Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2009. / Thesis directed by Nathan D. Mitchell for the Department of Theology. "July 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-246).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-180).

This thesis traces the changes in the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist from 400-1215 and posits that Innocent III’s Fourth Lateran Council solidified and clarified these sacraments from diversified practices and customs to a single Catholic orthodoxy in order to reclaim centralized papal power to the Roman Catholic Church. Tracing the history of the Catholic Church’s baptismal and Eucharistic rites encounters a number of logistical obstacles because they were not administered by means of a Western Church-prescribed ritual until the early thirteenth century, primarily because such a prescription did not exist. Even after the First Council of Nicaea where Christian doctrine was better defined, an allowable margin of license remained within Latin orthodoxy, specifically when it came to the practice and administration of the sacraments. Before the establishment of a finite canon the sacramental procedures of the Western Church relied heavily on the local bishops and monks who openly adopted their own preferential liturgies and ritual practices. This fragmentation took the power away from the Holy See in Rome and instead fostered the idea that regional practices were superior. The foundation of their varied interpretations can be traced back to a number of theologians ranging from the early second century tracts of Justin Martyr to Augustine in the late fourth century. Upon the inauguration of Pope Innocent III in 1198, however, the Church adopted a policy of zero tolerance for practices, rituals and individuals that it deemed heretical. Through a series of papal bulls that even began in the first months of Innocent’s reign, he initiated an attempt to eradicate regional inconsistencies and to create a more streamlined orthodoxy. This movement was fully realized in the year before Innocent’s death with the creation of the 1215 Canon in which Catholic Church leaders from around the world defined, explained and mandated sacramental ritual, as well as the expectations for the priests and clerics who administered them. The canon was a compilation of reformed laws for the Church of the Latin West, almost all of which can be directly traced to Innocent’s own decretals and papal bulls. This canon used Biblical references as well as Roman Church and apostolic tradition to define these rites and the role of those who administered them. The goal of Innocent’s reform was to redirect and update the canonical practices within Catholic orthodoxy, while at the same time it helped to identify and extinguish, Christian sects and princes who refused the divinely ordained and irrefutable power of the Catholic Church in Western Europe.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: John F. Baldovin / This dissertation forges a conversation between Martin Luther and Louis-Marie Chauvet on the connection between sacraments and ethics. In conducting an ecumenical conversation concerning the nature and implications of this connection, the dissertation strives to name and develop theological resonances between the two thinkers that provide new ways forward in areas where formal Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogues have either been historically quite difficult (sacramental theology) or largely silent (ethics). The first chapter of the dissertation locates the project within the field of liturgy and ethics, especially as it developed through the Liturgical Movement in the United States in the 20th century. The chapter then moves to outlining the philosophical background of Chauvet and the hermeneutical lens through which the dissertation approaches Luther. The dissertation reads Chauvet as a faithful Roman Catholic who nevertheless wishes to re-cast sacramental theology in terms distinct from reigning Thomistic categories, and it approaches Luther through the Finnish School of Luther Interpretation, a movement that, analogously to Chauvet, has re-cast Luther's theology in terms distinct from more traditional readings of Luther. The second chapter moves to Luther himself in earnest. Outlining his sacramental theology and arguing that the way he conceives of the connection of sacraments to ethics is as unification with Christ, the chapter poises Luther for conversation with Chauvet. Likewise, the third chapter summarizes Chauvet's theology in terms of his treatment of the symbol and the symbolic, his theological anthropology, and finally his sacramental understanding of symbolic exchange and its connection to ethics. The fourth chapter builds upon the substance of the second and third chapters by actually conducting the conversation that is the dissertation's ultimate goal. Beginning by arguing that the nexus point between the two theologians is their conviction that gratuitousness and graciousness provide the ground for sacramental theology, the chapter uses that nexus to allow Chauvet and Luther to enrich each other's theologies. Specifically, tensions exist in the theological anthropologies of both Luther and Chauvet that can be eased by allowing each to inform the other. Similarly, the concept of communal ethics and the role of the sacramental community in society provide fertile ground for the theologians' mutual enrichment. The dissertation ends by gesturing toward further implications of the discussion, and by outlining possible avenues for future work. