In the years following the Religious Worship Census of 1851, there was a general increase in anxiety about the state of working-class churchgoing. Many prominent church leaders and social commentators believed that rapid industrialisation and urbanisation had led to the ‘alienation’ of the working classes from the practice of religious worship. The working classes were largely seen as ‘irreligious’ and not interested in aligning themselves to the customs of the rising middle classes who were seen as the stalwarts of the churches. The later nineteenth century was a time of anxiety for many clergy, and prominent social investigators, such as Charles Booth, carried out studies into the extent of poverty amongst various sections of society. A growing recognition of the problem of poverty led to some considering that financial disadvantage was a barrier to the churchgoing habits of the working classes. However, these ‘pessimistic’ perceptions of working-class churchgoing could originate from very different interpretations of the new industrial world, and from different conceptions of human nature. A large part of Karl Marx’s legacy has been his linking of ‘irreligion’ to the oppression of the ‘proletariat’ under industrial capitalism and Frederick Engels legitimised Marx’s theories with his 1845 book on the Condition of the Working Classes in England. However, part of the problem of interpreting Victorian affiliation to the churches is that so much effort has gone into either supporting or refuting the Marxist view amongst historians that the actual purpose of the enquiry has been somewhat lost. There has developed in recent years a rather disconnected debate with the ‘revisionist’ case the strongest and the belief that churches were middle-class institutions overturned by a recourse to ‘social composition analysis’. In effect, the revisionists have employed the use of the occupational analysis of churchgoers from which to discern the social ‘class’ make up of individual churches, which has provided evidence for widespread and significant working-class churchgoing. However, when this methodology is investigated, it is not hard to find critics of the use of occupational titles as a guide to nineteenth-century social ‘class’. This study is an attempt to look at churchgoing from a point of view that does not rely on occupational labels as the indicator of the social make-up of churches. Rather, it employs the use of the Scottish valuation rolls, which provided the official rented value of all properties, as a tool from which to develop a wide-ranging analysis of churchgoing, work and status in a nineteenth-century industrial town. It is, in large part, a study of housing and employment structures as gauged from a systematic analysis of the valuation rolls, the results of which are then measured against the four main Presbyterian churches of the town. The subject of the research is Falkirk because it experienced the transition from a traditional to industrial economy needed to evaluate the impact of industrialisation on working-class churchgoing. The study spans 1860 to 1890 and evaluates both points in time. It is effectively a historical investigation into the social and occupational structure of Falkirk town householders and how the main Presbyterian churches of the area reflected this societal formation. It naturally includes a large component of how social ‘status’ was ordered amongst the core householder population in terms of work, social relations, property and churchgoing. In addition, the methodology employed in the form of property valuations has produced a critique of the traditional system of classification by occupation and somewhat challenged its reliability.

The present study deals with the encounter between the diocese of Luleå and the process of modernising. The main issue is individualism as a part of modern man’s identity. What kind of individualism was it, and how did it find expression in the diocese’s perspective on faith during the first half of the 20th century? A leading idea in the thesis is that the low church profile provided the diocese with a particular readiness to meet the demands of modern culture. The starting-point of the study is Philosopher Charles Taylor’s theory on the rise of modernity’s concept of freedom and perception of the self, which includes a justification of a positive side of modern individualism and a corresponding dismissal of a negative side. This attitude opens the door for the possibility of doing greater justice to the low church emphasis on the individual person. Taylor asks, from his moral-philosophical point of view, as well as the diocese of Luleå did, whether the Christian faith would have any future in modern culture. The low church view on faith becomes dynamic-extential as it dismisses a traditional metaphysical or theoretical explanation of God as a transcendent reality. Instead the subject is given vital importance. This apprehension reflects an influence from expressivism as a new form of consciousness, in protest against the science of the 17th that separated reason from both nature and feelings. This was inherent in the diocese via pietism. However, not an outspoken anthropology, the diocese nevertheless indicates that it considers man a linguistic and self-interpreting creature. This amounts to a more suitable view on the belief in modern culture, which no longer can rely on a commonly accepted belief in an inherent order of the world as an expression of God’s intentions and will. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis deals with the concept of modernity called "nadcivilizace" ("supercivilization") that was developed in the nineteen-fifties by Czech philosopher Jan Patočka (1907-1977) in his originally unpublished study Nadcivilizace a její vnitřní konflikt. The main goal of the thesis is to introduce this concept in the framework of the author's life and work, as well as in the context of current research in the field of historical sociology. This goal is fulfilled through three main steps, which are preceded by preliminary remarks about the issues of nowadays civilizational analysis. The first part is focused on the introduction of the author's concept of modernity as it was presented in the aforementioned study. Patočka's original term "nadcivilizace" is introduced and put into the context of civilizational analysis. At the same time, the circumstances of the genesis of the text, and the spiritual framework of the epoch in which Czech philosopher lived, are presented. Second part attempts to put the original concept into the author's lecture of philosophy of history, and to demonstrate the changes that occurred in Patočka's understanding of modernity in his work Kacířské eseje o filosofii dějin (Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History, 1975). Finally, the last part is dedicated to the problem...

