The assumption of the current study is that ongoing church attendance is a foundational component of the quest for genuine discipleship in young people. Chapter 1 examines the problem of the exodus of youth from the church and defines the critical terms for this study. The research questions used to guide the study are introduced. The purpose of this study was to use Wesley Black's Lasting Faith Scale (LFS) to compare the lasting faith tendency of youth (reflected by their LFS scores) with what their youth ministers believed would be their groups' LFS scores. LFS responses were also evaluated for the effects on scores of the four domains of influence. Chapter 2 reviews existing literature pertinent to this study. The issues that have been explored are the biblical basis for church attendance, the period of adolescence, spiritual influences of adolescents and young adults, and youth ministry models proposed to better address the issue of genuine discipleship. Chapter 3 describes the process by which data for this study was gathered. All full-time youth ministers in Southern Baptist Convention churches in Kentucky and South Carolina were invited to participate in the LFS survey and to elicit the involvement of their students. Chapter 4 reports on the analysis of the data from the completed surveys. Results were analyzed concerning the significance on scores of the four domains of influence (discipleship and spiritual depth; family influence; mentoring and intergenerational influences; and peer influences). Youth ministers' scores (predictive of their students' scores) and student scores were compared. Finally, the effects of significant demographic items relating to students' family life and their identification with Jesus Christ were examined. The final chapter presents the researcher's conclusions based on the findings of this study. All four of the domains of influence had a strongly significant relationship with students' lasting faith tendency. Youth ministers scored significantly lower on the LFS than the students. The possible reasons for this variance are explored. The strong variance shown in student responses according to the significant demographic groupings are also examined. Based on the results of this research, applications are made for the practice of youth ministry in local churches. Suggestions for further research are offered. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Le XVIIIème siècle consacra en France la disjonction idéologique, intellectuelle et spirituelle entre la raison critique et empirique du philosophe et l’anthropologie chrétienne des défenseurs de l’orthodoxie. Toutefois, l’intuition et l’intention d’un syncrétisme humaniste aspirant à voir collaborer l’intelligence scientifique et l’intelligence de la foi survécut à la Renaissance et au Grand siècle pour soutenir la réflexion de littérateurs catholiques reconnus, les abbés Morellet, Coyer, Yvon, Bergier et Raynal. Ces théoriciens de la médiation incarnaient une frange modérée de l’apologétique catholique, une apologétique de la conciliation qui soulève maintes interrogations quant à sa nature et sa portée : parvint-elle à arrimer les valeurs chrétiennes aux idées forces des Lumières rationnelles, proposa-t-elle une voie médiane entre les partis antagonistes des « philosophes » et des « dévots » ? L’exploration analytique et la mise en perspective comparative des termes de l’alliance de la raison et de la foi révèlent une conciliation plurielle ; véritable nébuleuse idéologique élevée sur l’humanisme théologique du molinisme jésuite, elle se confronte à des difficultés externes d’ordre conjoncturel, partisanes notamment, se heurte aux antagonismes de la certitude du christianisme et du doute méthodique, se soumet aux exigences de la dualité de la « raison » - philosophique et scientifique -, mais subit également les retombées de ses propres ambiguïtés et carences conceptuelles. In fine, l’enjeu de ces ambitions syncrétiques ne repose plus tant sur le diptyque foi-raison que que sur les interactions entre le sentiment de foi, la nature et la science. / The XVIIIth century, in France, sanctioned the ideological, intellectual and spiritual separation between the critical and empirical reason of the philosopher and the christian anthropology of the orthodoxy partisans. However, intuition and intent of a humanist syncretism aiming at the collaboration of both scientific and faith intelligence lived through Renaissance and XVIIIth century, to maintain the thought of famous Catholic litterateurs, abbots Morellet, Coyer, Yvon, Bergier and Raynal. Those mediation theoreticians personified a moderated minority of catholic apologetics, an apologetic of conciliation calling to mind about its nature and its significance: did it manage to tie up the christian values to the strong ideas related to the rational Enlightenment; did it offer a medial path between the antagonistic parties of the “philosophers” and the “devout persons”? A pluralist conciliation can be revealed by analytical exploration and by putting into perspective comparatively the terms of the union between reason and faith. Deemed as a true ideological nebula rose on the theological humanism of Jesuit molinism, this conciliation was constrained by cyclical external difficulties, was torn apart between Christianity certainty and methodical doubt, was faced to the requirements of the duality of the philosophical and scientific “reason”, but was also submitted to the consequences of its own ambiguities and conceptual lacks. In fine, the stake of these syncretic ambitions lied less on the faith-reason diptych than on the harmonization of the feeling of faith, nature and science.

The exodus of young people from traditional churches is well established and this project is a handbook to guide more meaningful engagement with young adolescents. Based in ministry experience and research, the handbook addresses parents, religious educators, youth ministers, and pastors who seek to enhance young adolescents’ faith formation. By affirming and encouraging them through this time of changing bodies, minds, and emotions, early adolescent faith formation can introduce Catholic Christian beliefs and values in a context that matters to the youth: their own struggle to become the persons God created them to be. The handbook makes practical suggestions for effective ways to build inter generational relationships.

