The thesis examines texts that indicate how Jews of Early and Late Antiquity dealt with a world ruled by an omnipotent God who governed a cosmos where disorder vied with order. God's bounty reflected his good will towards those faithful to his laws, and disobedience resulted in the infliction of misfortune. A state of disorder, labelled “the ways of the Emorites”, was perceived by Judaeans as the realm of superstition and foreign practices, typified by idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Sacrifice in the Temple allowed people to fulfil God's commandments, drawing near to him by means of animal or cereal offerings. When the Temple was destroyed, prayer rituals replaced the sacrifices. The absence of priestly authority allowed Rabbis to take control of everyday religious laws and customs. Concepts such as the sacred and mundane, and ritual purity and impurity, are integral to the scriptural texts. Later texts retained paradoxical notions relating to these older traditions concerning ambiguity or ambivalence associated with purification and pollution, and these notions remained within the ambit of the rabbinic purview. The transformation of public sacrifice into communal prayer was accompanied by aspirations to draw near to God, no longer simply as an act of obedience, but to attain aspects of his wisdom and power. God was no longer present in his Temple, but had taken on the role of King of Heaven, seated upon his Throne in the celestial heights, and the power attained by some Rabbinic sages in mystical ascents enabled them to perform miraculous feats. Ideas of the sacrificial cult and notions of ritual purity retained their influence in prayers, and esoteric Rabbinic traditions were appropriated by exponents of private magical rituals. Angels and demons inhabited the Talmudic cosmology, and angelic forces summoned in God's name might control the misfortune resulting from demonic intrusions.

In the psychology of religion, prayer is one area which has received relatively small attention in the past. In the case of Muslim prayer, with a few exceptions, the field is yet to be explored. This convergent parallel mixed-methods study examined the relationship of Muslim prayer acts and perceived psychosocial functions and meaning-making functions. The data was gathered using semi-constructed interviews as well as standardized instruments: Brief RCOPE, Sense of Coherence (SoC) and CD-RISC 2 resilience scale. The participants consisted of twelve males and four females currently residing in the central parts of Sweden. Focus was placed on the five daily prayers (Ṣalāt), the supplication prayer (Duʿāʾ) as well as the constant reminder of God (Dhikr). The theoretical parts focused mainly on meaning-making, coping, and ritual theory. The research question of this study was: “What role or roles do Muslim rituals, with a focus on prayer, have in the psychosocial functions and meaning-making functions in everyday life?”. For the Brief RCOPE questionnaire, the results included relatively high scores for positive coping and relatively low scores for negative coping (Positive Coping max: 28,00; min: 20,00; average: 23,75; range: 8,00. Negative Coping max: 15,00; min: 7,00, average: 10,19; range: 8,00. Religious coping on a general level max: 1,00; min 2,00, average: 1,06; range: 1,00). For the Sense of Coherence (SoC) scale, the results included different scores, in total medium to low (max: 75,00; min: 44,00; average: 56,00; range: 31,00). In the case of CD-RISC 2 resilience scale, the results were diverse with both high and low scores (max: 8,00; min: 3,00; average: 5,56; range: 5,00). From the interviews, several findings emerged including the centrality of prayer in the informant’s lives. Meaning-making emerged as a central part concerning all forms of prayer. The Muslim identity was also seen as absolutely central in their life. When performing prayers in line with the informants’ own theological understanding, this produced very positive feelings. When not performing the prayers, this resulted in negative feelings and anxiety. The latter also related to a more or less constant stress of not being a good enough Muslim and therefore ending up in Hell after death for most of the informants. The religious community was seen as very positive since many of the informants struggled with what they thought of as Un-Islamic values and behaviors present in the surrounding society.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

The United House of Prayer was established by Marcelino Manuel da Graça (1881-1960), who is also known as Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace, or “Daddy” Grace. He founded and developed the use of the shout bands which are charismatic gospel trombone ensembles within this church. This study explores the importance of shout bands and examines them from multiple perspectives focusing in particular on worship practices. Additionally, it examines rhythmic elements as the most important characteristic of music performed by these unique ensembles, rhythms that reflect the preacher’s personal timing and inflections that the trombones then imitate. The approach used here supports a deeper understanding of the United House of Prayer and of the trombone in church services of this denomination. Indeed, it ultimately establishes the trombone’s role in the United House of Prayer.

