Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / By start of the 1920s, the United States had seen nearly forty years of vast accumulations of wealth by a small group of people, substantial financial speculation and a mass change in the economic base from agricultural to industrial. All of this ended in 1929 in a crushing depression that spread not only across the country, but also around the world. Hard-Boiled detective fiction first reached the reading public early in the decade initially as adventure stories, but quickly became a way for authors to express the stresses these changes were causing on people and society. The detective is the center of the story with the task of reestablishing a certain degree of order or redemption. An important character hallmark of this genre is that he is seldom able to do this, or that the cost is so high a terrible burden remains. His decisions and judgments in this attempt are formed by his relationship with the people or community around him. The goal of this thesis is to look at the issues raised in the context of how the detective relates to a person or community in the story. For analysis, six books were chosen arranged from least level of personal relationship by the detective to the most intimate. The books are Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett, The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, The Galton Case, by Ross MacDonald, Cotton Comes to Harlem, by Chester Himes, Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley, and I, the Jury, by Mickey Spillane. In the study of these books, a wide range of topics are presented including political ideologies, corruption, racial discrimination and family strife. Each book provided a wealth of views on these and other subjects that are as relevant today as when they were written.

The content of this dissertation delineates the crucial and incisive role of the Holy Spirit in terms of God's grand and majestic acts of creation, that is the creation of the multiversity of universes, redemption that is the cross, the exemplar of Christ in self­ denial, reconciliation and restoration, and his resurrection, that is self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment observed within the context of God, being human and the physical organic environment as it interacts with the human acts of personal and social responsibility observed within the context of a five dimensional approach of self-actualization, self-denial, self-empowerment, self-renewal and self-fulfillment, ingested into ones identity, internalised and witnessed as meaningful daily praxis, seen through the prism of the cross and the resurrection. A didactic method has been followed to engender insights into and conviction regarding the relevance of the subject for our present day and a hortatory method to exhort to an obedient response and to urge an appropriate action. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This dissertation analyses Reinhard Bonnke's evangelistic ministry in Africa, and examines to what extent his propagated "Evangelism by Fire" conforms with the New Testament ministry of evangelism. The results of an analysis of the New Testament ministry of evangelism, especially of the evangelistic ministry of Philip, provide the basis for a comparison with Bonnke's understanding and practice of the evangelistic ministry. A thorough analysis of Bonnke's publications, especially those referring to the theme of evangelism, allows a systematic insight into his understanding of the evangelistic ministry. In order to examine the conformity between Reinhard Bonnke's understanding and his practice of evangelism, expert interviews referring to his gospel crusade in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 2002 are analysed, and compared to his understanding of evangelism. Finally, the findings about Bonnke's understanding and practice of evangelism are related to the New Testament evangelistic ministry, and analysed synoptically. The research results of this study show that Bonnke's understanding of evangelism and his practice of evangelism, during the gospel crusade in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, conform with each other. Bonnke's propagated and applied "Evangelism by Fire" shows him to be an evangelist orientated to the New Testament. Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Dissertation setzt sich mit Reinhard Bonnkes evangelistischem Dienst in Afrika auseinander und überprüft, inwiefern die von ihm bekannt gemachte ,,Evangelism by Fire" mit dem neutestamentlichen evangelistischen Dienst übereinstimmt. Die Ergebnisse aus einer Untersuchung des evangelistischen Dienstes im Neuen Testament, insbesondere des evangelistischen Dienstes des Philippus, bieten die Grundlage für einen Vergleich mit dem Evangelisationsverständnis und der Evangelisationspraxis Bonnkes. Eine intensive Auseinandersetzung mit Bonnkes Publikationen, insbesondere zum Thema Evangelisation, gibt einen systematischen Einblick in sein Verständnis des evangelistischen Dienstes. Um Reinhard Bonnkes Evangelisationsverständnis auf Übereinstimmung mit seiner Evangelisationspraxis zu überprüften, werden Experteninterviews zu seiner 2002 durchgeführten Großevangelisation in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, ausgewertet und mit seinem Evangelisationsverständnis verglichen. Schließlich werden die gewonnenen Forschungsergebnisse zu Bonnkes Evangelisationsverständnis und Evangelisationspraxis in Relation zum neutestamentlichen evangelistischen Dienst gesetzt und synoptisch ausgewertet. Die Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass Bonnkes Evangelisationsverständnis und seine Evangelisationspraxis während der Evangelisation in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, kongruieren. Die von Bonnke propagierte und praktizierte ,,Evangelism by Fire" offenbart ihn als Evangelisten mit neutestamentlicher Grundausrichtung. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / (D.Th.(Missiology))

