The Russian Evangelical Soteriology as a phenomenon was evaluated in the dissertation. The original Russian Evangelical confessions of faith and some other historical documents of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries are used to present the following hypothesis. The historic fluidity of Soteriology of Russian Evangelica1s may only be understood in the light of their consistent adherence to the principles of Sola Scriptura and the Priesthood of all believers. We come to conclusion that the existence of Russian Evangelical Soteriology is not a question to be discussed, but a clear historical fact. We show that it has its past and present, a well-defended subject of study with clear presuppositions, rather developed vision, and it is unique as a phenomenon. The major principles of this theology strictly devoted to the Scripture and a flexible formulation of doctrines. We strongly insist that it is impossible without being eclectic combine the Evangelical Soteriology of Scripture with the Orthodox Soteriology of Tradition. The additional result of the study is the attempt to evaluate the possibility for a reconstruction of Russian Evangelical Soteriology as a part of a self-identification process. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Doctor Theologiae / This research project is situated in the history of Christianity in Zambia with specific reference to the relationship between the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church, one of the so-called African Instituted Churches (AICs). Since the 1950s numerous members of the UCZ have become attracted to the New Jerusalem Church. Why is this case? One may identify several factors in this regard, including the administration of sacraments such as Baptism and Holy Communion also the ministry of faith healing, the ministry of pastoral care the confession of sins and the assurance of pardon. In this research project I have investigated one such factor namely the role of the ministry of music in these two churches. The term ministry of music in this context refers to praise and worship in the liturgy, to the significance of church choirs, the role of music leaders, the appropriation of melodies from various sources, the use of musical instruments and then of course to the actual text of the hymns that are sung. In this research project the focus has been on a description and analysis of the lyrics of selected hymns. This is based on the observation that the hymns that are frequently sung constitute the “theology of laity”. This project has first identified those hymns that are frequently sung in selected congregations of the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church. For this study five urban and five rural congregations of both churches were selected. The identification of such hymns was done through interviews with the local pastors and the musical leadership of the selected congregation. On the basis of this process of identification ten of these hymns in each of the four categories mentioned above were subjected to closer analysis. The question that was addressed is this: What similarities and differences may be identified in the text of hymns sung frequently in urban and rural congregations of the United Church of Zambia and the New Jerusalem Church? The point of comparison that was used in this regard is the soteriologies embedded in the text of the selected hymns, that is, the notions of salvation expressed through these hymns. The study therefore sought to identify, describe and analyse the underlying soteriologies in the ministry of music in these two churches. It also assessed the significance of the similarities and differences identified in this way. The assumption was that there may be different images of salvation embedded in such hymns and that these may partially account for attracting people to a particular church.

This project develops a feminist Christology by affirming the female body as a hermeneutical lens for Christological reflection. Utilizing the work of feminist theorists Luce Irigaray and Bracha Ettinger, I develop what I term a “matrixial Christology.” In response to feminist contentions regarding the androcentric nature of Christian soteriology, I argue that by interpreting the incarnation of the Word through the lens of the matrixial—the inherently feminine physical and psychic space of the womb—an inclusive and generative landscape for theological reflection emerges. Understanding the union of divine and human natures through the matrixial holds potential to reimagine other key doctrines, including the Trinity, ecclesiology, and eschatology. This dissertation revisits documents from the Councils of Nicaea (325 A.D.), Ephesus (431 A.D.), and Chalcedon (451 A.D.), as well as theologians of antiquity such as Irenaeus, Athanasius, Cyril of Alexander, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Maximus the Confessor, among others, to provide feminist critique and excavate these works for their liberative potential. Feminist scholarship also contributes to this critical constructive work, including authors such as Elizabeth Johnson, Tina Beattie, Mary Daly, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Ada María Isasi-Díaz. I argue that recovering Mary’s role in the incarnation allows for a reinterpretation of key doctrines in the Christian tradition and lays the groundwork for a feminine divine horizon in