Thesis advisor: Jane Regan / This dissertation argues that adults need to develop a potential ecclesiology of youth such that adults envision, anticipate, and empower adolescent contribution to the faith community. A potential ecclesiology begins when adults see adolescents for what he or she may contribute and invite them to join the church's work in the world for the reign of God. Relationships are understood as the primary location for Christ's transforming activity among people and communities. Christianity is an ecclesial faith, and the mark of maturity includes learning to move from being with others to being for others, a shift from me to we. Therefore, belonging to a community where adolescents can learn to live as Christians with others, cultivating both knowledge and competence, is vital to a maturing faith in Christ. In light of this, a potential ecclesiology compels adults to invite adolescents into the unfolding drama as growing contributors to God's redeeming work in the world. A potential ecclesiology is somewhat antithetical to a service-based youth ministry, which is a dominant model among contemporary Protestant churches characterized by adults providing a service (both content and experiences of faith) for adolescents to passively receive. Individual faith formation is the primary objective. Research verifies a disparity between increased efforts and resources allocated to support adolescent faith formation and the high attrition of post-high school participation in faith communities. When reconciled, this assumed problem of retention is actually a problem of integration, revealing that the service-based model resists inviting adolescents to join with a local community of faith as contributors to God's redemptive purposes in the world. Built on a biblical and theological foundation, this dissertation argues that fostering a maturing Christian faith is bound to the vital relationship between the person and the community where maturity is both personal and communal. Positive Youth Development literature affirms the central role of others in adolescent development broadly, which includes changes in knowing who I am (independence) alongside who I am with others (interdependence). Adolescents who are "thriving" are those who contribute to the larger purposes of the community. Additionally, a social theory of learning takes seriously doing the faith with others as a means of learning, which includes exposure to and engagement with the larger purpose of the faith community. Faith communities support a maturing faith by contextually enacting five values: communal memory, responsible mutuality, burgeoning maturity, generative relationships, and imaginative contribution. Attending to the adolescent's experience with the community and creating avenues for authentic contribution should guide a church's vision and practices and thus enact a potential ecclesiology of youth. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

[pt] A teologia de Karl Barth se caracteriza por afirmar o caráter fenomenal da manifestação de Deus na história. Ela só é verdadeiramente Palavra de Deus quando toca existencialmente o ser humano. É a palavra que acontece a cada instante levando o indivíduo a uma crise e consequentemente a uma tomada de posição. Ela acontece plenamente em Jesus Cristo, Aquele que propicia o encontro entre o eterno e o temporal. Neste trabalho o autor procurará mostrar a influência desta teologia nos teólogos latino-americanos especialmente naqueles pertencentes à Teologia da Libertação. O conceito barthiano de palavra como evento encontra sua correspondência na práxis histórica que privilegia a ação antes que a teoria. Barth trabalha com o método prática maior teoria maior prática. Ele parte da experiência e faz da teologia um segundo momento na prática eclesial. A partir daí retorna para a prática. Esse método encontra-se presente na metodologia teológica da América Latina. / [en] Karl Barth’s theology is characterized by the affirmation of the phenomenal character of the manifestation of God in history. It is only truly the Word of God when it touches the human being existentially. It’s the word that happens at each moment taking the individual to a crisis and, consequently, to take a position. It happens fully in Jesus Christ, the One who provides the meeting of the eternal and the temporal. In this work the author will try to show the influence of this theology in the Latin-American theologians, especially in those belonging to the Theology of Liberation. The barthian concept of the word as an event finds its equivalent in the historical praxis that gives privilege to the action over the theory. Barth works with method practice more theory more practice, starting from the experience and making theology a second moment in ecclesial practice, returning to practice from this point. This method is present in Latin America’s theological methodology.

