Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This doctoral thesis comprises a critical comparison of the theme of concursus, the way in which God and humanity interact, in the Pentecostal-Charismatic and Process-Relational traditions. The comparison is literature-based; similarities and differences in the theological literature of each tradition are compared in order to determine the extent of compatibilities and incompatibilities. The hypothesis is that similarities in the literature sufficiently leverage differences. The first chapter includes a statement of the problem, namely that the global expansion of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movements necessitates interaction with more academically and philosophically oriented theological traditions such as Process- Relational theology. The second chapter comprises an historical survey of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movements, including key dogmas and practices. Chapter three comprises an historical survey of Process-Relational theology, including its philosophical, metaphysical, and scientific orientations. Seminal Process- Relational theists such as Whitehead, Hartshorne, and Cobb are surveyed. Chapter four consists of a broad historical survey of the theological theme of concursus, including the notions of causation, free will, and determinism in both philosophy and theology. Further, the fourth chapter includes a broad historical survey of pneumatology, which is framed as the basis for a comparison of concursus. Chapters five and six comprise surveys of concursus in the Pentecostal- Charismatic and Process-Relational traditions respectively. Chapter seven entails an extensive analysis of differences and synthesis of similarities between the Pentecostal-Charismatic and Process-Relational notions of concursus. Four differences and four similarities are identified. Differences and similarities are ranked and compared for compatibility. Ultimately, the research question is answered affirmatively and conditionally: yes, according to the literature of both traditions, similarities sufficiently leverage differences, but socio-linguistic barriers may obstruct meaningful mutual transformation. Chapter eight concludes with a brief exploration of ecclesial and social implications. / South Africa

[pt] A tese aborda criticamente questões conceituais e metodológicas ligadas ao estudo das bases neurais da religiosidade. No intuito de melhor inserir a neuropsicologia da religião em um contexto de estudos interdisciplinares, investigamos, num primeiro momento, as características metodológicas desse tipo de pesquisa, tecendo análises críticas acerca das suas virtudes e limitações. Posteriormente, apresentamos uma hipótese de classificação e uma revisão crítica da produção mais recente no campo. Num terceiro momento, desenvolvemos uma hipótese sobre a importância da prática ritual na evolução de capacidades cognitivas distintivamente humanas. Finalmente, apresentamos o delineamento de um experimento piloto em neurocognição religiosa cuja hipótese de pesquisa articula alguns dos resultados previamente desenvolvidos. / [en] This dissertation critically addresses conceptual and methodological issues related to the study of the neural bases of religiosity. The aim is to promote the neuropsychology of religion in a context of interdisciplinary studies. For this, we first investigate the methodological aspects of this kind of research, presenting critical analyzes about its virtues and limitations. Subsequently, we propose a hypothesis of classification and develop a critical review of the most recent results in the field. In a third study, we develop a hypothesis about the importance of ritual practice in the evolution of distinctively human cognitive abilities. Finally, we design a pilot experiment in religious neurocognition whose research hypothesis articulates some of the previously results.

Up to this date there are several scientific disciplines that deal with religion´s underlying mechanisms and certain functions of our consciousness, but there isn´t anyone who takes into account the entire aspect of consciousness. The aim of the present work is to bring the entire aspect of our consciousness into the scientific discussion of religion. To help in doing this, the philosophical concept of qualia is used. First the concept is problematized, then an examination whether the concept has explanatory value in the science of religion and in the understanding of religious experience is done.  The concept of qualia has in this manner been applied to several scientific theories of religion and place-related entity continuity has been used as an example of religious experience. The present work is developed as a literature study and uses literature and theories from de scientific disciplines of philosophy of mind, cognitive neuroscience, neurotheology, cognitive science of religion and psychology of religion. As an underlying method the epistemological theory of holistic coherentism is used because it enables such an interdisciplinary study as this work is.   What this work shows is that qualia have a high explanatory value in the science of religion and in the understanding of religious experience and how we form religious concepts. However, the concept of qualia is problematic and great care must be exercised when inferences are made.

There exists in the modern worlda form of non-Christianised religious thought which develops the basic ideas of indigenous African religion beyond their beginnings, and is represented in authorssuch as Kamalu, Osabutey-Aguedze, etc. The spheres of interest in such authors fiJay be analysed in terms of the following areas: Intervening ideological conditions bearing on African life (particularr; theological and cosmological ideas): The historical background of African life; The roots of African life, as manifested in its traditions, and tts ethical and cultural heritage; Means for the innovative development of African life, found in African concepts of knowledge, mysticism and magic; The perceived destiny of African life. The thesis concludes with an indication of areas of agreement and debate in post-traditional African thought, of problems faced by such thought; and of other possible priorities for future study. / Religious Studies & Arabic / D.Th. (Religious Studies)

