In Scottish Presbyterianism the period from 1796 to 184 3 was a transitional era of Evangelical ascendancy over Moderatism. Within that period, certain parishes had brief periods of evangelistic activities called 'revivals'. These movements were centered in services of public worship. The purpose of this thesis is to examine public worship during the era as a means of evangelism and to discern the processes by which the revivals took place. Public worship in Scotland during the eighteenth century has been commonly characterized as very ineffective, even barren. In both Moderate and Evangelical kirks, public worship was a preaching service with certain acts of devotion, but without a liturgy. From 1796 to 1843, public worship generally followed the traditions of the past, including the annual sacramental season. Although there were some stirrings toward a future renascence of worship, in such areas as published aids-to-worship, instrumental music, the singing of para-phrases and hymns, and more frequent Communion services, public worship continued to be a preaching service. Yet, in a few parishes, a season of revival did take place primarily within traditional, "weak" worship. The most unusual revival during the period of this study was the preaching tours by lay-preachers. Originated by J. A. Haldane, John Aikman, and Joseph Rate, this movement began as a plan for establishing religious schools in Highland parishes, and became an evangelistic organization called 'The Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home'. This organization not only was instrumental in brief awakenings in some parishes but also fostered certain discord in the state of religion in Scotland which resulted in official acts in Presbyterianism against lay-preaching. The S.P.G.H. ended in dissension from within in 1808. Even so, the evangelistic work of the S.P.G.H. did provide some notable revivals and a portion of the background for the revivals at Arran and Skye. Other revivals during the early nineteenth century were in parishes in the following places: Moulin (1796-1802), Arran (1812-13), Skye (1812-14), and Kilsyth (1839). The Kilsyth revival was the origin of a movement that spread to many other parishes in Scotland through 1841. Revival leaders were local parish ministers, with the exception of the Kilsyth movement which was led by a licentiate preacher, W. C. Burns, along with various local ministers. The revivals were centered in public worship services and prayer meetings. Sacramental seasons had no uniform place in each movement. Extemporaneous preaching within the general context of the traditional order of worship was the chief agent of awakenings. Generally, each brief season of revival also included a period of preparation characterised by expectation, a noticeable element of emotionalism, and results that were observable among certain individual lives more than those effecting parish life. The theology in the revivals was a portion of the Calvinism of the time which was directed at personal salvation. Conviction of total depravity, the covenant of grace which had conditional overtones, and limited atonement were the central doctrines of the theology in the revivals. The many detailed events in each revival parish gave each story an individuality apart from the other seasons of revival. And similarities noted among the various revivals did not uniquely distinguish them from many other contemporary parishes. Thus, in addition to that which can be discerned from the revivals of religion and their relation to public worship, the Church is reminded of her dependence upon the mysteries of God.

This study deals with the events after 1895 which led to a major reshaping of the Church of England's policy and organization in 1919. Those events, which included debates in Parliament, a Royal Commission, Prayer Book revision, special Church committees, and Private negotiations by Church leaders, finally resulted in the British Parliament passing the Enabling act of 1919. Significant persons and powerful influences were at work during these years to prevent, as well as promote change in the Established Church. This study will show what those influences were, and discuss persons significant in their work for or against reform.

This dissertation wants to understand the church history regarding the divide which resulted in the so called fundamentalist and the liberal movements in the church being birthed in identifying the reasons for the conflict between the aforementioned groups. It then presents principles of conflict transformation and management in order to understand and to help transform and manage potential confrontational situations between the aforementioned groups effectively. It further propose alternative interpretations to potential conflict-generating Bible texts by extrapolating new information from those texts in order to stir the potential of birthing a second naïve love for the discredited texts by offering new meanings to those same texts. Unfortunately, this objective can’t effectively be measured within the scope of this dissertation, but will nevertheless remain as an objective of hope.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / This study defends the hypothesis that Franciscan legends and myth themes, based on historical incidents, constitute significant Christian heritage, expressed at deep pre-conscious levels, and are therefore appropriate and valuable educational materials, relevant to the development of the spiritual personality, and useful in Church School curricula. Legend and myth are defined, classified, and evaluated as to their meaning in the educative process. The unconscious use of myth as symbol in the emotional development of the person is explored with special reference to Franciscan material, which contains such typical myth themes as the paradisiacal state, the hero figure, nature stories, and creation legend [TRUNCATED]

<p>In June of 1866 Canada was invaded by a group of Irish-American freedom fighters known as the Fenians. Canada was the closest, and most viable, location for an attack by the anti- British group. The Protestant churches in Ontario were not mute in their condemnation of the invasion and this thesis explores the reasons why they were so opposed to the Fenian mission . In 1866, Canada was not yet a nation and a large amount of Ontario' s citizens were of Irish descent. Because of this, the Fenians actually anticipated support from within the Canadian-Irish population and were disheartened when they were met with muskets, and not parades. The Protestant response was unequivocally anti-Fenian and the religious press of the day used its significant influence to challenge and condemn every aspect of the Fenians and their intentions towards both Britain and Canada. Within these condemnations, a picture of what it meant to be both Canadian and Protestant emerged</p> / Master of Divinity (M.Div)

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