, text in German. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-129).

The underlying question explored by this thesis is whether missiology, applied as a lens to examine Christian mission in the early middle ages, can reveal new insights from historical sources. This approach has raised new questions and has revealed new tensions such as that between the group and individual, that between top-down and bottom-up mission, and that between syncretism and contextualization. One of the key insights is the need to hold the group and individual in tension, that is· not to choose to interpret sources as either group or individual oriented but as moving between the two. Taking one's identity from a group did not negate the individual, it only meant that the individual submitted to group decisions. This tension, it is argued, needs to be highlighted and held in balance in order to understand how groups and individuals in the early middle ages reacted to, and interacted with, the Christian gospel message. To make this case mission, baptism and conversion, as foundational to Christian mission, are examined. An examination of a selection of the writings of the Church Fathers, Saints' Vitae, Church councils and synods, and other correspondence of the early middle ages in light of syncretism and contextualization has raised questions about definition and content. With Rome and Constantinople setting the standard of content and practice, often anything that looked different was labelled as heretical, barbaric or pagan and this has usually been defined as syncretism. However, if the central core content of the Christian gospel message was not compromised, what was happening could be contextualization (that is, the working out of the Christian gospel message in an appropriate cultural manner). Although these are contemporary labels, early medieval sources do reveal an underlying concern about the loss of correct belief and practices. The common interpretation of missional work as a top-down movement often fails to take into account the evidence for the bottom-up, or organic, spread of the Christian gospel message. This is not to say that the official accounts should be set aside, but rather these need to be balanced with the evidence for bottom-up growth. To put some of these insights into an appropriate context, the Vitae of Boniface, Anskar, and Cyril and Methodius are examined as case studies. Each of these men represents different cultural starting points, different geographical areas, and different emphases in mission work. However, in each of these Vitae the tensions between the group and the individual, a top-down or bottom-up approach to mission, and syncretism versus contextualization can be examined, especially in light of the issues of baptism and conversion. The conclusion is that missiology has much to offer early medieval studies. It is a field of study that is broadly interdisciplinary in its approach which gives it an elasticity which allows it to illuminate this period of history valuably. On the basis of this thesis, the discipline of missiology deserves to be applied much more frequently to the study of early medieval history.

In this thesis I argue that the received understanding of the work of the Women’s Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England is flawed in that it does not acknowledge the agency of women themselves in creating and directing the path of the Association and its work of mission. Using archive material from the Presbyterian Church of England, and the Women’s Missionary Association itself, I show that as the context in which they were operating changed, the Women’s Missionary Association responded to that shifting context, and that changes in their relationship to the national Church affected the work that they sought to do among the congregations. I uncover a hitherto hidden story and to relate it to the context of the United Reformed Church which stands in the tradition of Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Churches of Christ. I demonstrate how the Story of the Women’s Missionary Association interacts with changing paradigms of mission. Further, I discuss the role of power relationships between the Women’s Missionary Association and the Presbyterian Church of England and the changing role and powerfulness/powerlessness of women in the Presbyterian Church and its successor the United Reformed Church. I show how seeming powerlessness can confer power and how being invited to the seat of power can restrict agency for the women of the Church. Finally, I look at the implications for the contemporary United Reformed Church.

No description available.

Army doctrine imbues the organization and its personnel with characteristics of professionalism. Texts analyzed for this dissertation present the Army professional's demeanor and awareness in terms of an ability to recognize and capitalize on fleeting opportunities. These doctrinal texts show that the Army professional embodies the rhetorical concept of kairos. In rhetoric studies, Kairos is understood to be an independent force that a rhetor must accommodate and also as an ability whereby a rhetor creates an opening for action; both models are rooted in reasoned action. Recent work on bodily rhetorics makes room for an immanent, embodied, and nonrational model of kairos as a kind of instinctual awareness. An analysis of how the notion of professionalism is conveyed in the selected corpus shows that the Army's philosophy of command is communicated in terms of kairos, and offers insight into how the Army professional is taught to recognize and act on opportunity. Army doctrine provides an example of how all three models of kairos function in the education of the Army professional. / Ph. D.