As early as 1831, critics attacked Joseph Smith by comparing him to Muhammad. Over time, the comparison deepened as critics and scholars observed doctrinal and political similarities between Mormonism and Islam. Later, scholars compared Joseph Smith to Muhammad because both had generated a new religion and there seemed to be several similarities in the lives of Joseph Smith and Muhammad. These and other comparisons between the two men and their religions have been made from 1831 to the present, yet there have been few thorough, non-polemic examinations of Joseph Smith and Muhammad in the typology of prophethood. While notable similarities exist in the lives of many prophets, the unique similarities shared by these two has warranted further inquiry. I argue the comparison, though initially the result of anti-Mormonism, is justifiable and enlightening. It reveals unique commonalities that occur in the lives of restoration prophets as a result of the role they are divinely called to fulfill. While modern scholarship strongly tends to ignore the possibility of divine influence, I argue that prophetic similarities between Muhammad and Joseph Smith are best explained by divine influence acting in similar circumstances. While I approach the topic in the language of a scholar, this work is intended to contribute in the context of Mormon studies. For Latter-day Saint scholars, a better understanding of Muhammad's mission and role as a prophetic figure could allow us to see him in a different light, not as founder of a false tradition, but as a revelator to his people in his own right, providing the portion of God's knowledge that he was granted, even if incomplete from a Latter-day Saint perspective.

Thesis advisor: Richard R. Gaillardetz / This dissertation argues that Sandra Schneiders’ work lays the groundwork for a robust theology of the church’s prophetic nature and builds upon her work by proposing the beginnings of a critical prophetic ecclesiology. This ecclesiological method seeks to articulate how the church might live more fully into its prophetic nature both through its mission in the world and in its ordered life of communion. This dissertation proceeds in an introduction, five chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction argues that the tensions in the Second Vatican Council’s treatment of the church’s share in Christ’s prophetic work call for the development of a theology of the church’s prophetic nature. Moreover, it proposes that Schneiders’ work is poised to help theologians respond to that call. The first chapter highlights Schneiders’ fundamental theology and hermeneutical theory, in order to draw out her claim that Christians respond to God’s salvific invitation to share in God’s life by appropriating the paschal imagination—the ideal meaning of scripture and tradition’s witness to God’s self-revelation—into the world in which they live. The second chapter draws out Schneiders’ understanding of the paschal imagination, which is rooted in her theology of the paschal mystery. It demonstrates that in the paschal mystery Jesus is revealed to have incarnated God’s unceasing invitation for creation to share in the life of God and the fullness of the response humanity is called to offer through its cooperation with the Spirit’s salvific initiative in his prophet life, ministry, and death. The church manifests the presence of the risen body of Jesus in history through its ongoing cooperation with the indwelling Spirit, through whom the risen Jesus returns to his disciples. The third chapter illustrates that Christian spirituality, which Schneiders suggests must be feminist in nature, is the life project of responding to God’s salvific initiative by participating in the life of the risen body of Jesus. Such participation necessarily entails sharing in the prophetic life through which he was glorified in the life of God in the paschal mystery. Sharing in this life involves attending to the laments of the oppressed, announcing God’s vision of salvific communion revealed in Jesus and the Spirit, working to deconstruct structures of domination, and seeking to build up structures that make the shalom of God’s life manifest. The fourth chapter reviews developments in the theology of the church’s share in the prophetic identity of Christ since Vatican II. It argues that Schneiders’ work, drawn out in the first three chapters, provides a framework for a robust theology of the church’s prophetic nature by rooting the prophetic character of the church in the paschal mystery and implicitly calling the church to adopt a prophetic ecclesial spirituality. The fifth chapter develops the beginnings of a critical prophetic ecclesiology, an ecclesiological method that seeks to articulate how the church might live into its prophetic nature more fully, particularly in light of the ways it has failed to do so. It puts this method into practice by examining how the U.S. Catholic Church has failed to embody the prophetic life of Jesus in its ordered life through its participation in clericalism, patriarchy, and White racist supremacy. In response to the church’s participation in these structures of domination, it develops theologies of ordered evangelical relationality, charismatic discipleship, and a recovered sense of the church’s Gentile identity that calls the church to transform the wounds it has inflicted upon its body into sites of Christ’s glorification. The dissertation’s conclusion argues that ordering the church around base ecclesial communities would allow it to live into its prophetic identity by providing a practical means for these theologies to take root and empowering the church to continue the mission of Jesus in the world through practices of radical solidarity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

