Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-76).

This thesis examines current radical liberal Christian activism in the Southern United States through focusing upon a particular intentional community located in Atlanta, Georgia, The Open Door Community. Through praxis and reflection, this community has developed its own unique practice and theology that I have termed “Liberation Gospel.” This thesis analyzes and describes a unique community in order to understand where the community succeeds, and where it does not, in putting its theological beliefs into practice. This very liberal community does not distinguish between their politics and their theology.

This dissertation explores the simultaneous rise of megachurches and Prosperity Theology within the black church. Recognizing that the megachurch and Prosperity Theology represent two separate phenomena within contemporary religion, I also acknowledge the tendency to regard them as being synonymous. My research begins with an examination of the traditional African American church and pastor, and an exploration of the recent growth of megachurches within the black community. In an attempt to better understand the Prosperity Gospel, I evaluated it in comparison to the Social Gospel, discovering the similarities and differences between the two movements. Considering that there is no consensus as to how Prosperity Theology is defined, I examine the various ways in which it has been defined by African American megachurch pastors. In particular, I assess the ways in which Prosperity Theology represents an extension of the traditions of the black church and its emphasis on economic, social, and political empowerment. This dissertation compares the ministries of Dr. Creflo Dollar, Senior Pastor of Atlanta Georgia’s World Changers Church International and Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Both are regarded as proponents of Prosperity Theology, however, they advance significantly different approaches to prosperity and Prosperity Theology. An examination of the teachings of Dr. Dollar and Bishop Walker indicate that Dr. Dollar’s beliefs put him at odds with many traditionalists in the black church. In contrast, Bishop Walker’s ministry more closely resembles that of a traditional African American church. These findings are further supported by the responses of their churches’ members. The research conducted suggests that Prosperity Theology may be useful in facilitating the goals of economic, social, and political empowerment historically advocated by the black church.

The legacy of James Shaver Woodsworth, according to the traditional biographies, has been an indelible one on the Canadian historical landscape. His biographers have elevated Woodsworth to not only a hero of the Canadian political left, but of the whole nation. Studies of Woodsworth’s life have traditionally rested their case on All Peoples’ Mission in Winnipeg, calling it a watershed moment in the ideological development of J. S. Woodsworth. They characterize his time as Superintendent, from 1908-1913, as the defining moment which would later lead him to found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. This Master’s thesis seeks to analyze the historical periphery of this period in order to illustrate Woodsworth’s standard approach to the Social Gospel in Canada. By employing a micro-historical methodology, a greater context reveals that All Peoples’ Mission was not the dynamic, revolutionary institution that his biographers describe. Instead, Woodsworth spent his time in Winnipeg experimenting with different and sometimes conflicting philosophies. This stage of Woodsworth’s ideological development can instead be best characterized by his strong nativist beliefs. His writings and speeches during this period indicate a struggle between Woodsworth’s understanding of assimilation and integration. James Shaver Woodsworth was a far more complex character during this period than his biographers would have us believe.

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-76).

Thomas Dixon (1864-1946) has won a singular place in history as a racial ideologue and an exemplar of Southern racism. The historical evidence, however, suggests Southern culture was only one of a variety of intellectual influences, and, though highly visible in most famous works, not Dixon’s primary concern. Rather, his discussions of the South are framed within larger intellectual debates over the region as a whole, and how it related to the rest of the nation. Throughout his life, Dixon helped shape and articulate those values in the formation of a new American identity at the turn-of-the-century. By incorporating the methods of intellectual biography, whiteness studies, literary analysis, and cultural studies into the scholarly approaches of history, this work enlarges the historical understanding of Dixon through the examination of his very long life and varied career and the exploration of his equally diverse and numerous writings, both personal and public. This project’s end goal is to enrich historical understanding of how national identity is interpreted, constructed, and shaped over time, and the many different components influencing its formation. This research found that defining what is and is not American built on and responded to the major issues of a specific historical context. Dixon’s, and the nation’s larger attempts at defining the terms of Americanism became increasingly complicated during key national turning points, such as the Spanish-American War, the economic depressions of the 1890s, and political realignments at the turn-of-the-century. Analyzing Dixon’s works revealed the influence of the various forces that reshaped American identity, including race theories, scientific advancements, immigration, sectional reconciliation, imperialism, and religion. This work concludes that national identity construction is fluid, and that researchers must consider the importance of historical context in analyses of ideology and cultural trends.

