This work explores first and foremost the nature of the Episcopal mission to the colonial Philippines from 1901 to 1918, while it was under the leadership of a missionary bishop named Charles Henry Brent. Missionaries, such as Brent, served an essential role in the American colonial enterprise in the Philippines. The historiography tends to label missionaries as cultural imperialists. Missionaries did not abstain from culturally imperialistic behavior. But, they also acted at times as protectors of Philippine culture. How could missionaries act both as imperialists and attempt to preserve native culture in the Philippines? Contrary to the theories of some historians, missionaries did not see their actions as contradictory, but as complimentary. The reason for this: ideology. Missionaries defined their purpose based not on the motives of the Philippine Commission—the American governing body in the islands—but on their own theology. Brent and his mission will be used as a prominent example, a microcosm, to prove this point. The three chapters within focus on ideology and theology as the primary motivators for characters within this narrative. The first chapter looks at the American people and the U.S. government, tracing the development of racially and religiously motivated feelings toward the Philippines and the Filipinos. The chapter then turns to missionaries and traces both their theological and their ideological reasons for going to the Philippines. Just as with the American people and the American government, racial and religious reasoning urged missionaries to go to the Philippines. While a large part of the missionary justification for proselyting in the Philippines was the existence of a minority of non-Christians in the archipelago, upon arrival in the islands Protestant missionaries primarily focused on the conversion of Roman Catholic Filipinos. This chapter highlights the motivations of the U.S. government and the Philippine Commission, and compares them with those of the Protestant missionaries. The second chapter turns to Brent's mission. As ideology is essential to this narrative, this chapter is an exploration of his theological and ideological motivations. The chapter underscores Brent's one focus above all others in the Philippines. He wanted to save the non-Christians, especially the Igorots—an animist group in Northern Luzon—from what he referred to as the concomitants of civilization. Believing that civilization was being ushered into the Philippines by the American presence in the islands, Brent felt that non-Christians needed to be protected from the concomitants, or vices, that would inevitably come along with civilization. In essence, he wanted to be their savior from civilization. Brent felt that the Igorots did not need Christianity while in isolation, their religion would suit their needs. But, now that they would no longer be isolated, Christianity was all that could save them from succumbing to vice. When work among the Igorots lost Brent's interest, he transferred these same feelings to the Moros—the Muslim community in the Philippines—determining to help prepare them for Christianization. The two other groups that Brent's mission targeted, the Americans stationed in the islands and the Chinese population in Manila, while important in their own right, received attention from Brent partly because of the influence they had on the Igorots and the Moros. Chapter Two illustrates how Brent's theology and ideology led him to create a unique mission. It focuses on his ecumenism, views on morality and vice, and his belief in responsibility. The third chapter builds on the foundation laid in Chapter Two. Detailing the four sections of Brent's mission, Chapter Three demonstrates that the theological concern that drove Brent was his desire to save the non-Christian Filipinos from civilization. It illustrates that the policies implemented by Brent in each part of his mission, show a consistent concern for the "heathen" and saving him from vice through his Christianization. The chapter simultaneously proves that these efforts sometimes aligned with those of the Philippine Commission, aiding them in their goals. But, it also is clear that Brent occasionally redirected not only the Philippine Commission, but also the U.S. government, pushing them to help accomplish his agenda. This provides a picture of the relationship between the missionary and the colonial enterprise. It was complex. The missionary often had his own motives, and acted independently. He was also a crucial part of the American presence in the Philippines, making a large contribution to the American operation in the islands. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts. / Fall Semester 2016. / November 16, 2016. / Brent, Episcopal, Igorot, Missionaries, Moro, Philippines / Includes bibliographical references. / G. Kurt Piehler, Professor Directing Thesis; Claudia Liebeskind, Committee Member; Michael Creswell, Committee Member.

