This thesis explores the potential role of the spiritual senses in contemporary mission. Responding to the development of a new type of non-religious spirituality known as contemporary spirituality, which has emerged in response to cultural change in the West, this thesis enters into a conversation between contemporary spirituality, contemporary Christianity and John Wesley's theme of the spiritual senses. The theme of the spiritual senses has a rich history and this thesis aims to discover if a revisit of Wesley's particular employment of the spiritual senses has the potential to offer a meaningful contribution to Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Using Gordon Lynch's application of Don Browning's revised correlation, seven key motifs within contemporary spirituality are identified as foundational and used to develop the conversation. The thesis proceeds to use these motifs namely, creation spirituality, individualism freedom and choice, innate spiritual perception, the physical senses and spirituality, the sacred within, a call to community, and religious pluralism, to embark on a conversation between contemporary spirituality and contemporary Christianity. In all of the key areas points of convergence are noted, along with some differences, and suggestions are made concerning further engagement. It is argued that, whilst the findings of this conversation, and the practical applications that flow from them, can be used to engage with contemporary spiritual seekers, nevertheless all would benefit from a renewed framework that responds more particularly to the foundational motifs of contemporary spirituality and that Wesley's application of the spiritual senses might offer this framework. Following this, an investigation of Wesley's employment of the spiritual senses, in his own terms, is embarked upon, where his key tenets are discovered. This section confirms the unity between the spiritual senses and the restoration of the life and image of God, moving from complete cognitive unawareness of God or the spiritual world, through prevenient grace to awakening and the new birth including faith, assurance and sanctification. These basic tenets are then developed showing the spiritual senses to be drawn from the creative moment, personal and yet inclusive, accessible, experiential, centered on both healing and forgiveness, based on the value of the individual, freedom, and choice, based on restored, intimate, and ongoing relationship with the creator, facilitating transformation, communal, and working in harmony with reason. Given the similarities to the key motifs of contemporary spirituality, it is affirmed that Wesley's theme of the spiritual senses has potential to make a significant contribution to the conversation between contemporary spirituality and contemporary Christianity. Finally the conversation between all three parties is developed. Here the information gathered in the previous conversation is correlated and synthesised to specifically identify the contribution that the spiritual senses might offer to contemporary mission. Based on the findings of the conversation, a reconstructed gospel message is presented that, it is argued, both correlates with the aspirations of contemporary spirituality and yet is grounded in the Christian tradition, thus affirming the significance of the role of the spiritual senses to contemporary mission.

This thesis has two overarching aims. The first aim is to understand the origins and development of temperance and abstinence in British Methodism, particularly through the theology that informed what may broadly be called the Methodist teetotal movement in its period of greatest popularity from 1830 until 1919. The second is to consider the downfall of this movement in the period from 1945 until 1974, when the Methodist Connexion adopted the view that each Methodist “must consider his personal attitude to all drugs in relation to his Christian vocation”. The need for the study arises from the relative dearth of historical investigation regarding Methodism and abstinence. Representations of Methodism and abstinence tend either to be partisan or to lack wider understanding of the abstinence movement, or the theology of Methodism. Methodologically, this thesis attempts to hold together historical and theological considerations; it is important to consider both the socio-economic contexts in which diverse abstinence and teetotal movements arose and the theological motivations that drove British Methodist belief and practice. Regarding the origins and development of temperance and abstinence in British Methodism, it is proposed in this thesis that the Bible Christians were the first organised Methodist abstainers, and that their practice was likely to have been influenced by John Wesley's theologies of sanctification, holiness and Christian perfection. The thesis is an attempt to counter the Bible Christian’s diminished historical significance, as well as to investigate the likely impact of the theological underpinnings for their abstinence. Regarding the downfall of temperance and abstinence in British Methodism in the period from 1945 until 1974, this thesis will propose that a loss of focus upon holiness as a catalyst for abstinence was detrimental to the growth and continuation of the teetotal movement throughout Methodism after World War Two. It will highlight the general rejection of this focus on encouraged abstinence in the second half of the twentieth century, acknowledging the changes and disagreement within British Methodism to which this dismissal led. Concluding comments allude to the need for a renewed witness within British Methodism to societal and theological imperatives for both temperance and abstinence.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The stature of Samuel Wesley, liturgical composer, organist, editor, lecturer and man of letters, has been obscured by the prominence of his son, Samuel Sebastian Wesley. The father's contributions have been reflected dimly in his recognition as an organist-improvisator and Bach enthusiast, and by the fleeting notoriety accorded him as another religious eccentric named Wesley. The composer's hitherto unacknowledged sacred choral compositions reflect his genius and Romantic dedication to his religious ethos in an unstable environment. Twenty-three English anthems and thirty-one Latin motets have been analyzed. The anthems are less impressive than the motets; they reflect the conservative verse anthem forms which prevailed in English sacred music after 1700. The Latin works constitute a significant contribution which marks the resurgence of English full choral traditions [TRUNCATED]. / 2031-01-01