Why is it that we humans have a tendency to construct transcendental entities? That is one of the big questions the scientific discipline Cognitive Science of Religion is trying to answer. In order to gain validation for the concepts used by this discipline neural correlates are needed. The aim of the present work is to investigate the concepts Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device ((H)ADD) and Theory of Mind (ToM) both in psychological, cognitive and neural aspects to see if those concepts are enough to explain the human tendencies to construct transcendental entities. This work is developed as philosophical a literature study and uses literature from the scientific disciplines of cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science of religion, cognitive science, neurotheology, psychology of religion and philosophy of religion. This means that the present work is interdisciplinary and stands on a bridge between the theoretical and empirical sciences. A word of caution: Regardless the findings this work presents, the explanatory value is limited as it is a theoretical study in an empirical scientific field. It is when the findings in this work are tested empirically that the findings sustainability are decided.              What this work shows is that neural correlates for ToM already exist in the form of the Mirror Neuron-Theory (MNT), but it is problematic because it can not show how higher orders of representations are possible. No scientific data about neural correlates to (H)ADD has been found for this study, but here the amygdala may play a prominent role. Furthermore this work shows that (H)ADD and ToM is not enough to explain why humans have a tendency to construct transcendental entities. We are in need of peripheral cognitive mechanisms such as intuitive knowledge modules, ontological categories, teleological thinking, our drive to seek causal connections and our ability for pattern recognition.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how uninstitutionalised female preachers, or dā'iyāt, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia construct authority in a context in which male ulama dominate the production of religious knowledge and represent the apex of the religious and social hierarchy. The study was broad, descriptive, and explanatory and drew primarily on the framework known as ‘accountable ethnography’. Data collection occurred between June and December 2009 and consisted of observations, interviews, and collection of literary artefacts, which were reviewed alongside literature published internationally. A flexible mode of inquiry was employed, partly in response to constraints on public religious discourse imposed in Saudi Arabia after September 11, 2001. The study concludes that the dā'iyāt construct authority predominantly by relying on male ulama as marji'iyya diniyya (religious frame of reference) when issuing fatwas, as pedagogical models, as sources of charismatic inspiration, and as providers of personal recommendations. The dissertation also addresses a set of 'alternate' strategies of authority construction employed by Dr Fāṭima Nasiīf. Almost uniquely, this dā'iyā is found to construct authority that goes beyond reproduction of institutionalised views by developing scholarly arguments to support interpretations of Islamic texts that are responsive to women’s perspectives and needs. In doing so, she expands the parameters of religiously permissible practice while remaining, for her part, within the confines of orthodox practice. Thus, although her society and most researchers perceive knowledge as a masculine attribute in the Saudi religious sphere, in matters relating to women, as well as through active leadership in ritual practice, Dr Fāṭima demonstrates that the dā'iyā can become the authority. Nevertheless, for her and for the other dā'iyāt, the study finds that legitimatising female religious authority depends upon maintaining the established social order, including the hierarchy that places women in a subordinate position to men.

The notion that we are voluntary agents who exercise power to choose and, in doing so, determine some of what happens in the world has been an important notion in certain theological accounts concerning our relationship with God (e.g. 'the freewill defence' for God's goodness and omnipotence in light of moral evil and accounts of human moral responsibility in relation to God). However, it has been claimed that the physicalism supported by contemporary neuroscience research calls into question human voluntary agency and, with it, human power to choose. Emergentist (or non-reductive physicalist) accounts of psychological phenomena have been presented as a way of reconciling the physicalism supported by contemporary neuroscience and the theologically important notion of human power to choose. But there are several issues that remain for the plausibility of the required kind of emergentist account; namely - Does recent neuroscience research show that voluntary agency is an illusion? and Is there evidence for neurophysiological causes which, along with neurophysiological conditions, determine all we do? In this dissertation I set out to address these issues and, in doing so, present an account of voluntary agency as power to choose in the state of being aware of alternatives. I argue that this account allows for the notion that human beings determine some of what happens in a way that is consistent with what contemporary neuroscience shows. Thus, contemporary neuroscience does not undermine this notion of human voluntary agency; or, then, the predominant theological view that we are morally responsible in our relationship with God.