This qualitative research study examined the ways those who identify themselves as theistic scientists and scholars experience inspiration, as defined as divine guidance or influence, in their scientific scholarship and discovery. It also explored participants' beliefs about how scientists and scholars can seek and prepare to receive inspiration in their work. Open-ended surveys of 450 participants from the behavioral and natural sciences and from a variety of religious backgrounds were analyzed for content themes in the areas of experiences with inspiration, preparing to receive inspiration, and further thoughts on inspiration in science. The themes extracted indicated that these scientists and scholars have experienced inspiration throughout all stages of the research process. They also believe that certain practices and virtues, such as openness to inspiration and nurturing a relationship with God, can help scientists and scholars be more prepared to receive inspiration in their work.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to point out the connections between the moral life of a person and his state of health. This is a current topic of applied ethics, which deals with the relationship between ethical behavior and its consequences in health and disease therapy. The work deals with the life and work of Ctibor Bezděk, who is considered by the professional public to be the founder of ethics therapy. The diploma thesis introduces the concepts of ethics therapy and tries to bring the meaning of his work to the present day with an understandable approach. The diploma thesis also points out the importance of moral balance in various areas of our lives, the role of faith in God and the trust we place in him in the dynamics of health and disease. The method used in the diploma thesis is the analysis of Ctibor Bezděk's texts, the systematic arrangement into the topic of the thesis and the updating of his legacy. Key words: ethics, ethicotherapy, prayer, morality, illness, suggestion, healing, evil

Critically examines the extent of corruption in the police in Cameroon and Uganda as well as the impact of police corruption and what best practices on anti-corruption measures in the police can be identified in Cameroon and Uganda. Also looks at the correlation between corruption, policing and human rights. This study relies significantly on secondary data gathered from the library such as books, articles, case law, international and domestic instruments and internet sources. The writer's experiences from both countries will also be included. Interviews and focus group discussions give more authenticity to the topic. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof. J Oloka-Onyango of the Faculty of Law, Makerere University – Kampala, Uganda. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Spirituality of Psalms in the Context of Antonín Dvořák's Biblical Songs. The aim of this work is an introduction with general pieces of informations about psalms, about their primary theological scope, about spiritual world and spiritual aspects, because they in fact include the human life in all circumstances. Fundamental commission is to introduce musical work of the czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841─1904) Biblical Songs. This work includes ten songs. Lyrics of these songs elected Antonín Dvořák himself from the Book of Psalms. This book is a part of the Old Testament. The psalms are not only a prayer of a person. The psalms are a perspective and a dialogue of person and God and the psalms make a relationship with God. Subject matter of this work will be to find a communication between a person and God and the reception of the words of God too. Very important in this case is the state of mind in thoughts and in emotional feelings. The emotional feelings and thoughts are a part of the composer's aith. The composer receives the faith from God and the musical work of art, Biblical Songs, is the answer to God. Keywords Psalm, prayer, spiritual formation, Biblical Songs, Antonín Dvořák, musicology

The thesis will present in the first part the biography and catechetical bibliography of the German catechetics Klemens Tilmann (1904-1984). In the second part I present detail of the Czech edition Tilmann's publications. I will focus mainly on topics presented on the content of his interpretations, experiences and recommendations. In the third part of this work will be done the comparison Tilmann's approaches with the actual church documents about catechesis and at the conclusion will be featured in works whose message is still relevant.

Diplomová práce "Duchovní vedení v životě sv. Terezie z Avily" má za cíl poukázat na místo duchovního vedení v životě této světice a její vztah k duchovním vůdcům. Nejdříve se stručně zabýváme poznatky o jejím životě a dobou, do které své charisma přinesla. Dále se věnuje duchovnímu vedení obecně a různým dilematům, na které v této době můžeme narazit. Největší část se však zaobírá duchovním vedením v životě světice. Tato mystička na své duchovní cestě považovala duchovní vedení za velmi důležitou a nezbytnou složku života a i její texty obsahují celou řadu pastoračních doporučení, jak má toto vedení probíhat.