The focus of this study is to discover the identity of the emphatic “I” of Rom 7 with the added purpose of attempting to “draw” a spiritual portrait of a mature Christian believer. To accomplish this purpose, the process is as follows: An examination of Rom 7, within its context, is conducted. This examination is followed by an attempt at determining the experience of the emphatic “I” found within Rom 7. The next step in the process is to compare the experience of the emphatic “I” of Rom 7, as found within its context of Rom 1-8 with what Paul wrote elsewhere on the experience of new life in Christ for Christian believers. The purpose of this comparison is to discover if Paul had a “consistent” portrait of spirituality and Christian maturity. The final step is to compare the experience described by Paul, both in Rom 7 and in the wider Pauline Corpus, with the experience which John Wesley called “perfection”, and with the Mystical experience called the “spiritual marriage”. The study of Romans, Wesley, and the Mystics, coupled with the wider study of the secondary literature showed that there is a remarkable consistency in the teaching and understanding that the closer a Christian believer gets to God, the more this Christian believer is aware of his or her own sinfulness. Paul, in describing the experience of the emphatic “I”, is describing a person who is becoming more and more aware of his or her own sinfulness. The conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the identity of the empathic “I” is of a regenerate Christian believer, one who is growing ever closer and closer to God and at the same time is in “pain” over the remaining effects of sin. / Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / PhD / unrestricted

The United Methodist Church (UMC) in America has seen a steady decrease in the number of millennials who regularly participate in the life of the church. In my own church, Ellensburg United Methodist Church (EUMC), one of the fears many congregants have is that while we seek to adapt in order to reach millennials, we may forfeit our Wesleyan heritage. This project seeks to develop a strategic plan to guide the growth and development of EUMC that’s focused on engaging millennials and increasing the congregation’s knowledge of our Wesleyan heritage, utilizing Aubrey Malphur’s model for advanced strategic church planning.

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / https://archive.org/details/acomparisonofrel00arms

This thesis develops a practical Wesleyan approach to leadership in conflict transformation, aimed toward guiding leaders and communities in conflict situations. The thesis analyzes a conflicted situation in the United Methodist Church (UMC) through a case study of the UMC General Conferences of 2012 and 2016, supplemented by interviews that draw wisdom from leaders in the field. It then creates a dialogue with the biblical witness, contemporary movements in pneumatology, and leadership theory. Particular attention is given to John Wesley’s pneumatological thinking and practices as a transformative leader. Both the contextual and theological analyses reveal human capacities and failures to relate with God, self, and neighbor, as well as the movements of the Holy Spirit in situations of conflict and transformation. The thesis concludes with practical guidance for UMC congregations and other bodies to support and expand the work of transformative leadership in situations of conflict.

A haptic interface is a robotic force feedback device that provides a sense of touch to users of virtual reality simulations. This thesis presents a general method for the design optimization of parallel planar haptic devices based on maximizing the manipulability of the interface over its workspace. Manipulability is selected as the key design objective to ensure avoidance of singular configurations within the workspace and to maximize the interface's ability to generate feedback forces and torques in each direction in each handle location and orientation. The optimization approach developed in this thesis results in a set of candidate designs that are found by stepping the design parameters through the range of possible values, and testing the manipulability and other measures (including workspace area and space) at each location and orientation of the interface handle. To find the optimal design, a multi-objective approach is taken to generate a set of Pareto optimal designs. A smart Pareto filter is employed to yield a smaller set of designs representative of the full Pareto frontier. The most desirable design is chosen from this reduced set. The result is a general optimization method applicable to parallel haptic interfaces. The method is demonstrated on the design of a 3-RPR parallel planar interface.

Master of Science

Esta dissertação é realizada com o intuito de reconhecer e trazer à luz a história de mulheres metodistas, engajadas na ação social da Igreja, no Rio Grande do Sul, especificamente na cidade de Viamão. Esta história é retratada através do envolvimento das mulheres que participaram deste projeto nas ações propostas pela Casa Suzana Wesley, entre os anos de 1994 a 2003, e a sua inter-relação com o Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. O conceito de cidadania e diaconia é trabalhado a partir das experiências das mulheres metodistas e sua relação com o compromisso social, decodificada do documento Plano para a Vida e a Missão da Igreja Metodista. A metodologia empregada neste trabalho é a hermenêutica crítica feminista, particularmente a categoria da suspeita e o instrumental analítico de gênero. / This thesis is carried out with the intention of recognizing and bringing to light the history of Methodist women involved in social action of the church in Rio Grande do Sul, specifically in the city of Viamão. This history is portrayed through the involvement of the women who participated in this project in the activities proposed by the Suzana Wesley House between the years of 1994 and 2003 and their interrelationship with the Statute of Children and Adolescents. The concept of citizenship and diaconate is dealt with through the experiences of Methodist women and their relation with social commitment, decodified from the document Plan for the Life and Mission of the Methodist Church. The methodology used in this study is feminist critical hermeneutics, particularly the category of suspect and the analytical instrument of gender.