A commonly used argument for the reliability of the first witnesses to the resurrection is that the apostles willingly died as martyrs for their faith. It is often claimed that all the apostles, except John, faced martyrdom. And yet until now, there has been no thorough scholarly evaluation of this claim. This dissertation demonstrates that (1) all the apostles were willing to die for their faith, and (2) a number of them actually did experience martyrdom. Their willingness to face persecution and martyrdom indicates more than any other conceivable course their sincere conviction that, after rising from the dead, Jesus indeed appeared to them. This dissertation takes a historical approach, which involves studying various sources that include the New Testament, the Apostolic Fathers, secular writers, and pseudepigraphical texts, such as the Acts of the Apostles, and Gnostic sources. The evidence for each apostle is examined with a scale that ranges from not possibly true (certainly not historical) to the highest possible probability (nearly historically certain). There are a few key steps to be established in this research. First, Christianity was a resurrection movement since its inception. The belief of the apostles was rooted in their conviction that Jesus rose from the dead. Second, the apostles were the closest followers of Jesus during his life and then were eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Paul and James are included along with the Twelve. Third, Christians really suffered and died for their faith beginning at the end of the first century. These three points provide the context and likelihood the apostles were martyred for proclaiming the name of Jesus. Fourth, the evidence for each apostle is examined and compared with a historical grid. Fifth, objections are considered and rebutted. While there is considerable evidence for the martyrdoms of apostles such as Peter, Paul and James the son of Zebedee, much less evidence exists for many of the others, such as Matthias and James the son of Alphaeus. Still, it is clear the apostles were all willing to die for reporting what they believed to be true and that many in fact did.

The purpose of this thesis is to indicate the extent to which nineteenth century eucharistic thought and practice underwent a process of change within the Church of Scotland. It seeks also to identify those aspects of the Sacrament which were The thesis begins by showing that the older Scottish Reformed Communion did not remain intact, either in form or in theological emphasis. Within a century of the inauguration of Reformed discipline and teaching, such was the diversity of belief A review of the relevant literature of the first half of the nineteenth century reveals that much of the debate on the Lord's Supper in Scotland focussed upon the issue of the frequency of celebration. There is no doubt that the prevailing pract The early nineteenth century debate over the matter of frequency also draws attention to that epoch's preoccupation with the death of Christ as an aspect of sacramental thought which received undue consideration, overshadowing the old Reformed The thesis goes on to attribute such an understanding to the predominance of the federal or covenant theology within the Church of Scotland. An examination is made of the origin and nature of federalism and its effect upon nineteenth century e However, the thesis also shows that the liturgical awakening of the early nineteenth century helped to bring about the gradual and irreversible recession of federalism in the life of the Church. Moreover, it is argued that Romanticism provided aa With the assertion of the values of Romanticism and the erosion of federal theology, other influences made themselves felt in the nineteenth century Scottish Church. Anglican scholars affected by Tractarianism were known and admired by some, at In view of the burgeoning of German influence upon Scottish cultural and intellectual life - beginning tentatively in the last decades of the eighteenth century to become one of the established features of Scottish life by 1850 - due account is German influence manifested itself obliquely, however, during the decade 1850-1860 and prior to the founding of the Church Service Society in 1865. Moreover, this influence was specifically related to the Eucharist and was transmitted to the C The view is advanced at this stage that the liturgical development of the nineteenth century, particularly in relation to the Lord's Supper, cannot adequately be surveyed without taking into account the Communion psalmody, and latterly hymnody, If the appearance of The Scottish Mission Hymnbook (1912) marked one aspect of the Scoto-Catholic party's concern for eucharistic worship and praise, the earlier publication of William Milligan's Ascension and Heavenly Priesthood of The thesis concludes by indicating the manner in which some of the late nineteenth century eucharistic themes were developed or modified by circumstances and events as this present century progressed.

Christianity has a long history that often became intertwined with the development of modern day media. This paper aims to draw a comparison between the use of Christianity as a marketing device during the Middle Ages and modern times. Using McLuhan’s timeline of media epochs we are able to trace the changes of media through human history. This timeline provides us the means to analyze the ways in which Christianity was used as a marketing device to advance the adoption of new mediums. The Middle Ages’ reliance on Christian networks to spread information enabled Gutenberg to gain widespread adoption of his printing press. The recent transition to the electronic age also shows how new mediums can use this same network to perpetuate messages. In modern times the electronic age has reproduced an environment conducive to the spread of Christian messages. Social media networks like Twitter exhibit increased interaction levels among prominent Christian leaders. The comparison of these two periods in time showcases the strength of the Christian network, even today. Furthermore it provides evidence of the prediction made by McLuhan that the interconnectedness of the electronic age would bring about a new type of oral tribe culture. This global village brought about by the Internet allows ancient communication practices to flourish once more. / text