This dissertation falls in line with work produced during the past fifteen years or so, aimed at improving our appreciation of late medieval/early Tudor English Drama. The approach is based especially on looking at the rapport likely to be achieved between audience and players (and via the players, with the playwrights), in actual performance. Attention is given to the permanent modes of human thought, that are unaffected by the ephemeralities of a particular period; attention is therefore drawn to the traps that may mislead the unwary twentieth-century critic, and some new insights are offered into the purposes of the playwrights. Several cycle plays are treated, together with two of the moralities and two interludes. The point is made that these playwrights showed a considerable mastery of the possibilities inherent in drama, as is demonstrated by the provision for achieving rapport with the audience / The reformed churches have theological and musicological criteria for their hymns, which, however, are not always unambiguous. After the introduction of the Jeugsangbundel (1984) an informal song, with informal accompaniment, entered the worship and forms a prominent part of the singing in Dutch Reformed Churches today. Some congregations compile their own volumes of songs. This study set out to identify these congregations by means of a questionnaire and evaluate the songs. Other relevant information was also required from congregations. 21 % of the respondent congregations sing unapproved songs. They have a larger percentage of young people than those singing official songs. Congregations prefer a balance of formal and informal hymns and both are sung with equal enthusiasm. The melody is the strongest characteristic of the informal song and edification the strongest of the formal hymn. The evaluation, however, shows that a considerable number of songs do not meet the required standard / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M.A. (Musicology)

This dissertation falls in line with work produced during the past fifteen years or so, aimed at improving our appreciation of late medieval/early Tudor English Drama. The approach is based especially on looking at the rapport likely to be achieved between audience and players (and via the players, with the playwrights), in actual performance. Attention is given to the permanent modes of human thought, that are unaffected by the ephemeralities of a particular period; attention is therefore drawn to the traps that may mislead the unwary twentieth-century critic, and some new insights are offered into the purposes of the playwrights. Several cycle plays are treated, together with two of the moralities and two interludes. The point is made that these playwrights showed a considerable mastery of the possibilities inherent in drama, as is demonstrated by the provision for achieving rapport with the audience / The reformed churches have theological and musicological criteria for their hymns, which, however, are not always unambiguous. After the introduction of the Jeugsangbundel (1984) an informal song, with informal accompaniment, entered the worship and forms a prominent part of the singing in Dutch Reformed Churches today. Some congregations compile their own volumes of songs. This study set out to identify these congregations by means of a questionnaire and evaluate the songs. Other relevant information was also required from congregations. 21 % of the respondent congregations sing unapproved songs. They have a larger percentage of young people than those singing official songs. Congregations prefer a balance of formal and informal hymns and both are sung with equal enthusiasm. The melody is the strongest characteristic of the informal song and edification the strongest of the formal hymn. The evaluation, however, shows that a considerable number of songs do not meet the required standard / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Musicology)

Si Ferdinand Buisson a, du point de vue institutionnel, joué un rôle de premier plan dans l'édification de l'école laïque sous la IIIe République, il fut aussi un remarquable observateur de son temps et un penseur engagé soucieux de faire apparaître toute l'intelligibilité des différentes causes qu'il a embrassées au cours de sa longue carrière d'homme publique, du protestantisme libéral au radical-socialisme. Pour appréhender la cohérence de cet itinéraire intellectuel, la question de l'autorité offre un bon fil directeur: avant d'être envisagée en termes pédagogiques, celle-ci s'est en effet posée à Buisson de manière particulièrement vive dans le contexte théologique et ecclésiologique mouvementé qui était celui de la communauté réformée dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle. Prenant énergiquement parti pour les "libéraux" dans le débat qui les oppose alors aux "orthodoxes" quant aux statuts respectifs de l'Ecriture et de la conscience dans l'économie de la foi, Buisson esquisse dès les années 1860 une interprétation originale