This study explores continuities in thought between Jonathan Edwards and Ralph Waldo Emerson by comparing their respective views on spiritual awakening. Their parallel ideas are discussed as results of similar perceptual dispositions which lead both to view awakening as an inner metamorphosis that leaves man less self-centered and more capable of a universal perception and appreciation of spiritual unity and beauty. Emphasized are parallels in Edwards's and Emerson's concepts of God, their views on the nature of awakening, their versions of preparation, and their thoughts about virtue and the awakened man. These continuities are also discussed as ideas that compose an underlying unity in American thought which unites the seemingly contradictory heritages of Puritanism and transcendentalism.

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

Several biographies of Whitefield have been written, chiefly in the nineteenth century, but none of them endeavours to reveal his theology in any extensive fashion. This thesis is an examination of the theological principles and emphases which guided this great preacher who, together with the two Wesleys, stands in the forefront of those men responsible for the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century. Throughout, an attempt has been made to reflect the theology of the Revivalists as a whole, to discover whether Whitefield's theology followed primarily the same lines as that theology, and, particularly, to set his theology over against the theological trends of the age and to trace his Calvinism as it touched the generally Arminian tendencies of the Wesleyan development of Methodism. It was inevitable that a fairly full account of the well-known controversy between John Wesley and Whitefield over the question of predestination and other allied doctrines, should be given (Chapter Three). In place of the usual "Summary and Conclusion" which, as the final chapter, would normally have recapitulated in a straightforward manner the doctrines dealt with in the previous pages and have entailed much repetition of conclusions already written into the main body of the thesis, it has been thought more profitable to disclose and compare assessments of Whitefield's theology made in his own and later times, and to base a conclusion on these, bearing in mind always the results of the present research. At all times an attempt has been made to let the preacher speak for himself. Hence the rather full and numerous quotations introduced from his own works. It should be noted that the volume of Whitefield's "Sermons" used throughout and quoted in the footnotes etc. is the one entitled "Sermons on Important Subjects by the Rev. George Whitefield, A.M., with the Character of the Author by the Rev. Joseph Smith" (printed London, 1825 - the same reprinted London, 1828). All quotations from Whitefield's works, it will be observed, have been edited as regards punctuation where it has been considered necessary to alter these for the sake of a more fluent and readable text. In doing this, the sense of the passages concerned has been carefully maintained. It is hoped that the first Appendix will be helpful for quick reference to the chronology of Whitefield, if need should arise.

This thesis examines revivalism and reform movements in rural areas of western New York. The bulk of literature on this region in the Second Great Awakening concentrates on middle class, urban people. This thesis argues that revivalism and evangelical fervor was carried to rural portions of the region by migrants from western New England. Evangelical Christianity and revivalism provided emotion succor for rural people grappling with negative social conditions, such as isolation, poverty, crop failure and alcoholism, in the New York frontier. Religious adherence became especially important for women, who were more isolated than men. Religious adherence and revivalism allowed rural evangelicals an opportunity to "purify" society from sinful behavior. Revivalism waned as social conditions improved in rural areas, but the tradition of societal "purification" remained. In this way, rural evangelicals, as well as Quakers and Spiritualists, engaged in moral reform, to eradicate institutions and behaviors they perceived as sinful from society.

The thesis is a course that a pre-service teacher gropes after his selfhood¡¦s curricular consciousness. The author has a dig at how he ¡§perceives¡¨ it followed by the notion of the curricular consciousness and Cherryholmes¡¦ viewpoint of deconstruction towards curriculum. Furthermore, the author must ¡§awaken¡¨himself to what the possibilities are to ¡§perceive¡¨ such kind of selfhood¡¦s curricular consciousness. In addition, the author refers to the method of the autobiography on curriculum studies from W. F. Pinar¡¦s conception, and he revises it to meet his study condition moderately to anchor the skeleton of the study. The author initiates the review of the literature concerning the ¡§curricular consciousness¡¨ and¡§Cherryholmes¡¦ viewpoint of deconstruction towards curriculum¡¨. Later, he captures the possible complements between them, and he also attempts to ¡§perceive¡¨ the map of his ¡§selfhood¡¦s curricular consciousness¡¨. After that, he gives retrospects to his past school life and tries to ¡§awaken¡¨ his selfhood to understand what the possibilities are to ¡§perceive¡¨ such kind of a map in the process of the study. Afterwards, the author retraces to the ¡§awakening¡¨ process, and intends to form a ¡§meta- awakening¡¨ to catch on how he ¡§awakens¡¨ himself in the process of the study. Eventually, he looks back to the study, and feels like envisaging his deeds in futurity, and he also offers several suggestions to the advanced study of the field. In the awakening country of the ¡§curricular consciousness¡¨, are you preparing for awakening yourself?

