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The increased presence of religious diversity among the population of the United Kingdom, particularly over the past century, is particularly noticeable through population studies such as the national census, and tangible signs including the increase in public celebrations of religious festivals, the increase in the presence of religious dress and food, and the increase in construction of religious architecture for faiths other than the historic religion of Christianity. This change in the United Kingdom signifies the need to assess and understand attitudes toward this evident religious diversity among young people living in the United Kingdom. This dissertation is contextualised and conducted through a studentship role on the Young People’s Attitudes Toward Religious Diversity Project, funded by the AHRC/ESRC as part of the Religion and Society Programme, conducted by the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit. This mixed methods project employed quantitative methods to profile students aged 13- to 15-years in the different nations and school types of the United Kingdom, alongside findings from qualitative focus group interviews among 13- to 16 year-old students. The findings draw two conclusions; first, that attitudes toward religious diversity vary according to nation, with students in London and Northern Ireland exhibiting signs of particular difference in attitudes from the students in the other nations of the United Kingdom; and second, that attitudes toward religious diversity vary according to school type. The mixed methodology of the research in the setting of the United Kingdom, the comparison of nations and school types, and the large scale on which the research was conducted all offer an innovative contribution to scholarship within the field of the social scientific study of religion. The conclusions also contribute to a better understanding of the national contexts of the United Kingdom and the different values which the different methods of educating young people in the United Kingdom can promote.

Christian tradition speaks mainly of two possible post-mortem human destinies. It holds that those human beings who, in their earthly lives, acted according to God’s will and accepted God’s love will be reconciled to Him in heaven; whereas those who have acted against God’s will and refused His love will be consigned to the everlasting torments of hell. The notion that hell is everlasting and also a place of unending suffering inevitably gives rise to the following question for theists: how could an omnipotent, all-good and allloving God allow anyone to suffer the torments of hell for eternity? The problem of hell is arguably the most severe form of the problem of evil because the evil found in hell is eternal with no possibility for redemption. Thus, the doctrine of hell gives rise to a specific moral problem caused by the apparent incompatibility between God’s goodness and love and everlasting torment in hell. There have been several attempts to shore up the doctrine of hell in the face of this problem. ‘Particularists’ argue that the doctrine is morally defensible and that some people will experience eternal torment in hell as a result of their rejection of God. Others try to evade the problem by claiming that a doctrine of hell is not in fact taught in the scriptures (at least in its traditional form), and that Christians are therefore able to reject particularism and affirm that all human beings will be saved in the end. Those who make this optimistic eschatological observation are known as 'universalists’. My thesis focuses on ‘universalists’ and, in particular, on three contemporary Christian philosophers who defend universal salvation, namely: John Hick, Thomas Talbott and Marilyn McCord Adams. All three maintain that God’s love for His human creatures is inconsistent with the claim that God does not desire to bring about their salvation. Their accounts share common roots: they are founded on an understanding of God’s nature as omnipotent love, and on an understanding of human freedom, as well as on an account of curative post-mortem punishment for sinners. All three philosophers hold that God will eventually succeed in reconciling all human beings to Himself and so no one will be damned in hell. In this thesis, I argue that Hick, Talbott and Adams fail in their attempts to make a plausible case for universalism. One of the main criticisms I consider is that there is significant tension between their universalist accounts and the value of human freedom. The necessary correlation that they assume between God’s love and the outcome of this love does not recognize the capacity for each person freely to reject the offer of salvation. Another criticism I consider is that their accounts of post-mortem punishment do not guarantee either that salvation and reconciliation with God will be the outcome of a free choice made out of love, or that all sinners will eventually be saved. In bringing these three universalist accounts into question, I examine the notions of freedom of choice and punishment as well as the relation between free choice and rationality.