de la tradition protestante qu'il développera bien plus tard dans sa thèse de 1891 sur Sébastien Castellion. A la lumière de ses écrits protestants, sa philosophie de l'éducation laïque apparaît à bien des égards comme l'expression sécularisée d'un geste inaugural et profondément religieux de refus de l'autorité dans ses formes conservatrices et toutes extérieures. Loin de consister cependant en un simple développement d’une essence préexistante, la continuité de cette pensée ne se dessine qu'au gré d'un permanent travail de réécriture commandé par les contextes de discussion abordés, les arguments adverses et les situations historiques que Buisson s'est efforcé d'infléchir avec un sens consommé du kairos. Ce sont ces ajustements et infléchissements successifs de l'idéal buissonien que nous avons tenté d’appréhender depuis les jeunes heures de l'école laïque jusqu'aux premières discussions relatives à sa "démocratisation" à la veille de la première guerre mondiale. / Ferdinand Buisson did not only play a major role, as regards institutions, in the foundation of nondenominational education during the Third Republic, he was also both a talented observer of his time and a committed thinker, concerned with the intelligibility of the various causes he embraced throughout his long career as a public figure , from liberal Protestantism to radical- socialism. The coherence of his intellectual path may be apprehended through a clear issue: The question of authority. As a matter of fact, before considering it from an educational standpoint, Ferdinand Buisson had to face it acutely inthe stormy theological and ecclesiological context of the protestant community during the second half of the 19th century. He stood up vigourously for the”liberals” in their dispute against the “orthodox” concerning respectively, the status of the Scriptures and of conscience in the process of faith. As early as 1860, Ferdinand Buisson outlines an original interpretation of the protestant tradition, which he will later on develop in 1891 in his thesis about Sébastien Castellion. In the light of his protestant works, and in many respects, his philosophy of non-denominational education sounds like the secularized expression of a deeply religious inaugural gesture in refusal of authority, in its external conservative forms. Yet, far from simply expanding on a pre-existent essence, the continuity of this thinking only becomes clear through a continuous work of re-writing, induced from debates, opposing arguments and historical situations which Buisson endeavoured to reorientate with his accomplished sense of Kairos. Indeed, we have tried to apprehend those successive reorientations and realignments of Buisson’s ideal, starting from the very first days of non-denominational education to the first discussions relating to its democratization on the eve of the first World War.

Religion as Part of School Education in Various European Countries The thesis in its first part describes the state of religious situation in Europe, it deals with the history of gradual secularisation of Europe, and it goes through the current state of the society as it regards the religion in social terms. The first part of the thesis is concluded by a summary of the theoretical knowledge on religious situation in Europe as far as the teaching of religion is concerned. The second part of the thesis concentrates on teaching religion in individual European states. It is based on an empirical study conducted in sixteen European states by H.G. Ziebertz called: "How Teachers in Europe Teach Religion". The thesis presents the results of the study and concludes them into general conclusions. It analyses the current state of teaching religion in the Czech Republic in more details with respect to general social climate there.

In order to fill a gap in the literature and illustrate what a public debate on religion might look like in a country as unchurched as the Czech Republic, this thesis conducted thematic content analysis on two parliamentary debates related to church property restitution. Transcripts of the debates in The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on the 2012 Church Property Restitution Bill and the 2017-2019 Proposal to Tax Church Property Restitutions were used to answer theoretically and empirically informed questions pertaining to secularisation. The finding was that it was not religion necessarily, but rather matters of finances, legality, and procedure that figured quite prominently in the debate. Despite this, closer analysis revealed some relevant reflection on religion, most notable on in what sort of relation should churches and religious communities be with the state. The main takeaway from the research is that Members of Parliament acknowledged low individual level religiosity and did not promote something resembling the concept of vicarious religion. There speeches were on the whole interpreted to be more in line with advocating secularisation, rather than desecularisation.