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: John F. Baldovin / This dissertation argues that the eucharistic theology found in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae is not a Christocentric, static, hierarchical economy of grace production. Rather, it is a deeply Trinitarian, dynamic, communal drama of graced participation. Based on Aquinas's insistence that grace is a participation in the Divine Nature that is signified by the sacraments, I turn to the Secunda Pars in order to explicate the relationship between grace and human action that is presupposed in the sacramentology of the Tertia Pars. Insofar as the res tantum of the Eucharist is the unity of the mystical body of Christ, special attention is given to the relationship between grace, theological virtue, and moral virtue. Through close examination of the process through which charity is said to increase in the subject, the unity of the mystical body is seen, not as a mystical state, but as a graced action that is simultaneously God's action (insofar as grace formally moves us through charity) and the Church's action (insofar as the moral virtues dispose us to receive the presence of God as the extrinsic principle of our actions). The unity of the mystical body of Christ is, then, rightly called the grace of the Eucharist because the spiritual life affected by the Eucharist is the active presence of charity in the Church. The result of the Eucharist is the Church's participation in the Divine Nature. This project aims at providing a grammar that allows for fruitful dialogue in modern sacramental theology. Within Catholic Eucharistic theology, the scholastic language of metaphysics is regularly given place of privilege to such an extent as to view other grammars of the Eucharist with suspicion. This dissertation provides a Thomistic grammar of the Eucharist that largely avoids the traditional scholastic grammars. It is the hope that such retrieval is a catalyst for constructive dialogue between modern grammars (of all denominations) and traditional scholastic grammars. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Thesis advisor: Frederick G. Lawrence / This dissertation offers a critical response to the fundamental sacramental theology of Louis-Marie Chauvet drawing on the works of Bernard Lonergan. Chauvet has articulated a significant critique of the western theological tradition's use of metaphysics, especially in interpreting doctrines relating to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, liturgical sacrifice, and sacramental causality. Chauvet's criticisms raise questions about what philosophical tools allow theologians to develop a fruitful analogical understanding of the mysteries communicated in the sacraments. This dissertation responds to Chauvet's challenge to theology to adopt a new foundation in the symbolic by turning to the derived, critical metaphysics of Bernard Lonergan. The dissertation argues that Lonergan's critical metaphysics can help theologians to develop fruitful understandings of doctrines relating to Eucharistic presence, liturgical sacrifice, and sacramental causality. In addition Lonergan's categories of meaning offer resources for interpreting sacramental doctrines on the level of the time, while maintaining the genuine achievements of the past. Chapter one presents a survey of some recent Catholic Eucharistic theologies in order to provide a context for our investigation. Here we identify existentialist-phenomenological, postmodern, and neo-traditionalist approaches to Eucharistic doctrines. Chapters two, three, and four present a dialectical comparison of Chauvet and Lonergan on metaphysics as it pertains to Eucharistic theology specifically. Chapter two examines Chauvet's postmodern critique of metaphysical foundations of scholastic Eucharistic theology. Our particular concern will be with Chauvet's methods, especially whether his appropriation of the Heideggerian critique of scholastic theology offers an accurate account of Thomas Aquinas, and whether it offers a fruitful way forward in Eucharistic theology. Chapter three explores Lonergan's foundations for metaphysics in cognitional theory and epistemology. Lonergan's critical groundwork in cognitional theory attends to the problems of bias and the polymorphism of human consciousness that lead to a heuristic metaphysics rather than a tidy conceptual system. Chapter four explicates Lonergan's heuristic metaphysics and articulates the elements of metaphysics that enable an understanding of the general category of causality in critical realist metaphysics. Chapter five explores Lonergan's foundations for theological reflection paying particular attention to the importance of intellectual conversion before going on to survey Lonergan's categories of meaning. Chapter six engages the task of systematic theology and proposes an understanding of Eucharistic doctrines grounded in Lonergan's critical realist philosophy and transposed into categories of meaning. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), the disciple of Philipp Jakob Spener and famous Halle Pietist, embraced a comprehensive worldview that combined theology, politics, and social life. The work of his Stiftungen (Foundations), which he established in Glaucha near Halle/Saale, permeated all levels of society with Pietist ideas--from wealthy nobility to poor orphans. With pastors trained by him venturing to England and the American colonies, the work of Francke's ministry would come to have a transatlantic influence. This study focuses on Francke's theology of the sacraments and his attempts to articulate his form of Pietism through the rituals of baptism and the Lord's Supper. These two sacraments played a central role in the religious activity of the Lutheran church, and we suggest that Francke's own sermons and writings on baptism and the Eucharist provide a rich source for understanding how his form of churchly Pietism informed and deviated from traditional Lutheran teachings. Thus this dissertation addresses two important areas of Pietism studies: 1) it provides a source-based introduction to Francke's theology of the sacraments and 2) it examines the ways in which Francke conflicted with Lutheran Orthodoxy. After a historical contextualization of Francke's rise to the status of a dangerous theologian in the eyes of the leaders of Lutheran Orthodoxy, this study considers how Francke addressed what he believed to be the important features of the sacraments. We evaluate the themes of the Taufbund (baptismal covenant) and worthiness at the Supper that consistently appear in his discussions of the sacraments. Furthermore we examine the influence such figures as Johann Arndt, Theophil Großgebauer, Lewis Bayly, and Miguel de Molinos had on Francke's thought. We argue that these religious figures, among others, played an important role in the appearance of Reformed and mystical ideas in the Glaucha pastor's theology. We consider the way he approached sacramental oaths, rebirth, exorcism, confession, and the Christian life in relation to baptism and the Eucharist. Therefore, this study provides a detailed look at the shape and content of August Hermann Francke's Pietist theology.

