The goal of this research is to show that the Scottish reformer, John Knox, while seen by many as a political figure, was religiously motivated in his thought, writings, and ministry. Knox saw himself as an Old Testament style prophet who sought to blow his Master's trumpet by proclaiming an unpopular message to the realms of both Scotland and England. Knox was deeply rooted in the Old Testament theology of the covenant. He believed that following an idolatrous path, most notably in the continuing practice of the Catholic Mass, meant the breaking of the covenant with God, as with the transgression of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. He proposed that an aristocratic resistance by the lesser magistrates would result in deposing the idolatrous rulers and restore the realms of Scotland and England to a genuinely covenanted relationship with God.

This research addresses the conflictualization dynamics induced by the politicization of religion at the supranational level. It tests the Union’s institutional capacity to routinize dissension, temper animosities, and reconcile divergences in the light of religiously-loaded, issue-specific controversies. So-called “morality issues” such as abortion or human embryonic stem cell research emerged onto the EU agenda at the end of the 1990s. The main sites of bioethical contention correspond to the European Parliament and Commission arenas, where political, social, and religious entrepreneurs have been pursuing ideological interests of either liberal or conservative nature. We developed an interpretative approach to their discourses and perceptions through the qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews and online documentary sources. A key task consisted in determining whether one observes the routinization of bioethical conflicts by European institutions (“business-as-usual” scenario) or whether the said conflicts are remaining extrinsic to the Brussels political game (“culture wars” scenario). In other words, is the emergence of new stakes – morality issues – prompting the emergence of new divisions and repertoires of action? We put to the test the normal course of EU politics in the light of (1) the structuration of morality divides along religious, political, and national frontlines; and (2) the materialization of morality antagonisms through discursive, bureaucratic, and mobilization weapons. Overall, the “polarization” and “political style” variables showed that the supranational debates on abortion and hESCR do not fully alter the logics of supranational governance; in return, the EU polity is not closed to the crystallization of politicized modes of dissent expression. The hypothesis of an intermediary scenario oscillating between policy-seeking and position-taking perspectives is thus confirmed. On the one hand, issue-specific alliances characterized by internal multifold diversities do play the institutional rules of the European political game in their quest for ideological influence on the decision-making process. On the other hand, limited supranational competences on religiously-loaded issues constrain conflicting factions’ leeway to a symbolic use of morality causes and beliefs as instrumental devices worth of credit-claiming and identity-posturing. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Cette thèse retrace l’évolution des rapports entre le pouvoir communiste, l’institution ecclésiastique et les laïcs catholiques en Hongrie, de l’arrivée de l’Armée rouge, à la fin de l’année 1944, jusqu’à la signature de l’Accord partiel entre le Saint-Siège et le gouvernement hongrois, le 15 septembre 1964. Elle retrace le processus au terme duquel la domination communiste a été profondément intériorisée, aussi bien par les membres du clergé que par les fidèles eux-mêmes. Elle cherche aussi à comprendre de quelle manière cette domination a pu influer sur l’évolution de la vie ecclésiale et religieuse. Elle vise enfin à reconstituer la dynamique politique qui a porté cette volonté de domination, et la manière dont elle s’est transformée, notamment après le choc de la révolution de 1956. La thèse s’appuie sur un large corpus de sources inédites ou publiées, issues aussi bien de l’appareil de l’Etat-Parti (police politique, Bureau des Affaires ecclésiastiques, département de l’agit-prop du Parti) que de celui de l’Eglise (archives épiscopales, des ordres religieux ou des paroisses), corpus complété par des témoignages et des archives orales, produits avant comme après la chute du régime communiste. La thèse est divisée en trois grandes parties chronologiques : les années d’après-guerre, de 1944 à 1948 ; les années staliniennes, de 1948 à 1956 ; les premières années du kadarisme, de 1956 à 1964. A ce découpage chronologique se superpose une structure qui distingue les trois points de vue étudiés dans la thèse : celui de l’appareil communiste, celui de l’institution ecclésiastique et de la société cléricale, et enfin celui des laïcs. / This thesis reconstructs the development of relations among the Communist regime, the Church, and the Catholic laity in Hungary, from the arrival of the Red Army at the end of 1944 through the signing of the Partial Agreement between the Holy See and the Hungarian government on 15 September 1964. The thesis takes as its task the reconstruction of a process under whose auspices Communist domination was deeply internalized, as much by members of the clergy as by the faithful themselves. It seeks also to understand the manner in which that domination was able to shape the development of ecclesiastical and religious life. Finally, it aims to reconstruct the political dynamics that brought about this bid for domination and the manner in which that bid was subsequently transformed, particularly following the shock of the Revolution of 1956. The thesis is based on a large body of unpublished and published sources, hailing from the Party-State apparatus (political police, Office of Ecclesiastical Affairs, the Party agit-prop department) as well as the Church (collections of the Episcopate, religious orders, and parishes), supplemented by oral history testimony gathered both before and after the fall of the Communist regime.