Dans le chapitre du Contrat social consacré à la mort du corps politique, Rousseau rappelle que cette mort est « la pente naturelle et inévitable des Gouvernements les mieux constitués ». En effet, poursuit-il, « si Sparte et Rome ont péri, quel État peut espérer de durer toujours ? Si nous voulons former un établissement durable, ne songeons donc point à le rendre éternel ». Malgré l’avertissement de Rousseau, la tendance à rendre l’ordre politique éternel semble être un phénomène constant, jusqu’à nos jours. En témoigne l’idée d’une « fin de l’histoire » résultant de l’alliance du capitalisme et de la démocratie libérale, ou d’un modèle occidental se comprenant comme la réalisation du seul but de l’histoire, à laquelle ne s’opposeraient que des puissances « retardatrices ». À travers ces phénomènes se manifeste une « politique du temps », un discours de légitimation de l’ordre politique donnant un sens politique à sa dimension temporelle.Compris de cette manière, le problème que pose la « politique du temps » ne peut être abordé par une critique limitée à ses derniers avatars, telle la thèse de la fin de l’histoire. Il est au contraire nécessaire de remonter à la racine du problème, c’est-à-dire à la place qu’occupe cette question au sein du rapport entre temps et politique. Si la politique du temps s’avère aussi tenace, c’est en effet parce qu’elle s’inscrit dans un questionnement intrinsèquement lié à l’ordre politique, confronté à la nécessité d’assurer son « être-dans-le-temps ». La politique du temps répond à cette nécessité par une politisation du temps et de l’histoire pouvant conduire, dans sa forme extrême, à une éternisation de l’ordre politique, qui prétend alors englober la totalité du temps, du passé au futur.Compte tenu de la persistance de cette conception temporelle de l’ordre politique, de même qu’il ne suffit pas de limiter la critique à ses avatars actuels, de même serait-il impropre de la diriger contre sa seule forme extrême, dans la mesure où ce sont précisément certains discours proclamant la fin des idéologies qui tendent à reproduire aujourd’hui les structures de la politique du temps. Par conséquent, ce n’est qu’en abordant dans son ensemble le problème formé par la atemporalisation du politique et la politisation du temps qu’il est possible d’attaquer à la racine ce type de discours de légitimation, sous toutes ses formes.Pour mener à bien ce projet, deux objectifs complémentaires, correspondant aux deux fils directeurs de l’analyse, sont traités en parallèle. D’une part, nous proposons de systématiser la question du temps politique afin de montrer les grands traits communs aux phénomènes qui s’y rattachent et quelles directions s’ouvrent à la critique. Le second axe de lecture met l’accent sur les œuvres d’Eric Voegelin et de Karl Löwith en tant qu’elles apportent une contribution décisive tant à la systématisation du problème que, surtout, à son dépassement.Notre hypothèse de départ est que Löwith et Voegelin eux-mêmes sont conscients de la relation problématique entre temps et politique et cherchent, par l’intermédiaire de la dimension temporelle, à aborder un problème politique dont l’importance s’explique non seulement par la situation historique à laquelle ils sont directement confrontés, mais aussi par sa valeur systématique intrinsèque, en tant qu’il représente une évolution de la conception du politique. Tous deux sont convaincus de la nécessité de surmonter le nihilisme et l’absence de toute fondation durable en tant que tels, c’est-à-dire de surmonter la temporalisation radicale de l’ordre politique, mais également les tentatives visant à l’éterniser. C’est dans ce cadre que prennent sens leurs projets, qui cherchent à dissocier le politique et le temps et, en repensant leur relation, à éviter que tout point de référence permanent ne soit dissout par le cours du temps sans toutefois produire une éternité artificielle et absolue. / In the chapter of the Social Contract on the death of the body politic, Rousseau emphasizes that its death is “the natural and inevitable propensity even of the best constituted governments”. Indeed, he continues, “if Sparta and Rome have perished, what state can hope to last for ever? If we want the constitution we have established to endure, let us not seek, therefore, to make it eternal”. Despite Rousseau’s warning, the tendency to make the political order eternal seems to be a pervasive phenomenon even in our time, as can be seen in the idea of an “end of history” that results from the combination of capitalism and liberal democracy, or in a Western model conceived as the realisation of the sole aim of history that only “delaying” powers would resist. These are examples of a “politics of time”, a concept that refers to a type of discourse contributing to the legitimization of the political order by giving a political meaning to its temporal dimension. Understood in this way, the problem of the “politics of time” cannot be addressed by focusing only on its recent developments, such as the “end of history” thesis, it