A few words with regard to certain aspects of the terms religious art and secular art seem appropriate to a proper statement of the problem to be investigated in this thesis. In recent years Western students of art have real177ized that many instances exist which may not be classified easily in either category. Peter Fingesten, a student of the arts, has suggested that the term sacred art might beat be reserved for icons, paintings, reliquaries, and all implements of ritual and worship. Art objects in this category are produced according to hieratic code and symbolism. On the other hand, there is an impressive array of materials with a religious orientation, though not intended for shrine or altar. To this class of more freely creative art, Hr. Pingesten would affix the expression religious art. What then remains untainted by religious significance would be called secular art.

<p>This essay is the result of a field study in Ko Lanta in Thailand, during October-December 2009. The purpose of the study was to document the traditional religion of Urak Lawoi and to analyze in what way their life and beliefs have changed during the last 20 years.</p><p>Urak Lawoi is the name of one of the sea nomadic ethnic groups who lives along the shores of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. They are spread on many of the islands in the Andaman Sea archipelago and Ko Lanta is the main settlement. Ural Lawoi is regarded as the indigenous people of the island and they live there as a minority with Muslims and Thai-Chinese.</p><p>The traditional religion of Urak Lawoi is built upon the animistic belief of their ancestors. The religious leader and link between the spirit world and the humans is the To Maw. The family bonds are strong in the Urak Lawoi community and the elders play an important role in life and after death, when they can keep on watching out for their offspring. For the living it is important to do the rituals and ceremonies in the right way to obtain good luck and avoid bad luck.</p><p>In the last 20 years Ko Lanta has experienced a tremendous process of change caused by the increasing tourism. The conditions of the Urak Lawoi and their way of life have dramatically changed. The modern society with money economy, new technical solutions and a rationalized large-scale fishing has rapidly changed their way of life. The tsunami catastrophe, and the following attention from help organizations and missionary activities, has escalated the process. The traditional religion and culture of the Urak Lawoi is still present on the island but it is declining and changing under the influence of the constant pressure from other interests.</p>

This essay is the result of a field study in Ko Lanta in Thailand, during October-December 2009. The purpose of the study was to document the traditional religion of Urak Lawoi and to analyze in what way their life and beliefs have changed during the last 20 years. Urak Lawoi is the name of one of the sea nomadic ethnic groups who lives along the shores of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. They are spread on many of the islands in the Andaman Sea archipelago and Ko Lanta is the main settlement. Ural Lawoi is regarded as the indigenous people of the island and they live there as a minority with Muslims and Thai-Chinese. The traditional religion of Urak Lawoi is built upon the animistic belief of their ancestors. The religious leader and link between the spirit world and the humans is the To Maw. The family bonds are strong in the Urak Lawoi community and the elders play an important role in life and after death, when they can keep on watching out for their offspring. For the living it is important to do the rituals and ceremonies in the right way to obtain good luck and avoid bad luck. In the last 20 years Ko Lanta has experienced a tremendous process of change caused by the increasing tourism. The conditions of the Urak Lawoi and their way of life have dramatically changed. The modern society with money economy, new technical solutions and a rationalized large-scale fishing has rapidly changed their way of life. The tsunami catastrophe, and the following attention from help organizations and missionary activities, has escalated the process. The traditional religion and culture of the Urak Lawoi is still present on the island but it is declining and changing under the influence of the constant pressure from other interests.

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Although scholars have explored women’s public resistance in occupied cities during the Civil War, few have explored women in occupied New Orleans. Studies have been limited to the rambunctious activities of women in the city streets, armed with sharp tongues. The use of private spaces, specifically religious spaces, as a platform for protest, has not been explored. By analyzing the events surrounding the closure of an uptown church on October of 1862, known as “The Battle of Saint Paul’s,” this thesis will address Confederate female activism and protest to Union occupation in New Orleans. It will do so by examining competing press accounts as well as a song inspired by the event. For its female members, the church was the last community-held space in the city. The women of St. Paul’s fought Union control of the only public space that afforded them a degree of autonomy within occupied New Orleans.

In 2009, the Archdiocese of New Orleans went through a reorganization that resulted in the closure of numerous parishes under its direction. This thesis will look at how one of the parishes closed during this reorganization, St. Henry’s, had already faced, and survived, numerous attempts at closure. A study of these previous attempts reveals that internal church politics were often on display and the driving force behind the decisions. Using documents from the Archdiocesan Archives of New Orleans, this thesis looks at the history and leadership of St. Henry’s parish, and examines how the survival of a church often has more to do with the personalities of those in leadership positions and less to do with the propagation of faith.

