For the last decade Dominic Crossan has been at the forefront of the movement from an historical to a language-based paradigm for interpretation of the New Testament. Much of his work during this time has addressed the theological interpretation of reversals in Jesus' parables. Many reviewers of Crossan's work have expressed concern that in his theology of story the "common world" which is created in language is disqualified as a place where God may be encountered. This distortion results from Crossan's use of literary critical methodologies, which falsify the relation of language to the human life-world. A phenomenological reflection on the spoken word and on the temporal and relational characteristics of oral communication leads to a more appropriate linguistic/theological context for interpreting reversals in the parables.

The goal of this work is to revive a version of natural theology, and to retheorize violence within a religious context in a way that accords with the multiple and varied, but universal human experience of violence in the natural world. Using the nature writing of Annie Dillard and the philosophical categories of Emmanuel Levinas, I propose models of deity based on violence in the natural world, and use these models to critique those offered by a dominant strand of American feminist religious thought. Finally, I argue that the religious vision that accompanies violent models of deity, unlike that of dominant feminist thought, accommodates in significant ways the insights of important critiques of religion.

Definitions of solidarity multiply as religious communities respond to concerns of the marginalized and the oppressed. Roman Catholic social teaching and Sharon Welch's communicative ethics are compared with the communitarian positions of Stanley Hauerwas and James McClendon on solidarity. Descriptions of relationships with world and outsiders prepare or deny the possibility of solidarity with them. Communities open themselves to challenge by outside voices or obstruct it with witness to truthful viewpoints which must be true for everyone. Separation of claims for truthfulness from claims for the completeness of their viewpoint might open communities with positive traditions to the challenge of outside voices. Where viewpoints of outsiders are considered corrective of our own, more equal relationships are enabled. Common work provides contexts in which insiders and outsiders seek common ground for moral commitment and practice together. Solidarity is created in mutual relationships and shared life experiences.

"Asho Orisha" suggests that the objects surrounding and the items clothing the Orisha of Santeria (also known as Lucumi or Orisha religion) form chains of signifiers tied to the theological and philosophical core of the religion. It focuses on the domestic displays devotees maintain for their deities on a day-to-day basis, the altar displays (thrones) created by devotees for the anniversarie's of their initiation into the priesthood, and the body of the new initiate (the iyawo). This work traces the ways in which theological concepts from Africa are redefined and reinterpreted in the Americas so as to maintain a consistent conceptual system in a new environment. It uses a combination of participant-observation, individual interviews and photographic documentation. It includes 13 photographs of altars and clothing. The focus of this work is divided into three principle sections. Chapter 3 looks at the altars as a whole to see the ways pre-colonial African, colonial Cuban and contemporary American ideas about how one presents and approaches the holy are incorporated into these displays. Chapter 4 looks at the portions of displays devoted to six major Orisha (Obatala, Shango, Yemaya, Oshun, Ogun and Eleggua) and suggests that color forms a primary semiotic system. An analysis of color symbolism aids in the analysis of the other objects found in these displays. Chapter 5 extends this semiotic analysis to include the initiation experience and the extended liminal period of the iyawoage. Like the altar displays, the iyawo embodies the Orisha and thus functions as a mobile sacred site. The construction of the persona of the iyawo and the rules surrounding the iyawoage are fruitfully interrogated to explicate additional theological and philosophical concepts. Issues of cross-gender and cross-status dress highlight the ways that clothing serves as a symbolic system to maintain Yoruba ideas about the sacred relationships embodied in the iyawo. Chapter 6 concludes this work with a discussion of the place of Spanish terminology and Catholic imagery within the semiotic system and briefly discusses the ways in which the religious displays work as mnemonic devices.

<p> The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the lived-experiences of students participating in interfaith dialogue at the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI) in Atlanta. The lived-experiences of the participants were explored though the following research questions: (1) How do participants define interfaith dialogue in their own words? (2) How do participants experience interfaith dialogue? (3) What do participants perceive that they learn or gain through participation in interfaith dialogue? A purposive sample of eleven participants who self-selected to attend the ILI were recruited through the assistance of the IFYC staff. The researcher conducted a brief face-to-face screening in Atlanta with each participant, followed by a semi-structured interview via Skype or phone. Data was analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological approach, inductively looking for themes to emerge. Results demonstrated that the lived-experience of interfaith dialogue was characterized by: (1) the role of the environment, (2) the value of individual relationships through sharing and storytelling, (3) holding an ecumenical worldview, which led to the (4) strengthening of the individual's faith or non-faith tradition. The results of this study support past research on curricular intergroup dialogue and serves as a vehicle to translate similar outcomes to a co-curricular format. Recommendations include: intentionally creating environments to foster interfaith dialogue, expanding formats of interfaith dialogue to include co-curricular options and experiential opportunities, and increasing religious literacy through education and training. In addition, expanding the faith discussion to include the secular and others that do not fit with the current paradigm of religion must be explored. </p>

