Aim of this thesis is to explore the activities and hierarchy of the Catholic peace movement in czechoslovakia during the years 1948-1968, especially the so called national peace board, Velehrad board and Peace movement of catholic clergy in comparison with overall the so called peace ideology. The Josef plojhar will be accented in the thesis, he was the head of these movements and also he represented the wing of so called patriotic priests.

L'objectif de ce travail consiste dans la mise en lumière et la description d'une certaine forme littéraire que nous définissons comme «roman paranoïaque»: il s'agit de grandes oeuvres en prose de Fiodor Sologoub, Rêves lourds et Démon mesquin ainsi que de celles d'Andreï Biély, La Colombe d'argent, Pétersbourg, Carnets d'un toqué, Moscou. Le roman paranoïaque reproduit le processus de connaissance déficiente, réalisée par le héros et transformée par l’auteur en une réalité délirante, c’est-à-dire romanesque. L’objet de notre étude est la stratégie symboliste d'utilisation d’un certain modèle clinique dans le but de lui donner un sens métaphysique, mystique, mythologique, esthétique et de la transmuer en une poétique. Nous aborderons également des textes de Vladimir Nabokov que nous nous proposons de présenter comme un reflet parodique et une étape postsymboliste de cette tradition. / The aim of this study is to extract and describe a literary form which we define as a “paranoid novel”. We attribute this form to Heavy dreams and Petty daemon by Fyodor Sologub and Silver dove, Diary of a crank, Petersburg and Moscow by Andrey Belyï. A paranoid novel reproduces a process of a deficient learning of a hero. The author converts this process into a delirious reality i.e. a reality of novel. Our study is focused on the symbolistic strategy which confers a specifcic meaning to a relevant clinical model. This metaphysical, mystical, mythological, aesthetical meaning transforms the model yielding poetics. We study Nabokov’s texts as well in order to provide an insight into their parodying and post-symbolistic developing of the tradition.

African teacher of rhetoric Arnobius of Sicca, who lived at the turn of the 3rd and 4th century, is one of the less known Christian authors. He is the author of Christian apology written in Latin called Adversus nationes. His statement attracted particular interest of philologists and historians of antiquity, because it contains large amounts of mythological material. The aim of this work is to introduce Arnobius not only as a crucial source of pagan theology, but also as an important Christian witness of the complicated religious - political situation of Christianity in the time before the Milan Edict, particularly at the time of Diocletian's persecution of Christians. Given the need to work with original texts includes this thesis also the first Czech translation of Arnobiusʼ apology.

This thesis deals with changes in conceptions of homosexuality and homosexual subculture as of something basically different, as they developed from the second third of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century among Czech lawyers and physicians, as well as with changes of self-conceptualization of the Czech homosexual subculture itself, having occurred in the same time interval. It focuses mainly on attitudes and efforts of those who aimed at contributing to social emancipation of this subculture or - in times of increased persecution of homosexuality during the Nazi occupation - on the impossibility to carry on such efforts. The thesis is divided in five parts - in the first one, the legal context which provoked the emancipation efforts in times of the 1852 Penal Code being in force (i.e. until 1950) is explained; the next four parts focus on these efforts separately in four distinct periods. Thus, the second part deals with the expansion of the modern concept of homosexual identity in the Czech lands before WWI, the third part deals with sexual reform efforts by liberal lawyers and physicians as well as on emancipatory and political efforts by the homosexual community itself in the democratic First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), aiming at decriminalization of homosexual acts,...

This thesis deals with changes in conceptions of homosexuality and homosexual subculture as of something basically different, as they developed from the second third of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century among Czech lawyers and physicians, as well as with changes of self-conceptualization of the Czech homosexual subculture itself, having occurred in the same time interval. It focuses mainly on attitudes and efforts of those who aimed at contributing to social emancipation of this subculture or - in times of increased persecution of homosexuality during the Nazi occupation - on the impossibility to carry on such efforts. The thesis is divided in five parts - in the first one, the legal context which provoked the emancipation efforts in times of the 1852 Penal Code being in force (i.e. until 1950) is explained; the next four parts focus on these efforts separately in four distinct periods. Thus, the second part deals with the expansion of the modern concept of homosexual identity in the Czech lands before WWI, the third part deals with sexual reform efforts by liberal lawyers and physicians as well as on emancipatory and political efforts by the homosexual community itself in the democratic First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), aiming at decriminalization of homosexual acts,...