The legacy of James Shaver Woodsworth, according to the traditional biographies, has been an indelible one on the Canadian historical landscape. His biographers have elevated Woodsworth to not only a hero of the Canadian political left, but of the whole nation. Studies of Woodsworth’s life have traditionally rested their case on All Peoples’ Mission in Winnipeg, calling it a watershed moment in the ideological development of J. S. Woodsworth. They characterize his time as Superintendent, from 1908-1913, as the defining moment which would later lead him to found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. This Master’s thesis seeks to analyze the historical periphery of this period in order to illustrate Woodsworth’s standard approach to the Social Gospel in Canada. By employing a micro-historical methodology, a greater context reveals that All Peoples’ Mission was not the dynamic, revolutionary institution that his biographers describe. Instead, Woodsworth spent his time in Winnipeg experimenting with different and sometimes conflicting philosophies. This stage of Woodsworth’s ideological development can instead be best characterized by his strong nativist beliefs. His writings and speeches during this period indicate a struggle between Woodsworth’s understanding of assimilation and integration. James Shaver Woodsworth was a far more complex character during this period than his biographers would have us believe.

This study’s focus is Jesus’ significant representation of the kingdom of God utilizable for mission today – a topic of importance for contemporary Christianity’s sustainable reaction to a globalizing world. Christianity should not have to be a spectator to globalization but one of its agents, one of the forces at work by extending interconnection between peoples, shared ideas and promoted social, political and cultural links. How should Christian churches conceive of their mission within the context of a globalizing world? It is remarkable that after two millennia of Jesus’ life, ‘mission in the kingdom of God’ is still of great importance for human life on earth. Indeed, contemporary secularists might not commend religion with the custody of such a fundamental burden of responsibility. Yet, considering the times we live in, a foundation of sustainable values for earth are inescapably important. Nevertheless, from what foundational values does Christianity draw to bear witness of the divine in a secular age? When considering all the factors mentioned, what foundational ethics and virtues of Christianity that we bear witness to are still believable in a secular age? The purpose of this study is not to provide a complete response to the question of mission of the church in a globalizing world, but to establish a framework within which answers may be sought. The study is informed from a variety of disciplines such as politics, cultural theory and politics, which are not the usual fields of New Testament Studies. Therefore, this study presents itself in five chapters informing one another. Chapter 1 addresses the issues that surface from current missional reaction and the broader implications that globalization has on changing social and institutional realities and the churches’ response to it. Chapter 2 identifies indispensable characteristics of the early twentieth century Social Gospel movement to implement those values as essential building blocks in globalized mission. In Chapter 3 investigates the potential use of Postcolonial Theory for categorizing postcolonial characteristics of marginalization, oppression, neo-imperialism and neocolonialism. Chapter 4 applies the outcomes of Chapter 1 through 3 with which Richard Horsley’s proposed perspective on Jesus’ mission in Roman Palestine as the ‘renewal of Israel’ is considered to discern about the first century world and the implications it has for the third millennium. The Christian faith, among others, has marginalizing practices derived from centuries old traditions and biased interpretations of Scripture. We see examples of it strewn over two millennia. Chapter 5 concludes this cursory study by summarizing the valuable and constructive characteristics in mission, globalization, postcolonial studies and the Social Gospel. These characteristics can inform the Christian faith in its responsibility of living, and letting others participate, through ‘mission’, in the kingdom of God. Because if we do not, what is still believable today about the significant life of Jesus? / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / New Testament Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

Public administration literature lacks richness and context regarding the moral history of the founding of the field in the early 1900s. As a result, current calls for "recapturing the soul" of public administration have failed to stimulate a theory-or even a working understanding-of how to "rehydrate" the observed desiccation of public life and revivify the concept of the public interest. In correcting the historical record, this dissertation shows that the "soul" of public administration stemmed from the field's deep roots in the social gospel movement of the early 20th century. For that short period, the nascent field was not viewed as a bastardization of constitutional order, but as a noble endeavor in which beloved sons and daughters participated in their nation's governance. As a representative character of that era, Charles M. Sheldon serves as an exemplar of a citizen administrator whose sojourn into the public square was characterized by deep faith, empathy for the common person and commitment to action-regardless of the personal cost. His optimism, innovation and creativity stand in sharp relief to today's dispirited and over-regulated public work force. Sheldon's best-selling book, In His Steps (1896), stands as a pre-modern parable for moral decision-making in a dynamic and uncertain postmodern environment. In allowing for uncertainty, discourse and experimentation, the book's operative question, "What would Jesus do?" enriches our understanding of normative theory as process. It also offers back the field's lost "soul" in the way of submission, empathy, covenant, grace and hope. / Ph. D.

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