Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1972.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [57]-58).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Duquesne University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 166-179) and index.

abstract: Virtue was a concept of paramount importance in the American founders' republican thought. Without virtue, there could be no liberty, no order, no devotion to the common good, and no republican government. This dissertation examines the concept of virtue at the American founding, particularly virtue in the political thought of Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814). The most important female intellectual of the Revolutionary generation, Warren wrote passionately about liberty and the beauty of republican ideals. Most important to this study, she consistently advocated the central place of virtue in a free and well-ordered republic. I argue that Warren incorporates three distinct philosophical threads - classical, bourgeois-marketplace, and Christian ideals - in her conception of virtue. I first analyze how Warren uses each of these three threads of virtue throughout her writings. I then examine how she synthesizes these individual threads into a single, cohesive conception of virtue. I argue that Warren consistently merges these ideals into a conception of virtue that she employs to address three pressing political problems of her day: How to motivate reluctant colonists to seek independence; how to check various forms of corruption spreading among the people; and how to counter corruption arising from commercial growth in the new nation. Modern political theorists often argue that these three threads, especially the classical republican and Christian ideals of virtue, are irreconcilable. My analysis shows that to divorce virtue from Christianity in Warren's conception is to rob it of its corrective vigor within republican government. I argue that what Machiavelli and Rousseau wrote out of republican virtue Warren writes back in. In Warren's political thought, virtue serves as the foundation for a stable enduring political system, provides the necessary informal ordering principle for the emerging republic, and offers the means by which the new nation could achieve its millennial destiny. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Political Science 2011

The Virgin of Mercy is a Marian devotional image type recognizable by its portrayal of Mary protecting the faithful with her cloak. This thesis situates the iconography of painted panels within their historical and cultural context in Spain from the late medieval period to the Age of Exploration. I explain the image's origins and introduce its various versions, focusing on three major frequently commissioned subtypes: the Sponsorship of the Virgin, plague commissions, and the Mercedarian's Virgin of Mercy. I present a case study of one famous version of the type, the Virgin of the Navigators, and focus on the Spaniards and Amerindians beneath the cloak, situating them in relation to the historic debate that called into question the very humanity of the peoples of the Americas. The thesis explores the painting's possible statement the patrons may have been making through the artistic treatment of both groups.

Neste trabalho nos propomos analisar a concessão de perdão para os crimes contra a pessoa e sua honra durante o reinado de D. João II [1481-1495]. Para tanto inferimos que, muito embora fosse uma prerrogativa do rei, uma atribuição que evidenciava a pretensão do poder régio em tutelar outros poderes que exerciam competência judicial, este ato gracioso implicava, fundamentalmente, numa negociação entre o monarca e seus súditos. Essa negociação envolvia obrigações e reciprocidades, que encerravam o rei e os três estamentos da sociedade numa complexa relação de subordinação e dependência. Desta forma, procuraremos evidenciar que o exercício da justiça e da misericórdia contribuiu para reforçar a imagem de D. João II como promotor da justiça e do bem-comum e mantenedor da ordem no corpo social. Assim, punição e perdão, justiça e misericórdia, serão trabalhados como aspectos complementares no processo de legitimação e fortalecimento do poder real, expresso de maneira muito peculiar na divisa adotada pelo Príncipe Perfeito: polla ley polla grey. / In this work we propose the analysis on the concession of pardon for the crimes against the person and his honor throughout the reign of John II [1481 1495]. We consider that though this concession was a kings attribute, an attempt of the royal power to regulate the other powers that had judicial competence, this gracious act implied, fundamentally, in a negotiation between the monarch and his subjects. Such negotiation involved obligation and reciprocity that placed the king and the three states of this society in a complex relation of subordination and dependence. Therefore we will attempt to show that the exercise of justice and mercy contributed to strengthen the image of John II as a supporter of justice and the common good as well as the maintainer of order in the social body. Hence punishment and forgiveness, justice and mercy will be worked as complementary aspects in the process of legitimacy and fortification of the royal power, expressed in a very peculiar way in the motto adopted by the Perfect Prince: polla ley polla grey.

