This thesis argues that a literary hermeneutic based on a mythology of autism offers a significantly validating reading of apophatic and a-theological texts. Instead of a disability, this mythologised autism is read as a valid and valuable poetic theological thinking. The thesis argues that a mythological autism could be envisioned as a trinity, analogous to the three-in-one Godhead of Christianity. This means that each facet of the mythological autistic trinity is indissoluble from the others, are all are equally autism. The first element is termed Mindfulness of Separation, and this entails absence and unknowing as has been conceptualised in Baron Cohen’s theory of Mindblindness. Thought theologically, Mindfulness of Separation is a privileged entry into the (non)spaces indicated by apophatic and a-theological discourse. The second element is termed autistic fascination, and is drawn from the clinical conceptualisation of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviours and Interests (RRBI’s) as described in the American DSM-5. The thesis argues that Uta Frith’s explanation of repetitive, stereotyped behaviours as those of a ‘sensory connoisseur’ can be thought theologically as a capacity for reverence and wonder. Coupled with Frith’s thinking of the sensory, the thesis argues that autistic special interests are equally part of autistic fascination in their sense of revelling in praise of their special objects. Theologically, this autistic fascination can be seen as a haecceic and poetic presence-in-absence made possible only within autism’s particular separation, and this is a paradoxical coincidentia oppositorum which sheds a new light on the similar absent/present paradox of apophatic theology. The third element is termed literal metaphor, and it can ultimately only exist when it is thought theologically, as what is termed incarnational metaphor. This draws on the autistic phenomenon of taking figurative language ‘literally.’ Theologically, this is a strength inasmuch as its stance towards language is not to decode it pragmatically, but to stay within the paradoxes of a poetic language expressing theological thinking. The thesis develops the term ‘apophatic fiction’ to express the way in which incarnational metaphor reads poetic, mystical texts by honouring them as simultaneously both poetic and theological thinking. The ‘literal’ meaning is the incarnational meaning of poetic sacrament, both absent (from pragmatic appropriation) and present (in the power of the word). At the heart of this trinity, making it possible, is kenotic autistic affective empathy. This is drawn from Baron Cohen’s thinking of autism as a ‘zero degree positive’ of unimpaired affective empathy within impaired cognitive empathy. It is kenotic because it pours itself out in affection which has no cognitive safeguards or conditions. It is the wisdom of the holy fool. These are theological, not clinical concepts, although they are a mythologization of clinical constructs. They can be thought theologically in terms of what the thesis terms universal, conscious and absolute autism. Universal autism draws on Baron Cohen’s model of the autistic spectrum as a continuum across human variations, and it is an autistic streak permeating existence. Conscious autism is the knowing adoption of autism as a theological strategy. Absolute autism is the theological thinking which imagines what a total autism would be, in absolute Mindfulness of Separation, absolute autistic fascination, absolute incarnational metaphor and absolute affective empathy. As such, the autistic trinity is the autism of God, offering a powerful way to understand apophatic and a-theological texts. In conclusion, readings of Hopkins’ poetry and Pirandello’s novels are ‘case studies’ for an autistic a-theological hermeneutic.

This dissertation aims to rehabilitate the reasonableness of Hick’s religious pluralism by disclosing the deep structure of his philosophical system. To realize this aim, this dissertation will introduce a new philosophical method of reliabilism, which is proposed by Ernest Sosa and emphasizes total balance and historical maturation. As a result of the introduction of reliabilism, Hick’s philosophical system is disclosed to be composed of Hick’s own philosophy of personhood, combined with the philosophies of Wittgenstein, Kant, and Hume. Instead of emphasizing one of them, this dissertation will propose to read these different components of Hick’s philosophical system as forming a total worldview, which are complementary with each other. Also, this dissertation will situate Hick’s philosophy in the history of philosophy of religion (e.g. pre-analytical paradigms of British Idealism and Critical Realism, and analytical paradigms of Logical Positivism, neo-Wittgensteinian philosophy, and Reformed Epistemology). Hick’s project will be discussed as a recovery of a pre-analytical worldview from within analytical contexts. As Hick’s central philosophical works, this dissertation will focus on Faith and Knowledge and An Interpretation of Religion. Faith and Knowledge has not been examined in detail in past literature. But Hick’s arguments about personhood, Wittgenstein, Kant, and Hume in An Interpretation of Religion originates in Faith and Knowledge (both the first edition and the second edition). A correct understanding of Hick’s religious pluralism in An Interpretation of Religion is impossible without a detailed examination of Faith and Knowledge.