The research is a practical theological exploration which analysed prophetic preaching in neo-Pentecostal Christianity during the socio-economic and socio-political crisis. At the centre of Pentecostalism is the notion of preaching and prophecy. In an attempt to understand prophetic preaching in these neo-Pentecostal churches the study examines the trends and behaviour of the neo-Pentecostal prophets and the critical aspect of how these ministries communicate the gospel to its adherents. The critical focus of the research is the question of whether the meaning of prophetic preaching refers to sermons that in some way predict the future or to preaching that addresses significant social issues and concerns. It also questions whether the adherents of these new ministries are inspired by the gospel of faith or are they driven by the socio-economic and socio-political crisis which may eventually not be accurate understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The research addresses the terrors and doubts of many people who are trapped between Christian belief and terror and reaction to the declaration of the prophetic gospel of prosperity by the neo-Pentecostal prophets particularly in Zimbabwe. The theoretical statement of this research is that there appears to be an understated renewal element in the theology of neo-Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe as is evidently expressed through the movement of Christians from the traditional churches to these neo-Pentecostal churches in tendencies which reflect the fluctuating religious topography and the expression of African Christianity in general and Zimbabwean Christianity in particular. The research explores the landscape, influence and importance of neo-Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwean community in general. The identity and nature of neo-Pentecostal Christianity in its practical theological exploration discussed the origins of the neo-Pentecostal prophets, their churches and the sermons they preach and the dynamics that promote the growth of these ministries in the context of God’s plans for evangelism and the community in particular. Fundamental to this kind of Christianity are the similes of power and prosperity which are believed to be symbols of faith. The effect and impact of this type of faith expression in the socio-economic and socio-political scene has been fully reconnoitred. The primary methodology in this research is the qualitative method complemented by quantitative methods. A practical theological framework was used in the research especially with Osmer’s core tasks of practical theological interpretation, as it was used to interpret the unfolding trends of the phenomenon under exploration. The research discloses how people’s socio-economic and socio-political fears and hopes in the hub of life’s challenges lure them toward new ministries which promise to absolutely encourage a magnificent life with real results being received in the ‘here and now’. This study has reviewed how religion and politics interacted specifically in the Zimbabwean context and how they affect each other. It has also reviewed how religion especially neo-Pentecostal Christianity, has been seen as a platform of a lavish life in the environment of people’s desires and challenges. There is longing in neo-Pentecostal Christianity, for wealth and health as expressions of salvation and a faithful Christian life. Strangely, there is diminutive references to moral and ethical issues from the neo-Pentecostal prophetic preaching, it was noted that their preaching is centred on declarations, prosperity, prophecy, deliverance, health, and miracles. These themes are the pillars of prophetic preaching in neo-Pentecostal Christianity in Zimbabwe and they are considered as signs of being saved and to have received blessings from God. When one lacks these things and economic success one is regarded as demons possessed and it causes poor health hence one needs to be delivered from the bondage of Satan. Such teachings have accustomed the potential converts to seek after material things and values as acute features of the significance of salvation and the mission of Christ. The fundamentals of the research compared the Old Testament prophets’ prophetic preaching with that of neo-Pentecostal prophets and finds that neo-Pentecostalism preaching has failed to be prophetic in the sense of eighth century prophets like Elijah, Isaiah, Amos, and Elisha who rebuked the kings, merchants, and priests for their immoral practices. Prophecy as seen from the Old Testament prophets is described as a medium of communication between God and his chosen nation Israel; prophecy was meant to rebuke, challenge and change Israel’s attitude and follow the statutes and commandments of God which were the basis for their everyday living. Hence the research has noted that the neo-Pentecostal prophets failed to meet this standard set by the ancient prophets. The research went on to expose that neo-Pentecostal Christianity encourages in an indirect way of making disciples instead of the traditional way of faith response to the gospel proclamation. But does this neo-Pentecostal gospel alleviate poverty or does it have any relevance to edify one’s life to have a better relationship with God? The eight chapters of this research has embarked on these questions, pointing the way to the four elements of preaching as a new theory for praxis. These four elements ended up looking at the gospel of contentment as a response to a dependable Christian evangelisation that is alive and related to the meaning of salvation and bring this nation out of this socio-economic and socio- political crisis. The research concludes that the four elements of preaching and especially gospel of contentment is the panacea providing meaning and solutions to the varied human fears, corruption, economic and political meltdown of the country that portrays the provisional nature of human existence. This can be achieved when the church practices prophetic preaching as the men of the eighth century did. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

