Aḥmad Ibn ‘Ajība (d. 1224/1809) is one of the prominent Sufi mystics who lived in Morocco during the 13th/ 17th century. His importance in Sufi scholarship is a reflection of the fact that he is one of the original Sufi scholars who contributed immensely to elucidating ambiguous Sufi concepts that were, by their very nature, enigmatic and only accessible through Sufi adepts. He also stood out as an intellectual theoretician in the science of Qur’ānic esoteric hermeneutics because he was one of the few scholars who managed to convey theoretical concepts and esoteric theories of Qur’ānic interpretation in a language that could be accessed by those with an average level of intellect. One of these theories is the concept of divine love. In this thesis, I propose to address the concept of divine love in Aḥmad Ibn ‘Ajība’s famous exegesis of the Qurān al-Baḥr al-madīd fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-majīd (Oceanic Exegesis of the Qurān). Over the course of this thesis, I endeavor to show how Ibn ‘Ajība combined what has been extensively written on the subject of divine love by different Sufi saints and mystics with the mystical exegesis of the Qur’ān. Ibn ‘Ajība is one of the early Sufis who connected theoretical works on the concept of divine love and practically applied them to the Qur’ān’s verses on love. This unique combination was an important breakthrough in the Sufi literature which other Sufi scholars then built upon in offering an exegesis of the Qur’ān - Shaykh Aḥmad Ibn Muṣṭafā al-‘Alawī (d.1934) was particularly important in this respect. Explaining the concept of divine love through his mystical interpretation of the love verses in the Qur’ān ultimately aspire to connect the purpose of creation (which was due to the Creator’s love for His creation), to the turning point (the return of the creation to the Creator). This symphony of love that is an essential component of the story of creation is well-defined, clearly stated and deeply analyzed in Ibn ‘Ajība’s work. He also met the challenge of overcoming the elliptical mystical language of exposition that was used by earlier Sufis; accordingly, he successfully simplified the ambiguous style of writing and decoded their enigmatic mystical doctrines. I hope that an analysis of Ibn ‘Ajība’s concept of divine love will stimulate the appetite of academic researchers to investigate the scholarly works of this luminary, and thus highlight his significance in the wider Sufi tradition. Ibn ‘Ajība's works have in general not received sufficient attention and deserve deeper and more sustained analysis.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-108).

La présente recherche doctorale porte sur la contribution philosophico-théologique de Jean de Cyparission(XIVe s.). Opposé aux interprétations théologiques et ecclésiologiques d'une grande partie du courant hésychaste, le penseur nous propose un commentaire favorable à l'union ecclésiale, ainsi qu'à la bonne organisation spirituelle de l'Église orientale. L'élaboration des textes inédits et l'étude codicologique de divers manuscrits qui conservent la littérature antihésychaste de Jean, sont accompagnées d'une recherche prosopographique sur l'auteur, ainsi que d'un commentaire sur son appropriation des sources aristotéliciennes, néoplatoniciennes, stoïciennes, patristiques et byzantines.

The “Holy Spirit” is a familiar concept in Christianity, but in its original Hebrew construction as Ruah ha-Kodesh, it also plays an active role in classical Rabbinic literature. This dissertation surveys uses of the term Ruah ha-Kodesh in major texts from the Tannaitic period through the Aggadic Midrash and the two Talmuds. Drawing on Scriptural roots, the Rabbis identify Ruah ha-Kodesh as the divinely given power that enables individuals to prophesy. While the term never loses this biblical meaning, the Rabbis take Ruah ha-Kodesh further by personifying it as a metonym for God, and more specifically, as “the divine voice in Scripture.” This dissertation first surveys the historical background of the term in pre-Rabbinic ancient Judaism, and then turns to a detailed textual analysis of its uses as both prophecy and personification in Rabbinic literature. The study notes and examines conventional and formulaic terms associated with Ruah ha-Kodesh. Four major Ruah ha-Kodesh traditions are analyzed in depth over the course of their diachronic development. There are numerous Rabbinic sources that claim that Ruah ha-Kodesh has ended, yet others offer advice on how to achieve it or indicate its existence in the Rabbinic present. The solution to this paradox is that Ruah ha-Kodesh has not gone, but changed. Even as Ruah ha-Kodesh is said to have departed from Israel in her role of inspiring the prophets, she continues to speak actively as part of the ongoing Midrashic dialogue with the Sages. The final chapter examines Ruah ha-Kodesh as a metonym for God, particularly as it contrasts and interacts with other divine metonyms of feminine grammatical gender: the Shekhinah and the Bat Kol. The Shekhinah and Ruah ha-Kodesh are frequently identified, but not identical. The changing role of Ruah ha-Kodesh exemplifies a shift in the locus of divine communication, from prophecy to the Midrashic study of Torah. / text

Seizing upon G.W.F. Hegel’s unresolved problem of poverty, and more generally, of politics, in his Philosophy of Right, I theorize the emergence of Hegel’s “irrational” rabble in ostensibly incomprehensible violent riots. Specifically, I argue that such violence functions redemptively by latently symbolizing a Hegelian demand for recognition and, via Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek, as a catalyst in a lineation of riots that gestures towards transformative possibilities. Violence compels self-reflective thought to interrogate the hegemony of immaterial labour that excludes the rabble under late capitalism, a speculative game with winners and losers: financial capitalists and society’s underclass. I conclude by explicating an implicit connection between Hegel’s political theory and Walter Benjamin’s philosophy and argue that this connection responds to Hegel’s own political impasse. In the context of contemporary politics, I contend that the rabble’s emergence in a Benjaminian light illuminates new means for critique against the system of late capitalism. / Graduate / 0593 / 0422 / 0615 / elliokd@gmail.com

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Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-157).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Trinity International University, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-157).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-61).