This paper examines the Emerging Church Movement (ECM), a milieu of progressive evangelical groups focused upon the inclusion of postmodern ideas and concepts into evangelical Christian structures. The argument in this paper is that, as a movement geared towards resistance to evangelicalism, the ECM is in fact working within a tradition of evangelical social organization. In the first section, a historiographic review is conducted, focusing particularly on the way historians have used descriptions of conflict to describe and define evangelicalism in the twentieth century. This reflection identifies previously unmarked connections between progressive evangelical organizations in the 1970s and 1980s with early ECM activities in the 1990s. The second section of the paper offers a formal definition of the ECM, and works to highlight common ECM practices that have emerged as a result of the emphasis upon deconstruction and postmodernity. From this perspective, the ECM is described as a milieu, in the tradition of sociologist Colin Campbell’s “cultic milieu,” on the basis of the presence of mysticism, seekership, and syncretism in ECM practice. The final section of the paper analyzes the ECM in conjunction with broader trends in American culture in the twenty-first century. The effect the events of September 11, 2001 had on American culture are taken into account, and the connection between the growth of the ECM and the condition of being ‘post-9/11’ are considered. Given the ECM’s stance on issues relating to authority, theological rigidity, and the politics of the Religious Right, the ECM, it is argued, was poised to find success, in terms of participation levels, in post-9/11 American culture. In the conclusion, the decline of ECM activity is considered alongside the election of President Obama and the so-called “Rise of the Nones.” / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 15, 2016. / ECM, Emergent Village, Emerging Church Movement, Evangelicalism, Post-9/11, Progressive Evangelicals / Includes bibliographical references. / Amanda Porterfield, Professor Directing Thesis; John Corrigan, Committee Member; Michael McVicar, Committee Member.

This thesis examines the Jesuit mission to New France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The various sources of support and opposition are described using the lens of the massive set of primary documents preserved in The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, translated and compiled under the direction of Reuben G. Thwaites between 1896 and 1901. The central argument of this thesis is that the Jesuit reductions of New France, where Amerindian converts of various tribes lived together, acted as microcosms of the broader French-Canadian colonial milieu. Each of the sources of support and opposition for the Jesuit missions can be found in these reduction towns. This approach to the Jesuit missions in New France could also have a broader use for historians examining similar colonial contexts. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 13, 2017. / Hurons, Jesuits, Missions, New France, Quebec, Reductions / Includes bibliographical references. / Jonathan Grant, Professor Directing Thesis; Jennifer Koslow, Committee Member; Rafe Blaufarb, Committee Member.

This study examines clergy in colonial New England and how they depicted dead bodies in their funeral sermons. Whether it was second generation Puritan ministers like William Hubbard and Samuel Willard, or third generation ministers like Benjamin Colman and Benjamin Wadsworth, ministers imagined their resting subjects as a "pillar," "shield," "withering grass," or "vapor." I argue their language of the body, such as the use of specific terms within certain contexts, reflected social and religious trends in New England, from its Puritan origins to its welcoming of moderate Christianity in the eighteenth-century. Chapter Two observes Puritan funeral sermons and their relation to King Philip's War and second generation perception of natural depravity. Chapter Three discusses funeral sermons and their reflection of the third generation's shift toward English intellectualism and religious optimism. In conclusion, I argue funeral sermons and their generational developments spoke to more than specific superlatives of the dead. With the body of the dead as their canvas, New England ministers illustrated prevailing mentalities about religious and cultural thought. They spoke to how authority was mediated and to what extent human nature could be trusted. New England clergy entered into public discourse about the inherent abilities, or disabilities, their congregations were defined by. Through their imaginative definitions of dead bodies, they ventured to define survivors and their place in the Church. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 10, 2017. / Body, Funeral, New England, Puritan, Sermon / Includes bibliographical references. / Amanda Porterfield, Professor Directing Thesis; John Corrigan, Committee Member; Michael McVicar, Committee Member; Jamil Drake, Committee Member.

