The explosive growth of technology today is causing extensive speculation about the future. These ‘technological futurisms’—especially transhumanism—are often imbued with religious value by their adherents. How should Christians respond to the content of technological futurisms and also the way the future is constructed? In this thesis I argue that Christian eschatology has a more robust understanding of the future than technological futurism, as championed by transhumanism, and can allow for radical hope while also maintaining important humanistic virtues which are ultimately lost in transhumanism. Christian eschatology does not only depend on what is actual to create its future. Rather, it is open to the God of possibility and promise who can bring the radically new in the Kingdom of God. This dissertation is broken into three major sections with an introductory and concluding chapter. The first section provides a history of our technological imagination today by looking at visionary approaches to technology and the future in both technological utopias and science fiction. This history provides the conditions for understanding the proposed future of transhumanism. The second section orients the final response by assessing technology and the future in the eschatologies of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Jacques Ellul. Both Teilhard and Ellul agree that the technological future without appeal to the Christian God is dangerous. The final section looks at the theological and philosophical issues surrounding technology and the future. Heidegger’s works are used to sharpen themes related to technology and the future; in particular, how technology is related to ontology and how the future is related to possibility. The final chapters construct a Christian response to transhumanism around the themes of possibility and promise by utilising the works of Richard Kearney, Eberhard Jüngel and Jürgen Moltmann. A Christian notion of possibility allows for the radically new in a way transhumanism does not and the Christian idea of promise safeguards human virtues by emphasising the interpersonal as ultimate rather than self-transcendence as with transhumanism.

La postmodernité influence le rapport entre la religion et la culture. Elle y introduit des notions comme : l’affaiblissement des notions, la fluidité du monde et la discontinuité du discours. Les définitions modifiées de la culture et de la religion justifient la question centrale de la thèse : est-il possible que la culture absorbe la religion et crée une religion de la culture ? Ces définitions permettent de comprendre comment la postmodernité rejette l’idée de la transcendance et réduit le religieux au culturel. La postmodernité crée ainsi une situation favorable au rejet de la pensée classique et provoque l’émergence de la religion de la culture dont le Nouvel Age, le nouveau paganisme, la spiritualité athée et les nouveaux pop-cultes sont les manifestations. La religion de la culture se base sur l’anthropologie modifiée par le mobilisme, le relativisme et les recherches spirituelles en dehors des institutions. Cette religion est donc une religion sans Dieu, sans révélation surnaturelle, sans ligne historique et sans institution. Elle propose une mystique nouvelle et devient un défi pour les grandes religions historiques auxquelles elle s’oppose. / Postmodernism affects the report between culture and religion. It introduces in philosophy three theories: the weak thought based on deconstruction, the liquid reality and the discontinuity of philosophical discourse. Mutation of philosophical approach changed the definitions of culture and religion and allowed to formulate the central question of this research: is it possible that culture absorbs religion and creates a religion of culture? New definitions give the understanding of how the postmodernism rejects the idea of transcendence and reduces religion to culture. The postmodern philosophy generates conditions allowing the appearance of the religion of culture which manifests itself in the New Age movement, the new paganism, the atheistic spirituality and in the pop-cults.The new religion base itself on the anthropology transformed by liquidity, relativism and new spiritual researches outside the institutions. Constructed on this modified fundament, the religion of culture is devoid of God, revelation, institution and has no historical line. With the new mysticism, this religion situates itself in opposition to the great historical religions.

