Thesis (Ph. D. in Religion)--Vanderbilt University, March 2004. / Title from PDF title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral) -- Brighton, Univ., 2007. / Hergestellt on demand Includes bibliographical references (p. [266]-291) and index.

Can explicitly Christian principles be invoked and put into practice in political life without thereby rendering that politics fideistic, exclusionary and immoderate? Could such principles in fact strengthen the rule of reason in politics? Many secular and Christian thinkers agree that the answers to these questions must be no, only parting ways on their practical conclusions. But Aquinas' much-neglected De Regno suggests the matter is not so simple. In his careful pedagogical structuring of De Regno, Aquinas opens up the possibility of a kind of dialogue between convention, reason and revelation, one that permits him to propose and reformulate his political teachings according to diverse but convergent principles. I aim to develop an account of Aquinas' political teaching that reveals itself as indebted to revelation for its principles but grounded in and open to reason, and thus neither irrational, exclusionary nor immoderate. I will focus particularly on his treatment of the natural law. / text

This thesis explores the transformative potential of theological categories within Western Christianity. In particular, this thesis explores the categories of memory, narrative and solidarity and their relationship to the broader categories of history; language; and community. The relationships between these categories are engaged by way of critically comparing and contrasting the political theology of Johannes Baptist Metz and the feminist theological hermeneutics of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza. This thesis traces the roots of these categories from the political theology of Johannes Baptist Metz and critically explores how the feminist theological hermeneutics of Schussler Fiorenza both uses and develops them. This exploration reveals the debt feminist theologies owe to political theology for the critical and emancipatory articulation of memory, narrative and solidarity. It also reveals important connections between memory, narrative and solidarity and the broader categories of history, language and community. Accordingly, this thesis explores the implications of a feminist engagement with the relationships between: history and memory; language and narrative; community and solidarity. By way of an intensification of the particular a critical feminist perspective more clearly extends the theological potential of these relationships and so illuminates their importance in a vitally -- and even radically -- new way. In the work of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza this extension is most clearly expressed through her critique of the kyriarchal socio-religious structures of Western culture and society which she grounds by way of a particular focus the church as the ekklesia of women. Accordingly, this thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One positions feminist theologies within the broader tradition of Western culture and society. Chapter Two briefly traces the historical, philosophical and theological heritage of political and feminist theologies as theologies of social critique. Chapter Three examines the contemporary historical consciousness of Western society and deals with the concerns feminist theologies have with Western history. In understanding history as both the liberative and oppressive story of human agency this chapter explores the use of memory as a tool for the emancipation of Christian history. In Chapter Four we look at the formative power of language as the medium through which humanity understands existence and reality. By way of a feminist critique, this chapter explores how language can operate to both facilitate and inhibit the liberative stories of the Christian tradition. Chapter Five examines the basic vision and structure of community. Here, the conditions that help foster women's solidarity and contribute to the nurturing of authentic relationships and vital Christian communities are explored. Chapter Six reviews Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's contribution to the transformative potential of the theological categories of memory, narrative and solidarity and offers two general critiques for further discussion. Chapter Six then concludes this thesis by engaging both Metz and Schussler Fiorenza in a critical-rhetorical reading of their work.

The theme of the MTh is the research of the Christian political responsibility in terms of an evangelical position. The first step is to examine the historical political background of evangelical engagements, whereas the focus is especially on the German development. The second step analyses theologically where to locate political and social barriers. It creates an overview in what way (or to what extend) the bible shows and discusses socio-political topics. Furthermore the theological base for political actions describes (themetizes) the relation between the (institution) church and the (governing) state, the understanding of salvation and God’s kingdom and also questions of eschatology. Ahead of the evangelical approach of political theology, the last chapter describes the difference from liberation theology and models of contextual theology. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation traces the metaphysical underpinnings of the Protestant Reformation through a close reading of the work of the Protestant reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562). It is premised on the assumption that all theological reasoning is metaphysical insofar as it simultaneously depends on and conveys a vision of how God and the world relate. This opens the possibility to analyse the implied metaphysics of theological work. The study focuses on four areas of Peter Martyr Vermigli’s work: divine and human agency, grace and justification, the Eucharist, and political theology. It analyses Vermigli’s thought by enquiring what structures of being and causality it displays in each of these areas. The key research question is whether Vermigli’s theology implicitly construes ‘being’ as a neutral category, univocally applying to God’s being as well as created being, or whether it conceives of Divine being as transcendent and pre-eminent, with all other being participating in it. Divine and human causation is moreover construed differently in other of these ontological alternatives. The main argument of this dissertation is that the metaphysical framework sustaining Peter Martyr Vermigli’s thought is complex. When examined in terms of its structures of being and causality, Vermigli’s theology simultaneously inhabits two different metaphysical frameworks, one based on ontological participation and the other on the univocity of being. If Vermigli is representative of the Reformation more broadly – an argument which is made based on recent developments in Calvin and Luther scholarship – then this finding is significant for the hermeneutics of the Protestant reformation in two ways. First, it nuances the Reformation’s role in the genesis of modernity, vis-à-vis certain commentators’ suggestion of a causal link between Reformation thought and modernity, while predicating the latter on a univocal ontology. Secondly, the history and development of Protestantism may be better understood by considering possible long-term effects of the metaphysical complexity at the heart of Reformation thought.