Esta pesquisa insere-se na temática da formação de professores de matemática. Apresenta um estudo sobre a relação entre a ciência e a religião presente nos livros História da Matemática, de Carl B. Boyer, e a Introdução à história da matemática, de Howard Eves, os mais utilizados no curso de licenciatura. Tendo em vista que as atuais propostas de ensino enfatizam que os alunos devem ser formados para serem cidadãos, considera que a forma com que essa relação aparece no material disponível pouco contribui para que isso ocorra. A tese partiu da idéia de que a história das ciências, na formação de professores de matemática, pode dar sustentação a uma educação científica que mostre a complexidade existente entre o pensamento religioso e o pensamento científico. Para isso, foram apresentados episódios da revolução científica causada por pensadores como Kepler, Galileu, Newton e Leibniz. O estudo enfatiza que a educação científica deve incluir uma discussão acerca da natureza do conhecimento científico e sua relação com outros aspectos da cultura, mostrando a existência de descontinuidades e revoluções, como propõe a historiografia atual. Para o enriquecimento do horizonte das discussões o trabalho levanta argumentos envolvendo aspectos sociais e éticos e valores, visando à formação do cidadão. Destaca, também, a tensão entre uma formação do professor mais técnica e uma formação mais ampla. / This research is inserted in the thematic of the graduation of math teachers. It presents a study about the relation between science and religion present in the books History of math, by Carl B. Boyer, and Introduction to the history of math, by Howard Eves, the most used in the graduation course. Having in sight that the current teaching proposals emphasizes that the students must be formed to become civilians, it considers that the way this relation appears in the available material doesn\'t contribute much for it to occur. The thesis stared from the idea that the history of sciences, in the formation of math teachers, can give support to a scientific education that shows the existing complexity between the religious thought and the scientific thought. For this to be made, episodes of the scientific revolution caused by thinkers like Kepler, Galileu, Newton, and Leibniz were presented. The study emphasizes that the scientific education must include a discussion about the nature of the scientific thought and it\'s relation with other aspects of culture, showing the existence of discontinuations and revolutions, as the current historiography proposes. For the enrichment of the discussions\' horizon this work shows arguments involving social and ethical aspects and values, in spite of forming a civilian. Also shows the tension between the more technical formation of a teacher and the most wide formation.