This thesis explores the potential influence of 'Lollardy' and reformist ideas on English legislation in the period c.1376 to c.1422. It focuses on a comparison between the ideas expressed in a variety of Wycliffite works, most especially the tracts that were reportedly presented to parliament, and the ideas contained within parliamentary legislative activity. The aim of the thesis is to shed light on the extent to which the political community shared the ideas expressed in 'heterodox' works and the extent to which the debate over 'Lollardy' informed the debates over other issues within parliament. It begins with an introductory section which explores the nature of 'Lollardy', the potential of the parliamentary and statute rolls as sources for the impact of reformist ideas, and an examination of what can be gleaned from other sources as regards the attitudes of the political community to reform. It then moves on to explore legislative activity on a variety of issues including papal provisions, vagrancy, appropriation, non-residence and pluralism, hospitals and fraternal recruitment practices - on a primarily chapter by chapter basis, exploring the ideas and arguments as they developed chronologically and mapping these, as far as possible, against the known chronology of 'Lollardy'. It also makes comparisons between the petitions and the government's response, in order to determine the dynamics of 'Lollardy's' influence. Did the commons have an underlying programme of reform? If so, did this programme bear any relationship to the programme of reform advocated by the Wycliffites and the protagonists of disendowment? How committed were the commons to the ideas they espoused? Did the Church accept a level of parliamentary interference to stave off the threat of 'Lollardy'? What was the government's attitude to reform? These are some of the central questions of this thesis.

This thesis elucidates processes of identity construction that have taken place amongst Bhil Christians in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, in the context of the endemic anti- Christian violence that has been carried out by Hindu nationalist organisations and adherents in this area since the late 1990s. My work explores how Bhil Christians engage with this, and seeks to make both an empirical and analytical contribution to existing analyses of anti-Christian violence by shifting the focus away from the construction of majoritarian Hindu identities in India's tribal belt, and placing it instead on the minority Christian community. Utilising a tripartite typology of violence (direct, structural and cultural) as its starting point, this thesis addresses questions of how Bhil Christians construct and perform their identity in this context, and how they understand and negotiate their relationships with both non-Christian communities and the state in their localities. This aims to situate Christians as agents in the construction of their own identities, rather than simply having 'otherness' imposed on them as a result of Hindu nationalist mobilization and rhetoric. This study shows that Bhil Christians are involved in a dualistic process of strategically emphasizing both difference and similarity between Christians and Hindus, while making recourse to an overarching adivasi identity that, in various ways, serves to challenge and often undermine the damaging constructions of Christianity that are propagated by the Sangh Parivar. At the same time, they foreground a Christian identity that is decisively shaped by notions of agency, moral uplift, and assertion; these are ideas that are informed by longer histories of adivasi self- and community making, but have acquired important new meaning and relevance in the context of anti-Christian violence.

