This thesis is a study of the policy of the Protestant church leadership towards the Weimar Republic and during the first six months of the Third Reich. The scope of the thesis is similar to that of existing studies of the Reichswehr, the Prussian civil service, and conservative political parties. Most work on the German Protestant church in the 20th century concentrates on the period of the Kirchenkampf under the Third Reich, but recently the part played by the church in the Republic has also attracted attention. The books on this subject, however, give only a general picture of the church as an anti-Republican institution. This thesis tries to show by a detailed study of the church leadership, based on manuscript sources, that there were also strong forces drawing the church towards an accommodation with the Republic. As in other comparable groups, there was an important Vernunftrepublikaner element within the church leadership.

While much is known about the polarities of the Protestant 'Church Struggle' (Kirchenkampf) in Nazi Germany, comparatively little is understood about the complex and collective dynamic of the Landesbischöfe of the only three 'intact' churches to escape incorporation into the Nazi-dominated Reichskirche. Traditionally, literature on the Kirchenkampf has taken a simplistic 'good-versus-evil' approach to the conflict and, arguably inspired by a moral need to come to terms with the less-than-glorious past of the German Protestant Church, has been unable to locate the Landesbischöfe of the 'intact' churches neatly within the conventional historiographical paradigm. By taking as its subject Landesbischöfe August Marahrens of Hanover, Hans Meiser of Bavaria and Theophil Wurm of Wûrttemberg, this dissertation examines the contribution to the Kirchenkampf of three men, who, to ensure the continued existence of German Protestantism in the Third Reich, were ultimately forced to find ways to respond to National Socialism that lay somewhere between the parameters of defiance and compliance. In order to demonstrate the collective contribution of the Landesbischöfe to maintaining the status of the German Protestant Church amidst heightening Nazi tyranny, this dissertation traces how, with reference to external personal, political and socio-cultural conditions, the bishops moved from a seeming commonality of cause to display increasingly varied responses to the manifestations of both political and ecclesiastical National Socialism. By tracing the development of their moderate but nonetheless disparate positions, this dissertation not only questions the traditional historiographical assumptions that Landesbischöfe Marahrens, Meiser and Wurm failed to resist National Socialism effectively or were, at best, collectively neutral in the conflict, but also seeks to delineate, for the first time, the crucial parts played by each of the Landesbischöfe during three distinct stages of the Kirchenkampf. In devoting each of its three central chapters to a particular phase in the conflict, this dissertation demonstrates how each of the Landesbischöfe in turn steered the 'intact' ensemble through the Third Reich as a modest yet effective force of opposition to Nazi despotism. Seen as a whole, this investigation ultimately demonstrates how, through their respective turns at national Church leadership, Landesbischöfe Marahrens, Meiser and Wurm did not undermine the wider Church resistance effort but, rather, saved the Church from subjugation to Nazism more effectively than would have been possible had they stood alone.

The topic of spirituality and job satisfaction is of growing interest in management literature. Researchers have examined whether spirituality improves or enhances job satisfaction, productivity, retention, and reduces burnout. The findings in various studies have supported the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction. This dissertation investigated the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction of African American, Anglo, and Hispanic Protestant clergy. The preliminary research questions for this study are: What degree do the determinants of spirituality correlate with the determinants of job satisfaction for African American, Anglo, and Hispanic protestant clergy? Is there a significant difference between the degree of spirituality and job satisfaction among protestant clergy ethnic groups (African American, Anglo, and Hispanic)? Do female clergy experience a higher level of spirituality and job satisfaction than their male counterparts? The study used a sample group of 475 participants who were full-time pastors from a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. The research tools used to examine the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction were the Spirituality Assessment ScaleTM, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. The survey data was analyzed and hypotheses testing performed by using SPSS' (2009) PASW® Statistics GradPack 17.0 For Windows. The Spearman's Rho Correlation Analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis One-way Analysis of Variance were the utilized in order to perform hypotheses testing. A review of the findings indicated a support for the hypothesis that there is a relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction. The findings also support the hypothesis that there is a difference (p = 0.009) in definitive spirituality when it comes to ministerial standing within the organization. Finally, the findings in this study support the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in definitive spirituality between African-American, Anglo, and Hispanic Protestant clergy (p = .000).

As the COVID-19 pandemic brought fear and anxiety to people around the world, the Christian community is called to give witness to her hope in the risen Lord. Preaching is a major channel of this witness. The analysis of five Easter sermons, preached in April 2020 by pastors of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, brings to the fore how an alarming contextual situation weighs in on the tone and content of Easter preaching in local churches. A lamenting mode of preaching was found, that voices local communities’ distress and strengthens hope, repeating the salvific message of Easter in the face of bewilderment and suffering. The analysis underscores and adds to homiletical theory on lament in preaching.

Please read the abstract in the dissertation / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 1974. / Curriculum Studies / Unrestricted

The literature on Protestant fundamentalism is characterised by instruments that are unidimensional, largely assessing Christian orthodoxy, and use inconsistent conceptual definitions. The present study presents an effort to develop and test an instrument using Ammerman's definition of North American Protestant fundamentalism as a multidimensional construct that includes four components: inerrancy of scripture, evangelism, premillenialism, and separatism. This model was confirmed statistically, and clear evidence of reliability and both convergent and divergent validity is presented. Relationships with other variables, while clearly showing overlap in anticipated directions, also show enough non-shared variance to justify continuing to view fundamentalism as a separate construct.

Since the Irish island was partitioned in the 20th century general civil unrest has been constantly present. This has led to Northern Ireland being a segregated society and to some degree, this continues even today. During the 60’s up to the 90’s violence was widespread.Paramilitaries committed acts of violence and terror against each other and civilians were often the victims. The conflict is perpetuated by two blocs in Northern Irish society. These blocs have historically been defined by sectarian identities; this remains to this date to some extent. However, these identity boundaries have expanded to things beyond christianity. Today class, income and other various types of communities factor into the creation of individual identity. Because of this change, the use of a common history has slowly become irrelevant to modern day catholics or protestants in Northern Ireland. Instead of the previous injustices committed against the group in question, general socio-economic issues are central. Religion, identity and politics in Northern Ireland go hand in hand. As many other states around the world, the state in Northern Ireland is separated from the church. Despite this, christian communities, both catholic and protestant, are deeply involved in policy creation. Parliamentary politics are tied to sectarian and societal identity also. Surveys have shown that voters usually vote within their communities. It is rare for catholics to vote for loyalist protestant parties and vice versa. Ethnic nationalism in Northern Ireland takes a different shape today. The armed volunteers inparamilitary groups have been substituted by career politicians that use democratic means to further the political struggle. There are two main actors behind the loyalist and republican movements in contemporary Northern Irish society, the DUP and Sinn Féin. These parties try to move away from violent extremism through politicizing the ethnonationalist movements that is republicanism and loyalism. This change is thanks to a difference in many aspects of humansocialization in Northern Ireland. Individuals have a new way of viewing their identities and communities.

A study of the evangelist Asahel Nettleton and his work, especially in contrast to that of the more famous Charles Grandison Finney.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The problem of this dissertation was: What are the patterns of self-image, social relationships and religious commitment expressed by persons who respond to their Christian vocation by entering the ordained ministry from another occupation? The "second-career" minister, particularly in his formative seminary years, is in a unique position to describe these patterns. The theoretical orientation had two foci: the self-actualization paradigm of Maslow and sociological concepts: role relationship, reference group and persons, role-definition, latent and manifest content, and dysfunction. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

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