In this thesis I attempt to illustrate that there is common ground between Christianity and Islam in the area of spirituality. The procedure taken is one of describing the spiritual path from the perspectives of al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) and St. Teresa of Ávila (d. 1582) in a comparative manner. The three-fold categorization of the spiritual path as consisting of the stages of purgation, illumination, and union, is used to provide the format for this comparison. Chapter one deals with biographical material and historical contexts, noting similarities in their experiences, contexts, and contributions. Chapter two discusses the beginning stage of the spiritual path — purgation — dealing with the requirements of renunciation of the world and of one's self, repentance and the battle of the spirit with and victory over the flesh. The next stage — illumination — comprises chapter three. Here it is seen how the purgation of the self from all vice is a prerequisite to receiving divine manifestations to the soul. The roles of prayer, obedience, and the cultivation of virtues are discussed. Union, the final stage, is dealt with in chapter four. The meaning of union is discussed, including its various degrees, and how the mystic is consequently transformed. The conclusion summarizes the findings of the previous chapters. It is seen that there is a great deal of commonality in the teachings of al-Ghazālī and St. Teresa; but differences also arise marking their spiritualities as being uniquely Muslim and Christian, respectively. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

Thesis advisor: André Brouillette / Thesis advisor: Colleen Griffith / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Thesis advisor: André Brouillette / Thesis advisor: Colleen M. Griffith / This thesis studies Celibate Friendship in the Christian Tradition from the perspectives of Aelred of Rievaulx and Teresa of Avila. Both of them taught and modelled celibate friendship in response to their vocation as religious, in their time and space. It is the desire to reclaim authentic Christian living through friendship as lived and taught by Aelred of Rievaulx and Teresa of Avila, that necessitate this study. I realized that Aelred and Teresa's doctrine on spritual friendship is basically Christ-centered. It begins with Christ, proceeds in Christ and ends in Christ. Aelredian and Teresian celibate friendship is essentially love for God and humanity. It is incarnational, communal, apostolic and scripture-based. It teaches authentic way of living the Gospel values of love, unity, justice, peace and joy in the contemporary world. Religious life as a charismatic gift to the Church, is a most appropriate vocation for Christian witnessing through celibate friendship as taught and modeled by Aelred of Rievaulx and Teresa of Avila. To live Aelredian and Teresian sprirituality of celibate friendship in the twenty-first century, religious men and women need to be versatile in knowledge, sustained by on-going formation on the subject matter. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-09-13T11:40:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Joyce de Freitas Ramos.pdf: 1243002 bytes, checksum: 4820e515279a2834fa1bb912b5eb4f16 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-13T11:40:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joyce de Freitas Ramos.pdf: 1243002 bytes, checksum: 4820e515279a2834fa1bb912b5eb4f16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-30 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Having the objective of trying to find ways for women to express their selves within the Spanish convents in the XVIth century through the contact with the Mystical Theology, the present work will concentrate on the analyses of sources written by Saint Teresa of Avila. The vast textual production, which guaranteed her the title first Doctor for the Catholic Church, and her reformative movement within the religious life made her a model for female sanctity in her own time and for the following centuries. The study of her work may lead us to realize her place of action and her condition of reader, reformer and writer, all of which are characteristics that seemed unreachable to a woman in Modern Spain / Com o objetivo de tentar encontrar formas de expressão feminina dentro dos conventos espanhóis do século XVI através do contato com a Teologia Mística, o seguinte trabalho se debruçará na análise das fontes escritas por Santa Teresa de Ávila. A ampla produção textual, que lhe garantiu o título de primeira Doutora da Igreja Católica, e seu movimento reformador dentro da vida religiosa a transformaram em um modelo de santidade feminina para sua época e para os séculos que a seguiram. O estudo de sua obra pode nos levar a perceber seu lugar de ação e sua condição de leitora, reformadora e escritora, todas características que pareceriam inalcançáveis para uma mulher na Espanha Moderna

