Within the field of theological aesthetics, this project assesses the divide between theological accounts of art and the re-emergence of religious imagery in modern and contemporary art. More specifically, American Protestant theologians and their accounts of visual art will be taken up as a representative set of contemporary theological inquiry in the arts. Under this category, evaluation will be made of three diverse traditions in American Protestant thought: Paul Tillich and Liberal Protestantism, Francis Schaeffer and the Neo-Calvinists, and the open evangelical accounts of Nicholas Wolterstorff and William Dyrness. With respect to modern and contemporary visual art, this evaluation judges the degree to which theologians have understood the primary concepts and dominant narratives of various modernisms and postmodernisms of art since the end of the nineteenth century, recognised the watershed moments in the lineage of the twentieth century avant-garde, and acknowledged the influence of critical theory not only upon the contemporary discourse in aesthetics and art production but also in the social reception of art. In tracing the re-emergence of religious imagery in modern and contemporary art, this project takes up three diverse traditions: the Crucifixions of Francis Bacon and the memento mori art of Damien Hirst, the ‘re-enchantment’ of art in the work of Joseph Beuys, and the art of ‘False Blasphemy’ associated with lapsed Catholics like Rober Gober and Andres Serrano. By assessing what theologians have written concerning visual art and the surprising return of certain religious imagery in modern and contemporary art, this study will intimate a new way forward in a mutually beneficial dialogue for art and religious belief.

This study addresses eighteenth-century English-speaking evangelicals' understandings of church history, through the lens of published attempts to represent preceding Christian centuries panoramically or comprehensively. Sources entail several short reflections on history emerging in the early years of the transatlantic Revival (1730s-1740s) and subsequent, more substantial efforts by evangelical leaders John Gillies, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Joseph and Isaac Milner, and Thomas Haweis. Little scholarly analysis exists on these sources, aside from the renaissance of interest in recent decades in Edwards. This is surprising, considering the acknowledged prominence of history-writing in the eighteenth century and the influence attributed, then and now, to the works of authors such as Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson. The aim is, first, to elucidate each of the above evangelicals' interpretations of the Christian past, both in overview and according to what they said on a roster of particular historical events, people and movements, and then to consider shared and divergent aspects. These aspects range from points of detail to paradigmatic theological convictions. Secondarily, evangelical church histories are analyzed in relation to earlier Protestant as well as eighteenth-century 'enlightened' historiography, in part through attention to evangelical authors' explicit engagement with these currents. This contextualization assists in determining the unique qualities of evangelical interpretations. Is there, then, evidence of a characteristically 'evangelical' perspective on church history? An examination of this neglected area illumines patterns and particulars of evangelicals' historical thought, and these in turn communicate the self-perceptions and the defining features of evangelicalism itself. Findings support the primary contention that evangelical leaders made use of a dynamic pattern of revival and declension as a means of accounting for the full history of Christianity. Beyond displaying the central place of 'revival' for evangelicals, these church histories demonstrate evangelicalism‘s complex relationship—involving both receptivity and critique—with Protestant and Enlightenment currents of historical inquiry.

Cette étude examine l’administration des biens d’Église en territoire de mission, sous l’angle de la quête d’autonomie patrimoniale. Elle évalue la mise en route progressive de l’autonomie patrimoniale des Églises devant succéder aux Missions catholiques, à travers l’analyse des sources depuis l’érection en 1622 de la Sacrée Congrégation de Propaganda Fide chargée des Missions catholiques. Ses efforts de financement s’annonçaient déjà insuffisants. Au XIXe siècle elle prescrivit une administration des biens en lien avec la quête d’autonomie patrimoniale. Une exigence prévoyant l’institution d’un clergé indigène devant trouver ses propres ressources. Elle instaura la pratique d’envoyer des vicaires apostoliques dans les territoires de mission pour mettre en route l’autonomie patrimoniale. Les vingt-cinq années d’administration des biens par les Pallottins se soldèrent par une autonomie financière, défi difficile pour les Spiritains. / This study examines the administration of the property of Catholic Missions in mission territory, from the perspective of the quest for patrimonial autonomy. It evaluates of the gradual implementation of the patrimonial autonomy of the future Churches to succeed the catholic Missions, through the analysis of sources since the erection on 1622 of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide in charge of catholic Missions. Its financing efforts announced insufficient. In the nineteenth century it prescribed an administration of property in connection with the quest for patrimonial autonomy. Such a requirement provided for the institution of a native clergy to find their own resources. It established the practice of sending apostolic vicars to mission territories to initiate the quest for patrimonial autonomy. The twenty-five years of administration of the property by the Pallottines ended in financial autonomy, a difficult challenge for the Spiritans.

