While the Second Vatican Council advocates an inclusive priesthood and unified People of God, exclusion of consecrated Roman Catholic women from ministerial priesthood, official church interpretations of the scriptures, and judgments concerning faith and morals continues. This thesis examines creative tactics of resistance among consecrated women on account of hierarchal and essentialist models found in church traditions, including Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), and contemporary American women associated with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. I analyze aspects of three prophetic critiques and hermeneutical tactics of each, appealing to the critical interpretive methodologies of Elizabeth Bucar and Grace Jantzen. The LCWR are “in good company,” contrary to the representations of male superiors in the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and episcopal hierarchy. The feminist resistance of these women recapitulates forms of what Bucar calls “creative conformity,” which the church has embraced for its forbearers.

This Capstone Research Project aims to address the certain aspects of Roman Catholic moral teaching. Throughout this project I argue that when it comes to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Queer (LGBTQ+) Catholics, the moral teaching is essentially corrupt. This paper begins by providing an overview of current Catholic teaching relevant to LGBTQ+ persons. In the second section I focus on the lived experience on the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in the United States to demonstrate several flaws in Catholic moral tradition. I place a special emphasis on the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in Florida as I base my argument on the tragic attack against LGBTQ+ people at Pulse Nightclub and I rely on the insights of a social scientific study conducted among LGBTQ+ youth in Florida. In the third and final section of my research project, I engage with the theological anthropologies of M. Shawn Copeland and Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz to create a framework from which a theological corrective action may emerge to remedy the harm done by the deeply corrupt and erroneous Catholic moral teaching.

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent of prophetic authority as it is understood and taught by those denominated prophets in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The purpose was accomplished by examining four specific areas: (1) What are prophets and what was their authority in the past as articulated in the accepted scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? (2) What is the foundation of prophetic authority for the present dispensation? (3) How does prophetic authority relate to the member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? (4) How doe does prophetic authority relate to the world as a whole?It was found that the Plan of Salvation, as understood in the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is implemented by authorized ministers of God the Father who is the source of all authority. Christ is the greatest of these ministers and is the great prophet. The lesser prophets under Christ and specifically, Presiding Prophets, are fully empowered to implement, while holding inviolate the agency of the individual, the total Plan to all of God's children in and out of the Church. The Presiding Prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lay claim to this total authority.

This study analyzes the intent and primary bases of the L.D.S. concepts of Zion, consecration, and stewardship as it applies to the individual. Only the scripture and the statements of the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators of the L.D.S. Church are considered. An exhaustive history of consecration or stewardship is not provided. No attempt is made to establish Church doctrine.Major conclusions are: (1) the most important definition of Zion is the "pure in heart" who, when a community, are the perfect society; (2) the concept of consecration is to wholly love God, and is achieved through the gospel of Jesus Christ, resulting in Christ-like love or charity; (3) the royal law--to love others--fulfills every law of God, and those with charity extend the love of Christ in divine service, any resultant community has a unity with the Lord; (4) the earth and all therein is the Lord's--the individual's stewardship is his sphere of accountability in regard to the earth, its possessions, Jesus Christ, and the individual's inter-relationship with others.

The majority of critics who have opposed the Book of Mormon have claimed the book is the product of one man because of the uniformity of style throughout. If these charges were true, Joseph Smith's claim of divine origin for the book and its contents would be in jeopardy.Studies have shown Semitisms, enallage, and constructions amidst the Book of Mormon writings which seem to indicate that it is a fairly literal translation. If it is such, style differences among the writers should be evident to some degree.The mental or emotional state of a writer fashions his writings. The counts of words, phrases, and various constructions along with his use of rhetorical figures reveal the author's characteristics. A few individual observations had indicated style differnces in the Book of Mormon but no statistical analysis had been attempted. It was decided, therefore, that a statistical comparison of the writings attributed to Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, and Moroni would be made.

Joseph Smith, prophet and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated that when he was fourteen years old he had received a visitation from two members of the Godhead: the Father and the Son. He was alone when he went into the woods to pray, and was therefore the only witness to the manifestation of these personages. He also declared that when he was seventeen years old he was visited by an angel named Moroni. Again he was without witnesses. For a first-hand account of these two experiences we must rely on a single source, Joseph Smith. All other sources of the story of his visions of Moroni and the Father and Son are secondary since they have been retold after the authors had hear Joseph's story.Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rely upon the story of Joseph Smith as a foundation of their faith. Details left by Joseph himself, however, are only sketchy in nature, making a historical analysis of the events highly difficult. Further problems arise when accounts by other writers who knew Joseph Smith not only fill in a few missing details, but also sometimes present some conflicting details. A survey of these sources and problems, together with an analysis of Joseph Smith's several efforts to re-tell the story, would be helpful to "Mormons" and "non-Mormons" alike in determining what consistent "threads" might run through all the stories, as well as pin-pointing what historical problems may still remain in correlating various accounts. This thesis is not an effort to prove beyond all doubt that Joseph Smith was telling the truth, for this cannot be done by empirical methods. It is simply an effort to analyze as objectively as possible the various sources and to suggest possible reasons for some of the problems and conflicts. It also shows that Joseph Smith was consistent in his recitation of the major aspects of his story over the years.

The purpose of this study is to compile the major eschatological prophecies and teachings found in the scriptures and in the discourses and writings of Latter-day Saint General Authorities; to include sufficient explanatory material to interrelate and clarify the events which are expected to transpire; and to establish, in so far as is possible, the order of these eschatological events.

The general topic of this thesis is the changes that have occurred in The Doctrine and Covenants through its various editions, beginning with A Book of Commandments which was printed in 1833, to the 1937 edition of The Doctrine and Covenants.

Students and scholars of the L. D. S. Scriptures have long been aware of differences existing in the various publications of the material in our Book of Moses. To our knowledge no one has ever carefully isolated or analyzed these changes nor has any explanation been given either to justify or condemn them.Our first objective has been to make a linear comparison of all significant publications of the contents of the Book of Moses. By "significant" we refer to those publications in which there are additions or omissions of words. All changes are then considered in the light of their historical background.

As the title indicates, this thesis is a consideration of selected changes that have been made in major editions of the Book of Mormon. Much has been said recently about changes and modifications in this record but, unfortunately, most of it has been said by those who have been unfriendly toward both the book itself and the church which endorses it. Because this kind of bias is usually an obstruction to objective scholarship, this study has been undertaken by one firmly within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to document not only what changes have been made, but also when they were made, and, consequently who probably made them.A detailed analysis of every change that has been made in the Book of Mormon since its initial publication in 1830 would be neither feasible nor rewarding as a Master's thesis. Therefore, although consideration has been given to every change, this study has been limited to "selected changes," defined as major modifications in format and the addition, deletion, or change of words within the text which could alter the meaning of the passage. For the most part, differences in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, verb forms, verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, pronoun forms, pronoun-antecedent problems, and other grammatical or stylistic revisions have not been considered. Nevertheless, some of these kinds of changes have been included in those isolated cases where they appear to influence the meaning of the verse.