Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology)

La conception nietzschéenne du corps s’oppose à la conception mécaniste qui domine la science de son temps : le corps n’est pas composé d’atomes en mouvement ; il forme une hiérarchie de volontés de puissances. En même temps, le corps constitue mon moi véritable : l’existence d’un principe intellectuel extérieur au corps est une illusion. Dans la mesure où l’essence du corps est l’essence même du monde, c’est-à-dire la volonté de puissance, et que le corps constitue également le lieu de mon expérience la plus intime, il est l’authentique fil conducteur de la connaissance. Pourtant, le corps ne se révèle pas à lui-même immédiatement : en tant que volonté de puissance, il interprète, c’est-à-dire transforme et falsifie ; et une telle transformation s’opère également au sein de la conscience intime. Aussi, le corps, fil conducteur de la connaissance, est également principe d’erreur. La connaissance, qui n’est pas possible en dehors du corps, ne saurait donc pourtant être gagnée que contre le corps, c’est-à-dire au terme d’un effort ascétique. / Nietzsche’s comprehension of the body is opposed to the mechanistic conception which dominates the science of his time: the body is not composed of atoms in motion; it forms a hierarchy of wills to power. At the same time, the body is my authentic self: the existence of an intellectual principle outside the body is an illusion. Insofar as the essence of the body is the essence of the world, that is to say, the will to power, and the body also is the place of my most intimate experience, it forms the true way to knowledge. However, the body does not reveal itself to itself immediately: As will to power, he interprets, that is to say, transforms and falsifies; and such a transformation also takes place in the inner consciousness. Therefore, the body, only way to knowledge, is also principle of error. Knowledge, which is not possible outside the body, can though be won only against the body, that is to say, as result of an ascetic effort

In discussing the organization and institutions of fourth century female asceticism I attempt to apply methods used in the study of history to a topic generally regarded as theological, and therefore almost neglected by scholars of Ancient History. I concentrate on monasticism neither as generic phenomenon, nor on its spiritual aspects. Rather, I try to identify the social, economic and legal basis of a specific form (female asceticism) in a specific environment (fourth century Cappadocia and Egypt). By reconstructing the process of organization and the developing institutions of female asceticism one discerns a great variety of models, starting with those most akin to the model of the family, and ending with models which call for a complete rupture with society, while based on scrupulous observance of the Scripture. Out of a constant interaction of these two extreme forms models of integration eventually developed, which were specifically created to suit ascetic needs. The survival of these synthesized organizational models depended on their practicality, and on the personality and doctrinal affiliation of charismatic leaders associated with them. The process of the organization of female asceticism is not isolated; it is important to the general development of early Christianity. It illustrates a problem central to Church History: the conflict between institutions and sectarian enthusiasm. The study of this process highlights the methods employed by the hierarchy in solving the paradoxical task of restraining extremes which grow from the teachings of the very Gospel the hierarchy propagates.

This thesis aims to restore the balance of modern investigations into Christian asceticism and anthropology by reading the texts of Sts. Irenaeus and Clement within their theological perspectives, and thereby examine the presuppositions determining how we think about sexual difference. In the Introduction I examine the projects of M. Foucault and P. Brown, arguing that they do not remain faithful to the concerns of the texts which they treat. In Part One, I show how asceticism, for Irenaeus, is the expression of the human living the life of God in the body, that which is most characteristically human and the image of God. Sexuality is fundamental to human existence, forming a permanent part of the framework within which humans grow towards God. This growth results from humans acting responsively to the creative activity of God. That God is the source of the life which is lived by humans, demands an openness on their part towards God. Any attempt to avoid the reality of their created nature, for instance, through a self-imposed continence, overturns the basic structure of this relationship. In Part Two, I consider the asceticism proposed by Clement, which strives, through human effort, to achieve a godlike life, buttressing the rational mind, that which is properly human and in the image of God, by the exercise of virtues, so protecting it from disturbances, especially those arising from the body and the vulnerability of dependency. Whilst Clement has a vivid sense of the new life granted in baptism, and praises marriage, this desire for a divine life leads inexorably to the restriction of human sexuality to the function of procreation and its redundancy thereafter. After summarizing, I indicate possible lines for further investigation, and suggest that only within the Irenaean perspective can the issue of sexual difference be raised meaningfully.