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<p> This dissertation brings the insights of linguistic discourse analysis, and particularly of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), to bear on the prophetic book of Joel in order to clarify the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in the book. The concepts of register and genre as defined by SFL, along with the related concepts of context of situation, context of culture, and context of text (or co-text), provide helpful tools that both dovetail with the problems and goals of other kinds of synchronic analysis and give new and valuable insights. By applying register analysis to the various passages that deal with the Day of YHWH in the book of Joel, the dissertation identifies the registers of the four sections of the book and compares and contrasts the various registers of each of these sections, making use of this analysis to shed light on the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in each section. Following this is a description of the linguistic register, the context of situation, and the nature and function of the Day of YHWH in the book of Joel as an entire text.</p> <p> The Day of YHWH in the book of Joel is a future moment of theophanic intervention, an inevitable day of destruction and salvation. Key to the theology of the Day of YHWH in Joel is the relational orientation of the readers/hearers of the book to YHWH. The book of Joel is thus a communicative act that calls for repentance grounded in worship of YHWH and that promises deliverance from the Day and a glorious eschatological future for those who heed the book's call to proper orientation toward YHWH.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the vigorous discourse of prophetic preaching in contemporary homiletic fields, especially Brueggemann’s prophetic preaching has strongly influenced preachers, as well as scholars. His work manifests the counteraction between two imaginations – the dominant and alternative imaginations - in the assurance of the transforming and liberating power of the scripture itself, through the conceptualization of imagination and the work of the Holy Spirit. In this context, this study is positioned in the homiletic field of the reformed tradition. In a large sense, it attempts to investigate prophetic preaching in an empirical and interpretive as well as a normative and pragmatic way. The aim of this investigation is to illustrate the interrelationship between imagination and the work of the Holy Spirit in prophetic preaching, and consequently to initiate normative, practical principles in a strategic model for contemporary preaching. To achieve these aims the study explores the ontology and epistemology of prophetic preaching. It identifies problems in the understanding of homiletic praxis, and at the same time examines the definition and history of prophetic preaching. Moreover, to respond to the question of why Brueggemann’s conceptualization regarding imagination has been highlighted, this study conducts an investigation into the available literature relating to Brueggemann’s prophetic imagination. A balanced interpretive and faithful perspective based on a reading of the whole Scripture is consistent throughout Brueggemann's oeuvre and his focus on application based on the transformational message in praxis is remarkable. Normative markers in prophetic preaching, deduced from an exploration and exegesis of specific texts in Luke and Acts, consequently bring about practical principles for application to prophetic preaching. The practical principles are formulated as follows: D (Direction-Diagnosis of the Reality); IEP (Imaginative Embossing of Problems of the Reality); S (Proclamation of the Gospel aiming at Solution); and IP (Imaginative practice). With the use of these principles, example sermons are analyzed and a new sermon for prophetic preaching is written. The results of this study are expected to provide the preacher with a strategic model to bring prophetic preaching into practice. Lastly, the ontological and epistemological exploration attempted in this study has made a contribution in describing a thicker and more developed definition of prophetic preaching. In conclusion, prophetic preaching itself should achieve the following aim: to be a presentation of God’s voice, spoken to the preacher and the listeners with the subjective help of the Holy Spirit's working in message transformation. / MTh (Homiletics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In the vigorous discourse of prophetic preaching in contemporary homiletic fields, especially Brueggemann’s prophetic preaching has strongly influenced preachers, as well as scholars. His work manifests the counteraction between two imaginations – the dominant and alternative