This paper represents the root causes of Hazaras persecution in Afghanistan through ethno-religious and psycho-cultural approaches, using Protracted Social Conflicts (PSC) and Relative Deprivation (RD) frameworks. The Hazara community has been subject to persecution in variety of ways including assassinations, physical torture, enslavement, forced displacement, kidnapping, and target attacks by both state and non-state actors. This study explored multifrontal causes consisting international connection, structural inequalities, communal cleavages, access to economy and power, and interpersonal and ingroup values contributed to Hazaras persecution in Afghanistan. This study argues that the excessive persecution and discrimination against Hazara community was founded, particularly by Abdul Rahman in 1890s which shaped the ethno-religious and psycho-cultural approaches of Hazaras afterward. The ethno-religious and psycho-cultural approaches led the common thinking against Hazaras in the form of wrong identification, wrong myths, false consciousness, and ill-definition of Hazaras as monolithic Shi’as who have consistently been labelled as “Kafirs,” unbeliever, and decedents of Genghis Khan. The persecution of Hazaras can be studied through the lens of PSC, manifests the longstanding inter-state and intra-state conflicts, and RD depicts comparison of disadvantagedness of an individual or a group with other individuals and groups.

This study seeks to explore the role of peasant women in resistance to the antireligious campaigns during collectivization and analyze how the interplay of the state and resistors formed a new culture of religion in the countryside. I argue that while the state’s succeeded in controlling most of the public sphere, peasant women, engaging in subversive activities and exploiting the state’s ideology, succeeded in preserving a strong peasant adherence to religion prior to World War II. It was peasant women’s determination and adaptation that thwarted the party’s goal of nation-wide atheism.

Summaries in German and English / German text / In dieser Forschungsarbeit wird qualitativ das missionarische Engagement der sansibarischen Christen den einheimischen muslimischen Sansibaris gegenüber auf förderliche und hinderliche Faktoren untersucht. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, diese Faktoren aufzuzeigen und dadurch ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik der fehlenden Ganzheitlichkeit zu schaffen, damit hier gegengesteuert werden kann. Dazu wird zunächst der ethnologische und religionsgeschichtliche Hintergrund über Sansibar vorgestellt. Danach wird die geschichtliche Entwicklung und das heutige Bild der sansibarischen Gemeinden und Kirchen skizziert, um anschließend anhand des empirischtheologischen Praxiszyklus die Planung, die Durchführung und die Ergebnisse qualitativer Interviews mit jeweils drei Pastoren und leitenden Mitarbeiterinnen sansibarischer Gemeinden und Kirchen darzustellen. Mit Hilfe der Grounded Theory lassen sich zwei Tendenzen von kaum bis bedingt gelebter ganzheitlicher Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen und ihr jenseitsorientiertes Evangeliumsverständnis als Ursache dessen identifizieren. Abschließend wird der Ist-Zustand der Missionspraxis der Gemeinden und Kirchen beschrieben, indem basierend auf den Forschungsergebnissen Thesen formuliert werden. / This research work qualitatively examines the beneficial and hindering factors of the missionary commitment of the Zanzibari Christians to the native population. The aim is to describe these factors and to create an awareness for the lack of holistic mission so that countermeasures can be taken. Firstly, background information about Zanzibar is presented. Next, the historical development and current church landscape are described. Based on the empirical-theological practice cycle, the planning and execution as well as the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six church workers are then presented. Furthermore, based on the Grounded Theory, two tendencies of their mission practice ranging from negligible to minimal are identified, caused by a kingdom-come orientation concerning the understanding of the Gospel. Last but not least, based on the research results, the actual state of the mission practice of the Zanzibari churches is presented in three theses. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