In reformation London, the shift of the governed religion enabled laymen to recognize individuality in their faith, to read scripture in the vernacular, and to exercise their faith outside of mass. Therefore, the overall perception of personal piety took a turn from being exercised communally to becoming something reflective of the individual. Analyzing gender dynamics, language, religious orders, and theology reveal this transition and help gain a holistic understanding of transitioning perceptions of piety. This thesis contributes to the rich historiographical conversation in understanding Reformation studies. By adopting elements from top-down and bottom-up approaches, this thesis further develops on the understanding of perceptions of religious piety in reformation London.

Vatican II was one of the most seminal councils in Roman Catholic Church history, having far reaching effects on the universal institution.1 One of the most important outcomes of Vatican II was not the reforming of orthopraxy, but the dialogue that developed regarding three specific issues – the transforming of women’s roles in Church life, Catholic sexual ethics, and the Church’s relationship with LGBTQ+ individuals.2 The decades following Vatican II became a new era of religious dialogue among Catholic scholars and theologians, which established new discussions on women’s ordination, sexual ethics, and attitudes towards homosexuality in the contemporary world. This thesis examines dialogue concerning women’s ordination, as well as the dialogue that developed from Pope John Paul II’s teachings in his Theology of the Body regarding sexual ethics and the agency of queer persons in the Church. It explores the dialogue among scholars and theologians on the changing role and opinion of women in ministerial positions, the shifting understanding of sexual morality, and the changing attitudes towards queer individuals that developed because of Vatican II’s emphasis on discussion. Vatican II decisively changed the way the Church practices and performs its numerous responsibilities in our modern world. However, the result also included a deeper understanding of the individual needs, ideas, and beliefs of the laity. In 2014, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission referenced the importance of laity’s role as members of the universal Church: Putting faith into practice in the concrete reality of the existential situations in which he or she is placed by family, professional and cultural relations enriches the personal experience of the believer. It enables him or her to see more precisely the value and the limits of a given doctrine, and to propose ways of refining its formulation. That is why those who teach in the name of the Church should give full attention to the experience of believers, especially lay people, who strive to put the Church’s teaching into practice in the areas of their own specific experience and competence.3 In doing so, greater concern for discussion of these issues developed, which is documented in this thesis. 1 To maintain efficiency within the overall thesis, from this point the term “Roman Catholic Church” will be shortened to “the Church.” This in no way is meant to mean the Catholic Church is the only church but is a way to provide a shortened term for a longer name. It also is not meant to delineate the entirety of the Body of Christ within the religious tradition of Christianity to the Roman Catholic Church. 2 Orthopraxy in this case refers to the correct performance and practice of certain rituals and ritespredominantly found within the Roman Catholic Latin Rite Mass. 3 International Theological Commission, “Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church,” (Vatican City, 2014).

The New England Puritans who settled in Massachusetts in 1629 were the product of the Reformation as experienced in England. They struggled with Catholicism and Anglicanism for many years before deciding to move to New England. Moving as non-separating Congregationalists (not separating from the Anglican Church, yet rejecting episcopacy), they left the tensions of being Puritans, or radical Protestants, behind them only to find more tensions in their new holy state. When they settled New England they hoped to build a state that answered to God's call for the development of a new Israel. The saints were to interpret that call and all others were to follow in agreement. Tension within the new state, however, did not allow this to happen. Some settled in New England because they were separatists. These people, most prominently Roger Williams, caused a great deal of tension. Some settled there to share new religious views. The orthodoxy did not welcome these people, whether they were Antinomian Puritans, Quakers or Baptists. Those concerned with more worldly matters, such as trade, were continuously causing tension within New England because some became more concerned with their own well-being as against that of the commonwealth. And others caused tension because of their interest in modern thought and literature. All of these tensions eventually became too much for the orthodoxy to combat successfully. The opposition from without grew into opposition from within as many New Englanders began to question the old ways and the manner in which those ways were enforced.

Mordecai Fowler Ham, Jr. (1877-1961), a Kentucky bred, Southern Baptist evangelist, was an active participant in both the prohibition and fundamentalist movements. His career was characterized by disagreement and conflict due to Ham's defiance toward anyone who did not profess his style of Christianity. A true product of the period in which he lived, Ham fought modernism and evolution zealously. He also preached against the use and sale of alcohol and dared liquor supporters to challenge his position. He was convinced as well that Jews, blacks, and Haman Catholics posed a potential threat to Christian America, and he monitored their activities cautiously for the majority of his sixty-year ministry. Ultimately ham's Southern audiences grew tired of the evangelist's allegations and stopped listening to him. Ham, however, continued to preach against his opposition until his death in 1961.