60 Abstract The thesis is called International Sales Contract: The principle of good faith under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The aim of the thesis was to outline the position of good faith in international trade together with a reference to its conception in different legal systems with special focus on continental and common law. The main aim of the thesis was to analyse the good faith principle under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The author is trying to offer a theoretical basis for the realization of this analysis through the whole thesis. In doing so, the thesis describes, inter alia, historical development of the good faith principle under the CISG, related geopolitical problems and finally a comparison of the good faith principle under the CISG with other documents dealing with international trade is also included. In analysing the good faith principle under the CISG, the author focused mainly on the issue of different concepts and interpretations of this principle with an emphasis on the precise function of the good faith principle based in Art. 7 (1) of the CISG. The thesis was realized by using a descriptive method since the author used information obtained chiefly from the doctrine and...

In this diploma thesis, I deal with the institute of acquiring from unauthorized person., which is breaking of Roman principle nemo plus iuris ad alium transferre potest quam ipse habet. In English it means, that no one can transfer to someone else more rights, than he has himself. Also, the acquisition form unauthorized person is interfering to the constitutionally guaranteed rigth to own the property. Therefore the legislation must adequatly reflect this fact, but it has not always been so. In diploma thesis I deal mainly with the development of this institute, principles, which are connected with this institute and especially with the analysis and description of current legal regulation. The thesis is divided into four chapters and introduction. The chapters are further divided to subchapters, which deal with the theme in more detail. The work ends with conclusion. In the first chapter, I deal with the general issue of material rights. Then, I deal with the institute of ownership, its constitutional basis, the definition and also the ways, in which the ownership can be acquired. The second chapter is about the historical evolution of acquisition from unauthorized person. I analyze first the period of Roman law, and I emphasize the principle of nemo plus iuris. Than I continue through the...

abstract: This dissertation theorizes Bad Faith Rhetorics, or, rhetorical gestures that work to derail, block, or otherwise stymy knowledge-building efforts. This work explores the ways that interventions against existing social hierarchies (i.e., feminist and antiracist interventions) build knowledge (that is, are epistemologically active), and the ways that bad faith rhetorics derail such interventions. This dissertation demonstrates how bad faith rhetorics function to defend the status quo, with its social stratification by race, gender, class, and other intersectional axes of identity. Bad faith argumentative maneuvers are abundant in online environments. Consequently, this dissertation offers two case studies of the comment sections of two TED Talks: Mellody Hobson’s “Color Blind or Color Brave?” and Juno Mac’s “The Laws that Sex Workers Really Want.” The central analyses deploy online ethnographic field methods and close reading to characterize bad faith rhetorical responses and to identify 1.) trends in such responses, 2.) the net effects on other conversational participants, and 3.) bad faith rhetoric mitigation strategies. This work engages Sartre’s work on Bad Faith, rhetoric scholarship on the knowledge-building affordances of argument, public sphere theory, critical race studies, and feminist scholarship. This dissertation’s theorization and case studies illustrate the pitfalls of specific counterproductive argumentative tactics that block progress toward more equitable ways of being (bad faith rhetorics), and makes several preliminary recommendations for mitigating such moves. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2019

Quando os missionários das religiões japonesas começaram a traduzir os textos religiosos para o português com a finalidade de propagar os seus ensinamentos entre os brasileiros, tradicionalmente católicos, perceberam que algumas de suas mensagens eram interpretadas de modo equivocado. Entretanto, os missionários perceberam que o equívoco não era causado por problemas lingüísticos, mas por diferenças entre a cultura do seu público-alvo e a sua. No presente trabalho, investigamos os problemas culturais encontrados na tradução dos textos religiosos japoneses, bem como as soluções encontradas pelos seus tradutores, analisando trechos dos seus textos sagrados. / When missionaries from Japanese religions first translated their religious text into Portuguese in order to propagate their faith among Brazilian people, who are traditionally Catholic, they realized that some of their religious messages were completely misunderstood by their prospective followers. However, the missionaries noticed that this problem was not caused by language matters but it lay in the existence of a cultural difference between Brazilian people and them. In the present work the cultural problems that stood in the translation of Japanese religious texts as well as the solutions found by their translators were studied by analyzing parts of the scriptures of three different Japanese religions.

