This study examines the distinctly ecclesial dimensions of Orthodox thinking on Islam and Muslim-Christian encounters within the context of the modern theological renewal in the Orthodox Church over the past few decades. It shows how by building on the patristic, ecclesial, and liturgical revival over the past half-century – inspired by figures such as Afanassieff, Bulgakov, Florovsky, Lossky, Schmemann, Staniloae, and Zizioulas – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Metropolitan Georges (Khodr), Dr. Tarek Mitri, Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos), and others have reframed the discussion within the Church, and within ecumenical circles, about Christian-Muslim relations. By creatively applying traditional concepts of christology and pneumatology, they have posited Islam as part of the divine economy for salvation and have publicly endorsed (and directly participated in) Muslim-Christian dialogue. The study surveys these interactions between Orthodox Christians and Muslims and analyzes their significance in the broader context of their collective and independent attempts to redefine their identity during the years 1975-2008. The study concludes that it is now possible to speak of an Orthodox ‘position’ on Islam and relations with Muslims. It also suggests that in their interactions with each other, Orthodox Christians and Muslim are putting forth new paradigms for addressing some of the world’s pressing concerns.

Linguistic research showing dependence on context in deriving language meaning discloses the integral linking of the Luo language with their departed ancestors and the upholding of customary laws. Meaning and impact being transformed in the process of translation from one context to another explains the severe limitations found in previous attempts at cross-cultural understanding between Western and Luo (African) peoples. Studying Luo people’s understanding of ‘bad’ in the light of the above reveals much that often remains invisible to Westerners. ‘Bad’ arises from the activities of ghosts acting through people’s hearts often as a result of breaking taboos. Cleansing, especially of ghosts, through prayer, keeping customary laws and salvation are used to counteract such ‘bad’. Conventional Biblical and mission hermeneutics are, in failing to account for pragmatic linguistics, found seriously wanting. Forces and powers being spiritually based in a monistic worldview amongst the Luo render clear cross-cultural communication with a rationalist and monotheist West impossible. Theological education based on African languages is advocated as the way to engage the challenges of Christianity with Luo ways of life in a way that will result in a deeply rooted African church, and a moral, vibrant, intellectually and economically active African society.

Methodism, as a hybrid denomination, being neither Anglican nor Free Church, was endowed by the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, with worship characterised by a twofold practice, the liturgy of The Book of Common Prayer on the one hand and the free form preaching service on the other. The thesis traces the history and the development of this pattern on through the use of the different service books, the latest of which is The Methodist Worship Book published in 1999. How this book came about is explored and the response to its publication by Methodist ministers, churches and members is researched by the use of questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Developments in the shape of the preaching service are also considered. Greater variety in Methodist worship in general is then reviewed. Some pointers for the future are explored, as indeed whether or not today’s alternative patterns of worship may be regarded as essentially Methodist.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the manner in which the Qur’an and sunna depict female personalities in their narrative literature. It is a comprehensive study of all the female personalities mentioned in the Qur’an, and is selective in the personalities of the sunna to the three prominent women of ahl al-bayt, Khadi>ja, Fa>t}ima, and Zaynab. The sources examined here are the major sources of Ima>mi> Shi>‘i> Islam, including the exegetical compilations of the eminent Shi>‘i> religious authorities of the classical and modern periods; as well as the authoritative books of Shi>’i> traditions. The results reached here are that female personalities are portrayed as human beings, and that they display feminine qualities, which are often viewed positively and are sometimes commendable traits for men, at least as far as the spiritual domain is concerned. The hypothesis, particularly about women’s humanity, will be tested against the depiction of womanhood in the h}adi>th literature, with special emphasis on Nahj al-Bala>gha. The study recommends that future research on the subject of “women in Islam” widen the scope of what it considers to be its data, outside the domain of the law.

Montanism can be regarded as the first of the many voices of protest that have been raised at intervals throughout the history of the Church against the idea of treating the lay believer as a subordinate part of a collective system. This reaction towards individualism on the part of the Montanists tended to go too far in some respects and the exaggerated enthusiasm and bigotry of certain members of the movement led to narrowness of outlook and excesses of behaviour which have no doubt coloured later historians' view of Montanism.