John Eliot (1604-1690) was known as the “apostle to the Indians” in both Old and New England during his lifetime. His goal of inculcating “civility” with religion among “praying Indians” is often noted as representing an agenda by New English missionaries for cultural assimilation. This dissertation argues that an appropriate understanding of Eliot’s motives and methodology in ministry to Native Americans obtains from a consideration of the Congregationalist and sacrament-centered spirituality he indicated in publications before and after King Philip’s War. Eliot’s mission was more shaped by ecclesiology than eschatology or the aim of cultural hegemony. Eliot intended “praying town” settlements in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to provide Native enquirers the kind of communitarian experience he believed essential for the establishment and maintenance of congregations comprised of genuine converts who could as members in good standing together practice the Lord’s Supper. Communal life with sacramental practice would be the ultimate way for them to experience Christ’s presence. This study extends previous scholarship by employing a theological perspective to explicate Eliot’s understanding of covenantal theology and the work of the Spirit of Christ through various “means of grace.” The project incorporates the perspectives of early American historians; Puritan scholars, especially historians of doctrine; literary critics; and recent studies of colonial encounter that posit cultural negotiation. This dissertation suggests that Eliot’s practices in mission reflect the meaning of Congregationalist Puritanism in colonial context. It adds to the emerging picture of a variegated transatlantic Puritanism and suggests that Eliot’s corpus should be considered in studies of Puritan pneumatology, Christology, sanctification, the sacraments, and religious declension. Eliot’s contribution as a contextual theologian becomes clear when his writings are examined alongside select documents from contemporary interlocutors such as Richard Baxter, Daniel Gookin, William Hubbard, Increase Mather, Mary Rowlandson, and Thomas Shepard. The study also suggests that Eliot’s later literary productions in English reflect his experience in cross-cultural ministry more than is currently recognized, especially his Lord’s Supper preparative, The Harmony of the Gospels, in the Holy History of the Humiliation and Sufferings of Jesus Christ (1678).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anderson Fernandes Tostes.pdf: 792102 bytes, checksum: 3f5ce5c8e14875f00de933fcdaa40f56 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-10 / The Church is a sign and instrument of salvation in the world, and as such it has to work towards the unity of humankind and for the good of all creation. The dialogue, ecumenical and interfaith, is a very important expression of God's Work. And in the context of the Salvific Economy dialogue is to work for dignity and human person promotion, promoting the way for eschatological Kingdom development. It intends to present God's creation as a symbol of His love for humanity. And that relationship ability given to person is also a demand that is willing to meet and dialogue with his resembling. In this context, though, we see the Church, sign and instrument of salvation, and we expect its renewal for approaching increasingly the divine plan to attract to himself all the humanity. It also intends to understand the Church's mission in the plural society resulting of the modernity and post modernity, where multiple cultural and religious offerings seem to relativize the value and action of the Church. Based on that proposing to men the Church as promoting of universal fraternity acting through ecumenical and interreligious dialogue testimony. And still relate religious pluralism with a possible ecumenical ecclesiology, as well as religiousness with theology, all this in view of what the Catholic Church in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, understands by ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. Finally, the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council emphasized the Church's functionality in favor of men, and also recognized that God loves all men without distinction, and wants everyone participate in the complete happiness of his Kingdom. Therefore the Church has a goal to proclaim the universality of salvation, and put it at disposal, it means, not restrict the salvation only those who believe in Christ and entered the Catholic Church / A Igreja é sinal e instrumento de salvação no mundo, e como tal ela deve trabalhar em vista da unidade do gênero humano e para o bem de toda a criação. O diálogo, ecumênico e inter religoso, é expressão importantíssima da Obra de Deus. E no contexto da Economia Salvífica dialogar é trabalhar pela dignidade e promoção da pessoa humana, favorecendo os caminhos para desenvolvimento do Reino Escatológico. Almeja-se apresentar a criação de Deus como símbolo de seu amor pelos homens. E que a capacidade de relacionamento dada ao homem é também uma exigência para que se disponha ao encontro e ao diálogo com seu semelhante. Neste