which women are able to more fully locate themselves in Christian soteriological discourse. Women’s theoretical and theological scholarship is placed in dialogue with ancient texts in order to consider the liberative potential of Christological discourse and to develop a robustly feminine symbolic for divine imagination utilizing Mariology as a primary foundation. The project begins by considering the implications of Mary and Christ’s matrixial maternal-prenatal relation for divine-human relations, then continues by exploring how Mary’s matrixial relation with Christ affects our understanding of his life and crucifixion. The project culminates in an examination of how Mary represents the possibility of resurrection for women traditionally excluded or demonized in the church. By reimagining Mary’s role in the Christian story, new avenues for female liberation and flourishing in the ekklesia might be realized. / 2023-11-30T00:00:00Z

This study examines Reformed identity as an aspect of religious identity formation during the early Reformation period. It contributes towards an understanding of the character of the English Reformation by examining the reception of Swiss theology. The research is principally focussed upon the theological concept of covenant which blossomed in a distinctively bilateral and conditional form in early Reformation Switzerland. Patterns of thought discerned in English theology are related to this Swiss pattern, thereby assisting the process of identifying individual reformers according to continental models and elucidating an important theological development of the period. The concept of covenant had implications for contemporary discourses regarding the doctrines of justification and sanctification. It also made an impact upon sacramental theology in the way that sacraments were viewed as covenant signs. Despite the essential uniformity of the Swiss Reformed concept of covenant, three distinct emphases arose in Swiss Reformed sacramental theology with regard to the efficacy of the sacraments as means of grace. Having identified cases of English reception of the Swiss concept of covenant, their specific influences are determined using patterns of sacramental theology. Chapter one considers the problems involved in discerning different forms of religious identity in this period. Evidence for Reformed identity in England from the 1520s to the 1550s is surveyed from various different angles. The transmission of Swiss ideas through the Low Countries is considered, and alternative explanations for the failure of English Lutheranism are evaluated, particularly Lollardy and humanism. Chapter two demonstrates the essential consistency of the concepts of covenant espoused by leading Swiss reformers. Chapter three examines the concepts of covenant of four English reformers. Chapter four highlights different patterns in Swiss sacramental theology, and chapter five analyses English cases in light of those Swiss models.

This study explores the use of the doctrine of the offices of Christ (prophet, priest, and king) in the literature of the English separatists Henry Barrow (c.1550-1593) and Henry Ainsworth (1569-1622). No study to date explores the English separatists’ use of the doctrine in ecclesiological debates. During the period 1580 to 1620 the doctrine was more commonly referenced when discussing soteriology. Barrow and Ainsworth provide some of the clearest expressions of the doctrine of the offices of Christ in separatist works and their steadfastness in those beliefs in light of opposition make them good candidates for this research. This study sets out to answer the question: what was the significance of participation by the elect in the offices of Christ as used in Barrow and Ainsworth’s writings? This research focuses on the theology of Barrow and Ainsworth and does not consider the social or experiential aspects of their professed beliefs. This study provides a detailed analysis of the writings of Barrow and Ainsworth particularly noting their use of the offices of Christ in discussions of the visible church. It then examines the relationship of Barrow and Ainsworth’s Christology and ecclesiology, expressed through the offices of Christ, in their understanding of the visible church. Finally, this research compares their usage with works published in England from 1580 to 1620, considering whether their usage was distinct. Its findings challenge the traditional historiographical suggestions that purity, polity, discipline, and covenant were the central themes of Barrow and Ainsworth’s ecclesiology. This research suggests that, for Barrow and Ainsworth, the visible church was the visible expression of Christ on earth and the continuation of his earthly ministry begun at the incarnation. They believed that the visible church was the result of union with Christ, not the means of it. Through union with Christ, all the elect participated in Christ’s offices. Barrow and Ainsworth’s understanding of the visible church incorporated their understanding of Christ’s continuing work expressed in his offices of prophecy, priesthood, and kingship. Christ was immediately present in his visible church, working in the elect and through the elect as prophets, priests, and kings. The visible elect, when gathered, became the body of Christ on earth and as his body they continued the work of prophecy, priesthood, and kingship that he had begun.