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology)

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

Cette thèse analyse la Correspondance de Jérôme comme une pratique sociale, dans sa forme littéraire et dans son contenu idéologique. Les lettres de Jérôme exposent et promeuvent l’idéal de vie ascétique qui repose sur l’expérimentation de divers types de souffrances. Le moine développe une pluralité de discours pour répondre aux besoins de la pluralité de son lectorat et des différents contextes sociaux et culturels auxquels il fait face.Les pensées philosophiques grecques et stoïciennes concevaient les pratiques ascétiques comme des entraînements à la vertu. Jérôme a dressé des parallèles entre disciplines et techniques ascétiques profanes et chrétiennes. L’ascèse hiéronymienne prend appui sur ces différentes traditions pour former un modèle de vie ascétique inédit.L’ascétisme promu par Jérôme change de forme et d’intensité entre sa jeunesse, son échec érémitique à Chalcis et sa rencontre avec le cercle de l’Aventin. Il se fait progressivement le chantre d’une ascèse présentée comme modérée et forge un nouvel ethnotype de l’ascète à partir de l’ethnotype du noble romain. Le moine tourne le dos au message évangélique et diffuse un ascétisme réservé aux nobles : dans une logique propagandiste, il produit un nouveau type de prestige spirituel qui transcende le prestige social.L’importance de la figure de l’ascète dans le discours hiéronymien pose la question de sa fonction sociale. Les grands ascètes se caractérisent par leur mépris pour les activités profanes et par leur patience face aux rigueurs et aux souffrances : ils sont indispensables à la société du IVème siècle pour susciter et préserver le dégoût des plaisirs faciles chez les fidèles. / This thesis analyzes Jerome's Correspondence as a social practice, in its literary form and in its ideological content. Jerome's letters expose and promote the ideal of ascetic life which is based on the experimentation of various types of suffering. The monk develops a plurality of discourses to meet the needs of the plurality of his readership and the different social and cultural contexts that he faces.The Greek and Stoic philosophical thoughts conceived ascetic practices as entrainments to virtue. Jerome has established parallels between philosophical and Christian ascetic disciplines and techniques. The monk’s asceticism based on these different traditions creates a new model of ascetic life.The form and the intensity of the asceticism promoted by Jerome change between his youth, his eremitical failure at Chalcis and his encounter with the circle of the Aventine. The monk progressively promotes an asceticism presented as moderate. He forges a new ethnotype of the ascetic from the ethnotype of the Roman noble. The monk turns his back on the gospel message and spreads an asceticism restricted to the nobles : his propaganda campaign produces a new type of spiritual prestige that transcends social prestige.The importance of the figure of the ascetic in Jerome’s discourse raises the question of its social function. The great ascetics are characterized by their contempt for secular activities and by their patience to face austerities and sufferings. They are essential to the society of the fourth century to arouse and preserve the disgust of easy pleasures among the faithful.

This essay explores the concept of soul in the theology of Sarah Coakley. This is done by analyzing the ideas in Coakleys work descriptively. The notion of soul has been found to have a close connection to two of Coakleys main ideas, those of desire and asceticism. From these ideas I have tried to add a concept of soul to Coakleys theological work.  The notion of the soul has its basis in the material body and its desires. Coakley understands the desires of the body as both sexual desire and desire for God. In her theology desire can be understood as a metaphor for the soul´s longing for God. From the desires of the material body this essay have shown that one can design a concept of soul in Coakleys theology. I argue that you can understand Coakleys theology better theoretically by engaging a concept of soul instead of just focusing on contemplative prayer as a way of reaching God and do academic theology. With a concept of soul in Coakleys theology it can work regardless of confession or religious practice and it makes the academic theology possible without depending on contemplation.

