Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on September 12, 2006). PDF text of dissertation: viii, 203 p. : ill., ports ; 3.93Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3208049. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm, microfiche and paper format.

The thesis deals with the spiritual dimension of the cult of Divine Mercy in the Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska. The central point of her spirituality is Divine Mercy. Discovering of God in this mystery and contemplation of it in everyday life are keys to understanding ways of the apostle of Divine Mercy to Christian perfection. This path leads through the child trust in God and the merciful love of neighbour. The mission of sister Faustina bears respect for Divine Mercy in the new forms that Je

Throughout his work, Kant regularly glosses ‘morality’ (and cognate expressions) as ‘worthiness to be happy’ (Würdigkeit glücklich zu sein). As a rule, Kant’s commentators do not find this remarkable. Correctly understood, however, Kant’s gloss on ‘morality’ is remarkable indeed. This thesis shows why. In it, I argue that whenever we encounter Kant’s gloss, we are faced with an implicit, durable cluster of unjustified commitments; that these commitments both antedate and survive his ‘critical period’; that they are fundamentally practical in nature (i.e., that they are unexamined commitments to particular practices); and that these commitments entail a number of problematic theological consequences. I argue, in particular, that Kant’s gloss is a habit that signals, obscurely and implicitly, his antecedent commitments to the practice of capital punishment, on the one hand, and to a particular set of practical attitudes towards the happiness and unhappiness of immoral agents, on the other. I show that this habit has key implications for Kant’s thinking about the agent that he calls ‘God.’ My point of departure is Kant’s claim, in his Religion, that the human being’s particular deeds are imputable to her ‘all the way down,’ only on condition that the underlying ‘disposition’ (Gesinnung) from which they arise (according to their kind, qua moral or immoral) is imputable to her as well—that is, only if her (im)moral character may be regarded as the upshot of, or in some sense identical to, an utterly unassisted, unmotivated, originary deed on her part. I argue that Kant evades the question whether we really are permitted, without further ado, to regard this disposition (and with it an agent’s deeds) as so imputable. He simply affirms his commitment to the practice of imputing particular deeds to particular agents and, with this affirmation, affirms that he takes the warrant that it requires (the imputability of ‘Gesinnung’) to be secure. I argue, then, that the theoretical significance of imputation, as expressed in this extraordinary, evasive leap, supervenes on the urgency of the commitments that are expressed in Kant’s habitual glossing of ‘morality’ as ‘worthiness to be happy.’ The practice for which we would lack a warrant if the human being’s character were not imputable to her is the imputation of her deeds under a description (of imputation) that has immediate reference to this same ‘one’s’ punishment—specifically and only, however, to the extent that Kant takes punishments to be justifiable in none but strictly retributivist terms. These stakes and the constraining role of Kant’s habitual gloss are clearest, I argue, in his thinking about the practice of putting murderers to death—a practice, I argue, that has both a political and an eschatological significance for him.

Thesis advisor: M. Shawn Copeland / The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is an interfaith international movement to promote research and writing concerning: Women in Culture and Religion, Cultural and Biblical Hermeneutics, the History of Women, and Ministries and Theological Education and Formation. Through its objectives, the Circle hopes to create space for women in theology. This study focuses on the contributions of Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Musa W. Dube, and the Centre for Constructive Theology to promote the missions of the Circle. Oduyoye proclaims the double sufferings of patriarchy and imperialism that African women still face even years after liberation from colonialism. Musa Dube calls on biblical readers to demonstrate awareness of not only patriarchal literary strategies within the Bible, but those of imperialism as well. She hopes this decolonizing feminist conscious will foster liberating ways of interdependence. At the Centre for Constructive Theology, Isabel Phiri improves the opportunity for women to form and assert their own identity and autonomy through programs that link theology and faith to the practical concerns and needs of the women. With boldness and courage these theologians envision a world where women and men, the powerless and powerful, live in balanced cooperation. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Theology.

<p>This project examines the medieval practice of the sacrament of penance and the innovative ways in which medieval literature engaged with the pastoral project of the Catholic church to provide the penitent with a way to deal with sin. Drawing from medieval literature, religious writing and theological sources, this project begins by illustrating the extent to which each of these didactic texts produces a "model of confession" that reaffirms the teachings of the church. However, approaching these texts with careful attention to language and to the grammar of sin and penance, I show that each of these undeniably orthodox works departs from traditional accounts of the sacrament of penance in significant ways. I suggest that such departures point to moments of theological exploration. My dissertation thus interrogates the category of orthodoxy, showing it to be more capacious and exploratory than is generally recognized. Further, I suggest that the vernacular penitential literature of the late medieval period, motivated by pastoral considerations, actively engages with academic and clerical theological debates surrounding the heavily contested sacrament of penance. </p><p>Chapter one examines <italic>Jacob's Well<italic>, a fifteenth-century vernacular penitential treatise. I argue that the narrative exempla often work against the instruction offered within each chapter, compelling the reader to consider theological problems not addressed within the doctrinal material. These resistances, I suggest, are intentional and not only suggest certain limitations in traditional penitential manuals, but encourage a more conscientious penitential practice and a better understanding of church doctrine. In chapter two I consider the <italic>Showings<italic> of Julian of Norwich. I show how Julian critiques the church's penitential system and offers an alternative form of confession and penance that holds the sinner accountable for sins while reassuring the penitent of God's love and forgiveness. Chapter three compares two fifteenth-century morality plays, <italic>Mankind<italic> and the <italic>Castle of Perseverance<italic>. Through a reading of the treatment of mercy in both plays, I suggest that the Castle's departures from traditional accounts of sacramental confession allow the author to explore the scope of God's mercy and experiment with the idea of universal salvation while still promoting orthodox instruction. I conclude this dissertation with Thomas Hoccleve's poem "Lerne to Die," one of the earliest treatments of the Ars moriendi theme. Examining some of the differences between sacramental confession and deathbed confession, I show how the absence of the sacrament in this dramatic account of unprepared death emphasizes the power of God's grace and limitations of human effort. However, Hoccleve ultimately reaffirms the necessity of final confession by the end of the poem.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-130).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-130).

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1961.

Thesis (M.H.S.A.)--University of Michigan, 1982.

Thesis (M.H.S.A.)--University of Michigan, 1976.