<p> The main purpose of this study is to depict Nagarjuna's implication on how he redefined the Four Conditions (<i>catv&amacr;rah&dotbelow; pratyay&amacr; </i>) as the cognitive linguistic structure by allocating 32 functional metadata throughout the texts of M&umacr;lamadhyamakak&amacr;rik&amacr; (MMK). Following subtle traces of <i>lokasam&dotbelow;vr&dotbelow;tisatya</i> (the conventional truth) in the text of MMK, the integrated framework of a cognitive linguistic structure can be detected. Nagarjuna did not negate nor degrade the conventional truth in the context of MMK. The Four Conditions conceal their cognitive variations underneath language, yet they can be consolidated as a structure of knowledge that has capacity of preservability, in a sense of linear consistency of unchanging combinational conditions, as well as recognizability, in a sense of circular transition of changing between two combinational conditions. Such an algorithm of cognition as well as communication are possible because one is able to detect the conditional changes when the stream of cognitive process evolves from one cognitive entity to another with a paradigm of <i> prat&imacr;tyasamutp&amacr;da</i> that is described as <i>"imasmim&dotbelow; sati idam&dotbelow; hoti</i> (Because this exists that exists.)" of the Early Buddhism. The Four Conditions and their relevant 32 metadata are the foundational platform that N&amacr;g&amacr;rjuna developed in MMK which mutually interlock and capture the cognitive stream in the structure of language.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to consider the relevance and applicability of the spirit and insights of the Axial Flowerings to the modern practice of conflict resolution. </p><p> Jaspers, a German philosopher, articulated the term Axial Age in his book that was translated into English in 1953. Jaspers identified, in the context of history, the Axial Age as a pivotal change in human condition that was marked by the emergence of reflexivity, historicity and agentiality of the individual in four distinct and distant areas - China, India, eastern Mediterranean, and Greece. </p><p> Jaspers' focus on the Axial Age was Eurocentric, and rooted in the ethos of Christianity. In recent years, Jaspers' term has been expanded and elaborated to include Axial civilizations more broadly, and Axial Age civilizations to bring into consideration the undocumented civilizations, as also other contemporary ancient civilizations that did not feature in Jaspers' thesis. </p><p> Ideas have been the well spring of intellectual development of mankind. Ideas agitated by seminal thinkers have been agents of change, for better or for worse, throughout history. There is, thus, a direct nexus between the history of ideas, and the Axial Flowerings. Modern scholars have debated religion, ethics, culture, power distribution, social justice, as also individuals and their relationship to associational living, that were the core concerns of society of the Axial epochs. Religion, and its contradictory proclivities of violence and non-violence; ethics and its binding force; culture and its varied manifestations; individuals and communities and their varying values; power and its asymmetries; are as germane to the present day discourse of conflict resolution, as they were in those far away times. Moreover, recently, additional subjects such as other civilizations, cultures, education, and the global ramifications of each, have entered the discourse of Axial Age, Axial Flowerings and other Axial breakthroughs. </p><p> The current convention of the conflict resolution discipline is that it is a 20^th century dispensation. My study argues that looking through the lenses of the history of ideas and the Axial Flowerings, points to ancient and noble ancestry for conflict resolution. It is, after all, a trite saying that from time immemorial conflict has been ever present in associational living, and that all conflicts are ultimately settled by each society through culturally legitimated processes. </p><p> I, therefore, argue detailed study of the Axial Flowerings together with the history of ideas is a fit and proper paradigm for conflict resolution, and presents a great opportunity to learn and profit from multi-disciplinary, and multi-dimensional insights of the Axial Age and the Axial breakthroughs, and to relate these to the present conditions.</p>

