Coaching is a modern tool for personal development with many advantages and successful applications. However, some concerns arise from the religious and ethical perspectives. Links to esoterics and New Age have been proclaimed by leaders of coaching schools that operate in the Czech Republic. Moreover, a survey has indicated that ethical limits of Czech coaches are more liberal than the official position of the Catholic Church. Thus, for a Catholic Christian, the coaching is promising as well as questionable. Biblical texts, as well as the facts from the subsequent history of Church, indicate many similarities: Christianity has exhibited marks of coaching since the very beginnings. On the other hand, most of the coaching schools deny God, absolute truth, or the concept of sin. An appropriate approach how to address this tension is a reflection of anthropological fundaments. Analyzing sincerely one of the coaching schools (Neuroleadership), we can conclude that all of them have clear counterparts in the Christian doctrine. In spite to this positive conclusion, it is necessary to be cautious when facing practical ethical dilemmas. A wise application of the coaching approach can be helpful also in the spiritual direction. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

<p>This thesis argues that Wendell Berry’s idea of a healthy community and his understanding of membership is embodied in his fiction. The imagined community of Port William is neither an ideal blueprint for instantiating a new form of collective life in modern society, nor is it a nostalgic recreation of lost rural communities for representing an alternative culture. Berry’s imagination—both the creative process and its material products—is a funding current for both analyzing North American democracy and its failings as well as cultivating pluralities of communities that address these inadequacies. The form and discipline of Berry’s imaginative engagement with the particularities of his place uncovers the divine creativity operating in it; his fictional writing incarnates his conception and experience of this divine presence as God’s kenotic love. The upshot is not a simplistic return to traditional life but rather an affectionate and self-effacing approach to nature that converges with God’s manner of creating and relating to the world as it is conceived within the Christian tradition. Berry’s moral imagination emerges from a cultural approach to Christianity that engenders people who seek out those aspects of society and moments in life that are struggles—for justice, happiness, reconciliation—in order to incarnate a loving openness to others that does not re-inscribe further failures of Western consumer culture and political economy.</p> <p>Berry’s imagined community educates the affections in order to transform the way in which we relate to one another and treat the environment. His fiction is an education in being at home in the world as it is where we find it. Rather than theorizing the structure of a locally adapted community, or offering techniques for establishing the existence of such a community, Berry shows us how to live where we are through literary biography.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This research investigates the complex nature of caring in relation to women in ministry, in particular when women's roles as carers are subsumed into a patriarchal agenda in the church, with negative effects for women. The thesis explores this as an ethical problem that confronts women, but also those who are training women for the ministry. It proposes that feminist pedagogy provides important insights, tools and analyses which, when incorporated into women's formation, can help to counter these negative tendencies and the way women have internalised them. The findings of the research suggest that a critical ethic of care, which incorporates biblical principles of compassion and justice, is central to the liberating praxis of women in ministry. This has two important consequences: Firstly, it has implications for the women and how they assert themselves as moral agents of critical caring in their ministry. It suggests that in addition to the traditional caring work that women do, women also care when they seek justice by challenging the status quo understandings and practices of caring. In addition, women care when they look after themselves: when they seek healing, when they scrutinise their roles and responsibilities, and in some cases, make decisions not to care. Secondly, a critical ethic of care has implications for theological education at the epistemological, the pedagogical and the practical levels. The findings from the empirical research, based on two case studies of a Women's Studies course, have helped to identify the kinds of changes that are necessary. These include revisioning the theological content that is taught, as well as the teaching methodologies. Changes to the institutional culture and the relationships within it are necessary so that the institutions become more welcoming and hospitable to women. This thesis suggests that educators have an ethical responsibility to prepare women with the necessary knowledge and skills for the difficult, and often uncaring, terrain of their local churches. It concludes by challenging women to take responsibility for inserting themselves into local communities of practice, as a vehicle for their ongoing formation and support once they leave the theological institution. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / DTH (THEOLOGICAL ETHICS)

<p>The globalization of political and economic processes is a growing moral concern for theologians and political philosophers alike. My thesis aims to outline, analyze, and compare church studies of globalization with global theories of justice.</p><p>To do this, I draw upon recent studies of globalization made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The WCC and LWF are two global reaching church organizations. They have a common aim of uniting churches for ecumenical dialogue and are involved in social, economic, political, and ecological questions. The WCC and LWF analyze globalization by applying biblical and theological principles from the Christian tradition. Out of this analysis comes an invitation to resist globalization and seek economic alternatives. Their work forms a moral discourse about globalization from a theological ethical perspective.</p><p>In comparison, I consider theories of global justice by political philosophers in the liberal tradition (i.e., John Rawls). The two philosophers I draw upon are Thomas Pogge and Kok-Chor Tan. Their recent work forms a moral discourse that attempts to globalize Rawls’s liberal principles of political and economic justice. These principles challenge globalization and build an argument for greater global justice. This argument calls for a restructuring of today’s global political and financial institutions. In my thesis, this work also acts as lens for which to critically analyze the church studies.</p><p>Finally, I consider a potential and positive relationship between these two kinds of global moral discourses, between theological ethics and political philosophy. This relationship helps the church develop ethics for a realistic global citizenship. More importantly, this relationship creates a reasonable and broad based consensus for global justice. Such a consensus is demanded in a global context of plurality and secularity.</p>