This study was set within the context of Catholic Education in Scotland; a context that holds a unique historic position, operating within the state education system. It investigated and explored the faith development experiences of Catholic teachers as they progressed from their initial teacher education programme through to full registration as qualified professionals, incorporating a one-year probationary period. A smaller comparative study was undertaken to add value to the theory that emerged from the main study. The research was phenomenological in nature and the qualitative research strategy adopted throughout was that of grounded theory, where the researcher used methods which allowed theory to emerge from the data. Data collection and analysis took place over a three-year period and the application of constant comparative analysis was implemented, where concepts were explored and their relationships investigated. Based on their own personal narratives, the development of participants’ faith was recorded during four key data collection and analysis stages which were given the titles, Considering the journey ahead, From theory to practice, Socialisation: finding a voice and The Catholic teacher: authentic witness to faith. Two faith development contexts were identified to enable Catholic teachers to be authentic and authoritative witnesses to their faith––concepts of self-realisation that aligned very much with the expectations of the Catholic Church. The first is the requirement to develop the teacher’s knowledge and understanding of the Catholic tradition and the second, the ability to teach in an explicit and proactive faith environment where, through its leadership and overall culture, this has the potential to significantly impact upon an individual’s faith. The study raises important questions surrounding the ongoing faith development of the Catholic teacher within the context of continuing professional development, given its unique position within the state system in Scotland.

Recent public debates over the place of religious education in the curriculum have focused attention on the threshold status of the subject. While the subject makes claims to an academic standing equal to others in the humanities, for many years its status in the curriculum has relied on a multiplicity of claims as to the effectiveness of religious education in preparing young people for life in a multicultural society. Beginning with an appreciation of the factors which have influenced policymakers and key theorists, this thesis traces the conflicts and controversies in the definition of the subject. Approaches to religious truth claims and cultural practices in the curriculum are evaluated with reference to prominent public critiques of the subject. Although these approaches are neither exhaustive nor exclusive, they form the basis of anxieties about the place of religious education in the curriculum. These anxieties are located within a broader crisis of multiculturalism and anxieties about the role of values in an increasingly performative and examination-driven educational environment. Employing an ethnographic paradigm, a series of in-depth case studies were carried out in secondary schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England in 2009, with particular emphasis on students between the ages of 14 and 16. In the course of these case studies, two strands of data analysis emerged, with findings clustered around 10 key themes. A linguistic approach at times takes priority within the analytical framework, while other data lends itself to multimodal analysis, providing rich contextualisation for the linguistic encounters. Focusing on four case studies, some key pedagogical approaches relating to the ways in which religious education deals with religious and cultural commitment and diversity are examined in detail. This analysis, drawing on theological and pedagogical theories, provides a richly contextualised series of findings relating to the spiritual, social and affective dimensions of religious education, in critical sites where identities and truth claims are highly valued and highly contested. The depth and authenticity called for in these contexts go beyond performative and examination-driven approaches, requiring a robust sense of teachers’ professional values and identity. Key strengths emerge in observed practice which are not reflected in pedagogical literature. The empirical findings have relevance to public debate about the aims, practices and models of effectiveness in British RE.

This thesis attempts to describe, explain, analyse and assess the contribution of five teaching religious orders to the development of Catholic education in Glasgow from 1847, when, with the arrival of the Franciscan Sisters, Catholic religious life returned to Glasgow for the first time since the Reformation until 1918 and the passing of the landmark Education (Scotland) Act. It concentrates on the influence and achievements of the religious orders in their role as teachers and managers of a number of primary, secondary and night schools in Glasgow as well as the role of the Sisters of Notre Dame in their particular role as educators of Catholic teachers in Glasgow. In 1918 Catholics in Scotland reversed the decision they took in 1872 to remain outside the national system of education. From 1918 Religious education according to use and wont was to be allowed within well-defined limits, but would not be fostered by the civil authority, and provision was made for a revision of the teacher-training system. The thesis argues that the work of five religious orders, the Franciscans, the Sisters of Mercy, the Marists, the Jesuits and The Sisters of Notre Dame in Catholic education in Glasgow, made it feasible for Catholic schools to remain outside the state system after the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act and until the passing of the 1918 Education (Scotland) Act. Throughout the 46 years 1872-1918 the root problem for Catholic education was finding money to subsidise Catholic schools. The key to the grants was efficiency. The source of efficiency in schools was the Training College. As a result, the story of Catholic education up to 1918 is largely one of how the increasing financial burden, without any relief from the rates to which they contributed, was borne by every section of the Catholic community in the endeavour to provide their children with an education comparable to that given in the more favoured and progressive rated schools. The thesis argues that it was largely the contribution of the religious orders to Catholic education in Glasgow during the second half of the nineteenth century and until 1918 that enabled Catholics to achieve what they did in the 1918 Education (Scotland) Act. 1 The success of the 1918 Act from the perspective of the Catholic community in Glasgow therefore can be attributed largely to the work of the religious orders in Glasgow.