I argue that the problem of evil can be a moral objection to theistic belief. The thesis has three broad sections, each establishing an element in this argument. Section one establishes the logically binding nature of the problem of evil: The problem of evil must be solved, if you are to believe in God. And yet, I borrow from J. L. Mackie’s criticisms of the moral argument for the existence of God, and argue that the fundamentally evaluative nature of the premises within the problem of evil entails that it cannot be used to argue for the non-existence of God. Section two establishes the moral objectionability of many responses to the problem of evil (theodicies). I discuss the work of the moral ‘anti-theodicists’, and support some of the key premises within their arguments via appeal to the moral philosophy of Raimond Gaita. I combine the claims of section one and section two, and conclude that theism inherits the moral objectionability of theodicy. In section three, I establish the plausibility of a morally motivated non-cognitive atheism, offering an example (Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov), before finally distilling the central claims of this thesis into the form of a slogan: God lacks humanity.

This research rises out of the perceived gap between rhetoric and reality in the congregational life of the church in the United States. Using the research tools of autoethnography and case study, it investigates the life settings of the researcher and the interior organizational dynamics of three cases, a for-profit, a nonprofit and a church organization. The research considers how organizational pre-conditions and traits and processes, leadership behavior and perspectives and the perceived benefits of an empowering environment, impacts the ability of the organization to implement and sustain an empowering environment. Three pre-conditions, namely, a flexibility in organizational behaviours, the total commitment of the primary leader, and a particular view of people were found to be essential. Four relational traits of voice, trust, authentication, and connectivity were discovered to generate a relational environment that was conducive to an empowering culture. No particular leadership style was found to be essential, only that the style could embrace the elements enumerated above. Personal and organizational benefits were outside the normative expectations of profit or other numerical measurements and closer to aspects of relationally and energy. There appeasers to be no significant difference between church and other organizational types in how empowerment functions. I conclude by reflecting on practical aspects and how the research journey impacted the researcher.

This thesis presents the history of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines for the first time. It traces the origins, development and current state of this movement. This work will attempt to supply that information, and do so in a manner that recognizes the vital roles of the Filipinos. It argues that schism within the movement was unavoidable due to historical and cultural predispositions of the Filipinos when combined with the paternal methods of the missionaries, and the schismatic nature of Pentecostalism. Important leaders are examined and presented with heretofore-unpublished details of their lives and works, including missionaries and national leaders such as Diamond A. Noble and Wilde Almeda. Some of the many organizations are studied from the perspective of schism and success, and a summary of the entire movement is offered with an analysis as to why people have migrated into it and within it. It attempts to present a way of understanding Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines through the examination of schism; understanding that may contribute to a global understanding of the Oneness movement, or even of Pentecostalism as a whole.

This thesis is a study of the Qur'ānic discourse on knowledge and its impact on the Muslim world. It focuses in particular on the division of knowledge into the Revealed or Religious sciences and the Rational sciences. The thesis asks whether both Revealed knowledge and Rational knowledge are considered religiously praiseworthy and questions what the purpose is in acquiring knowledge. The thesis then examines the impact of the Qur’anic discourse on the Muslim community through the development of the revealed and the rational sciences and through the development of educational institutions. Finally it asks why it is that in the present day the two branches are isolated from each other when there was clearly a great deal of overlap and cross-fertilisation during the medieval period. The findings were that the purpose of acquiring knowledge in Islam is to understand God and oneself. It found that within the Qur'ānic discourse the revealed sciences and the rational sciences enjoy a symbiotic relationship. This relationship did not however always manifest in society. The educational institutions did incorporate the rational sciences during times of prosperity but when under political or economic pressure they regressed back to only teaching the revealed sciences.

This study argues that the use of reflected self-image as a tool for interpreting Christian anti-Muslim polemic allows such texts to be read for the self-image of their authors instead of the image of just those they attacked. This self-image is further described as the author’s assertion of Christian identity in light of Islam. As such, polemic becomes a set of boundaries authors offered to their communities, helping them to successfully navigate inter-religious living. Using this interpretive tool, two sets of medieval anti-Muslim polemic from Spain – four treatises from the third/ninth century and four from the fifth/eleventh-sixth/twelfth centuries – are analysed in order to discern how their authors defined themselves in light of Islam, and in turn, how they hoped their readers would distinguish themselves from Muslims. The research found differences in both the strategies deployed by the different sets of texts and the definitions of Christian identity that result from them. In the first case, Christian defamation of Islam is used to define Christians by their isolation from Muslims. In the second case, familiarity with Islam and Muslim culture reveals a definition of Christianity more supportive of the cultural proximity to Muslims even as Christians’ religious distinctiveness is emphasised.