This study aims to interpret Lives of Christian saints as examples of religious literature. Hagiography is commonly studied as an historical artefact indicative of the politics or linguistics of the time in which a text was composed, but few theorists have attempted to interpret its religious content. As these texts were composed within monastic environments I argue that the religious content may be illumined by a methodology which identifies an implicit theology of sanctity within the narrative. The biblical hermeneutic method proposed by Paul Ricoeur in the mid-twentieth century is applied to the earliest Lives of Samson, Cuthbert, and Brigit. These three date from the mid- to late-seventh century, a time of secular and ecclesiastical change, in some cases profound turmoil. Historical context for the composition of each text is presented; texts are analysed for biblical allusions and literary sources, and submitted to structural analysis. Motifs of religious and archetypal significance are derived from the work of theorists in folklore, anthropology, Bible, and the History of Religions. Each text is examined for motifs and patterns that disclose the structural framework used to organize the work. The structural analysis is then used to highlight central themes in the text. This interpretive process imagines a dynamic encounter between text and reader which combines historical inquiry with biblical hermeneutic, fulfilling Ricoeur’s expectation that the encounter would expand the reader’s horizon of meaning. Samson’s encounters with serpents and sorceress function as an initiatory pattern drawing monastics into a dynamic of spiritual growth. Cuthbert’s time on Farne Island includes echoes of the Desert Saints as well as the crucifixion of Christ and results in a brief but powerfully kenotic episcopal ministry. Brigit’s Kildare becomes the locus of the New Jerusalem, City of Refuge and Peaceable Kingdom.

This thesis adds a new contribution to the field of empirical theology pertaining to nominalism. The thesis explores the belonging, beliefs and practice of nominal Irish Anglicans. It seeks to unearth the reasons they give for their identification with the Church of Ireland. The method used in the exploration is primarily quantitative with a brief qualitative element. The instrument employed is a questionnaire, based on the template employed by Richter and Francis and Francis and Richter on church-leaving. The thesis opens by introducing the Church of Ireland in the religious context of Ireland. The frame is widened to Europe, before examining the literature surrounding the debate on nominalism. A method is outlined to locate nominal Irish Anglicans in order to obtain and analyse their views as to their belonging, belief and practice. There follows an empirical analysis to explore the beliefs of nominal Irish Anglicans and the reasons they give for reducing their church attendance. The analysis is thematic, following the pattern used by and the earlier work of Richter and Francis (1998), Francis, Robbins and Astley (2005) and Francis and Richter (2007). This thesis concludes by offering a summary of the findings before providing an explanation as to why nominal Irish Anglicans continue their identification with the Church of Ireland. It suggests how some of the discoveries may shape future research. The thesis ends by considering the implication of the results for the Church of Ireland.

Identifying what is important in the self-interpretations of young people who report no religion, this study examines how relationships of difference to religion relate to matters of importance. Twenty-three Year 10 pupils (14- and 15-year-olds) from two non-denominational secondary schools in the West Midlands who ticked the ‘no religion’ box on a questionnaire were asked to take photographs to represent what was important to them. These were used as prompts for discussions during one-to-one interviews that explored what was important to these young people, before asking questions about religion and their reasons for reporting none. Taking a relational approach to the study of non-religion (Lee 2012a; Quack 2014), this thesis identifies participants’ relationships of difference to their constructions of religion. Understanding identity as a self-interpretation relating to things that matter to us (Taylor 1989), it determines whether and how relationships of difference are significant in participants’ self-interpretations and how, therefore, ticking the ‘no religion’ box on a questionnaire relates to issues of identity. Participants’ constructions of religion and their decision to report none were influenced by what they considered to be matters of importance, and what they considered to be important was reflected in their beliefs about life, the end of life, life after death, God, the supernatural and prayer. While many participants held beliefs adapted from religious traditions, they considered these to be different from those they associated with religion. The question of whether participants expressed non-religious identities depends on the relative significance of relationships of difference to religion in participants’ self-interpretations. For the majority of participants, relationships of difference to religion were not of central importance, meaning that very few should be categorised as having non-religious self-identities. Implications are drawn for the study of youth, religion and non-religion and for the teaching of religion and belief in schools.

No description available.

This thesis contributes to the ethnographic corpus by charting the contested place of ‘public’ Christianity in contemporary England, which I explore through the rise of conservative Christian political activism and Christian interest litigation in the English courts. Based on twenty-two months of dual-sited fieldwork split between a Christian lobby group and a conservative evangelical church, it is unique in putting the experiences of religious activists at the legal coalface in direct conversation with (one subsection of) the conservative Christian community they appeal to for spiritual and financial support. I attend to the values, desires and goals of those seeking to live out their faith in a context they paint as hostile to its manifestation. I argue that, despite the apparently innovative legal forms through which these values and desires are articulated, the primary motivations of those involved are far from novel. Rather, they reflect historic and abiding concerns within evangelical Christianity: an abhorrence of sin; Christ’s offer of freedom from it; and the duty to tell others of this possibility. Equally longstanding, however, are tensions over how best to discharge these missionary obligations. Thus, this work is also an exploration of the evangelistic anxieties experienced by the members of one church community in their efforts to do so, and of their creativenavigation of the competing moral commitments around which their lives are structured. I argue that their theoretical value monism – in which the many goals they seek to achieve can be subsumed under the ideal of submission to God’s Word – takes on particular contours as it is challenged by the value pluralism dominant in twenty-first century London. While Christian activists view high-profile legal cases as vehicles through which to (re)evangelise the nation, I show that evangelicals on the ground are deeply ambivalent about the impact of this ‘legal theology’.