湘中梅山地區至今存在巫師、神明與祖先疊合祭祀的現象。地方上的各個村莊或院落普遍祭拜「家主」的木雕神像，這些「家主」的姓名、木雕的形式、傳說的故事各異，但就整個梅山地區而言，「家主」又有著共通的特點--他們都身兼巫師、神明與祖先。這跟粤西亦神亦祖、珠江三角洲及莆田地區神明與祖先明顯分開祭祀的現象很不一樣。我們該怎樣從歷史的角度來解讀梅山的「家主」祭祀傳統？本文冀通過史料的分析、科儀的解讀、地方文獻材料的耙梳以及田野調查的運用，探討不同的禮儀傳統如何形塑當地的「文化傳統」與「生活空間」。 / 唐宋時期，佛教在梅山地區上有很大的影響力。北宋政府「開梅山」時，需要借助佛教的影響力使政權順利進入地方社會。「梅山」一詞不僅作為地理標籤，更成為山地人群與鬼神信仰的泛稱。元明時期，土地的開發提供了法術展演的場地，道教閭山派與本土的祭祀傳統融合，深刻地影響地方祭祀。元末明初，王朝國家在梅山地區建立社會秩序的辦法，是通過承認地方豪強勢力的合法性，換取他們支持政府的管治。然此一作法及其影響隨著明中葉政府加強稅收而有所改變。明清時期，世家大族往往以寺庵守墓護山，這傳統一直延續到清末。在此同時，城隍信仰作為王朝國家的象徵，最遲在明中葉進入地方社會，這套祭祀傳統的推廣有賴正一派道教的傳播。以理學為核心的王朝禮儀開始在地方社會推行，主要依靠一群有科舉功名的士紳，但士紳的影響相當有限。清初，修建祠堂開始成為社會風尚，建祠以「妥先靈」成了祭祖的另一種辦法。縱上所述，在湘中梅山民間宗教組織的發展中，各種宗教禮儀的傳統在不同時期進入鄉村社會，鄉土的鬼神信仰有機結合，形成本地的社會規範。在這個過程中，宗教成為各集團爭奪正統的戰場，宗教禮儀與信仰也隨之演變。 / 筆者以為要瞭解形塑地方社會的過程，便不能忽略地方社會整合進入國家的時間，因為國家在不同時期所倡導的意識形態，對於社會整合後所呈現的圖景有重要的影響。同時，我們也不能忽略地方本土固有的傳統，以及聚落環境的制約，禮儀變革與社會重組過程，其發展脈絡在不同的社會生態環境中往往會有所差異。要言之，無論是國家的制度或者是正統的意識形態，都必須跟原有的社會文化傳統、本土的鬼神信仰相結合，才能產生影響，在此一過程中，各種宗教集團與儀式專家有著關鍵而主導的作用。 / Being attracted by the special phenomenon that family gods [Jiazhu] are worshiped widely in the local society, during my visits to the Central Region [Xiangzhong] of Hunan, I became interested in how that phenomenon was formed in a historical context. Jiazhu is treated as a member of the same clan with the highest spiritual power, showing its close identification with shamans and territorial gods. This pattern is very different when compared with the merging of ancestor with deity in Hainan and Leizhou, and the separation of ancestor and deity in the Pearl River Delta and the Putian Plain. This thesis thus focuses on how the pattern had evolved. Drawing on a variety of sources, including official documents, local materials, and Taoist ritual texts and so on, it studies the relation between religious practices and social changes that shaped the local “cultural traditions and “living space. / The history of the Central Hunan from the Song to the late Qing can be expressed as a story of the encroachment on territory vis-a-vis competitions among natives, newcomers, Buddhist monks, and Daoist ritual masters. In Tang-Song period, Buddhism had great influence on the local society. During the Northern Song dynasty, the Meishan region, then the frontier of Han China, was forcibly “opened by the imperial government with the assistance of Buddhist monks. Meishan was hereafter not only as a geographical label but also generally identified with the indigenous people and local spirits. In the early Ming period, newcomers used “spiritual power [Fashu] which co-worked with Lüshan Daoist traditions to sanctify their landownership. Applying Fashu became a predominant approach to open up primitive land. This is a significant period when the Meishan tradition and the Lüshan Daoist traditions mixed together. In local belief, both Jazhu and Dizhu were deities of the highest spiritual power. Dizhu was one who opened up primitive land. From the Late Yuan to the early Ming period, the dynasty established the social order by recognizing the interests of the local chiefs. This situation changed when the local government reformed the taxation system in the mid-Ming. / This thesis shows the dynamics of ritual representation of local society from the Song to late Qing period. During the Ming-Qing period, powerful hereditary families used Buddist monasteries to protect ancestral graveyards and the hill cemeteries. This tradition continued to the late-Qing. In addition, the City God, a symbol of the imperial government, was incorporated into the belief system of local society with the spread of the Orthodox Oneness Sect[Zhengyi sect]. The highly educated gentries began to promote state rituals in the locality for reconstructing their own traditions, with limited success. During the mid-Qing, building ancestral halls became a popular trend of housing the ancestral spirits. / This thesis argues that in understanding the shaping of the local society, one