Based on a review of the academic literature, evangelical public theology often lacks a systematic, theologically grounded social ethic concerning religious liberty. The resulting impasse is one where religious liberty lacks distinctly evangelical contours. Modern and contemporary religious liberty discussions have been ceded, almost exclusively, to political and legal philosophy. At the same time, religious liberty is a foundational principle for evangelical public theology because it addresses issues of how evangelicals enter the public square as a religious people. Additionally, a doctrine of religious liberty is vital for establishing the relationship between the church and state in society. Theological warrant is needed to establish a doctrine of religious liberty on evangelical grounds, and, correspondingly, the lack of consensus or framework around religious liberty jeopardizes the possibility of developing a truly evangelical understanding of religious liberty for public theology. This dissertation seeks to remedy this gap in evangelical public theology and social ethics by grounding religious liberty in the biblical categories of eschatology, anthropology, and soteriology. Chapter one examines the literature surrounding evangelical proposals around religious liberty. Chapters 2 through 4 offer a constructive proposal for religious liberty oriented around the themes of the kingdom of God (eschatology), the image of God (anthropology), and the mission of God (soteriology). Chapter 5 concludes by offering concern that secular ideologies lack sufficient explanatory power to extend a principled account of religious liberty.

Shakespeare’s Henriad delves into questions of divine authority, political process, and the role of class in society. Most importantly, however, the text tracks the shifts in leadership and kingly identity. Richard II paints the portrait of a king infatuated with his own divinity. Richard’s journey from anointed king to deposed mortal captures the dissolution of his fantasy of invincibility. Inciting Richard’s demise, Henry IV effectively disturbs the passive obedience which the king’s subjects maintain; in doing so, the kingship begins to shift away from divine authority, moving into a vacuum of rebellion and civil conflict. Meanwhile, the previously profligate Prince Hal turns towards his duties; in proving himself to his father, he begins to accumulate honor, redeeming himself as a capable heir. Hal’s ascension as Henry V and his subsequent success as a king provides a stark contrast to the discontent during Richard’s reign. As the presence of divinity recedes, the theme of honor appears more frequently throughout the Henriad. Prince Hal views honor as an external commodity which can be accumulated by an individual. Honor, as presented by Henry V, seemingly converts an intrinsic trait or virtue into a commodity with economic value, allowing for the establishment of his own political legitimacy. Using the plays in the Henriad as my primary texts, I intend to examine this political and ideological transition by connecting Richard's divine right to Hal's construction of an economy of honor.

Neste trabalho, apresento num primeiro momento a ars historica como um sub-gênero do epidítico, com disposição e elocução autorizadas pelas poéticas aristotélica e horaciana, no que concerne à ordem natural do discurso (in ordo naturalis) e à imitação da pintura (ut pictura poesis). Suas virtudes discursivas verdade, clareza e juízo articulam decoro e invenção vinculados à utilidade, aos gêneros deliberativo e judiciário. Num segundo momento, examino a especificidade lusa mediante a obra histórica de Manuel de Faria e Sousa: como a origem e escatologia providencialistas regulam as variáveis da ars, a utilidade e a invenção de auctoritas. / The essay presents, in the first part, the ars historica; in the second part, its use in Manuel de Faria e Sousa

This thesis explores Gustavo Gutiérrez‟s and John Milbank‟s articulations of the doctrine of creation, with a view to developing a criterion that can be used to inform our understanding and evaluation of Christian charities that address homelessness and operate in contemporary British civil society. Milbank and Gutiérrez‟s works both ask questions of the peace or life that can be instituted through charitable practices. They also develop, from the doctrine of creation, their own theological accounts of social and political orders, normative anthropologies, and accounts of the interpersonal. For both Milbank and Gutiérrez, the doctrine of creation maintains a paradox: the internality and externality of the created world in relation to God. Part One of this thesis explores these respective accounts of charity and creation, noting the strengths and limitations of each position. Part One ends with a qualified endorsement of Gutiérrez‟s theology and defends the utility of the criterion he deploys in his work to judge the task of theology and praxis of the church: integral liberation. The second part of this thesis progresses in three steps. First, I put forward a theological methodology which is attentive to the logic of theo-political language and our current neoliberal socio-political order. I argue that it is prudent to think of political theology as a counter-hegemonic discourse, and in dialogue with Ernesto Laclau and Chantel Mouffe, Francis Schüssler Fiorenza and Gutiérrez, I explore and endorse political theology as spiral in character. I go on to extend Laclau and Mouffe‟s analysis of neoliberalism by developing and defending the hypothesis: 'charities are dual'. By engaging with the work of Frank Prochaska, this section argues that charities are both religious and political, as well as being both internal and external to the state apparatus. Furthermore, I contend that charities constitute and ameliorate the social exclusion attributed to homelessness, and that selfless giving, under the current circumstances, is internal to a process of volunteer self-making. By attending to the dualities of homelessness charities, this part of the thesis sets charities in their current context and proposes an elective affinity between current charitable practices and the hegemony of neoliberalism. At the end of the thesis, I return to the doctrine of creation and ask how attention to this doctrinal locus can help us to move homelessness charities beyond their dependence on the existence of homeless people, and their embeddedness in our current neoliberal arrangement. I argue that charities, and civil society more broadly, have an important role to play in envisioning and establishing a theo-politics of common life. To do so, I contend that we need to articulate a robust account of the role of the state, must defend human rights, nurture egalitarian and non-hierarchical charitable practices, be attentive to what the homeless can teach charities and volunteers about our current order, and reform aspects of charitable law. In each of these cases, I defend a paradoxical politics of integral liberation. In summary, this thesis aims to make an original contribution to the growing body of literature that explores homelessness and theology by coordinating the paradox of creation, the duality of charity, and the double truths of neoliberalism.