<p> This study explores the factors that affect the conversion trajectories of post-immersion missionaries. The data has been culled from focus group interviews and subjected to analysis from the perspectives of social philosophy, sociology, religious conversion theory, and Catholic Social Teaching. It follows the practical theological method known as &ldquo;shared Christian praxis.&rdquo; </p><p> It details the impediments to the subsequent deepening of conversion in the societal, ecclesial, interpersonal, familial, and intrapersonal spheres, namely, post-immersion depression, culture shock, feelings of guilt regarding one&rsquo;s own relatively luxurious living conditions, blaming God for the obstinate pervasiveness of extreme poverty and political injustices, and communication difficulties between the missionaries and their non-missionary family members and friends.</p><p> It concludes that the aforementioned discouraging factors can be effectively countered via attention, during the post-immersion stage, to the missionaries&rsquo; expressed needs to continue to meet regularly with their respective missionary communities, to deprivatize their visions of spiritual conversion, to live a less opulent lifestyle, to participate in hands-on community service projects in conjunction with local poor people, to continue attempting to contribute to the reign of God locally, and to speak publically about their missionary experiences. It also finds that guided prayer methods, communal liturgies, mentorship, debriefing retreats for the missionaries and their families, ongoing study of the Bible and Catholic Social Doctrine, and long-term commitment to the missions, can be efficacious tools in the promotion of the consolidation and deepening of conversion and the prevention of backsliding.</p>

The debate between theological realists and non-realists has so far resisted resolution. In this thesis I apply the insights of current best theory in evolutionary psychology to the problem of deciding between theological realism, which holds that religious beliefs are about some aspect of mind-independent reality, and theological non-realism, which holds that religious beliefs are mind-dependent only. The most well-known exponent of theological non-realism is Don Cupitt who bases his approach to the problem on a combination of biological naturalism and culturalism. In the first part of this thesis I show that biological naturalism and culturalism are incompatible and that culturalism should be rejected in favor of biological naturalism. Cupitt's biological naturalism is the forerunner of an evolutionary psychological approach to religious beliefs that holds great promise for determining their correct interpretation. In the second part of this thesis I critically examine the foundations of evolutionary psychology and its subsequent development into an approach to religious belief in particular. Current evolutionary theories of culture, including religious belief, use Meme theory, which seems, on the face of it, to be a theory analogous to that of natural selection. I show that the memetic approach to religious belief is mistaken but that there is a sound alternative in the work of Pascal Boyer. Boyer draws on evolutionary psychology, anthropology and cognitive science to develop an account of the origin in the mind of religious beliefs and their spread through the population. My evolutionary argument is that religious beliefs are the result of the current but not proper function of cognitive modules. Only if beliefs are the result of the proper function of cognitive modules are we justified in holding them to be about some aspect of mind-independent reality. Theological realism is blocked because all versions of realism in the literature depend to some degree on the fact of religious experience, which is covered by the evolutionary argument. Theological non-realism is supported, in principle, by the evolutionary argument but, in practice, is not a genuine alternative to realism because religious beliefs are automatically given a realist interpretation that competes with explicit nonrealist interpretations. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

The debate between theological realists and non-realists has so far resisted resolution. In this thesis I apply the insights of current best theory in evolutionary psychology to the problem of deciding between theological realism, which holds that religious beliefs are about some aspect of mind-independent reality, and theological non-realism, which holds that religious beliefs are mind-dependent only. The most well-known exponent of theological non-realism is Don Cupitt who bases his approach to the problem on a combination of biological naturalism and culturalism. In the first part of this thesis I show that biological naturalism and culturalism are incompatible and that culturalism should be rejected in favor of biological naturalism. Cupitt's biological naturalism is the forerunner of an evolutionary psychological approach to religious beliefs that holds great promise for determining their correct interpretation. In the second part of this thesis I critically examine the foundations of evolutionary psychology and its subsequent development into an approach to religious belief in particular. Current evolutionary theories of culture, including religious belief, use Meme theory, which seems, on the face of it, to be a theory analogous to that of natural selection. I show that the memetic approach to religious belief is mistaken but that there is a sound alternative in the work of Pascal Boyer. Boyer draws on evolutionary psychology, anthropology and cognitive science to develop an account of the origin in the mind of religious beliefs and their spread through the population. My evolutionary argument is that religious beliefs are the result of the current but not proper function of cognitive modules. Only if beliefs are the result of the proper function of cognitive modules are we justified in holding them to be about some aspect of mind-independent reality. Theological realism is blocked because all versions of realism in the literature depend to some degree on the fact of religious experience, which is covered by the evolutionary argument. Theological non-realism is supported, in principle, by the evolutionary argument but, in practice, is not a genuine alternative to realism because religious beliefs are automatically given a realist interpretation that competes with explicit nonrealist interpretations. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.