should not miss the timing of it being incorporated into the state, since the ideologies sanctioned by the state had a considerable and persistent impact on the integrated society. On the other hand, the persistence of the local and indigenous should not be underplayed. Ritual transformation and social restructuring vary with different social and ecological environments. State institutions and orthodox ideologies cannot work successfully unless they combine with indigenous traditions and deity systems. In such process, various religious groups and ritual masters played a leading role. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 呂永昇. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-246). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Lü Yongsheng. / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 南中國的移民、宗族、宗教與社區 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 亦巫亦神亦祖：湘中梅山地區的歷史地理與社會形態 --- p.19 / Chapter 第三節 --- 論文架構、研究材料與方法 --- p.23 / Chapter 第一部份 --- 進入地方社會的禮儀傳統 --- p.28 / Chapter 第二章 --- 傳說與歷史 --- p.29 / Chapter 第一節 --- 官與道士：晉文斤成道的傳說 --- p.29 / Chapter 第二節 --- 密印寺與唐溈山僧 --- p.32 / Chapter 第三節 --- 「梅山十峒獠」及宋初資江流域所奠定的格局 --- p.36 / 小結 --- p.40 / Chapter 第三章 --- 北宋僧侶與資江流域的開發 --- p.42 / Chapter 第一節 --- 僧侶與開梅山道 --- p.43 / Chapter 第二節 --- 湘中格局的重整與族類的劃分 --- p.55 / Chapter 第三節 --- 宋王朝的教化與「梅山」風俗 --- p.60 / p.70 / Chapter 第四章 --- 國家禮制、移民與戶籍：明代的梅山社會 --- p.72 / Chapter 第一節 --- 元末明初土酋的勢力 --- p.73 / Chapter 第二節 --- 明代行政、祭祀系統的建立與理學的推行 --- p.87 / Chapter 第三節 --- 祖先的故事：譜牒中的移民記憶 --- p.102 / 小結 --- p.120 / Chapter 第二部份 --- 禮儀疊合的地方社會 --- p.122 / Chapter 第五章 --- 譜系的內外：清以降的社會建構 --- p.123 / Chapter 第一節 --- 冷水江巖口鎮的族群與聚落 --- p.123 / Chapter 第二節 --- 「家主」、「地主」與「廟王」的祭祀活動 --- p.135 / Chapter 第三節 --- 蘇氏「家主」、「地主」及族人的分衍與定居 --- p.146 / Chapter 第四節 --- 尊宗敬祖：從香火堂到祠堂 --- p.166 / 小結 --- p.176 / Chapter 第六章 --- 禮儀的疊合：宋至清末湘中梅山地區宗教形態的演變 --- p.177 / Chapter 第一節 --- 瑤人傳說中的祖源地：「梅山」 --- p.177 / Chapter 第二節 --- 法術的開發：明代祖先拓殖的傳說 --- p.187 / Chapter 第三節 --- 明清佛教與地方家族 --- p.199 / Chapter 第四節 --- 王朝的體制與神靈體系的建構 --- p.204 / 小結 --- p.215 / Chapter 第七章 --- 總論：法術的庇佑 --- p.216 / 附錄 --- p.222 / 徵引史料及參考書目 --- p.231

This thesis determines and examines the obstacles to Saudi women's right to work in terms of religious and cultural barriers and limited access to higher education through an analysis of Sharia sources, Saudi domestic law and international human rights treaties pertaining to Saudi women's right to work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It also delineates the provisions for women's right to work in Sharia and Saudi domestic law in the public and private sectors. The thesis also examines the reservations that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has entered into, and some of the international human rights treaties it has ratified, with a particular focus on the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It also examines Saudi Arabia's obligations under International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. In the context of Saudi domestic law, it identifies obstacles that underlie Saudi Arabia's decision not to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); it examines the arguments for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signing up to the ICESCR; and it examines Saudi Arabia's obligations to respect, protect and fulfil women's right to work under CEDAW. The protection of women's right to work under customary international law, by its sources will be explored. This section will look through customary international law elements; whether or not women's right to work is protected. Finally, the thesis provides recommendations for action which can be taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide Saudi women with equal rights to work. It also makes recommendations concerning ratified and pending international human rights treaties which have the capacity to protect Saudi women's right to work.