La franc-maçonnerie apparaît être, dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle et au début du XXe, un élément essentiel du développement intellectuel et culturel du Bilâd al-Shâm. Ses membres sont impliqués dans le mouvement de renaissance intellectuelle Nahda, qui profite de l’ère politique nouvelle de l’Empire ottoman ouverte par les tanzimat. Dans ce contexte, les conflits religieux continuent d’agiter une société confessionnalisée, que les francs-maçons entraînent dans la voie du progrès, de la modernité et de la laïcité. Dans la 1e partie de la thèse, on présente la franc-maçonnerie dans sa réalité concrète à Beyrouth et au Mont Liban, prenant pour modèles deux loges, Palestine et Le Liban, mais aussi dans sa dimension spirituelle. Le processus d’intégration de la franc-maçonnerie et d’inculturation dans le milieu arabe est souligné, de même que le rôle que les francs-maçons font jouer à la Société Scientifique Syrienne. L’émir Muhammad Arslan, franc-maçon et réformateur, est présentée en tant qu’exemple d’une Aufklärung arabe. La 2e partie de la thèse montre le dialogue stérile entre francs-maçons et jésuites en Syrie ottomane. Le jugement sur l’entrée des croyants en franc-maçonnerie que porte un savant musulman, est présenté à partir de l’étude du premier manuscrit en arabe qui en traite. La thèse fait appel à divers témoignages publiés de contemporains, mais aussi à des manuscrits conservés dans des archives publiques et privées. Plusieurs d’entre eux sont utilisés pour la première fois, tel le plus ancien rituel maçonnique en langue arabe, le règlement intérieur de la première loge de Beyrouth ou les statuts inédits de la Société Scientifique Syrienne fondée par les francs-maçons. La recherche conduit ainsi à relever de quelle manière la franc-maçonnerie au cœur de débats, a proposé un modèle de société qui apparaît davantage méta-religieux qu’areligieux ou antireligieux. Cette société est celle où peut vivre désaliéné quiconque aspire au progrès et à la modernité. / Freemasonry appears to be in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, an essential part of the cultural development of Bilâd al-Shâm. Its members were involved in the intellectual movement revival "Nahda", which itself has been able to take advantage of the new political era of the Ottoman Empire opened by the Tanzimat. Religious conflicts continued to wave a confessional society. The Freemasons led it in the path of progress, modernity and secularism. In the 1st part of the thesis, we present Freemasonry in its concrete reality in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, through two lodges, Palestine and Le Liban, but also in its spiritual dimension. The integration and the Arabization process is emphasized by Freemasonry through the use of the ritual, and in the role that Freemasons played in the constitution of the Syrian Scientific Society in Beirut. A personality of rare diplomacy and knowledge, Emir Muhammad Arslan, Freemason and reformer, is presented as an example of an Arab intellectual. The 2nd part shows the fruitless dialogue between the Freemasons and the Jesuits in Ottoman Syria. The case of the Wandering Jew is an emblematic episode in the struggle for secularism led by Freemasons. Also we present the 1st manuscript written in Arabic in the Ottoman Empire by a Muslim scholar. The thesis uses various published testimonies of contemporaries, but is also based on manuscripts kept in public and private archives. Some of them, which have never been used so far, such as the oldest Masonic ritual in Arabic, provide a new light on the beginning of Freemasonry in Beirut and on its impact in the history of Ottoman Syria. The research concludes how Freemasonry at the heart of debates, was able to propose a new model of society that seems more meta-religious than non-religious or anti-religious. This is the new society, in which every human being is able to yearn for freedom and aspire to progress and modernity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Roberto da Silva.pdf: 2533062 bytes, checksum: b4d98c756c4ec23619724e23b603ed5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-17 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The proposal of our research is to contemplate about the distinctions of "concept ethical" in the deprived life and political existent between Maquiavel and Calvino. Although both have lived in the same historical period and have been formed with the own Humanism of the time, we detached a distinction between Maquiavel and Calvino found substantially, kept the relationships, between the natural law and the contractual law. Some political changes affected Rome and Florence where Maquiavel was born, and they contributed in your perspective ethics-politics. There are doubts if purposed guides the Prince or the people, so that this understood how the model of overbearing principality worked. Maquiavel composed your political perspective for the discard of the ideal of the Christian ethics, to assume a secularized ideal. Your purpose was the conservation of the State. Already, the effervescences religious, theological and politics composed the scenery of the Reformer. For Calvino, the relationship ethics-politics is understood inside of the subject of the Christian mercy. Then, your fight against the ones that disturbed the kingdom of France and your thought of the King s nobleman occupation, that it should reign by the sacred texts. By virtue of an influence Maquiaveliana in Brazilian reality, is wanted to dialogue with the two thinkers, verifying the dominance form for them proposals, and to discuss as these approaches feels in the Brazilian political field. / A proposta de nossa pesquisa é refletir sobre as distinções de "conceito ético" na vida privada e política existentes entre Maquiavel e Calvino. Embora ambos tenham vivido no mesmo período histórico e tenham sido formados com o Humanismo próprio da época, destacamos uma distinção entre Maquiavel e Calvino encontrada substancialmente, guardadas as relações, entre a lei natural e a lei contratual. Algumas mudanças políticas afetaram Roma e Florença onde Maquiavel nasceu, e contribuíram na sua perspectiva ética-política. Há dúvidas se propositava orientar o Príncipe ou o povo, para que este compreendesse como funcionava o modelo de principado despótico. Maquiavel compunha sua perspectiva política pelo descarte do ideário da ética cristã, para assumir um ideário secularizado. Sua finalidade era a conservação do Estado. Já, as efervescências religiosas, teológicas e políticas compunham o cenário do Reformador. Para Calvino, a relação ética-política é compreendida dentro do assunto da piedade cristã. Daí, sua luta contra os que perturbavam o reino da França e sua preceituação do nobre ofício do Rei, que devia reinar mediante os textos sagrados. Em virtude de uma influência Maquiaveliana na realidade brasileira, deseja-se dialogar com os dois pensadores, verificando a forma de dominação por eles propostas, e discutir como estas abordagens dão-se no campo político brasileiro.

