In this thesis I explore the emergence of the Christian triad with reference to two contemporary movements: Middle Platonism and Gnosticism. The earliest Christian writer to enumerate the three constituents of what would become the Christian Trinity is Justin. In addition to his three extant works, Justin’s triadology can be diagnosed from those he directly influenced – Tatian and Athenagoras – who I have (somewhat artificially) grouped under the heading the “school of Justin”. The ontological triad adopted by these Christian thinkers is compared with the triads of Middle Platonism and Gnosticism, both in terms of their structure and in terms of the function and ontological status of the individual constituents of these triads. In this thesis I propose that a liturgical triad of primitive Christianity, the trine baptismal formula, was conflated by the “school of Justin” with the ontological triad of Middle Platonism, resulting in three referents of the baptismal formula being embued with new functions and ontological status. Whilst emerging as a hierarchical triad, the logic of Platonic ontology when combined with Christian tradition required the sharp distinction between God, as Being, and all other things resulting in a Christian triad that was also a unity. This new triad became fixed as a central tenet of Christianity. I find no plausible connection between any known Gnostic triad and the triad of the “school of Justin”. There is some interaction between Gnostic and Platonic thought during this period. It is possible that the Triple-Powered One pre-empted the Being-Mind-Life triad of Neoplatonism.

Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), perhaps the most remarkable dogmatician and intellectual of the Dutch Reformed (gereformeerde) tradition in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, committed himself to what he called a 'Reformed' and 'catholic' theological task. For the modern dogmatician, this task is neither repristination nor abandonment of one's confessionalist tradition, but, being driven along by the Scriptural witness, to appropriate 'catholic' dogma to the grammars of modern conceptual frameworks. Such a task led Bavinck to a certain eclecticism in style and source for which he earned in twentieth century scholarship the pejorative label of dualism, applied both to his person and his theological content. Regarding his person, this thesis of the two Bavincks follows a biographical narrative of a student and blossoming theologian divided between the orthodox and modern. Regarding his content, interpreters move to and fro between Bavinck the scholastic and Bavinck the post-Kantian, subjectivist dogmatician. This study nuances this picture and participates in James Eglinton's recent call for an overturning of said dualisms applied to Bavinck's person and work by outlining the most significant example of Bavinck toiling to complete his 'catholic' dogmatic task: his appropriation of Friedrich Schleiermacher. In distinction from Bavinck's milieu, he did not demonize Schleiermacher, but, while willing to critique Schleiermacher's material dogmatics, regarded Schleiermacher as 'deeply misunderstood'. The two primary locales of Bavinck's appropriation of Schleiermacher include (i) the question of the epistemic ground of the unity of being and thinking; (ii) the grammar of subjective and objective religion. In both, Bavinck adopts Schleiermacher's concepts of 'feeling', 'absolute dependence', and 'immediate self-consciousness' to complete his own logic. Understanding Bavinck's adoption of Schleiermacher's conceptual framework, particularly that of the introduction from Schleiermacher's Der christliche Glaube, makes visible just how Bavinck determined to work as a modern theologian post-Kant and within the freeing confines of his orthodox, Dutch confessionalist heritage. His appropriation of Schleiermacher is the paradigmatic example of his commitment to be orthodox - yet modern.

Thesis (doctoral)--Innsbruck, Universität, 2000. / Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral - Innsbruck) under the title: Zur ethischen Relevanz der Körperlichkeit in der feministischen Theologie und Philosophie. Includes bibliographical references (p. 248-263).

Around the time of his famous conversion in 386, Augustine planned to dedicate a treatise to each of the artes liberales. However, he finished only a work on grammar and the first part of the De musica (books I-VI), which deals with rhythmus\the second part, which was to treat melos, was never written, since Augustine became occupied with his ecclesiastical career. The present work is the first critical edition of the sixth book of the De musica; the Latin text is accompanied by an English translation. The introduction includes a full analysis of the manuscript tradition from the 8th to the 14th century and a selective analysis of the later manuscript tradition. Among the conclusions reached are that all extant manuscripts descend from a single archetype which is not identical with the original text, that most manuscripts can be divided into four families, and that the text can be established on the basis of six of the oldest manuscripts. The introduction also contains a discussion of the much-debated question concerning Augustine's own revision of the sixth book, a section where solutions are proposed to several textual problems that were confronted during the establishment of the text, and a selective commentary on the contents of the sixth book of the De musica.