The aim of this dissertation is to examine critically the incessant inter-religious conflicts in Northern Nigeria, to identify the real causes of such conflicts and to suggest theological and practical ways to sustain peace building endeavours. Conflicts as an inevitable part of human existence can be triggered and exacerbated by numerous factors. Religion as a powerful impulse in human existence has been used to fuel conflict in Northern Nigeria. Radical religious strife, quest for more converts, colonisation, ethnicity, and perceived political domination have strengthened stereotypical views of the self and the other. Religion is closely intertwined with culture and thus central in the understanding and establishment of peace in society; continue to play paradoxical role in the locality. Religion can be a cause of conflict and a way of conflict resolution. In Nigeria religion has failed to establish the peace which it has claimed to promote, because deep historical feuds have found expression in religion, and religion is thus at the core of the strife as experienced in contemporary Northern Nigeria. The theology of the Second Vatican Council, in which the Roman Catholic Church reflects on its self-understanding as a community and its role in the world, provides a first model for the encounter between Christianity and other religions in mutual understanding. This thesis considers the theological potential of this interreligious encounter (or dialogue) between Islamic and Christian traditions in general and the possibilities and difficulties of dialogue between Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria in particular. Moreover, this study delves into the need for engagement between theology and politics in addressing issues of conflict. It explores the theology of interreligious dialogue as a means for a promising peace-building process in Northern Nigeria. Religion as a significant part of the problem is equally essential in proffering solutions. However, taken on their own terms, neither religion nor politics have comprehensive answers. Hence, any peace building project in Northern Nigeria must be multi-faceted. It could be, modelled on a theological approach for encounter and dialogue which examines common grounds for collaboration within the two faith traditions, in an attempt to consider and strengthen peace-building endeavours within the region.

This thesis concentrates on clarifying the significance of the clothing imagery in the Pauline corpus. This imagery occurs in six Pauline epistles (clothing with Christ in Gal 3:27 & Rom 13:14; clothing with the new man in Col 3:9-10 & Eph 4:22-24; and clothing with the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:49, 50-54 & 2 Cor 5:1-4). The imagery constitutes a significant aspect of Pauline theology. For the background to the Pauline clothing-metaphor, Part I looks into clothing imagery in the OT, 1 & 2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, rabbinic literature, Joseph and Aseneth, The Hymn of the Pearl, Apuleius' Metamorphoses, the Roman custom of clothing, and the baptismal praxis of the ancient church. In the Old Testament, significant background is found in the concept of God's clothing Adam and Eve with garments of skins in Gen 3 :21, in various rituals of the priest being clothed with priestly garments (Ex 29:4-9; Lev 16:3-4, 10-11, 23-24; Ezek 42:13-14; 44:19; cf. Zech 3:3-5), in traditions about God's Spirit's clothing himself with a specific human being (Jdg 6:34; 1 Ch 12:18; 2 Ch 24:20), and the analogy between an eschatological transformation of the cosmos and a change of clothing (Ps 102:26). Later Jewish literature adds other emphases: the analogy between the resurrection transfiguration and the replacement of an earthly garment with a heavenly one (1 Enoch 65:15-16; 2 Enoch 22:8-10), the concept of Adam and Eve's prefall clothing (ApoM 20-21), Philo's notions of the people being clothed with either virtue or vice and of the high priest's becoming superior to others when dressed in sacred priestly garments, the idea of Adam's being clothed with splendour before the Fall in rabbinic writings, and symbolic scenes of Aseneth's attire in Joseph and Aseneth. Also important are the prince's change of garments in The Hymn of the Pearl, various scenes of Lucius' symbolic attire in his initiation to Isis in Metamorphoses, the Roman custom of exchanging the toga praetexta with the toga virilis, and the practice of putting off and putting on clothes at baptism in the earliest church. Bearing in mind the result of a study of these background documents, Part 2 undertakes an examination of the Pauline clothing metaphor. In the clothing-with-a-person passages (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14; Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22-24), baptismal themes and the Adam-Christ typology predominate, while in the clothing-with-the-resurrection passages (1 Cor 15:49, 50-54; 2 Cor 5:1-4), the Adam-Christ contrast is presupposed. The former passages describe a radical change in a believer's nature at baptism, when he/she is united with Christ as the second Adam, while the latter passages depict the eschatological change in the believer's mode of existence at the parousia. In brief, the Pauline clothing-metaphor suggests that the life and glory in the image of God lost in Adam has been restored in baptism in Christ, and will be consummated at the parousia.

No description available.