is also crucial to understand these developments in the broader context of the relation between time and politics. Consequently, only a fundamental critique can put an end to the “politics of time”. The origin of the persistence of the “politics of time” has to be traced back to an essential problem that the political order is facing, namely the necessity to ensure its existence in time. The “politics of time” answers this problem by politicizing time and history, which can lead, in its most extreme form, to an eternisation of the political order that pretends to last for all time.Considering that this temporal conception of the political order is still widely present in many contemporary discourses, it would be insufficient to limit the critique to contemporary phenomena or to the extreme forms of the politics of time in modern ideologies, since precisely some proclamations of the end of ideologies tend to repeat the structure of the politics of time. It is therefore necessary to tackle the problem of the temporalisation of politics and politicisation of time as a whole. This is the only way to question the different occurrences of this kind of legitimising discourse.To achieve this, this study has two parallel aims. First, I begin by reconstructing a systematic account of the question of political time in order to highlight the main characteristics of the phenomena that are related to it. My second aim is to analyse Eric Voegelin’s and Karl Löwith’s works regarding their contribution to the systematisation of the problem, but first and foremost insofar as they offer an answer to it.Central to this work is the claim that Löwith and Voegelin not only develop a theory of the problematic relation between time and politics, but also defend a solution to tackle this problem. This problem, as they see it, is not restricted to their particular historical situation but remains of interest as an evolution of the concept of the political itself. Both Löwith and Voegelin are convinced that nihilism and the lack of any durable foundation must be overcome as such or, in other words, that it is necessary to overcome not only the temporalisation of the political order but also the attempts to “eternalise” it. The meaning and significance of Löwith’s and Voegelin’s projects appear clearly in this framework, as they can be seen as two attempts to dissociate the political from the temporal and, by reworking this relation, to prevent the relativisation of any durable foundation in the flow of time without, however, creating an artificial and absolute eternity.

Text in German / Diese MTh Dissertation mit dem Titel Identität und Zukunft der protestantischen Denominationen in Hamburg befasst sich mit der Entwicklung protestantischer Kirchen in Hamburg und dem Bild, auf das die protestantische Landschaft möglicherweise zusteuert. Ausgangspunkt ist eine Reihe von Beobachtungen und Entwicklungen, die Raum für die Hypothese geliefert haben, dass denominationelle Unterschiede ihre Bedeutung verlieren und sowohl protestantische Zusammenarbeit als auch eine gemeinsame christliche Identität an Gewicht gewinnen werden. Die Befragung setzte einen besonderen Akzent auf das Verhältnis von liberalen und konservativen (evangelikalen) Protestanten. Die empirische Untersuchung, die sich der Methodik der Grounded Theory bediente, wie auch das umfassende Literaturstudium konnten die Hypothese im Allgemeinen bestätigen. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich die Perspektive einer stark an den Bedürfnissen der Gesellschaft orientierten kirchlichen Arbeit, die von einem deutlichen Bewusstsein des gemeinsamen Christuszeugnisses und einem ausgeprägten ökumenischen Geist getragen ist. Neben dem Ziel einer empirisch gestützten validen Zukunftsperspektive soll diese Arbeit Entscheidungshilfe und Impulspapier für christliche Leiter in Hamburg und Deutschland sein. / This MTh dissertation titled Identity and Future of Protestant Denominations in Hamburg deals with the development of protestant churches in Hamburg and the picture, the protestant landscape is possibly heading for. Initial point is a number of observations giving room for the supposition that denominational differences will loose their importance and protestant cooperation as well as a common christian identity will gain relevance. The survey put special attention on the relationship of liberal and conservative (evangelical) protestants. The empirical research, using the method of Grounded Theory, as well as the widespread literacy investigation served for – generally speaking – a confirmation of the hypothesis. As a result, it appears a perspective of a church that is strongly orientated towards the needs of society and carried by a clear awareness of the common testimony of Christ and a distinct ecumenical spirit. Besides the goal of a valid and empirically based future perspective, this work intends to be a decision aid and discussion paper for christian leaders in Hamburg and Germany. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Urban Ministry)