The dissertation examines the life narrative of Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa (1357-1419), the influential founder of the Ganden school of Tibetan Buddhism, primarily through the lens of the bodhisattva path to enlightenment, a topic that animates much of Indian Buddhist literature and Tsongkhapa’s own writings. Over the course of five chapters, the dissertation (1) contextualizes Tsongkhapa’s social, political, and historical circumstances, the limiting factors for that narrative; (2) explores the social nature of life narratives themselves, particularly Tibetan Buddhist ones, and the many sources on which Tsongkhapa drew in creating a self in relation to the bodhisattva ideal; (3) analyses the topic of asceticism as a constellation of practices that embody traditional ideals, which the dissertation uniquely relates to both monastic and, perhaps surprisingly, tantric discipline in the construction of a bodhisattva/would-be buddha self; (4) synthesizes several themes within Tsongkhapa’s oeuvre in relation to the bodhisattva path to enlightenment, highlighting the irreducibly social nature of embodied enlightenment; and (5) proposes that Tsongkhapa’s social activities, specifically his so-called Four Great Deeds, instantiate the ideal of the enlightened self’s acting within society, specifically his context of fifteenth-century Central Tibet. The dissertation relies primarily on Tsongkhapa’s brief intellectual autobiography, Excellent Presence, his earliest biography, Haven of Faith, a number of Tsongkhapa’s systematic writings, and a variety of primary and secondary sources that contextualize elements of the historical, sociological, religious, and theoretical analyses presented throughout the five chapters. In biographies of Tibetan Buddhist figures, emphasis on the hagiographic tends to obscure the social, political, and historical contexts in which their subjects act, which in turn tends to reinforce the Weberian notion of Buddhism as an individualist path. Emphasis on individual achievement (simultaneously including yet excluding lineages, practices, philosophical positions, and so on) tends to reinforce the inverse, Foucauldian notion that this is a deliberate attempt to obscure various power struggles that actually define religious actors and institutions. In the case of Tsongkhapa, modern scholarship has tended to present the remarkable success of his Ganden school either to his individual genius in advancing (allegedly) unique philosophical positions or to social facts (e.g., his efforts at monastic reform), political facts (e.g., Phagdru dominance over rival Sakya), and historical facts (e.g., Mongol allegiance to his successors) largely unrelated to his personal charisma, erudite scholarship, or social impact. As a sort of middle way between these extremes, it is possible to locate within these contexts the specific achievements of the individual who is—according to both general Buddhist understanding and contemporary theorists in philosophy, psychology, literary studies, and sociology—deeply socialized. As social documents, life narratives, inclusive of biography and hagiography, function as indices of tradition, just as do practices of monastic and tantric asceticism, all with goals of embodying the principles articulated in the systematic literature within the social, political, and historical contexts to be transcended. This ideal, then, proves to be fully situated within social contexts, and Tsongkhapa’s Four Great Deeds instantiate it in relation to both individual achievements of asceticism and the institutionalization of communal and educational capacities to replicate the processes engendering this ideal, buddhahood. In sum, Tsongkhapa’s life narrative expresses the expectations and ideals of Tibetan Buddhist culture in a way that proves complementary to systematic presentations and to “lived” practices of monastic and tantric asceticism.

Ascetic Citizens: Religious Austerity and Political Crisis in Anglo-American Literature, 1681-1799, attends to a number of scenes of voluntary self-restraint in literary, political, and religious writings of the long eighteenth century, scenes that stage, what Alexis de Tocqueville calls, “daily small acts of self-denial” in the service of the nation. Existing studies of asceticism in Anglo-American culture during the period are extremely slim. Ascetic Citizens fills an important gap in the scholarship by re-framing religious practices of seclusion and self-denial as a broadly-defined set of civic practices that permeate the political, religious, and gender discourses of late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Anglo-American culture. This thesis focuses on the transatlantic relevance of the ascetic citizen—a figure whose rhetorical utility derives from its capacity, as a marker of political and religious moderation, to deploy individual practices of religious austerity as a means of suturing extreme political binaries during times of political crisis. My conception of asceticism’s role in Anglo-American society is informed by an understanding of ascetic citizenship as a cluster of concepts and cultural practices linking the ascetic’s focus on bodily control to republican theories of political subjectivity. The notion that political membership presupposes a renunciation of personal liberties on the part of the individual citizen represents one of the key assumptions of ascetic citizenship. The future guarantee of individual political rights is ensured by present renunciations of self-interest. As such, the ascetic citizen functions according to the same economy by which the religious ascetic’s right to future eternal reward is ensured by present acts of pious self-abnegation. That is to say, republican political liberty is enabled by what we might call an ascetic prerequisite in which the voluntary self-sacrifice of civic rights guarantees the state’s protection of such rights from the infringements of one’s neighbour. While the abstemious nature of ascetic practice implies efficiency grounded in economic frugality, bodily self-restraint, and physical isolation, the ascetic citizen functions as the sanctioned perversion of a normative devotional practice that circumvents the division between profane self-interest and sacred disinterestedness. The relevance of ascetic citizenship to political culture is its political fluidity, its potential to exceed the ideological functions of the dominant culture while revealing the tension that exists between endorsement of, and dissent from, the civic norm. Counter-intuitively, the ascetic citizen’s practice is marked by a celebration of moderation, of the via media. Forging a space at the threshold between endorsement/dissent, the ascetic citizen maps the dialectic movement of cultural extremism, forging a rhetorically useful site of ascetic deferral characterized by the subject’s ascetic withdrawal from making critical decisions. Ascetic Citizens provides a detailed investigation of how eighteenth-century Anglo-American authors such as Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Hannah Webster Foster, and Charles Brockden Brown conceive of individual subjectivity as it exists in the pause or retired moment between competing political orders.