This study sets out to determine whether Teresa of Ávila's spirituality, especially her treatise, The Interior Castle, can still provide an appropriate guide for the journey to God in the world of the 21st century. This remarkable book offers a particularly unique contribution to Christian literature. To accomplish this goal, a study of the nature of Christian Spirituality is undertaken, followed by a brief history of Christian spirituality. This provides a backdrop for an examination of the historical setting against which the Interior Castle was written. The study then explores the seven mansions of the Interior Castle to gain an understanding of the journey to God and examines some of the most important and recurring themes in the book. The stages and forms of prayer which are central to the Interior Castle are discussed and the mystical experiences of the 'dark night of the spirit' and union with God are analysed. Lastly, the findings are evaluated to ascertain whether Teresa's writings are still relevant in this contemporary era for those embarking upon the journey towards God. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This study sets out to determine whether Teresa of Ávila's spirituality, especially her treatise, The Interior Castle, can still provide an appropriate guide for the journey to God in the world of the 21st century. This remarkable book offers a particularly unique contribution to Christian literature. To accomplish this goal, a study of the nature of Christian Spirituality is undertaken, followed by a brief history of Christian spirituality. This provides a backdrop for an examination of the historical setting against which the Interior Castle was written. The study then explores the seven mansions of the Interior Castle to gain an understanding of the journey to God and examines some of the most important and recurring themes in the book. The stages and forms of prayer which are central to the Interior Castle are discussed and the mystical experiences of the 'dark night of the spirit' and union with God are analysed. Lastly, the findings are evaluated to ascertain whether Teresa's writings are still relevant in this contemporary era for those embarking upon the journey towards God. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

My dissertation gives the first analysis of misery in the thought of Aquinas and Teresa of Ávila, providing new insight into their ideas of happiness through means of contrast. I use the terms “misery” and “happiness” in a traditional sense to indicate life lived poorly or well, respectively, and I investigate these notions in Aquinas’ and Teresa’s principal texts, especially the Summa Theologiae and The Interior Castle. Both thinkers identify misery as a privation of God: a lack of the share in God’s goodness that one ought to have. Both see the escape from misery as a process of perfecting the soul’s faculties of intellect and will to unite one to God. For Aquinas, happiness is essentially an intellectual perfection: knowledge of God. Conversely, misery is an intellectual defect: lack of the knowledge of God that one ought to have. Moreover, Aquinas so analyzes “ought” that misery is a lack of what is naturally desired. Perfect happiness comes with the full understanding of God that one can only attain in heaven, but a middle ground exists between perfect happiness and misery. Even in this life, one can attain “imperfect happiness,” and the analysis of misery helps to clarify this obscure notion. The imperfectly happy have not acquired their consummate perfection, but understand as much about God as nature presently compels them to desire to know. A right will is both necessary and sufficient for escaping misery and obtaining happiness. The will depends on the intellect in such a way that it cannot desire correctly unless the intellect understands correctly. Moreover, sin colors one’s perception of reality, so that evil desire in the will causes error and ignorance in the intellect. Thus, one escapes misery if and only if one chooses to love God as one’s ultimate end. For Teresa, happiness is the union with God through knowledge and love for which the soul was made, and misery is the lack of this union. The soul escapes misery by developing a relationship with God in contemplative prayer, and Teresa illustrates happiness and misery through the titular metaphor of The Interior Castle. Notably, happiness requires that one’s union with God become perfectly secure, and I identify an intellectualist strain in Teresa that implies that the will cannot become perfectly committed to God unless the intellect can become perfectly firm in its certainty that God is the sole good. The quest for certainty is difficult, since like Descartes who will follow her, Teresa posits the existence of a deceiving demon with considerable influence over all the soul’s powers. Against that threat, Teresa claims to find certainty through mystical experience. God is Truth, containing and grounding all other truths. In the “spiritual marriage,” the soul sees God’s Triune nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, really three distinct persons yet one substance. The directness of this vision provides a certainty which no deception can overcome.