This study explores the multiple ways in which Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) functioned through concrete biomedical institutions, namely, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the World Health Organization (WHO). AIDS is viewed as a product of the full range of institutional practices in which it became embedded and in which it was set within the boundaries of Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease (see the Preface section). This biomedical model of disease was materialized through journalistic practices and sold as news. Within these operative terms can be understood another analytical strategy that also designates the main domain of my study of this contemporary social form: I argue in this thesis that knowledge about AIDS was by no means dependent solely on the objective, scientifically determined, "received narrative" of biomedicine; what is today known as AIDS is also a product of a wide range of social practices produced and reproduced over time and space. AIDS is also an outcome of the resolutions, judgements and decisions that working journalists made over time in terms of what they generated or covered as news; the disease is also product of a large assortment of representational mirrors that I call `authentic voices', to take as good examples, the "narrative of moral protest", the narrative of a "homosexual disease", the narrative of a "heterosexual disease," and the narrative of a "modern-day Black Death" (plague). The story of AIDS in the media can also be seen to be defined by the proliferation of these authentic voices. From this reading, the distinctive trait of AIDS in the media lies in the fact that it is a constructed object, a disease framed through a specific structure of meanings. When we look at these structure of meanings we find that their moral and cultural assumptions and stereotypical connotations embody certain aspects of the organism of the society within which they were created and nourished over a much longer history. / Sociology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

Thesis (DPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The purpose of this thesis twofold: first, to develop an account of modernity as a “loss of the world” which also entails the “death” of the human as a meaningful philosophical, political or moral category, and second, to explore the possibility of recovering a sense of the world in us and with it, a sense of what it means to be human. This argument is developed by way of a sustained engagement with the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Hannah Arendt, whose analogous critiques of modernity centre on the problem of the connection between humanity and worldliness. My argument consists of three parts, each of which spans two chapters. Part one of the thesis sets out the most important aspects of Nietzsche’s and Arendt’s respective critiques of modernity. Chapter one focuses on modernity as a rupture of a philosophical, political and religious tradition within which existence in the world could be experienced as unquestionably meaningful. Following arguments developed by Nietzsche and Arendt, chapter two establishes that the loss of this tradition results in a general crisis of meaning, evaluation and authority that can be designated as “modern nihilism”. The second part of the thesis deals with what may be called the “anthropological grounds” of the critique of modernity developed in part one. To this end, chapter three focuses on Nietzsche’s portrayal of the human as “the as-yet undetermined animal” who is neither the manifestation of a subjective essence nor the product of his own hands, but who only exists in the unresolved tension between indeterminacy and determination. This is followed in chapter four by an inquiry into Arendt’s conception of “the human condition”, which in turn points to the conditionality of being human. What is clearly demonstrated in both cases is that, in so far as the predicament of modernity is incarnate in modern human beings themselves, any attempt at overcoming this predicament would somehow have to involve re-thinking or transcending our present-day humanity. The third part of the thesis examines the way in which the reconceptualisation of the human as advocated by Nietzsche and Arendt transforms our understanding of “world”. The more specific aim here is to demonstrate that both thinkers conceive of a reconciliation between self and world as a form of redemption. In chapter five I explore their respective attempts to resurrect the capacity for judgement in the aftermath of the death of God as the first step in this redemptive project, before turning to a more in-depth inquiry into the “soteriology” at work in Nietzsche’s and Arendt’s thinking in chapter six. This inquiry ultimately makes clear that there is a conflict between the Nietzschean conception of redemption as amor fati (love of fate) and Arendt’s notion of redemption as amor mundi (love of the world). I conclude the thesis by arguing that what is at stake here are two conflicting notions of reconciliation: a worldly – or political – notion of reconciliation (Arendt), and a much more radical, philosophical notion of reconciliation (Nietzsche), which ultimately does away with any boundary between self and world. However, my final conclusion is not that we face an inevitable choice between these two alternatives, but rather that the struggle between these two dispositions is necessary for an understanding of what it means to be human as well as for the world in which our humanity is formed.