My thesis advances the overarching hypothesis that the Eastern Orthodox Church has sufficient teachings to develop a theology which tackles the difficult subject of animal suffering. However, during the review of theological academic literature I identified a gap between what might be termed Orthodox theory and its practice. In essence the overarching hypothesis is broken down into three component parts: i) That Eastern Orthodox teachings allow for the formulation of an ‘Animal Theology’ of the Eastern Orthodox Church; ii) That there is a gap between Orthodox theory and practice on this theme both at academic and pastoral level; iii) That the abuse and exploitation of animals has negative soteriological consequences for those who indulge in such practices; those who know but are indifferent to animal suffering and those who know and are concerned but fail to act in order to reduce or prevent that suffering. Different methodologies were used for the different areas of research which range from biblical exegesis and neo-patristic synthesis, to the formulation of new empirical research collected via questionnaires to animal protectionists in Cyprus and interviews with Orthodox theologians in Cyprus and the UK. In the final two chapters contemporary Eastern Orthodox voices are brought into play in order to advance theological reflection on the sin and evil inherent in animal suffering and the soteriological implications for those who abuse and exploit the non-human creation. Academic theology can often be abstract in nature and viewed by many as irrelevant to contemporary life. I do not believe this is the case and throughout this thesis I have provided examples of how Orthodox teachings can be applied to contemporary animal suffering issues. In addition I have provided an outline for a seminary project which focuses on a) the spiritual and ontological interconnectedness of God’s Creation; b) the seminarian’s role as Icon of Christ and c) how these two elements should dictate the priest’s treatment and relationship with animals and the environment. I have also provided frameworks for a Master’s Dissertation on the theme and an Eastern Orthodox Animal Protection group. Finally, it is worth noting the impact of this research thus far, which has resulted in the first Master’s Dissertation on the theme by an Eastern Orthodox priest; a public statement by the Holy Synod of Cyprus; the establishment of an Eastern Orthodox Animal Protection group in Cyprus and an academic paper presented at an international conference on Religion and Animal Protection by one of Orthodoxy’s leading theologians, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. Leading Orthodox theologians are aware of this thesis and are supportive of its vision; as a result I believe the previously identified gap between the theory and the practice will reduce in the foreseeable future.

La première partie présente un Bernard de Clairvaux Philosophe. Fleuron du socratisme Chrétien il lui donne une inflexion marquant le primat de l’humilité (Ch. I), le détour nécessaire par la charité (Ch. II) avant de parvenir à la contemplation (Ch. IV). Entre ces deux points d’inflexion, un chapitre développe le rôle central pour lui du libre arbitre et celui de la conscience (Ch. III). La deuxième partie recherche la présence ou non de ces caractéristiques chez trois cisterciens parmi les plus proches de Bernard : Aelred de Rievaulx, Guerric d’Igny, Geoffroy d’Auxerre (Ch. I). Puis (Ch. II) elle examine trois auteurs cisterciens parmi les plus philosophes du XIIe siècle : Isaac de l’Étoile, Garnier de Rochefort et Hélinand de Froidmont. Enfin, elle en vient à trois auteurs qualifiés de "satellites" : Guillaume de Saint-Thierry, Alain de Lille et Joachim de Flore. / In the first part, Bernard of Clairvaux is considered as a philosopher. Jewel of Christian socratism, he gives it a new orientation, first insisting on humility (Ch. I), then on the necessary bend of charity (Ch. II), before reaching contemplation (Ch. IV). In the midst Ch. III develops the central part played by freewill in his system and that of conscience. The second part checks the presence or not of these philosophic views, first in the works of three Cistercians among the closest to Bernard: Aelred of Rievaulx, Guerric of Igny, and Geoffroy of Auxerre (Ch. I). Then Ch. II’s focus is on three among the most philosophic authors of the Order: Isaac of Stella, Garnier of Rochefort, and Hélinand of Froidmont. Finally, it comes to three "satellites»: Guillaume of Saint-Thierry, Alain of Lille, Joachim of Fiore.