This thesis examines Thomas Goodwin’s (1600–1680) doctrine of union with Christ within his soteriology. It builds upon Michael Lawrence’s historical reassessment which uncovered that, contrary to previous scholarly assumptions, the majority of Goodwin’s treatises were composed during the 1650s and intended to form a grand project defending Reformed soteriology against the new threats of Socinian and radical teachings as well as its traditional opponents, Catholics and Arminians. Goodwin considered this grand project to be his life’s work. It represents the longest exposition of Reformed soteriology composed by an English puritan. However, no modern critical study of the soteriology of his grand project has appeared to date. This thesis, therefore, offers a theological examination in light of his immediate historical context. The study focuses on union with Christ, because Goodwin assumed it occupied a fundamental role in salvation and, therefore, it allows identification of the architectonic structures of his soteriology. The immediate historical context is privileged, because union with Christ (and related loci) was a point of sharp dispute in the 1640s–1650s. By offering a careful examination of this theme in an important individual theologian, this study also aims to make a significant contribution to recent controversy over union with Christ in the post-Reformation period. At stake are two competing visions of the structure of Reformed applied soteriology: some scholars contend that the Reformed tradition granted priority to union with Christ; others contend that priority was granted to justification. The former commonly argue that seventeenth-century divines allowed the priority of union with Christ to be displaced by a causal chain of application; the latter, disputing this claim, argue for continuity within the tradition and that the priority of justification was held alongside broader notions of union with Christ. The main argument of this thesis is a demonstration that Goodwin founded the application of every aspect of salvation upon a ‘real’ union with Christ (i.e., mystical union forged by Christ’s indwelling within the believer) rather than upon a mere ‘relative’ union (i.e., legal union external to the believer). Moreover, Goodwin contended that real union with Christ must involve the indwelling of the uncreated grace of the person of the Holy Spirit. This, he believed, was essential to maintain a trinitarian, federal, high Reformed soteriology in which redemption from the problem of sin is set within a Reformed scheme of christocentric deification. Goodwin’s conception of union with Christ and his high soteriology departed from the views of the conservative majority of seventeenth-century Reformed puritan divines who denied the indwelling of uncreated grace. Instead, his conception often resembled the teachings of antinomians and radicals, though Goodwin remained within the bounds of orthodoxy by repeated application of key theological distinctions. These findings support the view in recent controversy that Reformed applied soteriology was governed by the priority of union with Christ. Yet, neither side accurately construes seventeenth-century views on union with Christ, because disagreement amongst divines over the nature of real union with Christ has not been adequately recognised. Chapter 1 establishes the case for this study from a literature survey. The argument then unfolds in four main chapters. Chapter 2 establishes the nature of real union with Christ embraced by Goodwin. Chapters 3 and 4 demonstrate that Goodwin advocated high doctrines of transformation and forensic justification respectively and determine how each was founded in his conception of real union with Christ. Chapter 5 advances the argument by demonstrating that real union with Christ occupied a fundamental place in his soteriology as a consequence of his conviction that salvation principally consists in participation in Christ and his divine nature. Chapter 6 concludes by assessing the significance of Goodwin’s doctrine of union with Christ in his grand project, in his immediate historical context, and for the recent controversy over union with Christ.

1. Aim The thesis aims to explore Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophy as a fertile resource for Christian theology. In this general context, we focus specifically on the way Levinas opens the possibility of a language of alterity, or radical “otherness”, in theology, in a manner which escapes the limitations of such categories as objectivity, presence and Being. Recent attempts to employ Levinas’ philosophy for the benefit of Christian theology have hesitated to go beyond onto-theology. This thesis, however, aims to show how Levinas’ philosophy opens up a style of thinking and suggests a vocabulary of expression that can serve Christian theology, especially by intensifying its sense of encounter with Christ and of the Other in him. Accordingly, the thesis will make use of a number of Levinasian notions to critique and complement the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. This will lead to the development of what we call a “prolegomenon to a Trinitarian praxis”. 2. Scope The thesis firstly remarks on Christian theology’s discovery of Levinas’ philosophy. We then go on to introducing three of the major influences of Levinas’ philosophy, namely Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Franz Rosenzweig. This will be followed by an introduction to the life of von Balthasar. But the major part of the thesis will be made up of three extensive explorations. The first introduces a number of key terms and concepts in Levinasian thought, taking into account their possible contribution to the theology of von Balthasar. Here we examine especially the notions of “otherness” and “passivity”. The second exploration takes us into what might be called a recontextualisation of the major sections of von Balthasar’s theology (aesthetics, dramatics and logic) through Levinasian analysis. We will concentrate especially on von Balthasar’s treatment of Holy Saturday, the Resurrection, Trinitarian and Soteriological “Inversion”, and truth as participation. The third exploratory exercise attempts to develop a prolegomenon to a Trinitarian praxis. Intrinsic to the very understanding of this Trinitarian praxis is the notion of alterity to such a degree that ethical transcendence is the very inspiration for theology if it is to go beyond the limits of objectivity, Being and presence. This prolegomenon will, therefore, contain an articulation of Trinitarian praxis in the context of ethical transcendence, eschatology and soteriology. To this end, we employ Levinas’ ideas of passivity and otherness to critique von Balthasar’s eschatological conception of Christian existence and his soteriological understanding of the eucharist. Because Levinas and von Balthasar have both used the writings of Husserl, Heidegger and Rosenzweig as sources, there will be abundant references to these writers at various junctures in this study. Likewise, the views of a number of Christian theologians who have been influenced by Levinas (Purcell, Ward, Barnes and Ford) will be critically examined. 3. Conclusions The thesis concludes that, with the aid of Levinas’ ideas, theology is offered the possibility of breaking out of the limits imposed by traditional notions of objectivity, Being and presence. In reaching such a conclusion, the thesis contests von Balthasar’s prioritising of the beautiful by resituating his use of analogical thought. In this context, our study suggests new ways of speaking of Holy Saturday and the Resurrection, in a non-phenomenal manner. It means developing a theology of Gift to understand the unity between Christ’s missio and processio. Here we highlight the deepest problem to be faced by a theo-logic as one of giving priority to the ethical over the ontological. In short, the thesis argues for a conception of Christian life that goes beyond the categories of ontology and experience. From what we have learned from Levinas, we propose a notion of Trinitarian praxis in which we come to God by way of ethical transcendence.