The Eucharist is preeminently the sacrament of Christian hope. It is a foretaste of the eschatological banquet. Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the antiphon for the Magnificat on the feast of Corpus Christi, described the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory. It contains within it the memorial of Christ’s Passover and the anticipation of his coming in glory. Filled with hope, Christians celebrate the Eucharist as “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” in anticipation. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 47). How this eschatological consciousness is related to the Eucharist is a question that deserves further exploration. While some authors have touched on the subject, there has been no systematic treatment of this theme since Geoffrey Wainwright’s Eucharist and Eschatology. Our thesis explores the contemporary insights into Eucharistic eschatology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Francois-Xavier Durrwell, Gustave Martelet, and Louis-Marie Chauvet. We shall situate our study in terms of a current philosophical-phenomenological context of hope as explored by Gabriel Marcel and Ernst Bloch, and the questions of gift as discussed in the works of Robyn Horner, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion and David Power. To approach the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory is to discern the eschatological meaning of this sacrament and its relationship to Christian hope. If hope is essential to the human condition, then the Eucharist keeps hope alive within the Christian community and the world. As the sacrament of the Eschaton, the Eucharist activates hope in the present time for the consummation of God’s purposes for all humanity and for the fulfilment of God’s reign of justice, freedom and peace throughout creation. To celebrate the Eucharist is to participate in a “holy communion” with God through the bread and wine shared together. Such an eschatological communion foreshadows the future transformation of the whole cosmos into New Creation. The Eucharist is thus the divine milieu where the Christian community celebrates the real presence of the risen and glorified Christ, and the eschatological grounds for its ultimate expectations. In order to celebrate the Eucharist as the pledge of future glory it is also important to recognize that the future glory which Christians anticipate through the Eucharist is God’s gift. It is a gift of grace to be received and cultivated with a sense of responsibility. The Eucharist inspires Christian hope and gives birth to creative human activity in the direction of the coming of the new heaven and new earth. Only when Christians recognize the future as eschatological gift, they will be able to commit themselves to building up the body of Christ in the world and at the same time dare to hope for the future glory in the fullness of God’s time. The Eucharistic hope thus embodies an ethical praxis that the Christian community is summoned to embody in their lives. The Christian community, gathered for prayers and thanksgiving, and for the “breaking of the bread” is itself an eschatological reality. It proclaims the real presence of the future that God has prepared for the whole of creation in Christ. We seek to explore the notion that the Eucharist, as the sacrament of hope, is both a vision of the future and a celebration of the Christian community as it is nourished on the body and blood of Christ, the firstfruits of the Kingdom. It is significant because if God is our ultimate future glory it matters greatly that we understand and know that the gathering at the Eucharistic table confirms and extends our communion with God and with all creation. It is in this Eucharistic communion that hope is born. A foretaste of what is to come is already celebrated and given in Christ’s self-giving love. It is vital therefore that we explore the interconnection between the Eucharist and eschatology and attend to the meaning and practice of Christian hope. The thesis will conclude with a constructive retrieval of the eschatological dimension of the Eucharist as a pledge of the future glory.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58).