Thesis advisor: Jane E. Regan / Today's Christian communities find themselves situated within a dynamic framework of "otherness" in relationship to society in general, as well as in ecumenical and interreligious contexts. In addition to this complex ad-extra environment, there are also intra-ecclesial tensions within the Catholic community that arise from its own pluralistic reality, hindering the church from being the kind of community it is called to be. Chapter One acknowledges these concerns, and suggests that against such a pluralistic backdrop, the human need for connection and relationality cannot be overvalued. Toward this end, conversation as a means toward building mutuality cannot be overlooked. Indeed, "dialogue" has become a buzzword in religious, business, social and political circles, as people recognize the value of having spaces of meaningful relationship with those "other" than themselves. Yet, a sense of true connection--one that might be more adequately expressed by "conversation" and that supports a mutual movement toward understandings of difference in a spirit of reverence--continues to elude. The impoverished condition of conversation within the church raises questions: why isn't life-giving, intra-ecclesial conversation happening? Why aren't we having meaningful interactions that lead to an expanded sense of honoring the other, and a desire to come together in understanding, reciprocity and mutual support, in view of the church's ministry? Chapter Two suggests that one way to begin addressing the issue of creating space for more effective conversation within a pluralistic church broadly considered, is to look to small faith communities within the church as "communities of practice" in which adult learning can occur. These small faith communities of practice, such as parish councils, faith-sharing groups, ministerial teams, etc., are not merely task-oriented groups, focused on management strategies, business tactics or the mere exercise of democracy in their ways of being together. In an ecclesial context, they are communities intent on being and becoming groups that learn together and create conditions that support a lived adult faith. Because conversation factors largely in adult learning, attending to and valuing conversation in these small faith communities can lead to a "habitus of conversation" that might serve the wider ecclesial community as a whole. To realize such a "habitus of conversation", small faith communities must be supported by inner convictions and shored up by a theological perspective that points toward this stance, a perspective that is capable of upholding a life of koinonia/communio and sustaining it over the long haul required by the hard work of meaningful conversation. The theological lens that grounds such a "habitus of conversation" is a living Trinitarian faith. Exploring the dialogic dynamism of Godself reveals the consequent relationality of the human person made in Imago Dei. The dialogic nature of Godself thus provides a rich theological warrant for the anthropological stance that can support conversation as a theological posture and an educational project. This is the topic of Chapter Three. Chapter Four looks to established dialogical teaching methods as a resource for religious education. Within small faith communities, fostering such a "habitus of conversation" toward the teleos of koinonia/communio is a unique contribution that adult faith formation can offer, providing a concrete locus for enacting a conversational pedagogy that might suggest a model for venues beyond religious education itself, at the service of the broader Catholic Christian community as a whole. With this in mind, Chapter Five concludes the dissertation by addressing pedagogical practices that religious educators can resource as a framework for placing conversation at the center of educating in faith. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

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.

Thesis advisor: Jane E. Regan / The Eastern Fathers through the centuries affirm that askesis—struggle and training in spiritual life—is integral to Christian growth, life, and maturity. It is a part of the Church’s basic mindset regarding growth in life in Christ. Within the US Orthodox Christian Education (OCE) field, however, no substantial treatment of this theme exists. The place of a discussion of askesis within OCE requires that one perceive how vitally and expansively the Orthodox Church understands this theme. Clearing lesser things from the heart, preparing room for divinity, learning to turn the eyes of the heart toward Christ, and to fix them on Him in all things are all vital to acquiring the Holy Spirit, whose fruit in us proclaims and brings about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christian witness presupposes fruit, while fruit is born of divine indwelling. Yet, as Gregory of Nyssa affirms, grace “does not naturally frequent souls which are fleeing from salvation.” We must engage. If spiritual maturity is important to the Church’s witness, then, so is developing maturity. In this way, askesis is integral to the mission of the Church. The Eastern Fathers understand this training in expansive ways. While askesis can indicate a subset of specific practices (vigils, fasting, chastity, etc.) in a larger sense it indicates active formation in spiritual life in general. Various Fathers affirm things as diverse as prayer, marriage, faith, childrearing, and patient endurance of suffering as opportunities for askesis. Since askesis is vital to Orthodox Christian life and faith, and given the gap in coverage, this study explores the theme, in three steps. First, after surveying recent OCE engagements with askesis, it considers in depth the spiritual anthropology and ascetical teaching of a relatively early figure, Gregory of Nyssa. Second, it explores three themes from the Byzantine period that display some of the Church’s broader, more settled sensibilities regarding askesis, namely, 1) the centrality of Jesus Christ in developing virtue and maturity; 2) the importance of the Church and Sacraments for spiritual growth; and 3) how material creation figures in spiritual life. Third, the study turns to the voices of more recent elders as they convey the Church’s expansive understanding of askesis. Again, three themes are developed: 1) how each and every aspect of human nature must be formed in Christ; 2) how, in God’s providence, the entire arena of life provides opportunities for Christian development; and 3) the ascetic character of an Orthodox Christian vision of education. This study is not a historical work of Christian spirituality, a history of the development of ascetical theology, or a comprehensive summary of its theme. Rather, it seeks to specify key elements of the developmental path to freedom in Christ proclaimed by the Orthodox faith, and to argue for their wisdom and fruitfulness. It aims to be a useful tool for those engaged in the task of forming the faithful. A final chapter summarizes implications in this regard. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.