<p>This dissertation lays the groundwork for a reevaluation of early Protestant understandings of salvation in the sixteenth century by tracing the emergence of the confessional formulation of the doctrine of justification by faith from the perspective of the history of biblical interpretation. In the Introduction, the author argues that the diversity of first-generation evangelical and Protestant teaching on justification has been widely underestimated. Through a close comparison of first- and second-generation confessional statements in the Reformation period, the author seeks to establish that consensus on this issue developed slowly over the course over a period of roughly thirty years, from the adoption of a common rhetoric of dissent aimed at critiquing the regnant Catholic orthopraxy of salvation in the 1520's and 1530's, to the emergence of a common theological culture in the 1540's and beyond. With the emergence of this new theological culture, an increasingly precise set of definitions were employed, not only to explicate the new Protestant gospel more fully, but also to highlight areas of divergence with traditional Catholic teaching.</p> <p> With this groundwork in place, the author then examines the development of several key concepts in the emergence of the confessional doctrine of justification through the lens of biblical interpretation. Focusing on two highly contested chapters in Paul's epistle to the Romans, the author demonstrates that early evangelical and Protestant biblical exegesis varied widely in its aims, motivations, and in its appropriation of patristic and medieval interpretations. Chapter 1 consists of a survey of pre-Reformation exegesis of the first half of Rom 2, and the author demonstrates that this text had traditionally been interpreted as pointing to an eschatological final judgment in which the Christian would be declared righteous (i.e., "justified") in accord with, but not directly on the basis of, a life of good deeds. In Chapter 2, the author demonstrates that early evangelical exegetes broke away from this consensus, but did so slowly. Several early Protestant interpreters continued, throughout the 1520's and 1530's, to view this text within a traditional frame of interpretation supplied by Origen and Augustine, and only with Philipp Melanchthon's development of a rhetorical-critical approach to the text were Protestants able to overcome the traditional reading and so neutralize the first half of Rom 2 as a barrier to the emerging doctrine of justification by faith alone.</p> <p> Chapters 3, 4, and 5 all deal with the reception history of what is arguably the central text in the Reformation debates concerning justification by faith, Rom 3. Chapter 3 turns once more to patristic and medieval interpretation, and here it is argued that that two major strands of interpretation dominated pre-Reformation exegesis. A "minority view" contrasted justification with works of the ceremonial law, arguing that Paul's assertion of justification "apart from works of the law" was aimed at highlighting the insufficiency of the Jewish ceremonial law in contrast with the sacraments of the Catholic church. In contrast with this view, the "majority view" (arising again from Origen and Augustine) argued that the contrast was properly viewed as one between justification and works of the moral law, thus throwing into sharp relief the problem of justification in relation to good works. This tradition generally followed Augustine in drawing a contrast between works of the law performed prior to, and following upon, the initiation of justification as a life-long process of transformation by grace, but at the same time insisted that this process ultimately issued in the believer fulfilling the demands of the moral law. In Chapter 4, I turn to Luther's early exegesis of Rom 3, as seen in his lectures from 1515. In contrast with Luther's own description of his "Reformation breakthrough" later in life, I argue that Luther did not arrive at his new understanding of justification in a flash of inspiration inspired by Augustine; rather, his early treatment of Romans is unimpeachably Catholic and unmistakably Augustinian, although there are indications even in this early work that Luther is not entirely satisfied with Augustine's view. In Chapter 5, I consider the ways in which Luther's followers develop his critique of the Augustinian reading of justification in the first generation of the Reformation. Throughout this period, it was unclear whether Protestant exegesis of Paul would resolve itself into a repristinization of patristic theology, inspired in large part by Augustine, or whether it would develop into something genuinely new. The key turning point, I argue, came in the early 1530's with Melanchthon's rejection of Augustine's transformative model of justification, and his adoption in its place of a strictly forensic construal of Paul's key terms. Many of Melanchthon's fellow reformers continued to operate within an Augustinian framework, however as Melanchthon's terms passed into wider acceptance in Protestant exegesis, it became increasingly apparent that the Protestant reading of Paul could not ultimately be reconciled with patristic accounts of justification.</p> / Dissertation