Magister Theologiae - MTh / This thesis is based on the recognition that there are similarities and differences between two notions of Christian ministry, that is, a “discipleship of equals” as defined by Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (1989) and a “partnership of both men and women” as defined by Mercy Amba Oduyoye (1990). In this thesis, Christian ministry is assessed through the perspectives of both feminist theology and African women’s theology. The question which is addressed here is how the similarities and differences between Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s notion of Christian ministry as a “discipleship of equals” and Mercy Amba Oduyoye’s notion of Christian ministry as a “partnership of both men and women” should be understood and assessed. The main purpose of this thesis is to offer a critical comparison of these two female theologians so as to encourage new visions of Christian ministry in the contemporary church and society. To accomplish this task, a literature survey of books, essays, and articles published on the subject of Christian ministry in feminist and African women’s theology by African and Western theologians, between 1960 and 2003, was conducted. Two notions of how Christian ministry should be understood are offered. Fiorenza emphasizes that both women and men need to be recognized as disciples of Christ who can equally, yet within diversity, minister to God’s people by virtue of their baptisms. Oduyoye notes that reciprocity and mutuality is crucial for both men and women who minister to God’s people by forming strong partnerships through their respective vocations and ministries, by virtue of their baptisms. This thesis argues that a comparison of the views of Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and Mercy Amba Oduyoye on Christian ministry reveals similarities based on a shared experience of being women within a male-dominated Christian church and differences emanating from the different contexts within which they practice theology, namely, that of Euro-American feminist theology and that of African women’s theology. It is argued that there are significant differences between feminist theology and African women’s theology, with reference to their context, rhetoric, experiences and modes of expression. A critical assessment of Oduyoye’s notion of Christian ministry as a “partnership of both men and women” reveals that there is an internal problem within African theology. The predicament within which African women theologians find themselves is that they have to struggle not only against patriarchy in church and society but also against the remaining distortions within what is deemed to be a more progressive theology. African women theologians acknowledge their solidarity with African theologians but also identify fundamental flaws within African theology. African women theologians are therefore engaged in a battle on more than one side. They need to unmask and support at the same time. On the other hand, it is clear that Fiorenza is far less critical of the feminist movement, from which she derives the term “feminist hermeneutics”. She is, of course, quite aware of the various and successive strands of the feminist movement, but she remains at least sympathetic to this movement and seeks to explore its significance for biblical scholarship and especially the Roman Catholic Church, of which she is a member. She recognises the need to complement the (sometimes reductionist) secular manifestations of feminism by highlighting the oppressive but also the potentially liberative role which religious traditions may still have in a secularised civil society. One may therefore conclude that African women’s theology remains distinct from other feminist theologies. In a similar way, African-American womanist theologians have insisted that their situation is distinct from that of Euro-American women in what is described as the “triple” oppression of black women: being women, relatively poor, black and formerly enslaved. This calls for further reflection on the similarities and differences between African-American womanist theology and African women’s theology. Important differences which come to mind here are the legacy of slavery, differences in economic status, and military power. African women are often engaged in a struggle to secure a sustainable livelihood in ways that African-American women are not. More importantly, the relationship between American black theology and womanist theology deserves further attention in this regard. / South Africa

