This research covers the story of four persons from different backgrounds brought together by their faith in God, fellowship in the same church, residing in the same community and sharing the experience of living with HIV and AIDS: either as infected and/or affected individually. I am one of these persons due to the fact that I lost my sister to HIV and AIDS, thus I am affected. Though I only appear in the story as the researcher, it is my own loss that made it possible for me to empathise with my co-researchers. While one co-researcher was affected due to the fact that her husband was infected, became ill and died of HIV and AIDS-related sicknesses, the other two women were both infected by their husbands and at the same time were affected because they had to nurse the same husband who infected them. This was one of the cruelest moments in their lives but they forgave their husbands and cared for them to the end. In order for my research to reach the holistic insight into these women’s stories, I used the postfoundationalist practical theology approach. The reason for this is that this approach is contextual and relevant to people’s everyday life. One does not have to import knowledge to try to solve problems emanating from a particular context, but one needs to engage the locals and from that engagement, people start to reflect positively on their problems. Other lessons learnt is that one needs more than just a religious experience to play a role in solving the problem of HIV and AIDS; one needs more of the other disciplines to work together. In places like Mozambique, HIV and AIDS is not regarded as one of the health problems, but is classified as an interdepartmental or multi-sectoral problem. This means that HIV and AIDS do not affect only the Health Department, but all the departments. As such, each department is expected to have its own HIV and AIDS budget. It is here that I propose the Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) composed of professionals from different disciplines working together to help solve the problem at hand. HIV and AIDS also help us to revisit our own understanding of God. While some people see the pandemic as the punishment from God for promiscuity, the truth is that we are all created in His image and this loving God does not destroy His own creation through HIV and AIDS. In His loving care, He reaches out to the unreached and cares for all His people: whether they are infected with HIV and AIDS, cancer or just are as healthy as they could be. The process of this research has empowered and enabled me to contribute to those who are infected and affected to be resilient and to stand, having hope in the goodness of God, working with others to bring a lasting solution to those infected and affected. Being resilient helps one to reclaim the marred Image of God in oneself and to reflect that image to impact onto our communities. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Are we cyborgs or humans? This question is at the heart of this investigation, and the implications of it are all around us. In Christian theology, humans are seen as uniquely made in the image of God (imago dei). This has been taken to mean various things, but broadly, it suggests an understanding of humans as somehow discrete from, and elevated above, other creatures in how they resemble God. Cyborgs mark a provocative attempt to challenge such notions, especially in the work of Donna Haraway, whose influential ‘Cyborg Manifesto’ (1991) elaborated a way of understanding cyborgs as figures for the way we live our lives not as discrete or elevated, but as deeply hybridised and involved in complex ways with technologies, as well as with other beings. Significantly, Haraway uses the cyborg to critique notions of the human rooted in theological anthropology and anthropogeny: the cyborg was not created in Eden. This assertion is the starting point of my investigation of cyborgs and humans in theological anthropology. Analysis of this position is broken down into three key concepts throughout the investigation that form the three main parts of the structure: (1) What is the significance of Eden, specifically as a point of origin? What ideas do we inherit from Genesis mythologies, and how do they influence our multitudinous understandings of not only humans, but also cyborgs, that range from the Terminator, to astronauts, to hospital patients? What does it mean to say that the cyborg cannot recognise Eden or even dream of the possibility of return?(2) If the cyborg was not created in Eden, then is it still to be considered as creaturely? How does this figure tessellate into, or challenge, notions of human nature and sin in the absence of an origin or teleology in a Garden? What commentaries of the human as created in God’s image can we compare this to, and how do all of these readings bear on how we see ourselves and technologies? (3) More constructively, given that the cyborg amalgamates the organic and the mechanic, and discusses hybridity, how might this be appropriated by theological anthropology? What does it mean to say that we are hybrids? From these questions, I reflect on tensions between the cyborg and the human, and make suggestions for a theological appropriation of the cyborg figure that takes heed of the emphasis on hybridity by applying it to notions of Eden and imago dei. The overarching aim is to decentre and destabilise the human, and to refigure it within its broader networks that are inclusive of other creatures, technologies, and God.