This dissertation rhetorically analyzes the ways in which ineffable moments of awakening are constructed in the context of three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Zen. Close textual analysis revealed that awakening is constructed differently in all three religions and that ineffability itself assumed different meanings in all cases. The conventional understanding of language as arbitrary and as based on human convention does not apply to Hebrew which takes itself to be a sacred language. Words are understood in this tradition as creative elements that convey more than trivial information and the term ineffability does not occupy much thought in Judaism. Christianity is grounded in a representative model of language and equates words with mortality and temporality. Awakening is constructed ontologically as moments in which textuality and corporality are transcended and one merges with the infinite divine. Zen is cautious about the ways in which language constructs the illusion of distinct identities, but ineffability is not constructed as an ontological concept in this tradition. Awakening is understood as beyond all words. The tropes recognized in the Jewish construction of awakening are metonymy, dialogue, differences, juxtapositions, particularities, haunting, and intertextuality. In Christianity, the dominant tropes are allegory, typology, metaphors, substitution, replacement and abstraction. Awakening is modeled after the resurrection of Jesus and is understood as a dramatic and ineffable event. The dominant rhetorical moves in Zen are suchness, nonsense, and paradoxes. Differences are also found between the construction of subjectivity, the perception of time, aesthetics, the linguistic model and ineffability. Judaism views itself as an architecture of time, but this time is not linear and is instead understood by the qualitative moments of the events. Awakening maintains the reverberations of past events into the present, but present moments are given significant attention. In Christianity, man is understood as grounded in space and progressing on a linear axis of time from birth towards his telos. Ineffability is constructed spatially and the event of awakening divides life into before and after. Zen attempts to deconstruct time and views it as sunyata, or “emptiness”. / text

“Renewing Homeland and Place” explores the complex intertwining of evangelical Christianity and notions of place and homeland in Algonquian communities in southern New England during the eighteenth century. In particular, this dissertation examines the participation of Algonquian men and women in the Protestant evangelical revivals known generally as the “First Great Awakening,” the adoption of New Light beliefs and practices within Algonquian communities, and the ways in which the Christian faith shaped and informed Algonquian understandings of place and community, and the protection of their lands. Mohegan, Pequot, Niantic, Narragansett, and Montaukett people living in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and on Long Island (New York) struggled continually throughout the eighteenth century to protect their land, resources, and livelihoods from colonial encroachment and dispossession. Christianity provided many Algonquians with beliefs, practices, and rituals that renewed, rather than erased, the spiritual and sustaining values they attached to their lands and that strengthened, rather than diminished, the kinship ties and sense of community that linked their settlements together. Equally as significant, the adoption of Christian beliefs and practices brought to the surface the dynamic and contested nature of community and place, and the varying ways in which Algonquians responded to colonization. As a number of Algonquians attended formal schools, assumed roles as ministers and teachers within their own settlements and among the Haudenosaunee in New York, and formed their own churches, they disagreed within their communities over issues of land use and political authority, and between their communities over the best response to the infringements they continued to suffer. By the 1770s a number of Christian leaders began to consider relocation to Oneida lands in New York as a solution to the land loss and impoverishment they faced in New England. While many Algonquians left their coastal homelands for central New York in the 1780s to form the Christian community of Brotherton, a number of Christians remained behind, highlighting the varying paths of adaptation and survival that Natives tread by the end of the century. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-24 13:20:16.449