imaginations - in the assurance of the transforming and liberating power of the scripture itself, through the conceptualization of imagination and the work of the Holy Spirit. In this context, this study is positioned in the homiletic field of the reformed tradition. In a large sense, it attempts to investigate prophetic preaching in an empirical and interpretive as well as a normative and pragmatic way. The aim of this investigation is to illustrate the interrelationship between imagination and the work of the Holy Spirit in prophetic preaching, and consequently to initiate normative, practical principles in a strategic model for contemporary preaching. To achieve these aims the study explores the ontology and epistemology of prophetic preaching. It identifies problems in the understanding of homiletic praxis, and at the same time examines the definition and history of prophetic preaching. Moreover, to respond to the question of why Brueggemann’s conceptualization regarding imagination has been highlighted, this study conducts an investigation into the available literature relating to Brueggemann’s prophetic imagination. A balanced interpretive and faithful perspective based on a reading of the whole Scripture is consistent throughout Brueggemann's oeuvre and his focus on application based on the transformational message in praxis is remarkable. Normative markers in prophetic preaching, deduced from an exploration and exegesis of specific texts in Luke and Acts, consequently bring about practical principles for application to prophetic preaching. The practical principles are formulated as follows: D (Direction-Diagnosis of the Reality); IEP (Imaginative Embossing of Problems of the Reality); S (Proclamation of the Gospel aiming at Solution); and IP (Imaginative practice). With the use of these principles, example sermons are analyzed and a new sermon for prophetic preaching is written. The results of this study are expected to provide the preacher with a strategic model to bring prophetic preaching into practice. Lastly, the ontological and epistemological exploration attempted in this study has made a contribution in describing a thicker and more developed definition of prophetic preaching. In conclusion, prophetic preaching itself should achieve the following aim: to be a presentation of God’s voice, spoken to the preacher and the listeners with the subjective help of the Holy Spirit's working in message transformation. / MTh (Homiletics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2011 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: What stimulates the emergence of messianic expectations or messianic figures in a society such as ancient Israel? Messianic expectations emerged as prophetic responses to social, economic, political and religious crises. This could be traced from the historical background of the pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic periods. Messianic expectations in pre-exilic Israel were triggered by the failure of the Davidic dynasty to uphold Yahweh’s instructions and they depict the shift in focus from the anointed kings to the birth of a new Davidic prince (Isa. 9:1-7).The exilic period drew attention to a gentile king, Cyrus as Messiah (Isa. 44:28-45:1-8) who would restore Israel from exile. However, messianic expectations in Daniel 9:25-27 came about as a response to the extended subjection to foreign rule after the return from exile. The expectation for a messiah therefore changed from focusing on a historical figure to an apocalyptic figure in the post-exilic period. This approach is triggered by the situation in Zimbabwe where messianic rhetoric is now being used in an attempt to address the fragile socio-economical situation. It is shown that recent characterization of President Robert Mugabe as a messianic figure based on his role as a former liberator is a skilful propaganda and manipulation of the expectations of a messiah to legitimize his leadership amidst growing opposition. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wat stimuleer die verskyning van messiaanse verwagtinge of messiaanse figure in 'n samelewing soos die van ou Israel? Messiaanse verwagtinge het ontstaan as profetiese antwoorde op sosiale, ekonomiese, politiese en godsdienstige krisisse. Dit kan histories teruggelei word na die tydperke voor die ballingskap en na die ballingskap. Messiaanse verwagtinge in voor-ballingskap Israel is aangewakker deur die Dawidiese dinastie se onvermoë om Jahweh se opdragte te handhaaf, en dui op die fokus-verskuiwing van gesalfde konings na die geboorte van 'n nuwe Dawidiese prins (Jes. 9:1-7). Die ballingskap het die aandag gevestig op 'n heidense koning, Kores, as die messias (Jes. 44:28-45:1-8) wat Israel uit ballingskap sou red en herstel. Messiaanse verwagtinge in Daniel 9:25-27 het egter ontstaan as 'n reaksie op die voordurende onderwerping aan buitelandse bewind na die terugkeer uit ballingskap. Die verwagting van 'n messias het dus verander van 'n fokus op 'n historiese figuur na 'n fokus op 'n apokaliptiese figuur in die na-ballingskap-era. Die benadering tot Messianisme in hierdie navorsing is na aanleiding van die huidige situasie in Zimbabwe, waar messiaanse retoriek gebruik word om die brose sosio-ekonomiese situasie aan te spreek. Die studie dui aan dat onlangse uitbeelding van President Robert Mugabe as 'n messiaanse figuur op grond van sy rol as 'n voormalige bevryder, is knap propaganda en manipulering van die verwagtinge van 'n messias, met die doel om sy leierskap te legitimeer te midde van toenemende teenkanting.