Dans cette dissertation, je présente trois pièces sur des thèmes religieux composées au cours de ma maîtrise, ainsi que leur analyse : Psalmus 150 pour chœur de jeunes à trois voix, chœur d'adultes à huit voix et orgue ou piano ; Quatuor à Cordes sur la vie de Saint Jean-Paul II ; et la Symphonie « La Rédemption » pour orchestre et chœur. Malgré les particularités de chacune, elles présentent des aspects communs. L'idée principale des compositions fut d'éviter la rupture avec la tradition tout en apportant des nouvelles idées aux pièces, et de souligner l'importance de ma recherche sur la beauté. À cet égard, certaines techniques contemporaines, ainsi que les sonorités médiévales des quintes et octaves parallèles, furent utilisées en accord avec un langage tonal / modal qui demeure la base des trois compositions. Le chant Grégorien fut aussi une importante caractéristique de ces compositions. Pour mieux comprendre les analyses des œuvres, deux techniques seront expliquées, la douce toile de dissonances linéaires et l'harmonie d'accords parfaits majeurs. L'analyse de chaque pièce est divisée en deux parties. La première est une vision générale et la deuxième est plus détaillée. À la fin, les connaissances acquises par la composition des ces œuvres seront résumées et l'importance intemporelle de la beauté sera réaffirmée. / In this dissertation, I present three pieces on religious themes composed during my master’s degree as well as their analysis: Psalmus 150 for three-voice youth choir, eight-voice adult choir and organ or piano; String Quartet on the life of Saint John Paul II; and Symphony “The Redemption” for orchestra and choir. Despite the particularities of each one, they present common aspects. The main compositional idea was to avoid rupture with tradition, whilst bringing new ideas into the pieces, as well as to highlight the importance of my research on beauty. For this purpose, some contemporary techniques as well the medieval sonorities of parallel fifths and octaves were used in consonance with a modal/tonal language, which remains the framework of the three pieces. Gregorian chant is also an important characteristic of these compositions. In order to better understand the analysis of the pieces, two techniques are explained, the soft web of linear dissonances and the perfect major chord harmony. The analysis of each piece is divided into two parts. The first is an overview and the second a more detailed analysis. At the end, the knowledge obtained from composing these pieces will be summarized, and the timeless importance of beauty will be reaffirmed.

Due to the current time requirements the side arrangements are an important part of the contractual relations. During the negotiation a substantial attention of the contracting parties is needed, because the legal form of the side agreements is very short and ambiguous, with possibility of extensive deviation from the letter of law. After the legal research we can say that this theme is a very diverse, which is difficult to grasp by the legislature in its whole entirety, because the principle of a liberty of a contract always relativizes any conclusion provided by the theory and practice. The issue of the side arrangements is very scattered in the legal system of the Czech Republic and this thesis had for one's object to analyse the most important side agreements which are negotiated with the purchase or other agreement. In terms of the target of this work the legal form of side arrangements under the Civil Code and Commercial Code was analysed. The thesis also deals with the limitation of side arrangements and opportunity to negotiate other arrangements which aren't directly regulated by the Civil Code or Commercial Code. By reason that the work focuses on the side arrangements regulated by the Civil Code, it was necessary to take this fact into account. That's why each of side arrangement, which...

This study offers an ecumenical exploration of human transformation through the examination of this topic in the thought of Karl Barth (1888-1968), a Swiss Reformed theologian; Joseph Ratzinger (b. 1927), a Roman Catholic theologian; and John Zizioulas (b. 1931), a Greek Orthodox theologian. Describing and understanding human transformation stands as a crucial task for theology because no one is simply born a Christian—in order to be a Christian one must become a Christian. The first chapter introduces this topic, the three theologians (highlighting their commonalities), and the three questions that guide the analysis of each theologian and the thesis as a whole: What is the goal of human transformation? What is the basis of human transformation? How are humans transformed? Chapters 2, 3, and 4 treat the topic of human transformation in the theology of Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas, respectively. All three understand the goal of human transformation to be the prayer of the children of God, and locate its basis in God’s reconciling act in Jesus Christ—an act itself based in the primordial divine decision to be God pro nobis. Even within this broad agreement, however, differences are evident, especially with regard to eschatology. Consideration of how this transformation occurs reveals significant differences concerning the agency of Jesus Christ in relation to the Holy Spirit and the church. The final chapter explores 1) the convergences and divergences between Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas regarding human transformation; 2) the contributions of this study to the interpretation of Barth, Ratzinger, and Zizioulas; and 3) the relationship between human transformation and participation in God. Throughout, attention is given to the relationship between Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, the eschaton, and the triunity of God and human transformation. All three accounts of human transformation point beyond the transition between sinful and redeemed humanity to a dynamic anthropology in which the constant asking, receiving, thanking, and asking again is the very “ontological location” of the eschatological life of humanity: our being is in becoming.