劉一蓉. / "2001年8月" / 書名中的[ma], 字形為: '女'在左, '麻'在右. / 論文 (哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2001. / 參考文獻 (leaves 150-159) / 附中英文摘要. / "2001 nian 8 yue" / Shu ming zhong de [ma], zi xing wei: 'nü' zai zuo, 'ma' zai you. / Liu Yirong. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2001. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 150-159) / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Chapter 第一章、 --- 導論 --- p.1 / Chapter 一、 --- 硏究對象 --- p.1 / Chapter 二、 --- 中國社會中女性地位與角色的相關學術研究 --- p.3 / Chapter 三、 --- 硏究動機與問題 --- p.12 / Chapter 四、 --- 硏究方法 --- p.14 / Chapter 五、 --- 硏究的重要性 --- p.18 / Chapter 六、 --- 論文結構 --- p.22 / Chapter 第二章、 --- 丙雁地區的地理、社會、經濟與宗教背景 --- p.24 / Chapter 一、 --- 地理、社會與經濟環境 --- p.24 / Chapter 二、 --- 梅縣地區的宗教背景 --- p.29 / Chapter 第三章、 --- 中國歷史上的女性宗教人員 --- p.34 / Chapter 一、 --- 巫（丙雁地區稱仙姑¯±ø） --- p.34 / Chapter 二、 --- 道姑 --- p.39 / Chapter 三、 --- 比丘尼(丙雁地區稱爲尼姑） --- p.41 / Chapter 四、 --- 齋婆（又可稱女教主） --- p.44 / Chapter 第四章、 --- 齋¯±ø的宗教生活 --- p.47 / Chapter 一、 --- 成爲齋¯±ø的原因一貧窮的家境與卑下的地位 --- p.48 / Chapter 二、 --- 齋¯±ø的生活一弱勢與優勢、神聖與世俗 --- p.50 / Chapter 三、 --- 齋¯±ø的人際網絡 --- p.62 / Chapter 第五章、 --- 齋¯±ø的廟宇與神明 --- p.72 / Chapter 一、 --- 齋¯±ø嶋 --- p.73 / Chapter 二、 --- 齋¯±ø的神明 --- p.80 / Chapter 第六章、 --- 齋¯±ø的宗教活動與經典 --- p.93 / Chapter 一、 --- 齋¯±ø日常的宗教修習活動 --- p.98 / Chapter 二、 --- 公開性宗教活動 --- p.100 / Chapter 第七章、 --- 齋¯±ø的社會技能 --- p.123 / Chapter 一、 --- 「必須」與「非必須」舉行的宗教活動 --- p.125 / Chapter 二、 --- 宗教活動舉行的因素 --- p.126 / Chapter 三、 --- 齋¯±ø的社會技能 --- p.129 / Chapter 第八章、 --- 結論 --- p.134 / 附錄 --- p.139 / 參考書目 --- p.150

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2018-05-03T12:32:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ROGEH ALVES BUENO.pdf: 2060089 bytes, checksum: b95a8f16fbe9061239d5d8e626397f1e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T12:32:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROGEH ALVES BUENO.pdf: 2060089 bytes, checksum: b95a8f16fbe9061239d5d8e626397f1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-20 / The present research deals with the process of institutionalization of the Pentecostal and Neo- Pentecostal churches and deals with their new configuration as religious entrepreneurship. Through a critical look at current society and culture, it was possible to examine the transformations that significantly alter the interaction and the relationship between individuals. In the context of social and cultural changes, religion is also affected. For Weber's classical theory, there is a process of institutionalization of religion that goes through three phases: religious experience, the sect is in turn the church, with the charismatic presence. However, today in a liquid, transparent and spectacular society, surrounded by the culture of consumption, the individual and marked by technological advances and the media, the religious field becomes dynamic and unstable. Different religious groups arise and disappear constantly. In this capitalist world, which has the value of competition, religions are given the option of adapting to this new reality; and for this, churches seek resources in business management. Churches are now using modern management techniques, such as: Planning, Management and Marketing. The guiding hypothesis of this research concerns the understanding that churches are born as such and evolve into a religious enterprise, that is, they are born as churches and become companies that manage other companies (Holding). Some neo-Pentecostal churches incorporate management techniques and assume, in all probability, a new format, entrepreneurship as a form of institutionalization of religion. To achieve the desired results, the research methods include theoretical elements and field research. The information serves as a basis for sustaining the object of study. For this, in addition to the bibliographic research from the available records, digital and printed documents, news, information contained in websites and social networks, among others, were. / A presente pesquisa aborda o processo de institucionalização das igrejas pentecostais e neopentecostais, e trata da sua nova configuração como empresarização religiosa. Através de um olhar crítico sobre a sociedade e cultura atual, foi possível examinar as transformações que alteram de forma significativa a interação e a relação entre os indivíduos. No contexto das mudanças sociais e culturais, a religião também é afetada. Para a teoria clássica de Weber, existe um processo de institucionalização da religião que percorre três fases: a experiência religiosa, a seita é por sua vez a igreja, com a presença marcante do carismático. No entanto, hoje em uma sociedade líquida, transparente e espetacularizada, envolvida pela cultura de consumo, do indivíduo e marcada pelos avanços tecnológicos e dos meios de comunicação, o campo religioso torna-se dinâmico e instável. Diferentes grupos religiosos surgem e desaparecem constantemente. Nesse mundo capitalista, que tem como valor a competição, é posto às religiões a opção de se adaptar a essa nova realidade; e para