Thesis advisor: Jane E. Regan / This dissertation considers adolescent girls and what they need from an all-girls’ Catholic school that will prepare them, not just for college and career, but for life in a world that marginalizes girls and women. More than simply trying to make a case for single-sex schooling for girls, it suggests that the single-sex school is an important site for conversations about what it means for adolescent girls to be adolescent girls. This project names the patriarchal forces that marginalize girls and calls for a pedagogical approach that is rooted in the theological affirmation that adolescent girls are created in the image of God and called to exercise a prophetic imagination. Chapter one introduces the history of all-girls’ Catholic secondary schools, a history rooted in the story of women’s religious orders and the ministries of these women religious as educators at a time when the education of girls was not valued. Today’s all-girls’ Catholic schools are informed by this history and the Catholic Church’s commitment to honoring the dignity of each student, thus grounding a commitment to a caring and liberative educational approach. Chapter two argues that contemporary adolescent girls, including those who attend these all-girls’ Catholic secondary schools, are growing up in a cultural milieu that makes them vulnerable to the effects of the conflicting and impossible expectations to which girls and women are held. Chapter three investigates the imago Dei symbol as a theological foundation for fighting this toxic cultural milieu. Taking a cue from feminist theologians who have explored embodiment and relationality as central expressions of the imago Dei, this chapter proposes that creating communities of God’s hesed (loving-kindness) and resisting injustice are two ways that the imago Dei symbol can be expressed so as to best include adolescent girls. Chapter four suggests that, in order to realize this goal of affirming the imago Dei in adolescent girls by creating communities of God’s hesed and resistance to injustice, a feminist prophetic imagination is needed. Drawing on Walter Brueggemann’s identification of the prophetic imagination as the twinned process of denouncing the oppressive forces of the dominant culture and announcing a new and more just way of being in the world, it proposes a feminist prophetic imagination that engages in a feminist critique of the cultural milieu that girls experience and the construction of communities based in hesed and resistance to injustice. Chapter five takes up the pedagogical challenges of teaching with and for a feminist prophetic imagination. The liberative pedagogy of Paulo Freire and the caring pedagogy of Nel Noddings provide the resources for educating adolescent girls to participate in communities of God’s hesed and in practices of resistance to injustice. Chapter six returns to the concrete situation of all-girls’ Catholic secondary schools and imagines how these schools can speak to a commitment to educating for a feminist prophetic imagination in their mission and reflects on how a feminist prophetic imagination can be expressed and formalized in all Catholic schools.

Thesis advisor: Richard Lennan / A number of theologians claim that the church has not tapped into the fullness of Vatican II’s teaching on the sensus fidelium. As an attempt to address that concern, this dissertation examines the teaching authority of the laity as a key element in the expression of the sensus fidelium in the church. It argues for a fuller realization of Vatican II’s emphasis on the laity’s participation in Christ’s prophetic office. It proposes a three-part lay hermeneutic (hermeneutic of everyday life, hermeneutic of desire, and hermeneutic of trust) as a relevant, authoritative framework for discerning the sensus fidelium, of which Filipino popular Catholicism is a living expression. This dissertation employs a method that is primarily critical, hermeneutical and practical. It is structured in two parts: the first two chapters establish the theological underpinnings of the study, while the last three chapters focus on the laity, their sense of the faith, their reception process, their lived faith expressed through popular Catholicism, and their participation in the prophetic office of Christ. Through an analysis of the laity’s sensus fidei as an integral dimension in the discernment of the sensus fidelium, this dissertation emphasizes that authority in the church derives from all its members and that the interpretation of faith is a process that invites the participation of all the baptized as sharers in Christ’s prophetic function. In such a church, not only the ordained, but the laity, equally belong to the guild of interpreters of God’s revelation. The laity possess a teaching authority that contributes significantly to the life of the church. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.