Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2008. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-195).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes abstract and vita. "July 2000." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-150).

Thesis (D.D.(Dogmat.)--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-250).

Thesis (M. Div. with Concentration : Christian Care and Counseling)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51).

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58).

This dissertation argues that the Elizabethan settlement was a deliberate, self-conscious spiritual reformation, inaugurated and nurtured from above by Elizabeth I in public and private devotional works put forth by royal authority, and taken up and advanced from below in influential books of public prayer published by long-term English evangelicals. This spiritual reformation offered a balance of continuity and change, of tradition and reform, intentionally designed to provide for the devotional needs of English Christians of divergent spiritual identities and confessional commitments. Responding to longstanding historiographical debates over the English Reformation as either a political reformation “from above” or a popular reformation “from below,” and to recent expositions both of the vitality of late medieval Catholic devotion and the dissemination of sixteenth-century Evangelical piety, the dissertation explores the English Reformation as a spiritual phenomenon, using Elizabethan prayer literature, both public and private, as its central sources. It argues that the foundations and contours of Elizabeth Tudor’s evangelically ecumenist style of piety and spirituality were established in her childhood in the mid 1540s through the influence of her stepmother, Katherine Parr. After her accession to the throne, Elizabeth’s piety and spirituality were reflected in her Act of Supremacy, her Act of Uniformity, and her Book of Common Prayer (1559), and were modeled and transmitted from above by her official primer of 1559. Elizabeth’s model of piety was consciously and deliberately taken up and advanced in the works of printers John and Richard Daye, and Henry Bull; and, authors Elizabeth Tyrwhit and Anne Wheathill. These printers and authors were long-term, committed evangelicals of a hotter temper than their queen. Bull advanced Elizabeth’s spiritual reformation by publishing traditional and evangelical prayers side-by-side. The two Daye prayer books followed Bull’s lead. The 1569 Daye prayer book also published a series of foreign language prayers authored by Elizabeth. Tyrwhit and Wheathill advanced the queen’s spiritual reformation not only by offering traditional and evangelical prayers, but also by constantly echoing the language of her Book of Common Prayer. The dual movement of these two matrices created the broadly based spiritual reformation that was the Elizabethan Settlement.

This dissertation explores the liturgical work and influences of Methodist theologian Georgia Harkness in the broader context of mainline American Christianity and theological liberalism of the twentieth century. Through an examination of Harkness’s writing about worship as well as the resources she produced for worship, the thesis argues that her often overlooked liturgical work was central to her self-understanding as an applied theologian and shaped her theological interests and evolution throughout her career. This study begins by showing the centrality of prayer and worship in the personal and professional biography of Harkness. Through analysis of her many articles and sections of books on prayer and public worship, it leads to an assessment of Harkness’s own growing commitment to the liturgical life of the church and demonstrates how a self-described “evangelical liberal” built on her personalist foundations to help modern Christians reclaim the church’s liturgical tradition within new theological constructs. Further, by examining the prayers, worship services, and hymns that Harkness planned and wrote, the dissertation helps to explain how her theological understanding of worship and prayer was made manifest in the liturgical resources she created. This study also argues that Harkness’s growing commitment to the liturgical life of the church played a key role in her own theological evolution. Through her own immersion in worship and prayer, Harkness’s work became more theological, her theology became more Christocentric, and her ecclesiology deepened and developed a global and ecumenical conscience. As she delved deeper into the liturgical life of the church, she began drawing connections between liturgy, theology, and ethics, which presaged a central topic of modern-day liturgical studies. Finally, the dissertation claims that her work as an applied theologian at the intersection of various disciplines and communities makes her an excellent model for modern-day practical theology. This research and assessment contributes to existing scholarship by reclaiming an often-overlooked part of Georgia Harkness’s legacy. More broadly, it helps dispel the myth that theological liberalism was not interested in worship or devotion and gives a more nuanced understanding of the theological and liturgical landscape of mid-twentieth-century mainline Protestantism. / 2020-06-21T00:00:00Z

This analysis utilizes political discourse analysis and deixis to examine how presidential remarks at the National Prayer Breakfasts have entrenched faith in American national identity.

Prof. H.P.P. Lotter

Thematically, this research interrogates prayer for protection. Its title embodies two distinct religious traditions namely the biblical Psalms in the Old Testament and Lozi prayers grounded in a broad African religious cultural experience. The concept of prayer precipitates questions regarding functionality, structural and theological aspects. Further, this investigation problematizes a theoretical trajectory of closeness between biblical and African cultural experience proposed by some scholars. This study makes a contribution towards a comparative approach in Biblical Studies. An integrated hermeneutical reading is applied to Psalms scholarship. The argumentation is based on a construct of cultic, literary, historical contexts and theological analyses of Psalms 28; 64; 77; 91 and 140. A contemporary reading of similar prayer traditions arising from Lozi people is then conducted. From a perspective of both Psalm studies and African religious experience prayer for protection is seen as a petitioner’s response to the Supreme Being during periods of danger and adversarial encounters. Such danger is imminent at the time of prayer. A victim places his/ her confidence in the salvific intervention of God or the gods. Through this standpoint selected psalms are considered not as songs of praise, but rather as prayers of protection from danger and enemy attacks. A parallel is drawn to the Lozi suppliants’ response to various cultural foes like tribal enemies, malicious neighbours and witchcraft. Other situations of danger are identified as mythological and natural calamities such as drought and crop failure. A comparative analysis of concepts like God, enemies, petitioners, elements of prayer, cultic and other related aspects has yielded similarities and differences. The results of this research contribute to a data bank on indigenous Lozi knowledge systems, hermeneutical and dialogical points of departure between the two traditions within the context of Biblical and Religious Studies. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Biblical and Religious Studies / unrestricted