My dissertation aims to uncover the complex relationship among religion, literature, and national identity by considering the case of Christianity in modern Japan. Although Christianity was never successful in propagating its religious messages to the masses in the history of Japan, the re-introduction of Christianity in the late nineteenth century left a surprisingly powerful impression because, for many Japanese writers, it presented the “Western spirituality” against which they defined their religious, national and even artistic identities. By examining the works of two non-Christian authors, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892-1927) and Yokomitsu Ri’ichi (1898-1947), and one Christian author Endō Shūsaku (1923-1996), I show how the encounter with Christianity was often crucial to sculpting perceptions of Japanese identity, religion, as well as art in the twentieth century. For the cosmopolitan Taishō author Akutagawa, Christianity was one of the motifs that stimulated his artistic production. Juxtaposing Christianity’s “power that destroys,” he celebrated Japanese religion’s “power that re-creates,” likening it to the process of artistic creation. A devotee to art throughout his life, Akutagawa maintained his unfaltering belief that the ultimate creator is art, and not God: he even re-created Christ into an artist in his final essay. Yokomitsu’s last novel, A Traveler’s Sadness demonstrates how Christianity acts as the catalyst for the establishment of Japanese national identity. Written mostly under Imperial Japan, the novel showcases the fear for the loss of Japanese identity in the face of overwhelming Western influence, as well as the urge to establish one, utilizing Ancient Shinto as the source. Ironically, however, it is discovered only when pitted against Christianity, the foreign religion. Endō began his career as an author because he wanted to reconcile his conflicting Christian and Japanese identities. Even though he initially scrutinized his native country of Japan and its religion with his internalized, critical Catholic gaze, his artistic endeavor gradually transformed Endō into what I call a “catholic” Catholic: he came to embrace Japanese religions and heritage without denouncing his Catholic faith. Even though these three authors had different motivations and issues to tackle, their negotiations illuminate how complex and interconnected are the relationships among their religious, national and artistic identities. / text

Almost fifty-five years following the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, academic studies are now being published in large numbers that address the new knowledge about early Christianity. Thus, allowing us to view the Gospels through the lens of their original language. This dissertation rests on the assumptions that Hebrew was the spoken language of Jesus' day, not Greek or Aramaic, and that through the years recounted in the New Testament, strong Hebraic traditions continued to influence Christianity's development within the Hellenized culture of the Roman Empire. In view of late historical evidence, there is no doubt that the language and culture before, during, and after Jesus' day were Hebraic or Mishnaic, and that there was a parallel Hebraic culture existing side by side with that of the Hellenistic culture, strong enough to influence those who translated and compiled the canonized text of our Gospels. In this dissertation, I pursue how these parallel cultures influenced the subsequent adaptations of the Gospels, as scholars were at pains to divorce the record of Jesus' early teaching from his Jewish roots and context, and to establish early Christian culture within the cultural and political imperatives of the Roman Empire. First, I pursue a concept well known in Christian literature, "The Kingdom of Heaven," to show how the historical setting unlocks fresh new meanings of the texts in which it appears. Hellenized readings of the passage stress future promises and theology, while in the context of Jewish learning this concept referred mainly to community and political concerns of the day. Thereafter, I follow how this concept helps to open a familiar set of passages from the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter Five --the Beatitudes. Here, I contrast a reading informed by knowledge of the early Common Era's Jewish cultures with those offered by modem commentators who retain a Hellenistic vision of the era. The conclusion returns to the methodological process in which translations are used to carefully reflect specific translators or commentators' ideologies. / text

The second half of the 20th century saw the emergence of consequential and diverse social movements inspired by Christian moral commitments, from anti-communism and temperance to Civil Rights and fundamentalism. Few studies, however, have systematically analyzed this important sector of activism adequately, though it lies at the intersection of two vital sociological areas: the sociology of religion and political sociology. This dissertation is the first comprehensive study of Christian activist organizations, creating and analyzing an electronic database of approximately 500 unique Christian social movement organizations along nearly 50 variables including overall population changes, denominational variation, geographic diffusion, tactical repertoires, and issues engaged. Findings indicate that changes originating in religious demographics and culture preceded and led to related changes in American politics, overall in a conservative direction. At a macro level, data also consistently point to a homeostatic, cybernetic effect generating medium-term cultural equilibrium between progressive and conservative Christian activists. At the micro-level, findings illustrate the essential role of cultural entrepreneurs motivated by religious values and identities in redefining, publicizing, and defending the moral boundaries which create and sustain social movements. / text