Martin Heidegger in 'The Origin of the Work of Art' seeks to approach the self-subsistent nature of art. The Greek Temple opens up a space within which our Being may dwell. It is the site of human civilization and religion, and of our capacity to dwell within abstractions like peace, justice, truth and representation. Art breaks open a new place and presents things in a fresh light. Language is the primary model for this activity. Paul Celan in his poetry offers a challenge to Heideggerian abstraction. Both poet and philosopher were intimately familiar with each other's work, yet there is no essay on Celan, or even a reference, in the entire Heideggerian corpus. Celan's poem 'The Straitening' conveys the breakdown of meaning that has occurred after the holocaust. In form and content it challenges any Heideggerian notion of the higher univocity achieved by great poetry. We will explore recent examples of how poets have examined the idea of cultural belonging exclusion. We present a distillation of this idea in the writings of Paul Celan, particularly his presentation of the moment of 'Shibboleth'. We explore the biblical origin of the term 'Shibboleth' in a conflict between the army of Jephtah and the Ephraimites. We look at a contemporary poem with 'shibboleth' as it theme. Seamus Heaney's 'Broagh'. A consistent theme of Maurice Blanchot's critical reflection from The Work of Fire in 1949 up to and including The Space of Literature in 1955, is the manner in which our being creatures unto death allows us to create art, and to think and write in the abstraction that is language. Life endures death and maintains itself in it. For Blanchot Rainer Maria Rilke is one of the most significant modern poets in the way in which he has presented and explored this theme. We challenge Blanchot's inadequate reading of Rilke in The Space of Literature as an instance of his own pre-conceived philosophical nihilism.

This thesis investigates the character and role of non-Christian belief in medieval societies, and how we can reconstruct it using written sources. It focuses on Anglo-Saxon culture, contextualising Anglo-Saxon material with analyses of Middle English, Older Scots, Scandinavian and Irish texts. We lack Anglo-Saxon narratives about elves (ælfe, singular ælf), but the word ælf itself is well-attested in Old English texts. By analysing these attestations, it is possible to discover much about the meanings of the word ælf— from which, I argue, it is possible to infer what ælfe were believed to be and to do, and how these beliefs changed over time. Using methodologies inspired by linguistic anthropology (discussed in Chapter 1), I develop these analyses to reconstruct the changing significances of non-Christian beliefs in medieval English-speaking societies, affording new perspectives on Christianisation, health and healing, and group identity, particularly gendering. The body of the thesis, chapters 2–9, is in three parts. Because of its historiographical prominence in discussions of Anglo-Saxon non-Christian beliefs, I begin in Chapter 2 by reassessing Scandinavian comparative evidence for elf-beliefs. I also show that it is possible to correlate the meanings of Old Norse words for supernatural beings with other Scandinavian mythological sources for world-views, providing a case-study supporting similar approaches to Anglo-Saxon evidence. Chapters 3–6 reassess Anglo-Saxon linguistic and textual evidence, tackling in turn prehistoric naming patterns and morphological developments, poetry, glosses, and medical texts. The long-standing assumption that ælfe were incorporeal, small and arrowshooting proves to be both unfounded and implausible. Traditionally, ælfe were conceptually similar both to gods and to human ethnic others, all of whom were opposed to monsters in Anglo-Saxon world-views. They were probably only male. In textual evidence, ælfe are paradigmatic examples of dangerously seductive beauty and they are possible causes of prophetic speech and certain kinds of ailments. They inflicted ailments at least at times by a variety of magic called siden, cognate with the much-discussed medieval Scandinavian magic seiðr. Both of these points associate ælfe with femininegendered traits, and I show that by the eleventh century, ælf could also denote otherworldly, nymph-like females. These otherworldly females seem to have been new arrivals in Anglo-Saxon belief-systems. Demonisation is clearly attested from around 800, but ælfe were not conflated with demons in all or even most discourses, even after the Old English period. Chapters 7–9 develop this core evidence to argue for the cultural significance of the beliefs it reveals. By adducing comparative texts from medieval Ireland and Scandinavia and from the early modern Scottish witchcraft trials, Chapter 7 shows how the characteristics of ælf in Old English could occur together in coherent, ideologically significant narratives. Chapter 8 considers the Old English charm Wið færstice in a similar comparative context, focusing on the trial of Issobel Gowdie for witchcraft in 1662, and considering the importance of elf-beliefs in Anglo-Saxon healing. These chapters emphasise cultural continuity in North West European beliefs, questioning inherited scholarly constructions of fairy-beliefs as distinctively ‘Celtic’, and showing striking continuities between Anglo-Saxon