Even in our secular age, the sacred continues to be a powerful cognitive space in the landscape of the imagination. I am a Roman Catholic and amongst those who struggle to exist both in the structured universe of the sacred, and the contemporary plurality of the city. The mystery of the incarnation provides a theological argument for the indwelling of the Spirit in creation through time. With the advent of secularism however, it is possible to conceive of a time outside the sacred. Tension within theology in academia, faith in politics, or religion in a pluralistic society, reveals a boundary between our beliefs and our public face which becomes a rigid barrier – distinct as the private and public. Conflicting temporal structures of the sacred and secular give definition to this divide. Architecture has historically placed itself as interlocutor, negotiating complex thresholds in order to engage meaning. Contemporary sacred architecture, however, has avoided confrontation with the public realm. Thick edges distinguish the realms of the sacred and the quotidian. This thesis engages the border between the sacred and the secular. An analysis of the temporal structures of contemporary sacred space and its civic environment opens up an exploration of one such border around St. Basil’s Church in Toronto. The definition of a threshold at this edge challenges our contemporary divide by exploring potential transitions. Between the church and the street, architecture inhabits the edge, expanding and articulating connections. Methods are explored for constructing built forms which promote a transition between, and interaction of, sacred and secular temporalities. At this threshold, individual creativity provides metaphors for ontology. Crossing this threshold creates opportunities for overlap between the time of the sacred and the time of the secular. These transitions challenge how we imagine both the church and the city in contemporary architecture.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. For 6 solo sopranos, women's chorus, string orchestra, percussion, harp, piano, and celesta. Accompanying tape includes recording of work.

This essay examines the role religion plays in kindergarten. Today, the Swedish kindergarten provides child care for a secular and multicultural society where religion is considered a private matter that should not influence government nor the policy documents of kindergarten and elementary school. According to a study by Jenny Berglund, there is a so-called Protestant bias present in the Swedish elementary school. Protestant bias is shaped by a ”marinade” of liberal Protestant Christianity and has an indirect influence on how other religions are described, how religion is defined and how concepts such as religion, tradition or culture are viwed. The study was also based on Ninian Smart’s dimensions of religion, which correlates to Berglund’s theory on Protestant bias. If Berglund’s theory could be applied to the results of this study, some of Smart’s dimensions would probably appear as well, some more prominently than others. The results demonstrated that some dimensions were indeed more prominent than others in the informants’ definitions of religion. This study showed that there is a Protestant bias regarding what feasts are celebrated and how concepts such as religion, tradition and culture are viewed. The study also showed that there might be an additional secular bias present in the results. This was also indicated by some unexpected answers where the explanation could not be attributed to a purely Protestant bias. The secular bias indicates that the view of religion has been modified. The reason for this transformation is analyzed with the help of the examplar view theory.

"This We Have Now" is a five-movement work inspired by various spiritual texts, some liturgical, while others more secular in approach. Each one is connected by several motives that are eventually reunited within the final movement. The title comes from a poem under the same name by Rumi (1207-1273), which serves as the crux for the underlying, grander arch of this spiritually inspired work. This synthesis of sacred and secular, traditional with contemporary, is a personal expression of my own beliefs and a musical representation of the interconnecting belief systems throughout the world. / text

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Psychology has systematically entered and even taken possession of the field (sphere) of Biblical counselling. A number of studies have already been assumed regarding theology and psychology. The underlying problem remains: which theology is compared with which psychological paradigm. The reformed pastor finds his grounding in the five solae of the reformation as it is named in the formulae of unity. Four paradigms are recognized in psychology. Each has its own key figure. The doctrine and life of these key figures have been examined. The finding was that these people, inclusively, had above average exposure to Scripture and has yet denied it at the cost of a faith in the capability of the individual to work his own salvation. The result is that none of these paradigms is reconcilable with the reformed pastorate / Thesis (M.A. (Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

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The purpose of this thesis is to analyze my piece for orchestra and chorus, Apokalypsis, which was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music in Composition. An attempt will be made to present a complete analysis of the pitch and rhythmic structures, as well as important orchestration procedures, and to formulate a method of analyzing music that integrates elements of both "Function" and "non-functional" tonality.

Psychology has systematically entered and even taken possession of the field (sphere) of Biblical counselling. A number of studies have already been assumed regarding theology and psychology. The underlying problem remains: which theology is compared with which psychological paradigm. The reformed pastor finds his grounding in the five solae of the reformation as it is named in the formulae of unity. Four paradigms are recognized in psychology. Each has its own key figure. The doctrine and life of these key figures have been examined. The finding was that these people, inclusively, had above average exposure to Scripture and has yet denied it at the cost of a faith in the capability of the individual to work his own salvation. The result is that none of these paradigms is reconcilable with the reformed pastorate / Thesis (M.A. (Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Charles Taylor writes that identity emerges from the reflection upon, and articulation of ones lived experience. This account of identity precludes psychology from taking a natural science approach to the study of identity, or the self. Psychology has emerged within secular society, and the relation between psychology and religion is examined here. This examination clarifies the role of psychology as an authority on identity. This thesis proposes that the role of psychology is to promote articulacy about the ideal of authenticity. In this way, psychology can address problems arising from individualism in modernity, and can serve as an authority on identity, complementing the other possible authorities on identity present in secular society, including religion.