The pastoral problem being addressed has to do with the culture of consumerism and individualism that have influenced the culture of the Church. Within Western society, the “ism” culture, consisting of factors such as: hedonism, consumerism, materialism, secularism, relativism and individualism, has become very prominent. Christians often operate no differently than non-Christians, and this is problematic since Christians are called to be salt for the earth and light for the world (Matthew 5:13-16), a people set apart. In John 15:19, we are told that we were not made to be of this world, so we need to stop being influenced by the culture and instead allow the beauty of the Christian faith to influence the world. What is presented here is not just a hope to overcome consumerism and individualism, but an entire revamping of what it means to be Christian. It suggests the need for a culture change, which if Christians and church leadership focus on, has the power to solve other pastoral and ethical issues as well. Such a cultural change will lead to vibrancy among believers and will attract more people to the faith, as well.

Thesis advisor: Hosffman . Ospino / Catholic theological education in the United States of America in the year 2019 (and beyond) must confront the realities of racism and ethnocentrism, and understand how racist and ethnocentric epistemologies intrude into the classroom. These epistemologies interfere with the ways that theological educators are able to teach about and through an anthropology of the imago Dei that demands an equitable valuation of people of color, both socially and theologically. Yet a history of a “white savior complex” pervades Catholic theological education in the U.S. and stands in the way of cherishing the theological agency and contributions of people of color. Such a complex can be addressed through the use of antiracist and intercultural pedagogies that allows the scholarship and experiences of people of color, both students and academics, to achieve equitable impact in theological education and that leads all students to reflect on the development of their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities. The use of four distinct antiracist and intercultural pedagogical pillars are developed and illustrated through vignettes pulled from the experiences of theological educators teaching about racism and ethnocentrism in Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

In this study, the potential for artificially intelligent sapient life to be integrated into a Lutheran theological anthropology is investigated. The investigation is done via the means of a reconstruction and reactualisation of Lutheran anthropology, applied to the hypothetical scenario of artificial general intelligences having been created. The study takes its roots in questions of how intelligent life made by human artifice would interact with the Lutheran narrative-relational imago Dei paradigm, and what room there is within the Lutheran framework to integrate such intelligent life. In the study, the analysis will be threefold; with the first chapter dedicated to presenting the basis within Lutheran theology within which the rest of the study is conducted, the second chapter to identifying core points of conflict that may arise were artificial life to be introduced, and the third to finding preliminary solutions to these. Although the study is and must be hypothetical-speculative in nature, the conclusion is reached that there seems to be some manner of room for artificial intelligences to be integrated into a Lutheran way of understanding the imago Dei paradigm, albeit with some lingering issues that can quite hardly be solved entirely until the real dawn of artificial intelligence. Although some reservations remain, it therefore points towards the possibility of future artificial intelligences being Humanity’s theological equals, and leaves it to future studies to reach a more elaborate understanding of what that means and implies in practice, both ethical and dogmatic.

In this study, the potential for artificially intelligent sapient life to be integrated into a Lutheran theological anthropology is investigated. The investigation is done via the means of a reconstruction and reactualisation of Lutheran anthropology, applied to the hypothetical scenario of artificial general intelligences having been created. The study takes its roots in questions of how intelligent life made by human artifice would interact with the Lutheran narrative-relational imago Dei paradigm, and what room there is within the Lutheran framework to integrate such intelligent life. In the study, the analysis will be threefold; with the first chapter dedicated to presenting the basis within Lutheran theology within which the rest of the study is conducted, the second chapter to identifying core points of conflict that may arise were artificial life to be introduced, and the third to finding preliminary solutions to these. Although the study is and must be hypothetical-speculative in nature, the conclusion is reached that there seems to be some manner of room for artificial intelligences to be integrated into a Lutheran way of understanding the imago Dei paradigm, albeit with some lingering issues that can quite hardly be solved entirely until the real dawn of artificial intelligence. Although some reservations remain, it therefore points towards the possibility of future artificial intelligences being Humanity’s theological equals, and leaves it to future studies to reach a more elaborate understanding of what that means and implies in practice, both ethical and dogmatic.