This thesis examines the ways in which homosexual clergy transcend the hypocrisy identified by the study as inherent within the Church of England's approach to them. It explores ways in which the homosexual respondents employ strategies to negotiate cognitive dissonance caused by the Church's stigmatisation of their lifestyle. It concludes by exploring reasons, hitherto largely unidentified, that explain why homosexual clergy choose to remain within the homonegative Church, presenting the Transcendent Vocation as their overarching motivation. This term, coined by the thesis, represents a conviction of God's calling felt so strongly by the homosexual respondents that they were determined to remain within the institution regardless of its treatment of them. Since the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967 and despite subsequent secular liberalisation,' the Church of England has continued to maintain its traditional homonegative teaching. Successive reports have' . expressed the Church's desire to listen to the experiences of homosexuals. Focussing on the lived experiences of twelve heterogeneous homosexual clergymen, this thesis makes an important contribution to the 'listening process' as it explores how attitudes to homosexuality· shown to have developed during the period 1967-2007 have affected them. It provides evidence that homosexual clergymen are victims of hypocrisy on the part of the Church of England, and identifies reasons why they choose to tolerate this situation." Through analysis of interview data, not only from homosexual clergy but also from ten retired heterosexual clergymen whose ministries spanned the forty-year period, the thesis examines how, as secular attitudes became progressively more liberal and legal reforms outlawed discrimination, the Church made increasing use of hypocrisy in its approach to homosexual clergy. It is shown how the Church hypocritically manages to continue to use the services of practising homosexual clergy while officially forbidding them to exist, and that remarkably such clergy accept this state of affairs because of their Transcendent Vocation.

This research examined to what extent the two Muslim dynasties, the Umayyad and the Fāṭimid, applied Islamic teachings in dealing with Christian sacred places in Palestine. It also compared the two dynasties, in terms of tolerance towards Christian sacred places, with special reference to the Caliphs ‛Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwān and Al-Ḥākim Biamrillah in an attempt to explore the reasons leading to such an attitude. This research outlined a theoretical framework, which Muslims were supposed to have adopted in their dealings with Christian places based on the various opinions of the exegetes from both Sunnī and Shī‛ī interpretations of the Qur'ān besides the practice of Prophet Muḥammad and his Companions in addition to the opinions of the jurists. The outline shows that the teachings of Islamic core sources have the rules for the protection of churches and other places of worship The findings have shown that the attitude would, to a large extent, correspond with the Islamic teachings in the manner of dealing with Christian sacred places under the two different dynasties. As for the Umayyads, the historical accounts and the archaeological evidence have indicated that the old churches and monasteries were kept protected, many new churches and monasteries were erected, several of the ruined ones were rebuilt, and renovation was made. In addition, the rituals were performed publically and pilgrimage continued. The Umayyads also showed formally their respect to the Christian sacred places. However, the economic decline during that period with its natural disasters, the political situation, peaceful abandonment, and demographical changes were the main reasons behind the decline in the number of churches, rather than a passive change in the Muslims' attitude. As for the Umayyads, the historical accounts and the archaeological evidence have indicated that the old churches and monasteries were kept protected, many new churches and monasteries were erected, several of the ruined ones were rebuilt, and renovation was made. In addition, the rituals were performed publically and pilgrimage continued. The Umayyads also showed formally their respect to the Christian sacred places. However, the economic decline during that period with its natural disasters, the political situation, peaceful abandonment, and demographical changes were the main reasons behind the decline in the number of churches, rather than a passive change in the Muslims' attitude. As for the Fāṭimids, the historical accounts have proved that formally the state shared in the celebrations, permitted the Cross display and allowed the pilgrimage flow to continue. Few institutions were newly built under the Fāṭimids when compared to the number under the Umayyads. This might indicate that the Fāṭimids in particular followed a certain policy backed by the political situation. In this regard, the researcher argues that the strategic and political circumstances played a pivotal role in elevating this policy which was mainly linked to the relationship with the Byzantine Empire. Still, apart from the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, no physical evidence showed that there was a deliberate destruction of churches and monasteries based on any formal policy. In respect to the actions of ‛Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwān and Al-Ḥākim Biamrillah, the research has revealed that the acts of both did not seem to show hostility towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the other Christian sacred places. ‘Abd Al-Malik did not consider the Holy Sepulchre as a threat. Similarly, Al-Ḥākim's action was an exception among his fellow Fāṭimid caliphs and when exploring the reasons for the destruction, it has been suggested that his personal character played a major role, which together with the political and social motivations led to his actions. The Holy Sepulchre and the other churches were rebuilt during the Fāṭimid ruling, which testified that enmity was not the attitude towards the Christian sacred places. The research has also suggested that however the two dynasties appear to be tolerant in dealing with Christian sacred places, not all the motivations that led to this attitude were very alike. It has been suggested that the Umayyads' policy in keeping the political, economic, and social stability of the Muslim state made it a necessity to keep the good relations with the influential Christian community, thus, positively deal with their sacred places. While the Fāṭimids tended to positively treat the Christians because they wanted to retain the Christians on their side as a minority supporting the Ismā‘īlī Fāṭimids who were ruling over the Sunnī majority and whom they failed to convert to the rulers' own creed.