Cette thèse porte sur les initiatives et les stratégies de recherches de solutions politiques au conflit nord-irlandais, engagées par les gouvernements britanniques et irlandais depuis les années 1970. L’enjeu est d’expliquer les possibilités de solutions en privilégiant l’angle d’approche de sortie du conflit, adopté par Londres, Belfast et Dublin. L’espoir de paix en Irlande du Nord s’amorce avec le cessez-le-feu de l’IRA de 1994 qui marque un tournant dans l’histoire du conflit. Dès lors, la recherche d’une issue est engagée dans la voie du compromis [partage des pouvoirs entre la minorité catholique et la majorité protestante et lutte contre les systèmes de discrimination et d’inégalités]. Avec l’engagement de ce processus de paix et l’implication de l’Union européenne, à travers des programmes de paix et de réconciliation va émerger un désir de réconciliation intercommunautaire [entre catholiques et protestants]. L’examen de l’Accord de paix du Vendredi Saint de 1998 a révélé que l’expérience nord-irlandaise fournit un mode opératoire de négociation de sortie du conflit par un compromis suis generis. Cette configuration de la paix multidimensionnelle est devenue une métaphore européenne sur les principes de prévention et de règlement des conflits. L’émergence d’un « paradigme » nord-irlandais constitue l’objet de cette étude sur les formes de mobilisation pour la paix et la prévention des conflits dans l’Union européenne. / This thesis deals with political initiatives and efforts to achieve solutions to the Northern Irish conflict, by examining policies instituted by the British and Irish Governments since the 1970s. The purpose is to explain how possible solutions to the conflict were envisioned by focusing on differing approaches to conflict resolution as adopted by London, Belfast and Dublin. The hope for peace in Northern Ireland is interconnected with the ceasefire of the IRA in 1994 that marks a turning point in the history of the conflict. Therefore, the quest for a peaceful outcome involved engagement in the path of the compromise and power sharing between the Catholic minority and the Protestant majority as well as the fight against discrimination and inequality. With the commitment of this peace process, the involvement of the European Union through peace and reconciliation programmes helped to foster a desire for inter-community reconciliation. The examination of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 reveals that the Northern Ireland experience provides a procedure to negotiate the end of the conflict by sui generis compromise. This multidimensional approach and configuration of peace process has become a European metaphor for conflict prevention and resolution principles. The object of this study is consequently to show the emergence of a Northern Irish « paradigm » that can provide the basis for forms of mobilization for peace and conflict prevention in the European Union.

This study explores the history of the Toba Batak community in the city of Medan from1912 to 1965. The Toba Batak have traditionally lived in the rural interior highlands ofSumatra. In this region, their specific ethno-religious identity was developed. Thecrucial factor in the process was the activities and the theological convictions of theGerman Rhenish mission on which the Toba Batak themselves had a significant impact. During the first few decades of the 20th century the Toba Batak began to migrate to the plantation region on the east coast of Sumatra and its commercial entrepôt Medan.In this region, where the Malay Muslim culture was the local dominant culture, theystrove to fulfil their cultural ideals, among which the ideal of harajaon (kingdom) iscentral. The main analytical question pursued is: How did the Toba Batak ethno-religious identity develop in Medan, within the framework of the ethnic, religious, social andpolitical currents in the city? This question is analysed in terms of their changing relations to their area of origin,the interaction with other groups in Medan and the efforts of the Toba Batak to buildup their own organisations. The main focus is on the development of Christiancongregations, but the analysis also takes voluntary, political and women's organisationsinto account. The changing conditions for local ecumenical co-operation are alsoexplored. A wide selection of sources is used, such as missionary reports and correspondence, Dutch colonial records and Toba Batak written and oral sources. Most of these sources have not or only partly been employed in previous research.