For Native peoples, becoming Christian in north america has also meant becoming white. That is, the theological beliefs, cultural habits, and political movements that characterized american colonialism are inseparable. Among its many shortcomings throughout colonial history, Western Christianity has failed on a basic, epistemological level; it has failed to recognize itself as a particular theological tradition, instead positing itself as a universal. The insistence of the particular theological doctrines and scriptural interpretations of european settlers as Truth led to the demise of many Others—a violence to which the Indigenous peoples of this land attest. If, as I have suggested, particular theologies were part and parcel of the western colonial project, then it follows that attempts at disarming the imperial machine must not only involve decolonizing dominant politics and cultural habits, but also decolonizing dominant western theologies. This thesis takes up one of the dominant doctrines in Western Christianity, that of original sin. An analysis of this doctrine is pertinent because, in addition to articulating the dominant western Christian understanding of sin, death, and evil, in the world, it also reveals an undergirding anthropology and an implied soteriology, both of which provided justifications for the genocide on the Indigenous peoples of america. Following the decolonizing methodologies of Native americans Andrea Smith and Laura Donaldson, I will demonstrate that the doctrine is particular, both scripturally and culturally, and that the dominant reading of the supporting texts for the doctrine are neither universal nor necessary. Then I will interrogate the two primary texts, Genesis 3 and Romans 5 with alternative interpretations from Native theologians and the experiences of the doctrine by Native peoples. Finally, I will argue that if western theology is to truly release its monopoly on the Truth, even what it claims to be the True discourses and interpretations within Christianity, it must make itself vulnerable to deconstruction and interrogation by those it has oppressed; it must cultivate a posture of receptivity to the other and Native interpretive approaches, begin the hard work of unsettling settler theologies, and composing non-dominant readings of the bible.

Denna uppsats syftar till att analysera den klassiska, den objektiva och den subjektivaförsoningsläran och se hur dessa förhåller sig till den pluralistiska och inklusivistiskareligionssynen. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka huruvida synen på Jesus som vägen till frälsning ide tre försoningslärorna förändras om samma försoningslära ställs emot pluralismen respektiveinklusivismen. I en koherensanalys undersöks huruvida någon av försoningslärorna inte är koherentmed pluralismen eller inklusivismen. Genom denna undersökning följer resultatet attsanningsbegreppet inte används på samma sätt i de olika religionssynerna och försoningslärornavilket leder till problem främst mellan den klassiska respektive den objektiva försoningsläran ochpluralismen. Det framkommer även att en viss form av pluralism - den restriktiva - är mer koherentmed försoningslärorna än andra former. Alla former av inklusivism och dess sanningsbegrepp ärmer lättförenliga med den klassiska och den objektiva försoningsläran än med den subjektiva. Ifallet med den subjektiva försoningsläran kan motiveringen för ett inklusivistisk synsätt ifrågasättasvilket gör den mer koherent med pluralism än med inklusivism. / In this essay the coherence between three theories of atonement are analysed with religiouspluralism and religious inclusivism. The atonement theories analysed are the classical, theobjective, and the subjective theory. The result shows if the role of Jesus as saviour in the Passionchanges if the specific theory of atonement is combined with religious pluralism or religiousinclusivism. Through an analysis of the coherence between the three theories of atonement andpluralism and inclusivism, it is made clear that the notion of truth is not viewed in the same waywithin the theories of atonement and religious pluralism and inclusivism. The classical and theobjective theory meets problems when combined with religious pluralism because of this. Only oneform of religious pluralism, the restrictive pluralism, is compatible with theese two theories ofatonement. All forms of religious inclusivism are coherent with the classical and the objectivetheory but not with the subjective theory wich is much more compatible with religious pluralism.