Existem diferentes formas de debater e analisar o relacionamento entre ciência e religião. Neste trabalho, apresentamos algumas possibilidades e utilizamos a abordagem da história das ciências como um recurso interessante para tratar o tema no ensino de ciências. Esta pesquisa foi construída a partir da preocupação com o aumento de casos de intolerância religiosa e de outros vieses, e seu impacto na sala de aula, possivelmente causados por diversos tipos de fundamentalismo observados em nossa sociedade. A existência de diferentes episódios históricos que relacionam ciência e religião de forma contextualizada e transcendente a apenas um conflito permitiu o desenvolvimento deste projeto. Acreditamos que comportamentos intolerantes podem gerar uma dissonância cognitiva em estudantes, por exemplo, que professam uma fé religiosa e observam sua visão de mundo ser menosprezada ou ridicularizada em aulas de ciência. Consideramos que a apresentação e discussão de episódios históricos, em que ciência e religião não eram conflitantes para diferentes cientistas ou filósofos naturais, pode reduzir esse obstáculo, criando um ambiente favorável para pautar conteúdos de ciência. Ademais, ações intolerantes desrespeitam as prerrogativas atuais voltadas para a promoção de uma educação para os direitos humanos e para a valorização da interculturalidade. Uma revisão bibliográfica indicou a necessidade de construção de materiais e estratégias para a discussão de relações entre ciência e religião na sala de aula. A partir disso, elaboramos uma narrativa histórica que pode oferecer subsídios para pautar o tema na formação de professores, além de uma proposta em que reunimos diferentes episódios da história das ciências para um debate diversificado e plural. Num trabalho majoritariamente teórico, utilizamos as metodologias de análise documental e bibliográfica, além da análise de conteúdo para a otimização e avaliação da revisão de artigos selecionados. Diferentes resultados foram obtidos no trabalho. A revisão bibliográfica pôde mapear os tipos de publicação desenvolvidas nos últimos anos e apontar caminhos para o desenvolvimento do tema no ensino de ciências. Seguindo uma dessas trilhas, propusemos um curso envolvendo diferentes momentos e personagens históricos que reúnem diversos aspectos sobre a origem e o desenvolvimento do Universo, a partir de pesquisas voltadas ao ensino de ciências. Apresentamos uma narrativa sobre aspectos da obra de Isaac Newton, que pode ser utilizada em um desses momentos propostos. Buscamos, assim, oferecer alguns subsídios para uma sensibilização dos professores a respeito do direto à crença dos estudantes, pautando contextos de diferentes âmbitos e nuances sociais que influenciam o desenvolvimento do pensamento científico. Pretendemos que essa ação reverbere e que diferentes aspectos da natureza da ciência possam ser debatidos na formação de professores. / There are many different forms of debating and analyzing the relationship between science and religion. In this project, we present some of these possibilities and also apply the approach of the history of the sciences as an interesting resource to deal with this subject in the sciences teaching. This research was developed from the concern of the increase of cases of religious intolerance and other types of intolerance, align to its impact on the classroom, possibly caused by a variety of fundamentalism that can be seen in our society. The existence of different historical episodes that associate science and religion in a contextualized and transcendent way to only one conflict allowed the development of this project. We believe that intolerant behaviors may generate cognitive dissonance in students, for example, ones who profess a religious faith and watch their worldview be disregarded or ridiculed in the sciences classes. We consider that the presentation and discussion of historical episodes, in which for different scientists or natural philosophers the science and religion were not in conflict, can reduce this obstacle, creating a favorable environment for guiding science content. Besides, intolerant actions disrespect the existing prerogatives focused on the promotion of an education for human rights and for the valorization of the interculturality. A bibliographical review indicated the need to develop material and strategies for the discussion of relations between science and religion in the classroom. From this, we elaborate a historical narrative that can offer subsidies to guide this subject in teachers training. Besides, a proposal in which we collected different episodes of the history of the sciences for a diverse and plural debate. In this mostly theoretical project, we apply the methodologies of bibliographic analysis and document analysis, in addition to the content analysis for the optimization and evaluation of the review of selected articles. Different results have been obtained in this study. The bibliographical review was able to map the types of publications developed in recent years, pointing out ways to develop the theme in science teaching. Following one of these paths, based on a research focused on science teaching, we proposed a course involving different moments and historical characters that bring together several aspects about the origin and development of the Universe. We present a narrative about aspects of the Isaac Newton\'s work, which can be applied in one of these proposed moments. We seek to offer some subsidies for teachers\' awareness of the students\' right to belief, guiding contexts of different scopes and social nuances that influence the development of scientific thinking. We intended to have this action reverberated and that different aspects of the nature of science can be discussed into teacher\'s education.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:21:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Robson Stigar.pdf: 1328246 bytes, checksum: 4d9a39e25ea80245ce3fc12aefc14d98 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The object of this research is to analyze the design of religious education in the current Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education. The hypothesis that this research is to introduce the concept of religious education provided in Article 33 of the current conception would LDB "mixed" and consists of a composition of several current and interests. Indeed there is considerable ambiguity in the wording of Article 33 of the current design of the LBD on Religious Education and its deliberations. The wording of Article 33 of the current Law of Directives and Bases of National Education has many difficulties with respect to their identity, especially as to the content curriculum, due to its ambiguity. I make the assumption that the current wording of Article 33 of that Act would have been an exit strategy and policy to please the various religious groups and nonreligious in the Brazilian society, especially the CNBB, the FONAPER, the evangelicals, other religious institutions and also the group does not own, which argues for the exclusion of religious education at school. These currents, which were present in the lobbies Congress, led to a consensus of law, by nature ambiguous, reflecting their divergent interests. The solution to present to resolve these ambiguities and overcome the malaise of the discipline of religious education is the integration of the Science of Religion as a new model for the discipline of religious education. We propose the study of secular and religious phenomenon as any other knowledge inscribed in the sphere of science that are taught in schools. We propose the adequate training of professionals with all the care that is waived for the training of professional of any other area insisted that the object of this study should be the training of citizens and not the conversion of disciples / O objeto da presente pesquisa é analisar a concepção do Ensino Religioso na atual Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional. A Hipótese que apresento nesta pesquisa é que a concepção de Ensino Religioso apresentada no artigo 33 da atual LDB seria uma concepção mista e constituída por uma composição de varias correntes e interesses. Na verdade existe uma grande ambigüidade na redação do artigo 33 da atual LBD sobre a concepção de Ensino Religioso e sobre as suas deliberações. A redação do artigo 33 da atual Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional traz inúmeras dificuldades a respeito da sua identidade, principalmente quanto ao seu conteúdo curricular, devido a sua ambigüidade. Apresento a hipótese que a atual redação do artigo 33 da referida Lei teria sido uma saída estratégica e política para agradar os vários grupos religiosos e não religiosos existentes na sociedade brasileira, principalmente a CNBB, o FONAPER, os evangélicos, as demais instituições religiosas e também o próprio grupo do não, que milita pela exclusão do Ensino Religioso no espaço escolar. Essas correntes, cujos lobbies se fizeram presente no congresso nacional, levaram a uma lei de consenso, por natureza ambígua, que reflete seus interesses divergentes. A saída que apresento para a resolução dessas ambigüidades e superação do mal estar da referida disciplina de Ensino Religioso é a inserção da Ciência da Religião como um novo modelo para a disciplina de Ensino Religioso. Propomos o estudo científico e laico do fenômeno religioso como qualquer outro conhecimento inscrito na esfera das ciências que são ensinadas nas escolas. Propomos a adequada formação desses profissionais com todo o cuidado que se dispensa para a formação de profissional de qualquer outra área Insistimos que o objeto desse estudo deve ser a formação do cidadão e não a conversão de discípulos