Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic University of America, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-92).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of British Columbia, 1983. / Place of publication, publisher and date of publication from label mounted on p. [2] of cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 318-321).

Thèse--Université de Paris. / "Bibliographie et abréviations": p. [309]-320.

"Popular Sectarianism in the Minq: Lo Ch'ing and his 'Religion of Non-Action'" is a study of Lo Ch'ing (1442-1527), a lay religious reformer of Ming Dynasty China, the scriptures he composed and the Lo chiao tradition. Chapter I utilizes historical materials (official records, accounts of observors, and memorials to the throne) and sectarian documents (sectarian hagiographies and Lo's own autobiography) to formulate a biography of Lo Ch'ing. Chapter II analyzes Lo's religious thought, based on translated passages from his scriptures, entitled Wu-pu liu-ts 'e (Five Books in Six Volumes) , in the context of the history of Chinese religions and the canonical scriptures of Buddhism, Taoism and the Literati (Confucian) tradition. Chapter III traces the history of Lo sects from the Ming Dynasty to the present, from historical documents, sectarian accounts, and interviews with contemporary Lo sectarians conducted in Taiwan. Chapter IV examines Lo's sources and his use of Chinese written and oral traditions, with comparisons to popular religious literature of early modern Europe. Chapter V evaluates Lo Ch'ing's social role as a "cultural mediator" of conceptions and values between elite and popular levels of Chinese society, incorporating recent studies of similar figures in both Chinese and European history. The Appendices include summaries of the one hundred three chapters constituting the Wu- pu liu-ts'e, an annotated catalogue of Lo's sources, and a bibliography of reference works, primary sources, and secondary studies in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages. The thesis is presented as a contribution to the fields of Chinese popular religion, sectarianism, and social history. It addresses methodological issues concerning the interaction of elite and popular culture, the study and interpretation of popular religious texts, the analysis of charismatic religious personalities, and the transmission of religious conceptions and values. The principle methodological conclusion of the thesis is that religious figures at a lower and middle level of society can be both creative thinkers and active agents of the transmission of values and conceptions throughout society and history. Much of the translated material in the dissertationis made available to Western-language readers for the first time, and the analysis of the material is based upon secondary studies in Chinese, Japanese, and English. It is hoped that this study will inspire further scholarship on Chinese popular religion as well as Lo Ch'ing and his Religion of Non-Action. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

<p>This thesis places Hebrew Christianity and Messianic Judaism on the church-sect continuum devised by Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge (1979, 1980). According to an axis indicating low to high tension with the environment, Hebrew Christianity is placed on the para-church node, between the denomination and the sect. Messianic Judaism, in general, is placed on the high tension, sect end of the continuum. It is recognized, however, that individual organizations which comprise the movements may vary widely in their relationships to t he environment. Since the organizations as well as the movements may oscillate on the church-sect continuum, social movement propositions are introduced that can explain how and under what conditions these changes occur. A study of one Hebrew Christian organization, which contains both a low and a high tension group, shows, on the one hand, that a single organization can occupy two different . points on the church-sect continuum simultaneously. It shows, on the other hand, that this is made possible through the skillful use of leadership functions, which in turn is buttressed by the symbolic value of a Jewish leader. Finally, the peculiar situation of the HFOI is seen as reflective of the larger trends in the Hebrew Christian and Messianic Jewish movements, in general, and the different "agendas" of the Jewish and the Gentile followers, in particular.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A common theme in examining Christian identity focuses on the emergence of that identity, on locating the point in time within the history of the Christian church that one can first observe a clearly identifiable community which can be called ‘Christian.’ There is evidence that a clear sense of a Christian identity existed by the second century CE. This is expressed in several authors from the second century CE, who employ ‘ethnic’ terminology to refer to the Christians as a ‘new’ or ‘third’ race. What allowed these authors to identify the Christians as a distinct ‘race’ so soon after the emergence of the group? This study explores the origins of this ‘race’ of Christians. Examination of the earliest existent Christian texts, the undisputed letters of the apostle Paul, demonstrates a group which exists partially within the Jewish identity group, and yet simultaneously displays features of a unique group identity. Two methods of investigation are employed to explore the origins of a Christian ‘race.’ First, from those authors who describe the Christians as a ‘race,’ a ‘vocabulary of identity’ is identified, and instances of this vocabulary are examined in the undisputed Pauline corpus to demonstrate the continued Jewish identity of Paul and many of his congregants. Second, a series of group identity features which are unique to the Jewish identity group are drawn from the work of John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, James D.G. Dunn, and E.P. Sanders. An examination of these features in the undisputed Pauline corpus shows the beginnings of a distancing between the nascent Christian movement and its Jewish parent body. Continuing the investigation, the study explores the Pauline epistles for evidence of uniquely Christian group identity features. A series of these identifiers are examined, demonstrating the methods by which the earliest Christ-followers were identified as Christ-followers. These Christ-following identifiers served as the basis for the eventual ‘ethnic’ distinction of the Christian movement. The thesis concludes that the Pauline epistles reveal the origins of the later Christian ‘race’, and that during the first century Paul and his congregations simultaneously existed within the Jewish identity group, and alongside this group as members of an identifiable Christ-following identity group.

No description available.

A major problem with current discussions on the moral theory of St. Thomas Aquinas is the fact that many interpreters present Thomas's thought as a natural-law morality. While natural law is an element of Thomas's moral theory, it plays a subordinate role to the virtue of prudence. The natural law interpreters of St. Thomas's moral theory hold that (1) natural law is the dominant element, (2) natural law can be treated in isolation from Thomas's account of virtue, and (3) the principles of natural law make Thomas's moral theory abstract and deontological. These interpretations rarely consider the virtue of prudence. Natural law, in Thomas's moral theory, makes general statements about human nature and also sets the parameters for morally good human activity. However, it fails to function adequately on the level of an agent's particular moral problems. The general precepts of natural law do not function as proximate principles of human action. But the special function of moral virtue is to provide the agent with the necessary proximate principles of human action. Virtue is an acquired disposition of the soul that functions as a proximate principle of action. Holding a special place in Thomas's moral theory, prudence is primary among the moral virtues. It is defined as "right reason concerning things to be done." Prudence holds a middle place between he intellectual virtues and the moral virtues. It requires right thinking about moral matters, but it also requires the possession of a right appetite. This essay includes some discussion of human nature, as ethics is subordinated to psychology. Furthermore, we must show how the human agent engages in moral activity, and this requires discussing the psychological processes involved in human action. It is my purpose to explore the functions of natural law and virtue and to take account of the relationship between them in Thomas's moral theory. After establishing a proper understanding of Thomas's view, it will be clear that the natural-law interpreters have missed a crucial element in his ethical theory.

This thesis studies the benefits that a religious organization acquires from its identification of, and reaction to, deviants within it. If an organization is to continue growing while still maintaining a unique identity, periodically it must have deviant movements within it. Theoretically, I apply insights from sociologists of deviance (particularly Durkheim and Erikson) about the functional benefits of deviance labeling for several aspects of group functioning, such as beliefs and the means of disseminating them, structure and hierarchy, internal policies, and leadership styles. I studied the Seventh-day Adventist organization, applying Festingers cognitive dissonance theory to it, in order to better illuminate its history and reaction to dissenters. I focused on three Adventist dissenters; Dudley Canright, John Harvey Kellogg, and the threat posed by Ellet J. Waggoner and Alonzo T. Jones, showing how the organization reinforced its boundaries and maintained control of its members by identifying and punishing these supposed deviants.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 432-453).