Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-285).

Akademisk avhandling--Lund. / "Kallor och litteratur": p. 410-438.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 1986. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-143).

The inclusion of representational imagery in a sacred context is extremely rare in the history of Islamic art. This dissertation examines the evolution of the Ottoman En'am-i Serif, a group of manuscripts dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, in which sacred text was illuminated by sacred art. In the early period, the content of these prayer books consisted of entire chapters of the Qur'an and various prayers. In the seventeenth century, calligraphic images known as hilye were added, consisting of textual descriptions of the Prophet Muhammad's physical and moral characteristics. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, representational images of the Prophet's mantle, hand, footprint, sandal, sword, and other relics were included for the sake of their baraka, the Divine grace that emanates from God and passes to ordinary people through the prophets and saints, or the objects that they touch. That Ottoman Islam was heavily influenced by Sufism is apparent in the En'am-i Serif. Its calligraphers and patrons were members or affiliates of the various Sufi orders, and they were also frequently highly placed members of the ruling class. At the same time that the Ottomans were defending themselves against the rise of European nationalism, Islam came under attack from within as the Wahhabi movement challenged the Ottoman sultan's role as protector of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. It is not surprising that Sufi calligraphers chose this precise moment to transform a simple book containing Qur'anic text and prayers into an elaborate manuscript combining sacred text with images of sacred places and objects. In addition to reinforcing the spiritual aspects of Islam that had come under attack from the fundamentalist movement, the artists of the En'am-i Serif also made a strong political statement by choosing to present these images in such a way as to highlight the Ottomans' role as the rightful inheritors of the caliphate and protectors of Islam. / Graduate

No description available.

“The Poetry of Interpretation” writes a pre-history of the twentieth-century phenomenon of close reading by interpreting the devotional poetry of the English Renaissance in the context of the period’s exegetical literatures. The chapters explore a range of hermeneutic methods that allowed preachers and commentators, writing in the wake of the Reformation’s turn to the “literal sense” of scripture, to grapple with and clarify the bible’s “darke texts.” I argue that early modern religious poets—principally Anne Lock, John Donne, George Herbert, William Alabaster, and John Milton—absorbed these same methods into their compositional practices, merging the arts of poesis and exegesis. Consistently skeptical about the very project they undertake, however, these poets became not just practitioners but theorists of interpretive method. Situated at the intersection of religious history, hermeneutics, and poetics, this study develops a new understanding of lyric’s formal operations while intimating an alternative history of the discipline of literary criticism.

Devotional and charitable confraternities were a characteristic feature of late medieval Florence. The popularity of the former, and particularly the laudesi and flagellants, stemmed from the fact that they enabled the layman to participate in areas of worship which had been previously the exclusive dcanain of the clergy. The laudesi specialised in singing lauds which during the fifteenth century came to be perfomed by professional singers and musicians. This helped the companies to maintain their devotion, but at the same tine removed the necessity for members to attend daily services. Moreover the'laudesi societies' acceptance of bequests meant that some became as concerned to provide services for the dead as for the living. In contrast flagellant canpanies retained their vitality by emphasizing a strict penitential devotion and refusing to become involved in the administration of property. ) The most important charitable cccpany was Or S. Michele, which was founded in the late thirteenth century to supervise the cult of the miraculous Madonna and to distribute the public's oblations to the poor. During the Black Death the conpany inherited a large fortune which changed the character of many of its activities. Successive governments sought to protect Or S. Michele from litigious heirs and corrupt carpany officials and then proceeded to borrow money to help cover its own debts and finance catrnunal construction projects including the oratory of Or S. Michele. After the Black Death alms were no longer distributed to a large number of paupers, but to a more exclusive clientele. By the end of the Trecento Or S. Michele had a tarnished reputation and the cult had lost much of its vitality except as a centre for public festivals. This decline was shared by the Misericordia, and Florence was thereby deprived of the services of any large private charities until the foundation of the Buonanini di S. Martino in the mid-fifteenth century.

Early in his career, Martin Luther twice published (1516 and 1518) prefaces for the anonymous German work, Eyn deutsch Theologia. In these prefaces, as well as in a number of letters, he repeatedly praised the work. His positive appraisal stemmed from his belief that the work replicated not only the foundational teachings of St. Paul, but was consonant with the Pauline interpretations of St. Augustine and Johannes Tauler. Young Luther found in these authors a consistent metaphor for Christian existence: dying and rising with Christ. This narrative enabled Christians to experience death and resurrection as a future hope, as well as a present existential reality within their lives. Young Luther believed that the varied narratives inherent in late medieval spirituality had placed Christ at the periphery of Christian spirituality rather than at its core. Consequently, he repeatedly sought to correct this misplacement and return Christ to the center of Christian life and piety. This dissertation examines this Pauline metaphor, the contemplative spirituality the young Luther built upon it, and the sixteenth-century reception of this spirituality. Chapter one introduces the project and offers a short survey of the literature on Luther's spirituality. Chapter two reviews contemplation in Scripture, then considers St. Paul's presentation of his metaphor. It also discusses how the contemplative writings of St. Augustine, Tauler, and the Frankfurter (the anonymous author of Eyn deutsch Theologia), made use of this Pauline metaphor. Chapters three and four consider Luther's creative employment of the Pauline narrative in five of his devotional works from 1519: Ein Sermon von der Betrachtung des heiligen Leidens Christi, Ein Sermon von der Bereitung zum Sterben, Ein Sermon von dem heiligen hochwürdigen Sakrament der Taufe, Ein Sermon vom Sakrament des Leichnams Christi und von den Brüderschaften, and Tessaradecas Consolatoria pro laborantibus et oneratis. In each case, Luther built upon existing devotional genres, yet altered their contents and/or form by importing the Pauline metaphor. Chapter five inquires into the sixteenth-century reception of these five devotional works. Paying particular attention to interpretative clues left in correspondence, commentaries, marginal notes and illustrations by a number of publishers and translators, it demonstrates that these persons not only perceived of these writings as contemplative devotional exercises, but chose to market them explicitly as such. It would seem that Luther's "theology of the cross" expressed itself in a corresponding spirituality of "death and resurrection." Although this spirituality entailed a specific contemplative progression, it was adaptable to the life circumstances of any Christian. This universality contributed to the popularity of Luther's early spiritual writings. Young Luther's narrative imagery along with the publishers' additional illustrations helped to revise spiritual practices and reshape Christian piety throughout the sixteenth century.

In the history of medicine "from below," religious language has been sidelined as a convention that interfered with the expression of peoples genuine experiences and feelings. This thesis uses the autobiographical writings of three well-known seventeenth-century women, Lady Anne Halkett, Lady Ann Fanshawe, and Alice Thornton, to explore how religious language actually facilitated the expression and preservation of their illness experiences. Having suffered considerable loss during the Civil War and Interregnum, these women relied on familiar religious scripts to present their life stories, including many illness experiences, as persuasive apologies for their difficult situations as widows after the Restoration. Considering their individual expressions of thanksgiving, the good death, and balance within a broader literary context reveals the extent to which each woman not only employed but also adapted convention to suit her particular purpose for writing. The womens illness narratives must therefore be read with due attention to their religious language, and both need to be interpreted in light of how the womens particular social situations and writing habits related to the cultural conventions of their time.