and early modern Scottish beliefs. Chapter 9 concludes by combining earlier findings to make new assessments of Anglo-Saxon Christianisation and constructions of group identity, danger and power, and gendering. I examine gender in particular, combining evidence from throughout the thesis with comparative textual and archaeological material to argue that mythological gender transgressions were important to early Anglo-Saxon gendering. Beliefs in effeminate ælfe helped to demarcate gender norms, but also provided a paradigm whereby men could in real life gain supernatural power through gender transgression. I link the subsequent rise of female ælfe to changes in Anglo-Saxon gendering, whereby gender roles were enforced with increasing strictness. By combining detailed linguistic and textual analyses in a suitable comparative context, I reconstruct aspects of non-Christian belief which are marginalized in our early medieval sources, and detect how they changed over time. Such beliefs illuminate various aspects of medieval culture, including social identity, health and healing, the sources and use of supernatural power, and Christianisation. My methods, meanwhile, provide paradigms for taking similar approaches to studying belief and ideology in other areas of medieval Europe.

The Civil-Religious hierarchy, or fiesta complex, which is found in indigenous communities in Mesoamerica and the Andean countries, has been central to anthropological studies in the area lavish expenditure of the religious cargo holders, the mayordomos, on fiesta celebrations, which has attracted most theories, as, ethnocentrically and materialistically, it is held to be both irrational and because, as the administrative complex of the villages, it is the pivot of village life. However, it is the lavish expenditure of the religious cargo holders, the mayordomos, on fiesta celebrations, which has attracted most theories, as, ethnocentrically and materialistically, it is held to be both irrational and uneconomic. However both views, I would argue, ignore the religious motivation of those who serve the saints. It is not uncommon for theorists to make backward projections into the colonial era in an attempt to account for the fiesta system as it exists now, and one model that has had some influence is the extractive one of Marvin Harris, which contends that, its ritual system having been proved to be almost wholly 16th century in origin, the complex was imposed by the Church in the early colonial era in order to draw off resources from the Indians - a role which has been sustained ever since. This neo - Marxist contention is both supremely materialistic and simplistic. However, it is the fact that this and other historical projections seemed to lack rigorous research and analysis, which led me to undertake a diachronic study of the colonial forerunners of the mayordomías, the cofradías, and the reason for their erection. I also wished to ascertain how far the civil-religious hierarchies of the colonial era resembled the ideal model of the modern complex; that is, a series of ranked civil and religious cargos held by all at the lowest level, and then undertaken alternatively, with heavy expenditure in time and economic resources, by those with sufficient economic means. Further to this, I wished to explore the transformation from colonial cofradía to modern mayordomía. Thus, the thesis divides into three parts, and, although anthropological in concept, is based principally upon historical research, and so is an ethno-historical study. The area chosen for this research was the Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, in the State and See of Oaxaca, which was a Dominican province from 1529 and whose doctrinas were not fully secularised until the 1760s. Unfortunately, the Dominican archive as such no longer exists, having been largely destroyed, although a part has been widely dispersed. In view of this, I have had recourse to the Dominican histories of the colonial era, which are based both upon their archives and the personal experiences of the authors, as well as the 16th century chronicles of the Franciscans - a rich source for descriptions of the earliest cofradías, their processions, and the reasons for their erection. These I have used in marshalling my arguments vis-á-vis the introduction of the cofradías, whilst detailed analysis of the role of the later cofradías and cargo holders has been based upon specific parochial archives in the Valleys. I shall introduce this thesis with a description of mayordomía in the Valleys today. I shall then discuss the civil, religious and social structures of the valley before and at the time of the Spanish Conquest in an attempt to isolate those aspects of fiesta celebrations, which are preCortesian in origin. This I shall base largely upon archaeological evidence. I shall then demonstrate that cofradía was a tool for attracting and maintaining religious converts by its several functions of ensuring a sumptuous cult, proselytising the faithful, and giving them succour. I shall isolate certain cofradías, which had the specific function of proselytisation, which I shall designate "cofradías proselitistas", and consider the austere and exemplary lives of those who introduced them. However, I shall also show that the Conquest and its aftermath was the occasion of much trauma for