This study consists of an analysis of the artwork Conversazioni, by the artist Oliviero Rainaldi. It is a monumental bronze sculpture  situated in Rome, Italy, portraying the pope John Paul II. The initiative for the monument honouring the late pope was taken for the official celebrations of his beatification in 2011. This contemporary artwork is executed in a stylized form with very few details. The study aims to put in evidence the multiple layers of meaning which can be found, in opposition to the visible simplicity of its shape. The major narrative context emerges through an in- depth investigation of possible interpretations. This pope had a well known devotion to the Virgin Mary, a character strongly connected with the concept of mercy, being mercifulness a characteristics of Cristian faith. The artist has expressed this concept by focalizing on the opened cloak of the pope referring to the Virgin of Mercy, a Marian model of medieval origin. Furthermore it is possible to find and interpret other biblical quotations.  The theoretical framework consists in the one built around the art historian Erwin Panofsky’s iconographical three-step method. Referring to Panofsky this study could best be classified as an iconological analysis since  the intrinsic meanings of  rather vague and complicated  symbolisms have been sought. The method has consisted in field studies of the sculpture and its context as well as literature studies in order to create a background for major comprehension of the subject. An interview with the author of the artefact has also been made.  The work became immediately heavily critiziced in mass media both because of its supposedly unflattering shape and the  lack of resemblance with the portrayed person. The debate came to the point where the artist agreed to modify it. The study contains opinions from both people and institutions collected from  italian newspaper articles written after the unveiling of the statue.  An attempt has been done to try to better understand the negative reception it received. The answers can only be suppositions. Nevertheless, some valid hypothesis can be formulated: contemporary artworks easily seem out of context in Rome since they are quite unfrequent; The pope’s statue is out of context twice, being one of its kind in a profane and in modern history anticlerical environment; the iconography is not easily readable for an average beholder, a circumstance that could contribute to the initial low grade of comprehension;  The statue doesn’t live up to people’s expectations of likeness; John Paul II  is not immediately recognizable which is experienced by the viewer as disturbing as it is dealing with an homage to a famous person. It seems though, that the appreciation of it, after overcoming the initial disappointment, generally has grown. A plausible theory is that the sculpture Conversazioni however, manage to visualize universally valid religious concepts such as mercifulness and protection, a welcoming gesture readable and perceptible to everyone.

The essay deals with the relationship between mercy and equity as a form of indulgent justice. Starting from the Aristotelian concept of equity, the essay studies the relationship between indulgency and normative overinclusion and underinclusion, considers the reach of equity in criminal law and concludes analysing the relation between judicial equity and legislation. / El estudio analiza la relación entre el derecho de gracia y la equidad como una forma de justicia indulgente. A partir del concepto aristotélico de equidad, se estudia la relación entre la indulgencia y la supra e infrainclusión normativas, se plantea el alcance de la equidad en materias penales y se concluye analizando la relación entre equidad judicial y legislación.

This thesis examines the twenty-two passages in the Gospels in which God’s forgiveness of human sin is explicitly addressed. Using modern textual, literary, form, redaction, and historical criticisms as exegetical tools, the examination maps out the development of these biblical vignettes so as to extract from the process an understanding of what the Gospel writers wanted to convey to Jesus’ followers about God’s forgiveness. Four distinct forgiveness modes were discovered: repentance leads to forgiveness (e.g. proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations in Lk 24:47), faith acts as a conduit to forgiveness (e.g. sinful woman kissing Jesus’ feet in Lk 7:48b-50), one must forgive in order to be forgiven (e.g. the Lord’s Prayer in Lk 11:4 and Mt 6:12), and forgiveness is a free gift based solely on God’s mercy (e.g. on the cross, “Father, forgive them” in Lk 23:34). None of these views represents a majority Gospel vision of forgiveness, with each of the four viewpoints having four to seven episodes occurring in the Gospel cannon. Seldom are any of these pathways to forgiveness mentioned together. Despite a plethora of information about forgiveness, nowhere do the Gospels present a wholistic explanation of divine forgiveness. The Gospel writers, like their Hebraic ancestors, were comfortable with a multivariant view of God’s forgiveness and showed no propensity to develop a wholistic theology of forgiveness. However, underlying this untidy approach was an emphasis on God’s mercy and compassion that had roots in the Old Testament understanding of Yahweh as gracious and merciful and abounding in steadfast love. In addition, the seedling concepts of sin as an unpayable debt or of the importance of faith in Jesus appeared in the background of multiple Scripture passages from each of the four forgiveness themes.