Current statistics for the evangelical church in North America are less than encouraging. Trends suggest that 95 percent of North American churches have about 100 people in attendance, 80 percent are on a plateau or in decline and thousands die every year. Under similar circumstances, as a central figure in the Second Great Awakening, Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) developed a reputation as one skilled in church revitalization. The purpose of this research, as described in chapter 1, is to analyze and present Asahel Nettleton as a significant template for modern church revitalization, the primary thesis arguing that this obscure evangelist presents an effective model of renovation for the declining evangelical church. Chapter 2 offers a brief overview of the moral and church declension that gripped America prior to the Second Great Awakening, as well as providing the framework for Nettleton's unique strategy of church revitalization. Chapter 3 of this research project analyzes Asahel Nettleton's theology. The analysis of his theological convictions is examined in light of the stream of Reformed and Puritan theology that ran through Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the most significant influence on Nettleton. A thorough examination of how Nettleton's theology shaped his methodology is provided in chapter 4, including his understanding of the Ministry of the Word, the use of inquiry meetings, frequent visitation, and prayer meetings to promote revival. Using Asahel Nettleton as an historical template, chapter 5 draws practical implications for today's church, in order to develop modern paradigms for church revitalization.

Kate Chopin, 1851-1904, gained national fame when her local color stories became published in acclaimed magazines such as Vogue and the Atlantic. Her novel, The Awakening (1899), however, criticized for its controversial content and its heroine, Edna Pontellier, whose ambiguous actions and final suicide were focus of the critical attention, received only negative reactions and silenced Chopin as a writer. Interpretations by feminists, realists, or culturalhistorians proved insufficient in their attempts to explain the dilemma of the heroine. Approached from an existentialist point of view, the novel seems to derive new meaning, but the few extant critical discussions remain either too superficial or too general in scope. A thorough explication of J.-P. Sartre's existentialism, in particular, however, would provide a fresh, insightful interpretation not only of The Awakening, but also of selected short stories that had critics equally torn when faced with the seemingly ambivalent decisions of their heroines.Following the literature review of Chapter I, Chapter II will provide background information on Sartrian existentialism while focusing on such terms as anguish, bad faith, and authenticity that are especially relevant for a better understanding of Chopin's works. How several of her short stories and The Awakening will derive new significance when approached from an existentialist perspective will be shown in Chapters III and IV, respectively, the interpretation mainly centering on the argument that the dilemmas of the heroines, formerly described as "female" or "romantic," are essentially "human" and derive universal, therefore existential significance. Finally, I will try to account for Kate Chopin's "existentialism" in Chapter V by not only taking a closer look at the social issues she was surrounded by, and also her personal life that was the foundation of her thinking, being expressed in ideas that would put her way beyond the "Zeitgeist" of her times. / Department of English

This study examines the relationship between the first major religious revival in the New England colonies and the change from psalmody to hymnody in the mid-eighteenth century through an approach which integrates the two fields of theology and church music. The termination date is 1770, and the focus is Protestant congregational song in the three groups most influenced by Puritan thought: the Congregationalists, the Presbyterians, and the Baptists.While much has been written separately about the change in eighteenth-century sacred song and the Great Awakening itself, there has been little research that attempts to place the psalmody/hymnody issue within the larger context of the changing theological milieu. This study first examines the theological and ecclesiastical structures which provided the context for Reformed worship, and then explores how fundamental changes in those structures and thought systems impacted congregational song. In order to comprehend the major changes which occurred in the mid-eighteenth century in colonial America, chapters on the Reformed Church and the beginning and spread of psalmody, the New England colonies to 1700, and the beginning of English hymnody are included.Conclusions1. The primary conclusion of this study is that the Great Awakening is the single most important factor in the change from psalmody to hymnody in the New England colonies. It is not a peripheral factor as indicated in much of the research. Rather, it provides both the rationale and the means for the transition in church song. The Great Awakening represented a basic theological change from a theocentric to an anthropocentric viewpoint that subsequently required alterations in sacred song. The revival movement, through its evangelistic spirit, also provided the vehicle by which this change in psalmody was effected.2. The agitation of the 1720s as evidenced in the tracts and treatises did not affect the transition directly. However, it is indicative of the increasing discontent with traditional Calvinist theology.3. The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts were not a primary reason for the change, but met the needs of the new anthropocentric theology of the Great Awakening that required a new language of praise. / School of Music