This study explores the struggle of the Catholic Church to be true to itself and its mission in the midst of other religions, in the context of the non-Catholic American culture, and in relation to the modern world and its discontents. As milestones of the global interfaith movement, American religious freedom and pluralism, and of the relation of religion to modernity, the Chicago Parliaments of Religions offer a unique window through which to view this Catholic struggle at work in the religious public square created by the Parliaments and the evolution of that struggle over the course of the century framed by the two Chicago events. In relation to other religions, the Catholic Church stretched itself from an exclusivist position of being the only true and good religion to an inclusivist position of recognizing that truth and good can be present in other religions. Uniquely, Catholic involvement in the centennial Parliament made the Church stretch itself even further, beyond the exclusivist-inclusivist spectrum into a pluralist framework in which the Church acted humbly as one religion among many. In relation to American culture, the Catholic Church stretched itself from a Eurocentric and monarchic worldview with claims of Catholic supremacy to the American alternative of democracy, religious freedom, and the separation of church and state. In relation to modernity, the Church stretched itself from viewing the modern world as an enemy to be fought and conquered to befriending modernity and designing some specific accommodations to it. In these three relationships, there was indeed a shift, but not at all a clean break. Instead a stretch occurred, acknowledging a lived intra-Catholic tension between religious exclusivism and inclusivism, between a universal Catholic identity and Catholic inculturation in America (and in other cultures), and between the immutability of Catholic eternal truths and their translatability into the new languages offered by the modern world. In all this the Second Vatican Council was the major catalyst. For all three cases the Chicago Parliaments of Religions serve as environments conducive to the raising of important questions about Catholic identity, the Catholic understanding of non-Catholics, and Catholic interfaith relations.

This study explores the struggle of the Catholic Church to be true to itself and its mission in the midst of other religions, in the context of the non-Catholic American culture, and in relation to the modern world and its discontents. As milestones of the global interfaith movement, American religious freedom and pluralism, and of the relation of religion to modernity, the Chicago Parliaments of Religions offer a unique window through which to view this Catholic struggle at work in the religious public square created by the Parliaments and the evolution of that struggle over the course of the century framed by the two Chicago events. In relation to other religions, the Catholic Church stretched itself from an exclusivist position of being the only true and good religion to an inclusivist position of recognizing that truth and good can be present in other religions. Uniquely, Catholic involvement in the centennial Parliament made the Church stretch itself even further, beyond the exclusivist-inclusivist spectrum into a pluralist framework in which the Church acted humbly as one religion among many. In relation to American culture, the Catholic Church stretched itself from a Eurocentric and monarchic worldview with claims of Catholic supremacy to the American alternative of democracy, religious freedom, and the separation of church and state. In relation to modernity, the Church stretched itself from viewing the modern world as an enemy to be fought and conquered to befriending modernity and designing some specific accommodations to it. In these three relationships, there was indeed a shift, but not at all a clean break. Instead a stretch occurred, acknowledging a lived intra-Catholic tension between religious exclusivism and inclusivism, between a universal Catholic identity and Catholic inculturation in America (and in other cultures), and between the immutability of Catholic eternal truths and their translatability into the new languages offered by the modern world. In all this the Second Vatican Council was the major catalyst. For all three cases the Chicago Parliaments of Religions serve as environments conducive to the raising of important questions about Catholic identity, the Catholic understanding of non-Catholics, and Catholic interfaith relations.

The reclamation and analysis of women's experiences within three Nonconformist denominations is the focus of this thesis. The first chapter places each denomination in its social and theological context, and describes its governing structures. The bulk of the thesis is devoted to situating women within this context and examining the ways in which women sought representation within male-dominated governing structures. Chapter two examines the conflict between Friends' egalitarian theology and women's lack of governing power. Although women Friends gained access to the governing body of the Society, the issue of equality remained problematic. The chapter finishes with a discussion of the Society's split over women's suffrage. The Baptist Zenana Mission is the focus of the third chapter. Zenana missionaries claimed spiritual and imperial authority over "native" women and used the languages of separate spheres to carve out a vocation for single women in keeping with denominational norms. In so doing, they marginalised the work done by missionary wives. The fourth chapter begins with an examination of the life and theology of Catherine Booth, whose contribution to the Salvation Army is often neglected. Catherine advocated women's ministry in terms that validated both "women's work for women" and public preaching. This chapter looks at the appeal of officership for women, especially the empowering experiences of salvation and holiness, and charts the growth of the Women's Social Work. Despite the Army's egalitarian theology, conflict was felt by women officers who struggled to combine corps and family duties. The final chapter briefly examines idealised representations of women to conclude that their defining power, while significant, was by no means hegemonic.