contexto, ainda, se vê a Igreja, sinal e instrumento de salvação, e se espera sua renovação para que se aproxime cada vez mais do projeto divino de atrair a si todos os homens. Também se pretende compreender a missão da Igreja na sociedade plural resultante da modernidade e pósmodernidade, onde as múltiplas ofertas culturais e religiosas parecem relativizar o valor e ação da Igreja. Com base nisso propor aos homens a Igreja como promotora da fraternidade universal agindo através do testemunho do ecumenismo e do diálogo interreligioso. E ainda relacionar o pluralismo religioso com uma possível eclesiologia ecumênica, bem como a religiosidade com a teologia, tudo isto tendo em vista o que a Igreja Católica da América Latina, de forma particular o Brasil, compreende por Ecumenismo e diálogo inter-religioso. Enfim, o Concílio Ecumênico Vaticano II realçou a funcionalidade da Igreja em favor dos homens, e também reconheceu que Deus ama a todos os homens indistintamente, e deseja que todos participem da felicidade completa de seu Reino. Sendo assim a Igreja tem como meta proclamar a universalidade da salvação, e pô-la à disposição, ou seja, não restringir a salvação apenas aqueles que creem em cristo e entraram na Igreja Católica

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study entails an historical investigation of how the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has addressed the ecumenical tension between ecclesiology and ethics in its history between 1963 and 2013. The study is arguably the first comprehensive analysis of the history of the AACC focussing on ecclesiology and ethics and will therefore make an original contribution to ecumenical theology in Africa in this regard. The study argues that the tension between what the church is (read: ecclesiology) and what it does (read: ethics) has undeniably been present in the ecumenical movement in Africa. The study is situated within two concentric contexts. Firstly, it is located within the context of the WCC study project on ecclesiology and ethics that was conducted during the period 1992 to 1996 and will contribute to wider discourse in this regard. The WCC project was an attempt to bridge a deep divide in the ecumenical movement between those who emphasise that the way to unity is through doctrinal agreement and those who believe that "doctrine divides" while a common moral cause (service) may unite. Secondly, this study is aimed at discerning how the AACC has addressed the relationship between the theological quest for unity (read: ecclesiology) and the social responsibility of the church (read: ethics). The study examines how the AACC assisted its member churches to respond to contemporary challenges in three distinct periods in recent African history, namely the periods of decolonisation (1963-1974), development (1975-1992) and neo-liberal globalisation (1993-2013). The hypothesis of this study is that these periods correlate with the AACC's ways of negotiating the tension between ecclesiology and ethics. The study argues that although the AACC has privileged the social agenda of the church in society (read: ethics), the ecumenical quest for ecclesial unity (read: ecclesiology) has not been completely absent. While the study acknowledges that the tension between ecclesiology and ethics is not easily resolved, it affirms that these two ecumenical concerns are inseparable. The study therefore suggests an appropriation of the African notion of ubuntu as a horizon for ecclesiology and ethics. The intuition behind the proposal is that ubuntu resonates with biblical notions of koinonia and diakonia and is thus an apt notion for an articulation of the interconnectedness between ecclesiology and ethics. The study is divided into two parts, comprising eight chapters. The first part covers four chapters in which I offer an historical background to the modern ecumenical movement, an analysis of the ecclesiology and ethics debate in the wider ecumenical context and a brief institutional history of the AACC. The second part of the study comprises three chapters. Therein, I present a critical analysis of the AACC's handling of the tension between ecclesiology and ethics in the period 1963-2013. Each chapter describes and analyses the various ways in which the AACC addressed the tension between the theological quest for the visible unity of the church on the one hand (read: ecclesiology) and the social responsibility of the church (read: ethics) on the other in specific socio-historical contexts. The hypothesis of the study is confirmed on the basis of such analysis. This study contributes to discourse in African theology on authenticity (read: ecclesiology) as expressed in theologies of inculturation and indigenisation and on social relevance (read: ethics) as expressed in theologies of liberation and reconstruction. It further contributes to academic reflection on the history of the ecumenical movement in Africa and the quest for an appropriate ecumenical vision on the African continent amidst the tensions between mainline churches, independent churches (AICs) and a variety of Pentecostal churches and the many social challenges that churches have to address.

The Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches, as well as other Christian communities, are faced with the challenges of postmodern thought, which calls into question some of the foundational theological and philosophical constructs through which Christianity has articulated the mystery of Eucharistic presence. Louis-Marie Chauvet, Alexander Schmemann and John Zizioulas, the interlocutors presented in this dissertation, recognize that for centuries, Eucharistic theology has been shaped within a metaphysical/Scholastic framework which confines, in many respects, the experiential/relational aspects of the divine/human dynamic as mediated in the Eucharistic celebration. An appeal for a paradigmatic shift is made evident in their respective works based on a renewed understanding of the various strata of the symbolic order and the paradigm of relationality as being the primary contexts within which the people of God celebrate his presence. This shift is necessary in order to correct the problematic of a causal, mechanistic, reductionist, overly-metaphysical, dualist framework as well as a static onto-theological construct, to which Eucharistic theology has been subjected to for centuries. There is a call for a re-thinking of Eucharistic presence in light of a theology which is rooted in the mutually supportive principles of lex orandi est lex credendi and of a Patristic theological landscape. The methodology of this dissertation is comparative and dialogical in nature in which each theologian articulates the need for a scholarship of Eucharistic presence to be established on new terrain and a new trajectory which will prove to be more appropriate in expressing the mystery of presence as it is grounded and expressed within the Apostolic faith and practice.<br>By appealing to and implementing the theologies here presented, we can develop a renewed vision of Eucharistic presence that may provide a common ground for an ecumenical enterprise, reaffirming the most essential component of faith: God's presence among humanity and in creation. This ecumenical enterprise must not remain within the realm of the abstract or theoretical, but needs to culminate in a true union of the churches born of a common unity in faith and eventual Eucharistic practice. In addition, these three theologians' contributions will continue to provide contemporary and future scholars in sacramental theology with an innovative approach to further articulate the mystery of presence through media which speak to the contemporary world while remaining rooted in antiquity. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Theology; / PhD; / Dissertation;

Pope Benedict XVI, since his election to the papacy, has urged Catholic clergy and theologians to interpret the documents of the second Vatican Council using a "hermeneutic of continuity." This thesis seeks to answer whether such a hermeneutic is possible by focusing on one aspect of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. The methodology here employed is a critical analysis of one of the major patristic sources of Lumen Gentiums teaching, St. Augustine of Hippo. In claiming St. Augustines support for its doctrine, Lumen Gentium also offers an interpretation of his thought. For Lumen Gentiums teaching to be plausible, we must be able to conclude that Augustines teaching is essentially identical to it. In that connection, Lumen Gentiums claim that the Church is both a spiritual and visible reality forces us to consider a controverted topic in Augustinian studies: can Augustines city of God be identified with the hierarchical Church? In order to resolve that question, we will examine both the historical and eschatological aspects of the Church in Augustines thought, with some reference (treated in an appendix) to the compatibility between his theory of predestination and his ecclesiology. Further, what the Council meant when it said that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, and whether this change in terminology, along with its implications in the field of ecumenism, can be reconciled with St. Augustines ecclesiology must be determined with a view to establishing the continuity between pre and post conciliar Catholic ecclesiology. St. Augustine developed his understanding of the nature of the Church in the early years of his ecclesiastical career through his polemical battles with the Donatist schismatics, and so the history of that schism is related in an appendix.

Pope Benedict XVI, since his election to the papacy, has urged Catholic clergy and theologians to interpret the documents of the second Vatican Council using a "hermeneutic of continuity." This thesis seeks to answer whether such a hermeneutic is possible by focusing on one aspect of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. The methodology here employed is a critical analysis of one of the major patristic sources of Lumen Gentiums teaching, St. Augustine of Hippo. In claiming St. Augustines support for its doctrine, Lumen Gentium also offers an interpretation of his thought. For Lumen Gentiums teaching to be plausible, we must be able to conclude that Augustines teaching is essentially identical to it. In that connection, Lumen Gentiums claim that the Church is both a spiritual and visible reality forces us to consider a controverted topic in Augustinian studies: can Augustines city of God be identified with the hierarchical Church? In order to resolve that question, we will examine both the historical and eschatological aspects of the Church in Augustines thought, with some reference (treated in an appendix) to the compatibility between his theory of predestination and his ecclesiology. Further, what the Council meant when it said that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, and whether this change in terminology, along with its implications in the field of ecumenism, can be reconciled with St. Augustines ecclesiology must be determined with a view to establishing the continuity between pre and post conciliar Catholic ecclesiology. St. Augustine developed his understanding of the nature of the Church in the early years of his ecclesiastical career through his polemical battles with the Donatist schismatics, and so the history of that schism is related in an appendix.

