Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago Divinity School, January 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Div. with Concentration : Christian Doctrine)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-106).

This dissertation examines how the implementation of Enlightenment ideas in the French Revolution gave birth to a new secular conception of the state and the invention of a new religion. I argue that Jean-Jacques Rousseau, representing shared assumptions across the Enlightenment, interpreted religion to be a human construct and thus subject to human intervention. With the onset of 1789 revolutionaries employed this conception to reorganize the Gallican Church and institute the radical Cults of Reason and the Supreme Being. When these endeavors failed revolutionaries refocused on two solutions: the secular laws of 1795 and Theophilanthropy. Revolutionary secularization separated Church and state and confined worship to the private sphere. Consequently Theophilanthropy acquired an independent status and the Revolution acted as a catalyst for the invention of a new religion based on Enlightenment principles. This study explores how Theophilanthropy stood at the foundation of French secularization, modern civil religion and subsequent New Religious Movements (NRM). The historical significance of Theophilanthropy was critical in its own time and bequeathed a legacy that long outlasted the Revolution. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / October 27, 2015. / Civil Religion, Enlightenment, French Revolution, Rousseau, Secularization, Theophilanthropy / Includes bibliographical references. / Darrin McMahon, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Rafe Blaufarb, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Martin Kavka, University Representative; George Williamson, Committee Member; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member; Ron Doel, Committee Member.

No description available.

This thesis looks at the communal identity within particular Hidden Christian groups in the Nagasaki prefecture, specifically in Ikitsuki and the Goto Islands. Identity within these particular groups can seem multivalent to the ‘outsider’, especially when religious rituals and practices are examined, where Christian, Buddhist, and Shinto elements can be found, and an altogether new religious identity formed. This amalgamation of multiple religious identities is not uncommon within the context of Japan, but the fact that they have incorporated Christianity, typically thought of as an exclusivist religion, has made Hidden Christians stand out. For them, however, their religious identity is simply an extension of ancestral filial piety through the preservation of their religious practices. In the case of Hidden Christians in Japan, the function of identity has been of key importance, not only for its role in establishing who they were, but also in maintaining their communal integrity under centuries of ‘hidden’ existence from the early 17th century to today. Identity, it seems, has been the unifying factor keeping the Hidden Christian communities of Goto and Ikitsuki together, and its recent deterioration, or transformation, has led to some of these groups deciding to disband. It is important, therefore, to look into possible reasons behind this apparent development within the communal identity of these particular groups of Hidden Christians. To do this, however, this thesis will go beyond the issues of religious identity, and also look at the ways modernity and an increasing globalisation have influenced the communal identity of these remote groups, affecting the education, economy, and communal framework that have kept these groups together for centuries. For those who have disbanded or are deciding to disband, this study examines the ways in which these groups are dealing with the filial piety associated with keeping both the traditions and rituals of the Hidden Christians alive, and how it affects their communal identity as a whole.

No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation focuses on the beliefs and practices of confessional Lutherans in North America (particularly those of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod) as a form of religious conservative intellectual and material production. Confessional Lutheranism distinguishes itself from other variations of conservative Protestantism through its appeals to sixteenth century sources of religious authority and the construction of historical memory, cultural practices, and material culture. Confessional Lutherans view American religion through the lens of the Book of Concord, which, since it derives authority from the eternal Word of God, is equally applicable to twenty-first century America as it was to Germany in 1580. Since the Lutheran Confessions simply rearticulate the Bible, theology cannot progress beyond the statements made in the documents. Therefore, confessional Lutherans have judged American religion and found it wanting based upon sixteenth century standards of orthodoxy. The impact of this confessionalism is not solely theological or intellectual. Rather, it deeply impacts religious culture and practice. Liturgy, hymnals, and church architecture are defined not only by orthodoxy but by their difference from contemporary evangelical trends. As much as confessional Lutheranism is positively defined by quia subscription to the Confessions, negatively it is defined by its suspicion towards conservative American evangelicals. Through a close analysis of the Book of Concord’s role in confessional Lutheranism, theological critiques of evangelical approaches to worship and emotion, controversies regarding ecumenical participation, and descriptions of material culture in the form of hymnals and church buildings, this study describes how confessional Lutheranism is constructed in relation to other versions of American Christianity. While confessional Lutheranism’s theological isolationism may seem to sequester the community within an intellectual ghetto, confessional Lutherans are very aware of their religious surroundings and react to them. This dissertation also shows how this community’s strict adherence to their Confessions relates to American Protestant questions of authority. The Confessions’ role as a theological norm separates them from American evangelicals, who have more nebulous sources of authority. Finally, this study demonstrates the continued importance of theological orthodoxy in American religious conservatism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Confessional Lutherans separate themselves religiously from conservative evangelicals based upon theological principles. This demonstrates that one cannot reduce religious conservatism to voting patterns and political analysis. Theology continues to matter. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / June 19, 2017. / Church architecture, Confessional, Conservative, Lutheranism, Restorationism, Walther / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Ruse, University Representative; John Kelsay, Committee Member; Michael McVicar, Committee Member.

Pri ha-Pardes (Früchte des Obstgartens) ist eine Reihe der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V., welche in Verbindung mit dem Institut für Jüdische Studien der Universität Potsdam publiziert wird. Pri ha-Pardes möchte kleineren wissenschaftlichen Studien, Forschungen am Rande der großen Disziplinen und exzellenten Masterarbeiten eine Publikationsplattform bieten. Der Erstgeburtsstreit der Brüder Jakob und Esau wird seit jeher ethnologisch rezipiert und diente von frühester Zeit an, sowohl auf jüdischer als auch auf christlicher Seite, in vielfacher Auslegung als Grundlage religiöser und ‚politischer’ Identitätsbildung. Im Zuge dieser Deutung geriet jedoch die Frage in den Hintergrund, weshalb Gott ausgerechnet den ‚Betrüger’ Jakob zum dritten Stammvater Israels erwählt. Im vorliegenden vierten Band dieser Reihe stellt sich Daniel Vorpahl genau diesem Problem und klärt in einer ausführlichen exegetischen Untersuchung der biblischen Jakob-Esau-Erzählung Hintergründe, Verlauf und Bedeutung des Betrugsfalls sowie dessen Folgen. Anhand zentraler Bestandteile dieser Tradition, wie dem Motiv des Brüderstreits, der Begriffe Erstgeburtsrecht, Segen und Verheißung, wird darüber hinaus die Stellung der Jakob-Esau- Erzählung innerhalb der gesamten Vätergeschichte beleuchtet. Dabei werden nicht nur die begründeten Umstände Jakobs Erwählung erläutert, sondern vor allem auch die sozialethische Relevanz der Jakob-Esau-Tradition veranschaulicht.

Inhalt: I. Erinnern und Erlösung 1. Gedenken oder Erinnern in der talmudischen Antike 2. Die Transzendentierung des Gedenkens in der frühen Kabbala des 13. Jahrhunderts 3. Die Historisierung und Psychologisierung der theosophischen kabbalistischen Auffassungen vom Gedenken in der lurianischen Kabbala des 16. Jahrhunderts 4. Die psychologisch, individualsoteriologische Deutung des Erinnerns im Chasidismus II. Das Fest und die Erlösung 1. Die talmudischen Deutungen der biblischen Feste 2. Die Sicht der Philosophen des Mittelalters und die Reaktion der Kabbala