the indigenous peoples, in a way which was not always, perhaps, fully appreciated even by those who had their best interests at heart. Next I shall discuss the economic dilemma of the 16th century Church, which, lacking substantial tithes, could not increase the small ratio of priests to converts, nor properly train sufficient secular priests to secularise the parishes. I shall consider the post-Tridentine attempts to do this, and also to ensure that the seculars had reasonable stipends so that the scandal of their dependence upon their parishioners for sustenance, and their neglect of their duties for commercial concerns could be avoided. I shall also demonstrate that this economic crisis placed an economic burden upon the Indians, which Church legislation endeavoured to lessen, and that, whilst the existence of the cofradías increased the income of the priests through payments for Masses, and church furnishings, the Church enacted laws which limited excessive expenditure on these, as well as others preventing the erection of cofradías with illthought out statutes, and the exploitation of the people by unscrupulous priests. Thus, I am arguing that the Church was aware of the failings of those most in contact with the Indians, and, at least, endeavoured to mitigate them. Although much of this material is specific to Oaxaca, it is, of necessity, set in the wider context of the Church in New Spain. The second part of the thesis, based principally upon archival material from the Archivo General del Estado de Oaxaca, the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City, and the Archivos Parroquiales de Zaachila, in the Valley of Zimatlán, and Etla, in the Valle of Etla, is concerned with the hierarchies at village level. In this I shall discuss the traumatic background against which the 17th and 18th inhabitants of the Valleys lived, particularly as a result of the pro-secularisation policies of the Church and suggest that the conflict between the Bishops of Oaxaca and the Dominicans was a major cause of the Zapotecs retaining much of their prehispanic religious costumbres (traditions) and beliefs. I shall then consider the roles of the various officers in both the civil and religious hierarchies in the Indian towns, and demonstrate that only members of the nobility were eligible for such cargos. I shall suggest the possibility that the cargo of mayordomo of a cofradía was sufficiently prestigious for some men merely to serve this. I shall also demonstrate, from the Zaachilan material, that there was apparently no hierarchy of saints to serve, and that the ideal model of an achievement ladder of alternatively served prestigious civil and religious cargos did not exist in the colonial era. Further to this, I shall consider other variables which negate the ideal model: specifically the existence of female "mayordomos" throughout the colonial period and the early post-Independence decades; mayordomos who served the same saint for two, and even as many as six or more consecutive years; and the intervention of the priest in cofradía affairs. An analysis of the Libros de Cofradía will show how the mayordomos managed or mismanaged the Bienes de Cofradía, whilst the Libros de Cordillera of the 18th century Bishops of Oaxaca will show how they attempted to influence and change every sphere of Zapotec life. The Libros de Cofradía are the official record of the mayordomos' stewardship of the cofradías, but the Libros de Cordillera of the 18th century and 19th Bishops of Oaxaca give some idea of the celebration of fiesta, and the strictures upon it.

This thesis is a contribution to the contemporary reassessment of Karl Barth's social philosophy. A close reading of the English translation of the text of a series of posthumously published lectures on ethics which Barth gave in the universities of Münster and Bonn between 1929 and 1933 is the basis of the work. Previous literature includes no discussion of the lectures. The thesis argues that the lectures show the foundation of Barth's thinking both of theology as a science and of ethics as a part of dogmatics, and that his subsequent work developed these ideas. Barth's intellectual debt to Hegel is recognised by showing that he returns to the fundamental theological questions of the relationship between faith and reason, and truth and method in the form in which Hegel discussed them at the end of the nineteenth century. The thesis acknowledges the influence of Barth's helper, Charlotte von Kirschbaum, and contrary to other opinions claims that the impact of Wilhelm Herrmann's thinking on Barth remained until 1933. Although principally about material from the period 1918 to 1933, later work by Barth is included in the study to give evidence for the proposals that his ethical thinking helped shape his dogmatics, and that his later ethics show development, not stages and breaks. A discussion of criticisms of his ethics highlights the problem of choosing a method of enquiry that is appropriate to the object studied. A dialogue with two other ethical projects helps focus attention on his insistence on a proper foundation for Christian social ethics. The thesis argues that Barth's work is a theological ethic, because his social philosophy gives a method for asking appropriate questions and creates a way of considering these questions from a Christian perspective.