isso, as igrejas buscam recursos na gestão empresarial. As igrejas passam a fazer uso das técnicas modernas da administração, como: Planejamento, Gestão e Marketing. A hipótese orientadora dessa pesquisa diz respeito ao entendimento de que as igrejas nascem como tal e evoluem para um empreendimento religioso, ou seja, elas já nascem como igrejas e se tornam empresas que gerenciam outras empresas (Holding). Algumas igrejas neopentecostais incorporam as técnicas de administração e assumem, ao que tudo indica um novo formato, a empresarização como forma de institucionalização da religião. Para alcançar os resultados desejados, os métodos de pesquisa contemplam elementos teóricos e pesquisa de campo. As informações servem como base de sustentação do objeto de estudo. Para tanto, além da pesquisa bibliográfica a partir dos registros disponíveis, foram usados no decorrer da pesquisa documentos digitais e impressos, notícias, informações contidas em sites e redes sociais, entre outros.

The academic study of religion has for too long laboured under a flawed understanding of the relationship between modernity and religion. Any narrative of the displacement of religion by a universal and secularising modernity fails to recognise the complexity of the historical and cultural realities. While modernity has demonstrably contributed to the erosion of certain forms of religion, there is a growing body of evidence, and new interpretations of existing evidence, which suggest that the interconnections between modernity and religion are far more complex than any simple opposition could account for. Indeed, modernity appears, in certain circumstances, to be capable of producing its own religious effects. This thesis seeks to answer what then becomes a fundamental question: what does it mean for the study of religion if we accept that modernity can generate the religious? New conceptual tools are needed to deal critically with the far-reaching consequences of embracing the true density of modernity. The study of religion can be greatly enhanced by one such concept: reenchantment. However, reenchantment, as an interpretive framework, must be carefully formulated. Reenchantment cannot be properly understood as a reversal of disenchantment, a conception this thesis will be calling thin reenchantment, but as an ongoing dialectic of reenchantment and rationalisation, which this thesis will be calling thick reenchantment. The formulation of a credible and useful concept of reenchantment can in turn be aided by the work of the philosopher and cultural critic Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard�s work is not itself an expression or example of reenchantment, but it demonstrates a remarkable congruence with the concept of thick reenchantment, as both interrogate dominant understandings of modernity in relationship to differing systems of value. The thesis is divided into two sections. The first, substantially longer, section presents in some detail thick reenchantment as an interpretive frame. Though it does not claim to offer any new evidence, the first chapter outlines the evidential background for the thesis, which adopts the concept of religious modernity, developed by sociologist Danièle Hervieu-Léger, as a way of framing this evidence. The second chapter develops the concept of reenchantment and the typology of thin and thick reenchantment in relation to the foundational work of Max Weber. The third chapter is an analysis and review of the extant multidisciplinary discourse on reenchantment. The fourth chapter, the theoretical core of the thesis, presents an innovative reading of Baudrillard�s considerable body of work. The second section elaborates on a further insight of the first - that text is a necessary element in the study of religious modernity - by offering detailed readings of the work of three contemporary authors - novelists Douglas Coupland and Chuck Palahniuk and filmmaker Tom Tykwer - as instantiations of the sorts of cultural artefacts that the conceptual framework of thick reenchantment means to explore. Though its claims remain conceptual and interpretive rather than evidential, normative, or explanatory, this thesis, interdisciplinary as it is, is intended as a contribution to a number of related fields, from the study of contemporary literature and film to the exploration of Baudrillard�s work, which the study of religion has to date largely neglected, to its detriment However, its primary purpose is to suggest new and fruitful ways to approach the study of religion in modernity.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-220).

Classic Christian theology regards evil as the product of sin, the emphasis in traditional African religion and culture is on human sin as the result of evil forces. This thesis investigated the way in which African Christian theologians understand the relationship between sin and evil. The question, which was addressed was, does sin lead to evil or evil lead to sin.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of Durban-Westville, 2004.