[pt] Em suma, o objetivo desta investigação é demonstrar o caráter logodicéico da idéia de Deus e sua peculiar cosmologia, cujas ambições mais evidentes consistem na fundamentação da moral em bases sólidas, e no alcance de uma solução ao problema existencial do sentido da vida, demonstrando ainda o caráter teodicéico (e, portanto, igualmente logodicéico) da doutrina metafísica que a acompanha, nomeadamente no que concerne à natureza humana, que se supõe dotada de livre-arbítrio. Finalmente, o presente estudo demonstrará o fracasso da logodicéia da idéia monoteísta de Deus, e das teodicéias que a acompanham, em significar a experiência do mal. / [en] This thesis intends to be a mere effort of critical analysis of the idea of God as an attempt to give a metaphysical and a religious answer to the problem of the meaning, as well of certain arguments in defense of this idea. – But mainly this essay intends to investigate the failure of the theodicy in finding a solution to the problem of evil.

The thesis examines the principal works of Charles Darwin to determine whether there is any evidence of Romantic concepts in his writings and whether, therefore, he owes a debt to the Romantics such as Alexander von Humboldt and Goethe. The first two chapters of the thesis trace the influence of Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859) on Charles Darwin (1809-1882). There are frequent references to Humboldt in Darwin’s works. Humboldt’s Romantic concepts of Nature, expressed in his Personal Narrative [1807 – 1834] and in his later Cosmos [1845], are compared to Darwin’s concepts of Nature in his On the Origin of Species [1859, first edition]. An analysis of Humboldt shows him firmly within the German Romantic school of thought with influences from Schelling and Goethe, especially concerning the concept of Mind. Humboldt’s method of analysing Nature aesthetically had a profound effect on Darwin’s own imaginative view of Nature. Further analysis of this method, coupled with Goethe’s ‘Genetic Method’ of moving between the particular and the infinite when seeing the ‘leaf’ and ‘vertebrae’ archetypes, shows strong evidence of the influence of the German Romantics on the development of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. In analysing the Romantic concept of a ‘One Reality Nature’, the thesis shows that Darwin’s evidence of a common progenitor provides a moral imperative for treating all races as equal in terms of their origins and their potential for development. In Chapter Three the origins of morality are seen by Darwin as having been generated by natural instincts rather than having come from a Creator. This is examined with reference to Darwin’s The Descent of Man [1871; 1879, second edition] within the moral and cultural context of the Victorian era in which he lived. The final Chapter Four compares The Voyage of the Beagle [1839, first edition] to Darwin’s later works to see if there are differences between his earlier and later forms of Romanticism and how easily they sit alongside Darwin the Victorian. The thesis concludes that essentially Darwin’s Romantic theme of wonder and enchantment is the same for both his early and later years. However, Darwin’s Romanticism has moved from an anthropocentric view with Man as its centre to an anthropomorphic view in which Man is seen as part of Nature but not at its centre. Darwin’s self-expression in his writing has also moved from a subjective form of poetry developed through his personal experience of Nature, to a more objective form of poetic science in which Darwin is able to step back from the science he creates. Finally, the Conclusion suggests that there is sufficient evidence in Darwin’s works to claim that he can be regarded as a Romantic materialist. This is evidenced by his view that Mind and Man’s morality have been developed by Nature’s laws out of matter. It is also evidenced by Darwin’s own mental methods of discovery through his own form of imagination and poetry, sharing some of the themes of the English Romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Tennyson.