Cette thèse sur l'identité nationale et ecclésiale macédonienne développe trois axes de recherche afin de mieux cerner cette notion complexe d'identité : les cartes ethnographiques, l'ecclésiologie et l'usage des mythes nationaux de 1870 à 2013. Elle mobilise des informations issues de l'aire balkanique, de pays d'Europe occidentale et de Russie, des documents d'archives diplomatiques et ecclésiastiques inédits, et des enquêtes de terrain. La thèse montre d'abord comment, à travers la cartographie ethnographique, a été forgé le concept de « Slaves macédoniens », longtemps resté dans l'ambiguïté d'une acception territoriale ou ethnique ; elle montre aussi les bases théoriques de la notion (avec le rôle d'un Jovan Cvijic), et les différents acteurs, des cartographes et géographes aux théoriciens de la particularité ethnique des Macédoniens. Puis la thèse analyse le rôle des Eglises dans l'affirmation du sentiment national et les critères ecclésiologiques. Les cas de l'Eglise orthodoxe et de l'Eglise uniate macédoniennes prouvent que l'espace ecclésial constitue un excellent observatoire d'analyse identitaire, qui permet de mesurer l'impact des facteurs impliqués dans le processus d'établissement d'Eglises et de situer les défis ecclésiaux aux échelles nationale, régionale et internationale. Enfin, la prise en compte de la construction et de la diffusion de mythes géographiques et historiques en tant que vecteurs d'identité collective, mis en avant par l'Etat, permet de saisir leurs effets dans trois champs : l'enseignement universitaire et scolaire, la révision de l'histoire et l'aménagement territorial, qui concourent au processus actuel de reconstruction identitaire. / This thesis deals with Macedonia's national and ecclesiastical identity and develops three research areas to better define the complex notion of identity : ethnographic maps, ecclesiology, and the use of national myths from 1870 to 2013. It uses information from the Balkans, Western Europe, and Russia along with unpublished documents from diplomatic and ecclesiastical archives as well as field surveys. First of all, through the use of ethnographic maps, the thesis shows how the idea of « Macedonian Slavs » came about, a concept long anchored in the ambiguity of a territorial and ethnic definition. It also demonstrates the theoretical foundation of the idea (including the rôle played by Jovan Cvijic) and presents the various actors from cartographers and geographers to the theoreticians of Macedonian ethnic particularity. The thesis then analyses the rôle of Churches in affirming national feelings as well as ecclesiological criteria. The cases of the Macedonian Orthodox and Uniate Churches prove that the ecclesiastical space constitutes an excellent observation point for analyzing identity. From this observatory, the impact of factors that contributed to the establishment of the Churches can be measured, and the ecclesial challenges can be situated on regional, national, and international scales. Finally, the study of the construction and diffusion of geographical and historical myths, as markers of a collective identity which have been put forward by the State, help to understand their impact in three areas : high school and university teaching, the revision of history, and territorial planning. These three play a rôle in the contemporary process of identity reconstruction.

This study offers a practical theology of evangelism for black churches in an increasingly postmodern American cultural context. As a postmodern politics of difference challenges the traditional construction of black racial identity and religious pluralism challenges the basis of Christian confessional commitment, the black church must reassess what it means to bear witness to a distinctive black Christian faith tradition. As a work in practical theology, this reflection emanates from a consideration of how these issues manifest in a concrete situation. Specifically, the dissertation investigates the practices and self-understanding of three historically black collegiate gospel choirs (HBCGCs) affiliated with predominantly white major research universities in the greater Boston area. The descriptive analysis of these HBCGCs and the ecclesiological discussion that follows assume a reflexive quality whereby the research on HBCGCs contributes fresh insights regarding the nature of black Christian community within a racially diverse and religiously pluralist social context even as the praxis of HBCGCs is subjected to critique through the normative gaze of black theology. This dialogue includes voices from black postmodern cultural criticism in order to develop a black postmodern ecclesiology that preserves the distinctiveness of the black Christian tradition through the exercise of narrative discipline while embracing a reconstructed notion of communal solidarity that is strengthened by difference. From this black postmodern ecclesiology, evangelism emerges as the ecclesial practice of extending the church’s communal witness across the boundary lines between church and world through mutually critical transformative exchanges. The study brings black postmodern ecclesiology into conversation with cross-cultural missional theology and postliberal communalism to arrive at a narrativist confessional approach to evangelism that affirms the particularity of the Christian gospel while recognizing the work of the Spirit outside the church. The descriptive analysis of HBCGCs aids in imagining the practical implications of this approach as they creatively embody aspects of the communal life of black churches, thereby providing unique extra-ecclesial spaces within which mutually critical transformative exchanges occur between those for whom the black Christian tradition is normative and those for whom it is not—risky exchanges the outcomes of which are unpredictable, yet beautiful and joyful.