This doctoral thesis explores the entanglement of religion and identity politics in the Indo-Burma borderlands and the indigenisation of Christianity there through grassroots processes of cultural revivalism. The ethnographic focus is on the Sumi Naga from the state of Nagaland in Northeast India. While the Sumi started converting to Baptist Christianity at the beginning of the twentieth century, conversion rates accelerated especially in the 1950s and again in the 1970s when two evangelical revivals swept across the lands of the Sumi and resulted in their conversion en masse. Significantly, these Great Revivals coincided in time with the most turbulent political history of this borderland region, as the Sumi, alongside all other Naga, were waging an armed struggle against the Indian nation-state for their right to self-determination and independence. While this struggle is now largely being fought with political rather than military means, it remains ideologically motivated by Naga perceptions of their distinct ethnic identity, history and culture compared to the rest of India. Baptist Christianity has played a central role in shaping and sustaining these perceptions. Over the past several decades following the Second Great Revival in the 1970s there has been a movement from within Sumi society to reconstruct and redefine their identity by drawing heavily on both their contemporary religion (Baptist Christianity) and their 'good' pre-Christian culture, which had been demonised and rejected in the course of earlier conversions. Discourses have been circulating in public space on the urgent need to reconceptualise collective Sumi identity by reviving, or preserving, those aspects of pre-Christian Sumi culture that are perceived as 'good' and constitutive of Sumi-ness but are currently 'under threat' of being gradually lost to modernity and foreign influences. These discourses are directly linked to processes of cultural revivalism across Nagaland, which have been motivated by a sense of the perceived loss of 'good' cultural heritage and cultural roots. This thesis is an ethnographic study of these processes of identity (re)construction within a Sumi Naga community. It sets out to examine the ways in which Baptist Christianity is central to everyday life in a Sumi village and how it plays an important role in forging group cohesion and solidarity through ritual practice and various forms of fellowship. The thesis then proceeds to study the phenomenon of cultural revivalism in both its discursive and practical manifestations. The thesis argues that the cultural revival has not reduced the centrality of Baptist Christianity to Sumi self-ascriptions and perceptions of identity, but is rather thought to have enriched it and given it a stronger cultural foundation. Hence, a Sumi Naga Christianity is being created which is perceived as unique, indigenous and distinct in its own right. The thesis attempts to explore the essence of this vernacular Christianity against the backdrop of its specific historical, economic, political and spiritual context and the all-encompassing Naga struggle against the Indian nation-state. In pursuing these issues, the thesis locates itself within debates on the intersection between religion and identity politics, which prevail in many contemporary contributions to the anthropology of Christianity.

This dissertation argues for the hope that is found in G. C. Berkouwer’s doctrines of providence and bodily resurrection in relation to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and the rising pervasiveness of the doctrine of hyperpreterism among American Reformed circles. In Part I of the dissertation, Berkouwer’s doctrine of providence is explained and then evaluated and applied. By way of explanation and exposition, Berkouwer’s knowledge of providence is examined, along with his theology of providence in sustenance and government, in relation to miracles, and the dilemma of the existence of God and evil. Following that is an evaluation and application of the doctrine to the 9/11 terrorist attack on America. In Part II, a theological/doctrinal study is undertaken concerning the doctrine of resurrection. Hyper-preterism is examined, along with its leading proponents, and placed into interaction with Berkouwer’s views of the doctrine of the physical resurrection of the body at the eschaton. / Theology / M.Th. (Philosophy & Systematic Theology)

History / M.A. (History)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-02-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:54:51Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 michelette_pt_me_assis.pdf: 584904 bytes, checksum: ed3d2b656689ffdea69530d225d2e8b6 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta dissertação teve como objetivo compreender a elaboração da concepção da Realeza católica a partir das ideias políticas do bispo Isidoro de Sevilha (560-636). Prelado que viveu na passagem do século VI para o VII na Hispânia Visigoda, um período de mudanças, onde se buscava a unidade religiosa, política, legal, administrativa e de identidade deste reino. Coube a Isidoro de Sevilha traçar-lhe a doutrina. Assim analisamos as perspectivas deste prelado em relação ao reinado de Recaredo, rei que apareceu diante do III Concílio de Toledo (589) como o autor da conversão de seu povo e defensor dos interesses da única Igreja oficial do reino, bem como de seus sucessores. Contudo, apesar da conversão de Recaredo ter dado um novo caráter à Monarquia esta ainda não conseguiu consolidar totalmente o reino. Isidoro, por meio de suas obras desenvolveu um importante papel na tarefa de fortalecimento da Monarquia. Assim na maior parte de seus escritos não apenas apresentou as preocupações e anseios de um indivíduo isolado, mas os desejos e temores também do restante do corpo que, em sua maioria, compunham a Igreja hispano-visigoda e a instituição monárquica / This dissertation aimed to understands the elaboration of the conception of the Catholic Royalty starting from the bishop's Isidoro of Seville political ideas (560-636). Prelate that lived in the passage of the century VI for VII in Visigothic Hispania, a period of changes, where the religious unit, politics, was looked for legal, administrative and of identity of this kingdom. Isidoro of Seville fit to draw the doctrine. We analyzed the prospects of this prelate in relation to the reign of Recaredo, king that appeared before III Council of Toledo (589) as the author of the conversion of his people and defender of the interests of the only official Church of the kingdom, as well as of their successors. However, in spite of the conversion of Recaredo to have given a new character to the Monarchy this still didn't get to consolidate the kingdom totally. Isidoro, through their works developed an important paper in the task of invigoration of the Monarchy. Like this in most of their writings it didn't just present the concerns and an isolated individual's longings, but the desires and fears also of the remaining of the body that, in majority, composed the hispano-Visigothic Church and the monarchic institution

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