This thesis reassesses the evidence for the English woman of spirit, Christina of Markyate, as a case-study for transitions in sanctity and spirituality during the twelfth century. It highlights the lack of appropriate vocabulary and models available in the 1130s and 1140s to make sense of the new manifestations of holiness that Christina embodies. By using three distinct but overlapping discourses to structure the study – social networks in religious life, sanctity and spirituality – it reflects on how the stakeholders in Christina’s texts negotiated their positions in relation to these discourses and throws light on a context of rapid discourse shift. The first section, ‘The Lady Christina: Texts and Contexts’, locates Christina, her texts, and her religious foundation at Markyate in their immediate and extended social networks. It shows that she had regional fame during her lifetime but that this was not sustained after her death. Her story is intimately tied up with the Abbey of St Albans, whose interest in their own domestic saints caused its revival in the later middle ages. Although charismatic in her own right, Christina was principally a successful institution builder and prioress, whose main concerns were domestic, rather than carving out a new kind of role for religious women in England. The second section, ‘Saint Christina: Sanctity and Learning’ addresses whether it is possible to consider Christina a saint, and what sanctity might involve when the traditional trappings of cult are missing. Christina fell between older and newer ideas about holiness, which resulted in the disrupted use of models to shape her story. Her saintly credentials were her virginity and visions, and in seeking to have these recorded Christina strategically performed and recast her external behaviour within recognisable modes of holiness. It is also possible to identify ways that Christina moved beyond existing constructions of identity and found a feminine voice in the performances of her ‘sartorial body’. The third section, ‘Ancilla Christi: Visions and Community’ looks in detail at Christina’s spirituality, using her visions to critique the separation of elite and popular modes of numinous encounter by taking her out of her primary social networks and identifying a comparative framework in contemporary trends in Western visionary culture. Visions flourish within particular domestic contexts and disciplines, and Christina enables us to glimpse a sub-culture of visionary experience in twelfth-century England, which rarely shows up in sources and is given little authority in the dominant narratives. The question of what ‘success’ might mean in these three discourses, forms a background theme to the investigation. It is used as a route into what was valued, what was normative, and what was recognisable, in the contemporary fields where Christina enjoyed networks and status, rather than as an objective measurement tool. A variety of sources and theoretical approaches are used to contextualise the fourteenth-century redactions of her vita in order to yield twelfth-century meanings. The main redaction, found in John of Tynemouth’s legendary of British saints, is a disrupted text full of hagiographic elements that can be opened up to multiple readings because of its historical situation and competing agendas. Overall this thesis concludes that Christina and many of the people with whom she came into contact recognised her visions as a mark of divine favour, and that in a climate where the primary category for receiving such distinction was sainthood, Christina was cast, not especially successfully, as a saint.

This thesis is a systematic study of ideas of salvation in Igbo Primal Religious experience and their influence on the conversion and present religious outlook of Igbo Christians. Chapter one is a critique of representative works on Igbo religious experience by Igbo scholars; including historians, social anthropologists and Christian theologians - clergy and lay. In Chapter two, we discover through the study of various types of Igbo primal prayers that the people seek to experience salvation in terms of Ezi-Ndu, viable life. Chapter three shows that to live according to Ofo-na-Ogu, moral rectitude, as codified in the traditional decorum, Omenala, is the sine qua non for the enjoyment of Ezi-Ndu. But those who fall foul of these demands may recover the situation through the cultic rites of "cleansing and warding off", which may sometimes include the dedication of an osu (Chapter four); though there appears to be no permanent answer for man's guilt. In Chapter five, Ahamefula, the eschatological dimension of Ezi-Ndu is seen to consist of four aspects which imply continuity. Chapter six discusses the various ways through which the Igbo seek to harness the powers inherent in religious forms for the enhancement of life. The viability of a religious form depends on its ability to produce this power or mana which is thought to come from the gods. Thus in Chapter seven, Igbo conversion to Christianity is viewed as an encounter between two systems of salvation resulting in a movement on the part of the people in the direction of power. The determinant factors in this conversion were inherent theological ideas whereas socio-economic factors are important as catalysts. In Chapter eight, case studies among three different "generations" of Igbo Christians reveal the persistence of Primal Religious concepts though sometimes in new or re-defined form. In conclusion, we suggest that the way to eliminate this harrowing contradiction of "two faiths in one mind" is through theological reflection which is at once grounded in Biblicity, historic Christianity and Igbo thought, in such a way that Igbo Christians through a dexterous integration of the 'old' and the 'new' are able to find in Christ power and fullness of life, that is, Ezi-Ndu.