This thesis argues that the concept of religion plays an important role in the compendium published by Anders Behring Breivik before his terror attack on July 22nd, 2011. As well as within the manifesto published by Brenton Tarrant before his terror attack on March 15th, 2019. This thesis strives to answer the questions of which part religion plays within these two texts, and how it is understood, employed, and used by these two men. To answer these questions the research field of lone wolf terrorism, as well as a critical theory of religion, have been employed. To study the source material, Breivik’s compendium and Tarrant’s manifesto, methodological empathy as well as a hermeneutic method were also used. The results show that both Breivik and Tarrant view the concept of religion as primarily an aspect in the creation of a unified culture for their imagined monocultural Europe and racially pure homeland. The concept of religion is therefore not mainly about any belief in God or scripture but as a tool for cultural unification. The results also show how the concept of religion is key in creating a “we”, an ingroup, for both Breivik and Tarrant as well as an “other”, or an outgroup. This outgroup is in the majority of the two texts Islam or the Muslim. Here the concept of religion is infused with race where the other oftentimes is presented as a “Muslim” simply on physical racial features. The conceptof religion is therefore of utmost importance for both men but in a specific way. Either in the struggle that is the creation of a unified culture and imagined race or in the struggle against their perceived others, Islam and Muslims.

Religion has always been at the core of the Pakistani national narrative. This research paper argues that the relationship between religion and nationalism in Pakistan is complex and has changed its character during different phases of the Pakistani political history. The aim of this paper was to understand this relationship during the period 1947 to 1988  of the Pakistani political history using the theoretical framework developed by Rogers Brubaker. Our analysis points out that the role of religion and its relationship has taken different shapes during different phases depending on political developments and processes, actors and visions. During the first time frame - from August 1947 - 12 March 1949 - religion under the leadership of the founder of the country Mohammad Ali Jinnah was viewed from the perspective of identity. This is explained by Brubaker’s first approach according to which religion functions as a mode of identification. During the politically chaotic decade after Jinnah’s death, religion was integrated into the organization of the state through the Objectives Resolution and the inclusion of Islamic articles in the country’s first constitution of 1956 and Islam was viewed as the cause of nationalism in Pakistan, explained by Brubaker’s second approach. When General Ayub Khan took over in October 1958 as the first military dictator, the country experienced progressive reforms challenging the role of Islam. This led to agitation from the religious parties who demanded political representation, acting as political claimants. This is explained by the third variant in Brubaker’s first approach in which religion is employed as a way of framing political claims.   During Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tenure, the nations’s Islamic identity was emphasized to establish closer relation with other Muslim nations. Bhutto developed a transnational vision according to which the Pakistani nation was to lead other Islamic countries. This is explained by the second kind of Brubaker’s third approach in which religion is viewed as intertwined with nationalism.  General Zia ul Haq’s military dictatorship promoted Nizam-e-Islami to implement a process of Shariatization of the country. General Zia viewed Islam and the Pakistani nation as existentially interdependent and he attempted to bring religion, state and nation into a singularity. This kind of religious nationalism is explained by Brubaker’s fourth approach as a distinctive form of nationalism.

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This dissertation explores what is religious about transhumanism, a cultural and intellectual movement that seeks to transcend the limits of the human condition by means of new science and technology. Specifically, I examine how transhumanism is situated within the context of American religious history, especially with respect to postwar new religious movements. Previous studies have focused almost exclusively on the Judeo-Christian apocalypticism of transhumanism, but in this study I consider the religious nature of the embodied, "real" world orientation of transhumanism. That is, what is religious (and American) about realizing the promises of religion in the here-and-now and by natural and scientific means alone? Using historical methods, including, intellectual, institutional, and microhistorical approaches, I trace transhumanism back to several religious contexts, namely, the modern skeptical movement, secular humanism, and most broadly, American Spinozism. This project is also comparative. Each chapter examines transhumanism within its religio-historical context as well as transhumanism’s interactions and relationships with other new religious and cultural movements, including, the Human Potential Movement, Scientology, the paranormal, posthumanism, New Atheism, Mormonism, and others. Contrary to popular belief, transhumanism is deeply entrenched in the history American religions. By illuminating an understudied network of postwar religious movements, of which transhumanism is part, this project contributes to the fields of American religious history and new religions studies. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / July 23, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / John Corrigan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Ruse, University Representative; Michael McVicar, Committee Member; Jamil Drake, Committee Member.

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