In the writings of the Vatican, the United States and Latin American bishops, and various theologians since the 1950s, Catholic social thought has generally failed to understand the pernicious depth of the system of racial classification, discrimination, and violence in the Americas. Catholic social thought still sees racism as based on the pre-existing, valid category of "race," requiring individual conversion and social effort. What is required instead is seeing the very concept of " race" as what must be rejected as the product of a racist ideology of politico-economic oppression and developing an anti-racist theological response that overcomes and eliminates this deadly ideology. It involves a re-imagining of the Imago Dei as the image of Jesus on the cross, of Mary and the women at the foot of the cross, as a direct confrontation with the principalities and powers that are invested in racist ideology, where the human and divine are connected through the cross and affirmed in the resurrection. It invokes a re-imagining of Laudato Si' as an anti-racist teaching, using many of the same ideas Pope Francis uses for his integral ecology to overcome the racist ideology that is inextricably tied up with modern capitalism and environmental despoliation.

This thesis investigates the persistent decline of churches in the United States, particularly within the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) of the United Methodist Church (UMC). Centered on the transformative capacities of radical hospitality and divine friendship, it explores the underlying causes of decline and advocates for a recalibration of the missional church. Drawing on pastoral experiences and insights from distinguished theologians, the research underscores the significance of leadership training in aligning with Imago Dei and Missio Dei. The study advocates for equipping leaders in fostering radical hospitality and divine friendship, envisioning a rejuvenated missional church that redefines its identity and pertinence in contemporary society through purposeful practices.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joao Bezinelli.pdf: 440281 bytes, checksum: b1ceb953ea47f556598be6eb2b2b8581 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-22 / The aim of this work is an understanding of C. G. Jung s concept of the Imago Dei, throughout its development, since Jung s first ideas expressed in The Zofingia Lectures in 1896, to the publication of the book Psychology of the Unconscious in 1912. The study of Jung s thought during this period of time allows the observation of the development of the concept of the unconscious and of the libido, as well as its constructive dynamics through religious symbols, which points to the epistemological need for a later concept of Self and its representation on the Imago Dei. The following of these ideas that contributed and led to the formation of the Imago Dei, demonstrates that it is, by its very nature, conceptual and necessarily paradoxical from its beginning / Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma compreensão do conceito de Imago Dei em C. G. Jung através da trajetória de sua formação, desde as suas idéias iniciais recolhidas nas palestras proferidas na Sociedade Estudantil de Zofíngia , em 1896, até a publicação do seu livro Transformações e Símbolos da Libido , em 1912. O estudo do pensamento de Jung deste período permite observar o desenvolvimento dos conceitos de inconsciente e libido bem como a dinâmica construtiva da libido através dos símbolos religiosos que apontam a necessidade epistemológica do ulterior conceito de Self e sua representação na Imago Dei. O acompanhamento dessas idéias que contribuíram e confluíram para a formação da Imago Dei demonstra também que esta é conceitual e necessariamente paradoxal desde sua origem

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:48:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcio Roberto Agostinho.pdf: 1093595 bytes, checksum: 21ebddfa2f76598faa9f27a9c3d67045 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-13 / This research addresses the Carl Yung's postulation in which religious thinking has rooted in the soul. In others terms, Jung has established a psychological foundation for the religious thinking. The aim of this work is therefore to try to understand the sacred having as stating point, the mind where reposes actively a imago Dei. Furthermore, it envisage to comprehend the relationship of this religious thinking (imago Dei) to the meaning of life. This imago revealed by the Self the divine archetype 0 is the ultimate answer of the soul: its earnest desire for life meaning. As the soul belongs to the inner world of the individual, only when one turns to the inside of self, than, he will discover the path which leads to the meaning of life and ultimately to the healing of the individual personality. / A presente pesquisa trata da postulação junguiana de que o pensamento religioso se originou da alma. Em outras palavras, Jung fez uma fundamentação psicológica para o pensamento religioso. O objetivo desse trabalho então foi tentar compreender o sagrado a partir da psique onde repousa ativamente uma imago Dei. Procurou ainda, constatar a possível relação desse pensamento religioso (imago Dei) com o sentido da vida. Essa imago manifestada pelo Self -arquétipo do divino - é a resposta à questão última da alma: o anseio que ela tem pelo sentido da vida. Como a alma pertence ao mundo interior do indivíduo, somente fazendo uma volta para dentro de si mesmo é que se trilhará o caminho que leva ao sentido da vida e, em última instância, à cura para a sua personalidade.