The problem of the dissertation encompasses three discrete issues: What are the eschatological systems of Samuel Willard, Cotton Mather, and Jonathan Edwards? How do their respective eschatologies compare? The third issue results from the preceding two questions and is formed by two proposals. One, in contrast to the view that Puritans are avid chiliasts and that Puritan theology itself has a "millenarian core," the study suggests that while this generally true there are deviations to the rule. Two, the uniformity implied in such assessments fails to observe the diversity among puritan eschatologies. These proposals add a measure of nuance to some interpretations of Puritan eschatology. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-09, Section: A, page: 2870. / Major Professor: Leo Sandon, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This dissertation is a history of traditions research within the wider context of the history of religions. It traces expectation for Christ's parousia, i. e. his eschatological coming, from its inception through the earliest Christian communities. Paul's modification of the expectation for the parousia in light of the cross of Jesus (and in his conflict with the Judaizers) is examined and seen as a dynamic factor in later interpretations. The various interpretations of the expectation by the Evangelists and others are traced through the first century Christian literature (the New Testament documents). / By the end of the first century C.E., three distinct "trajectories" had emerged: Early (or, emergent) Catholicism, Proto-Gnosticism, and Proto-Montanism. During the early second century, two of these became distinct "churches" with representative literature. In the second half of the second century a third one emerged in the New Prophecy (the earliest name for Montanism). Each of these provide alternative interpretations for the parousia expectation as the chapter titles of the dissertation indicate: (I) THE ORIGIN AND EARLIEST DEVELOPMENT OF HOPE FOR THE PAROUSIA IN FIRST CENTURY C.E.; (II) THE DECLINE AND CRYSTALIZATION OF THE EXPECTATION FOR THE PAROUSIA IN EARLY CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY; (III) THE REALIZATION OF THE PAROUSIA EXPECTATION IN EARLY CHRISTIAN GNOSTICISM; (IV) THE REVIVAL OF IMMINENT EXPECTATION IN THE NEW PROPHECY (MONTANISM). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: A, page: 1784. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

Few American preachers have developed the type of national platform enjoyed by Henry Ward Beecher in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This dissertation examines Beecher's use of the pulpit as a rhetorical tool to achieve political and social change. Following an exploration of the factors which contributed to Beecher's personal and theological development, Beecher's preaching style and content are examined as they developed from his early Indiana pastorates to his forty-year pastorate at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. Particular attention is given to Beecher's concern for applying ethical principles to political and social issues. Beecher's pulpit rhetoric in three areas receives analysis: slavery, women's rights, and economic issues. On the latter topic area it is seen that, while for most of his career Beecher was a social conservative unable to deal with the changing American economic scene, by the last decade of his life he had come to grips with the dangers of growing concentrations of corporate and economic power and the need for labor organization to offer a balance to such power. The concluding chapter discusses Beecher's significance to the development of the Social Gospel movement in American Protestantism, and particularly his influence on two early leaders of that movement, Washington Gladden and Lyman Abbott. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0783. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This dissertation analyzed three Christological symbols-- the Spouse, the Child Jesus, and the Holy Face--in the writings Therese of Lisieux. The first chapter discussed the cultural and biographical background of Therese, placing her within the context of the nineteenth-century French-Catholic culture into which she was born. Chapter II traced the tradition of the symbol of Christ as Spouse. This symbol was particularly important to Therese vocationally, and the use she made of the symbol of the Spouse and the idea of spiritual marriage was analyzed. In Chapter III, the symbol of the Child Jesus was traced from its earliest origins in hymns and liturgical celebrations to its development devotionally in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century France. Therese's use of this symbol was then discussed. Chapter IV followed the same methodology for the symbol of the Holy Face. / The final chapter discussed Therese's synthesis of these symbols on a personal level and in her spirituality. A number of areas of synthesis were analyzed: first, the symbols of the Spouse and the Holy Face as Therese related to them personally; second, the symbols of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face as representing the "early" and "mature" thought of Therese; and then, the synthesis of the symbols of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face in her spirituality. Finally, the influence of Therese's "little way" on Dorothy Day and Mother Teresa of Calcutta was discussed, as well as the perennial value of her spirituality. / The value of the spirituality of Therese of Lisieux has been hidden traditionally under the rather insipid, spineless image that developed from popular devotion to her as the "Little Flower." While it is certainly true that her writings reflect the highly-romantic, sentimental style of the popular devotions of her time, her ideas are tied to themes of spirituality that are still important. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4419. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This study demonstrates that the art motif of the serpent at the foot of the crucifix, which appeared between 850 and 1050 in the northern Frankish kingdom, has previously been misinterpreted, due to critics not paying sufficient attention to the artists' rendering of the serpent. This motif is not a symbol of sin or death, but rather represents the Old Law of Judaism, which was superseded by the New Law of Christianity, symbolized by Christ on the cross. / The origins of this motif derive from liturgical drama, only performed in certain northern Frankish Lotharingian reformed monasteries. History shows the remarkable tenacity of the Franks for their own liturgy, which was more dramatic than the Roman ritual continually imposed. / From the visual evidence of the motif, it seems possible that the serpent candlestick was introduced into the liturgy in the mid-ninth century during the ceremonies for Holy Week, and thereby provided the artists with a model for manuscripts, ivories, rock crystals, metals and at least one fresco. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2724. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Oneness Pentecostalism, in its contemporary and historic forms, represents a successful, albeit radical expression of American Pentecostalism which recaptures the intensity of the earliest Pentecostal revivals and transforms this enthusiasm into a fully developed ritual worship and belief system centered in the unique understanding and experience of the "oneness" of God in the person of Christ. Oneness Pentecostalism has grown into a "third force" in American Pentecostalism, uniting over three-quarters of a million believers, roughly one-fifth of the entire movement. / This dissertation, presented in three sections, investigates the life and development of Oneness Pentecostalism as a religious and social movement by focusing on the movement's institutional development and religious "worldview." / Section one offers a historical overview of Oneness development from 1913 to 1916 which reveals a strong, self-conscious link between the extremes of Oneness practices and the faded intensity of the Azusa revival of a decade past. Recapturing this early millenarian zeal in the restored "revelation" of the person and name of Jesus, Oneness Pentecostals created a primitive alternative to the increasingly complex and stable trinitarian Pentecostal bodies. / Section two investigates institutional growth during the seventy year history of the Oneness movement. In its early revivalistic phase, Oneness Pentecostalism grew in an undifferentiated pattern, showing limited ministry strategy and organization. But with the emergence of the major Oneness, or Apostolic, organizations, the movement witnessed the appearance of a clear-cut missions strategy, the specialization of organizational and administrative structures, the appearance of diversified service agencies, and the blooming of educational concerns. / Section three examines the unique ethos of Oneness life and practice in four areas: the centrality of the divine "epiphany" in ritual worship, the theoretical framework rising from the act of worship and in turn reshaping the content and interpretation of this act, the role of the Oneness community (congregation) as an inclusive, independent social world, and the crisis of the Oneness community in the larger context of American society. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2720. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

This thesis treats the intellectual history of historicism over the last two centuries and distinguishes critical historicism from conventional Western historicity. Despite the religious premises of historicism, religious historicism had been largely dismissed in serious historiography by the end of the nineteenth century. / Internal tensions haunted this development, for unlike the programmatic secularist, the secular historicist tended to value the religious perspective of earlier historicists, from Hamann and Herder to Ranke. With Dilthey the 'crisis of historicism' was meliorated by a more positive view of secularity; but such palliatives had no place in the thought of Ernst Troeltsch. / By locating Troeltsch in the history of historicism, the thesis invites a reinterpretation of his development. It roughly divides his thought into three periods: the religious historicist, where his ideas were grounded by the influence of Ritschl; the intermediate, where, like Harnack, he began to challenge the most blatant errors of religious historicism, but stopped short of a full divestment; and finally his secular historicism. / Troeltsch's mature position was not patterned upon Weber, as is often alleged. Rather it was the progeny of the entire historicist tradition. His continuing theological influence stems from his early and intermediate periods; yet the roots of his personal secularization are located in even his earliest work. In that sense his development tends to replicate the secularization of historicism as a whole. Both had the germ of secularity in their methodologies. At some point a choice had to be made between loyalty to a methodology or to a religious proposition. Ritschl and Hermann chose the latter, Troeltsch the former. / The final three chapters bring these conclusions to bear upon contemporary secular theory. Three religious/secular paradigms are defined: the dialectical, as typified by Durkheim, which treats religion in terms of functional inevitability; the Weberian, which construes secularization as inevitable and irretrievable; and the secular historicist, or Troeltschian, which treats the atrophy of religious values as indeterminant phenomena. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-12, Section: A, page: 3754. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The study of the dissertation is religious autobiography with the particular purpose of analyzing religious life-stories as social reflection rather than as solely personal studies. "Social" is defined in the broad sense of the individual's interaction with anonymous social forces as opposed to face-to-face relationships. / Primary sources could include a broad cross-section of religious autobiographies but the major works studied are Black Elk Speaks, by Black Elk, Power Struggle, by Richard Rubenstein, Out of My Life and Thought, by Albert Schweitzer, The Seduction of the Spirit, by Harvey Cox, and The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton. They are chosen because they represent five distinct themes of religious autobiography--collective story, personal turmoil, pedagogy, testimony, and conversion--as well as the thesis-theme of social reflection. / In addition to an introductory chapter which discusses the scope, importance, and history of the material, there is a chapter dedicated to each of the aforementioned autobiographies. Therein the author presents a macrocosmic overview of society in light of a variant of alienation--anomie, powerlessness, social estrangement, self-estrangement, and meaninglessness--and attempts to understand the social dimension of this phenomenon. Each author also presents a microcosmic focus which centers upon a particular set of social problems that have been important in his own life-story. Such widely divergent issues as ecology, race and ethnic relations, war, religious institutions, and the city are considered. / An epilogue articulates the social causes which spur the writing of religious autobiography. This is an important consideration since social reflection in religious autobiography is almost exclusively a twentieth century endeavor. The epilogue also discusses the convergence of opinions concerning society among the five autobiographers studied despite great differences in their backgrounds. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: A, page: 0509. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This intellectual biography of 'Umar comprises detailed description and discussion of some aspects of his religious thought. These aspects, especially the spiritual-moral vision of 'Umar, which forms the very core of his thought--as has emerged particularly in the middle chapter--, are central and fundamental to any fresh, meaningful study not only of 'Umar's political thought--which seems to be firmly grounded in his religious thought--but also of his policies and activities as caliph and, more directly, of his political objectives and motives. / Being a deeply religious man 'Umar sought primarily to ensure the safety of his soul. He strove to approximate to the letter and spirit of the personal and social teachings of the Prophet. The religious ideology as crystalized in the Qur'an and such other sources seems to have established both the outer limits and a great many inner details of his theoretical constructions.

This study translates and examines an early Daoist text called "The Celestial Master of Orthodox Unity Gives Zhao Sheng Oral Instructions," likely written in the late 4th century C.E. It attempts to understand what the writing of this particular text reveals about its political and religious circumstances, including tentative attitudes among clergy, instability for members, and general political uncertainty, all of which are viewed in light of the two Chinese theocracies to have existed. It is necessary to first establish an acceptable date of authorship in order to relate the text to the circumstances of influence. Specific attention is given to the themes most prominently developed in the text, such as Celestial Master Daoism; millenarian traditions; eremitism, and talismans and registers. Following is an original annotated translation of the text. Analysis compares this work with other Celestial Master Daoist texts, some earlier and some later than the central piece, all with similar themes, yet employing different tactics to convey their meaning.It is the hypothesis of this study that there is an implicit connection between political action and early Celestial Master Daoism that is borne out in a variety of ways, this text being one of them. / La présente étude porte sur la traduction et l'examen d'un ancien texte taoïste intitulé « Le maître céleste de l'unité orthodoxe donne ses instructions orales à Zhao Sheng », lequel fut vraisemblablement rédigé vers la fin du quatrième siècle de notre ère. À plus forte raison, elle permet de mieux appréhender ce que le texte lui-même révèle à propos des circonstances politiques et religieuses ayant conduit à sa rédaction. Notamment, y sont abordées les attitudes au sein du clergé, l'instabilité de ses membres ainsi que le contexte d'incertitude politique, lesquels sont autant d'aspects interprétés à la lumière des deux régimes théocratiques chinois jadis instaurés. Afin d'établir la liaison entre ledit texte et ses influences circonstancielles, il est dans un premier temps indispensable d'établir la date et la paternité de l'œuvre. Une attention particulière sera ainsi prêtée aux principaux thèmes abordés dans le texte, à savoir la tradition taoïste des Maîtres célestes, le millénarisme, l'hermétisme, les talismans ainsi que les registres. Par la suite, le lecteur trouvera une traduction annotée inédite du texte. Le volet analytique de la traduction consiste notamment en une comparaison entre cette œuvre et les autres textes hérités des Maîtres célestes, qu'ils fussent antérieurs ou postérieurs, lesquels, bien que discutant de thèmes similaires, emploient différents moyens pour transmettre leur sens profond.L'hypothèse de cette étude est donc qu'il y avait une relation implicite entre l'action politique et la tradition taoïste des Maîtres célestes à ses débuts, une relation qui se manifestait de diverses manières, entre autres par le biais du texte au cœur de la présente enquête.