German text / Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Wahrnehmung von Christen durch die wichtigsten so-ziopolitischen Milieus in der heutigen Türkei mittels einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse von fünf türkischen Tageszeitungen. Zunächst schildert ein Rückblick die bedeutendsten ge-schichtlichen Faktoren für die Haltung gegenüber Christen in der Türkei: den frühen Islam, die gesellschaftliche Stellung der christlichen Minderheiten im Osmanischen Reich und in der Türkischen Republik sowie die Einflussnahme „christlicher“ Mächte in den Kreuzzügen und dann im Zeitalter des Kolonialismus. Die Analyse der Zeitungen Yeniçağ, Millî Gazete, Yeni Şafak, Milliyet sowie Cumhuriyet, die als Repräsentanten verschiedener Milieus ausgewählt wurden, erweist sich als aussage-kräftig in Bezug auf einen hinreichend differenzierten Befund der Wahrnehmung von Chris-ten. Es wird deutlich, dass laizistischer Kemalismus, türkisch-islamischer Nationalismus, Is-lamismus in seinen verschiedenen Spielarten sowie demokratischer Liberalismus die Christen durchaus sehr unterschiedlich wahrnehmen. Insbesondere in dem Misstrauen gegenüber christlicher Missionstätigkeit in der Türkei, die vorwiegend von Protestanten getragen wird, sind jedoch auch beachtliche Gemeinsamkeiten in der Sichtweise der untersuchten Milieus festzustellen. Im systematisierenden Teil der Arbeit werden für die vorwiegend negative Einstellung gegenüber Christen in der Türkei ideologische, historisch-politische und psychologisch-soziologische Gründe nachgewiesen. Zusätzlich wird die Notwendigkeit einer christlich-theologischen Interpretation der gegen Christen erhobenen Anschuldigungen dargelegt. Ge-eignete christliche Reaktionen werden unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Ersten Petrus-briefes aufgezeigt. Dabei legt die theologisch begründete Einordnung verbaler Angriffe in den Gesamtrahmen von Verfolgung das Fundament für ein Spektrum solcher Reaktionen. Dazu gehören die Auseinandersetzung mit Vorwürfen gegen Mission und die Vergewisserung der eigenen christlichen Identität. Der Erste Petrusbrief legt aktive Strategien zur Korrektur ge-sellschaftlicher Vorurteile nahe, gebietet aber ebenso geduldiges Ertragen von Anklagen nach dem Vorbild Christi und um seinetwillen. / This study examines the perceptions of Christians within the most important socio-political milieus in today’s Turkey. Methodically it undertakes a qualitative content analysis of five Turkish daily newspapers. First a retrospect depicts the most prominent historical factors for the attitude towards Christians in Turkey: early Islam, the societal status of Christian minori-ties in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, the interference of “Christian” powers during the crusades and later in the age of colonialism. The analysis of the newspapers Yeniçağ, Millî Gazete, Yeni Şafak, Milliyet and Cumhuri-yet, which are selected for representing the different milieus, proves to provide meaningful and adequately differentiated results concerning the perceptions of Christians. It becomes obvious that secular Kemalism, Turkish-Islamic nationalism, Islamism in its different flavors, and democratic liberalism manifest thoroughly different perceptions of Christians. Simultane-ously, significant common ground of the perspectives under examination can be demonstrat-ed, especially in terms of a deep mistrust against Christian missionary activities in Turkey. In the systematizing part of the study, ideological, historic-political, and psychological-sociological reasons are established for the mostly negative attitude towards Christians in Turkey. In addition the necessity of a Christian theological interpretation of the accusations against Christians is substantiated. Appropriate Christian responses are identified, with special attention to the First Letter of Peter. A theologically justified integration of verbal abuse into the broader framework of persecution creates the interpretational foundation for determining a variety of possible responses. Prominent among these responses are a debate about the accu-sations against Christian mission and the self-assurance of one’s Christian identity. The First Letter of Peter suggests active strategies to mitigate societal prejudice, but at the same time calls for Christians to patiently bear accusations according to the example of Christ and for his sake. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

This thesis explores the history of Christianity and conversion to it in 16th and 17th Century Japan. It argues that conversion is a complex phenomenon which happened for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, it argues that due to the political context and limitations acting upon the mission, the majority of conversions in 16th and 17th Century Japan lacked an element of epistemological change (classically understood). The first chapter explores theories of conversion suggesting that conversion in 16th and 17th Century Japan included sorts of religious change not usually encapsulated in the term conversion including adhesion, communal and forced conversion. Moreover, it argues that contextual factors are the most important factors in religious change. The second chapter explores political context contending that it was the political environment of Japan that ultimately decided whether conversion was possible. This chapter charts the evolution of the Japanese context as it became more hostile toward Christianity. In the third chapter, the context of the mission is explored. It is argued that limitations acting upon the mission shaped post-conversion faith, so that changes to practice and ritual rather than belief became the mark of a successful conversion. The fourth chapter explores methods of conversion, the factors influencing it, and post-conversion faith more directly. It argues that Christianity spread primarily through social networks, but that conversion was also influenced by economic incentive, other realworld benefits, and Christianity's perceived efficacy. Building on Chapter Three, the final chapter also seeks to illustrate that the missionaries were not successful in their attempts to spur epistemological change or instil a detailed knowledge of theology or doctrine amongst their converts.