La tesi ha ad oggetto l’analisi delle fattispecie statutarie di riscatto azionario nella s.p.a. dopo la riforma del 2003. Quest’ultima ha anzitutto introdotto una disciplina destinata genericamente a tutte le ipotesi statutarie in cui si preveda un potere di riscatto a vantaggio della società o di soci (art. 2437-sexies c.c.). L’esegesi di tale disciplina e l’indagine sui possibili utilizzi, in chiave funzionale, delle azioni riscattabili costituiscono il primo obiettivo del lavoro. Per quanto attiene al c.d. riscatto obbligatorio di azioni si è invece assistito alla sola emersione di alcune specifiche ipotesi legali (ad es., art. 2355-bis, comma 2°, c.c.). Si dimostra, tuttavia, che non sussistono ragioni per negare, in linea generale, la possibilità per l’autonomia privata di avvalersi di tale meccanismo di riscatto in ipotesi diverse da quelle espressamente tipizzate. La ricostruzione della disciplina delle fattispecie statutarie atipiche di riscatto obbligatorio e la loro valorizzazione quali peculiari strumenti di disinvestimento dalla società - con caratteristiche non del tutto sovrapponibili al recesso convenzionale - costituiscono il secondo indirizzo d’analisi seguito nello sviluppo della tesi. Nell’affrontare i vari profili trattati, si tiene in attenta considerazione la disciplina comunitaria in tema di riscatto azionario, nonché il dato comparatistico. / The scrutiny of the rules concerning the redemption of shares in the Italian public companies (s.p.a.) after the statutory reform of 2003 is the main focus of the thesis. On the one hand , the reform has introduced a general discipline concerning the provisions of the bylaws that provide a call for redemption of issued shares (art. 2437-sexies c.c.). Under this general aspect the first goal of the work is to analyze both the new general discipline concerning the callable redeemable shares and their functional use. On the other hand, the reform has ruled only a few typical hypothesis of the so called mandatory redemption (for example, art. 2355, par. 2 , c.c.). However, the work points out that there is no reason why to deny private autonomy to use this second form of redemption in cases other than those explicitly ruled. So, the second objective of the thesis is to reconstruct the discipline of the otherwise agreements concerning the matter of the mandatory redemption provisions. The thesis points out that the puttable redeemable shares represent a tool for divestment from public companies with autonomous characteristics in respect to the withdrawal from corporation clauses. To address the various issues considered, are taken into careful consideration both the EU rules concerning share redemption, and the comparative law perspective .

The overall purpose of this thesis is to illuminate and critically evaluate Christian theology of atonement and redemption, in order to contribute to contemporary theology of atonement and redemption. The purpose is reached through an analysis of the work of two contemporary feminist theologians; Daphne Hampson and Rita Nakashima Brock. Hampson has formulated a sharp post-Christian position. Brock has distinguished herself through her critique of the Christian concept of atonement and through her contributions to reconciliation and redemption. Both Daphne Hampson and Rita Nakashima Brock argue that Christian atonement-theology, primarily the so called objective model, is hurtful to children and victims of abuse and violence. They both argue that theological language is not innocent. At the same time, they illustrate broken relationships, sufferings, and problems they want to change, give theological interpretations of how that change is to take place and present methodologies on how to reach reconciliation between human beings and God as well as between human beings. In two steps I undertake a critical analysis of content and presuppositions in Daphne Hampson’s and Rita Nakashima Brock’s theologies of atonement and redemption. In the first step, I describe Hampson’s and Brock’s critique of Christian atonement-theology. I analyze their theological critique and theological construction in a model "from-transition-to". My critical analysis focuses especially on internal consistency. In the second part, the analysis of presuppositions, I explain basic principles upon which they shape their theology. The analysis is made up by the analytical concepts; theoretical arguments of knowledge, understandings of faith, and the position of the subject. I also analyze other essential concepts out of which gender is one. In the last chapter I present my own constructive contribution, structured by content and presuppositions. I argue that theology is both a critical and constructive discipline. In the content-response I discuss images of God, the tragic, the cross, and the hope. In the presuppositions-response I discuss the concept "space-in-between". In conclusion I propose that theology of atonement/redemption is shaped between post and Christian. I argue that space-in-between-perspectives are necessarily experimental and critical, a space on the border where marginalized voices are to be included.