The globalization of political and economic processes is a growing moral concern for theologians and political philosophers alike. My thesis aims to outline, analyze, and compare church studies of globalization with global theories of justice. To do this, I draw upon recent studies of globalization made by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The WCC and LWF are two global reaching church organizations. They have a common aim of uniting churches for ecumenical dialogue and are involved in social, economic, political, and ecological questions. The WCC and LWF analyze globalization by applying biblical and theological principles from the Christian tradition. Out of this analysis comes an invitation to resist globalization and seek economic alternatives. Their work forms a moral discourse about globalization from a theological ethical perspective. In comparison, I consider theories of global justice by political philosophers in the liberal tradition (i.e., John Rawls). The two philosophers I draw upon are Thomas Pogge and Kok-Chor Tan. Their recent work forms a moral discourse that attempts to globalize Rawls’s liberal principles of political and economic justice. These principles challenge globalization and build an argument for greater global justice. This argument calls for a restructuring of today’s global political and financial institutions. In my thesis, this work also acts as lens for which to critically analyze the church studies. Finally, I consider a potential and positive relationship between these two kinds of global moral discourses, between theological ethics and political philosophy. This relationship helps the church develop ethics for a realistic global citizenship. More importantly, this relationship creates a reasonable and broad based consensus for global justice. Such a consensus is demanded in a global context of plurality and secularity.

This research investigates the complex nature of caring in relation to women in ministry, in particular when women's roles as carers are subsumed into a patriarchal agenda in the church, with negative effects for women. The thesis explores this as an ethical problem that confronts women, but also those who are training women for the ministry. It proposes that feminist pedagogy provides important insights, tools and analyses which, when incorporated into women's formation, can help to counter these negative tendencies and the way women have internalised them. The findings of the research suggest that a critical ethic of care, which incorporates biblical principles of compassion and justice, is central to the liberating praxis of women in ministry. This has two important consequences: Firstly, it has implications for the women and how they assert themselves as moral agents of critical caring in their ministry. It suggests that in addition to the traditional caring work that women do, women also care when they seek justice by challenging the status quo understandings and practices of caring. In addition, women care when they look after themselves: when they seek healing, when they scrutinise their roles and responsibilities, and in some cases, make decisions not to care. Secondly, a critical ethic of care has implications for theological education at the epistemological, the pedagogical and the practical levels. The findings from the empirical research, based on two case studies of a Women's Studies course, have helped to identify the kinds of changes that are necessary. These include revisioning the theological content that is taught, as well as the teaching methodologies. Changes to the institutional culture and the relationships within it are necessary so that the institutions become more welcoming and hospitable to women. This thesis suggests that educators have an ethical responsibility to prepare women with the necessary knowledge and skills for the difficult, and often uncaring, terrain of their local churches. It concludes by challenging women to take responsibility for inserting themselves into local communities of practice, as a vehicle for their ongoing formation and support once they leave the theological institution. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / DTH (THEOLOGICAL ETHICS)

Situated within the theatrical turn in Christian theology, this project explores theatre as a model for theological ethics, looking particularly at the dynamic interplay between formation as disponibility (availability) and performance as fittingness (appropriateness). A primary goal is to demonstrate how disponible formation and fitting performance are multi-dimensional realities oriented simultaneously toward the triune God (as playwright-producer-protagonist), Scripture (as transcript and prescript), the church (as characters in company), tradition (as performance paradigms), unbelievers (as audience), and local context (as theatrical environment and place). As a result, this theodramatic approach seeks to integrate theology and ethics, describing and resourcing everyday Christian practice with reflection on the theodrama. In addition, focusing on the dynamic interplay between formation and performance represents an attempt to unify agent-oriented with action-oriented theological ethics within a holistic, theodramatic framework. Finally, through attentive interaction with theatrical theory and practice, this project contributes to a fruitful and growing dialogue between Christian theology and the arts, particularly how theatre provides imaginative, heuristic models for theological ethics pursued within the liberating constraints of confessional Christianity.

Subjective and objective dimension of human work: the tension in their realisation in corporate experience thesis / Tomáš Roubal The thesis deals with a situation that is relatively often and by many experienced in the current world of gainful work: the tension / conflict / ethical challenge that a human can experience and feel in his work in situations of long-term imbalance in realisation its objective and subjective side. A working man can oftentimes perceive this situation as a crisis of meaningfulness of the profession he performs and therefore also as an insistent question of his own value. The thesis pursues the topic from the positions of theological ethics and psychology: - presents the problems / conflict through a particular case of a worker in the financial sector, - approaches the generalizable sources, causes, consequences, risks of he problems / conflict, - expresses the concept of theological ethics and its evaluation of human labour as a value basis for further following of the topic, - presents the impulses that accent the possibilities and perspectives of an individual person in their reasoning, decision making and actions in a potential particular situation of the type of conflict in question. The thesis accentuates the individual-ethical, especially interpersonal dimension of...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ivair da Silva Costa.pdf: 1833063 bytes, checksum: a42c1e50a4d527f0af8937e564df34f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-30 / The whole of the dissertation reflects on the lush forest, rivers and the wealth of the Amazon ethos as divine creations, which are subjected to forms of destruction imposed by technological advance and globalization. Degradation and destruction of ecosystems generate an inhuman reality, marking the ecological collapse of humanity. The exploration of ecosystems and the disrespect for human dignity consolidate and extend deep social inequalities, as manifested by the increasing misery of the urban peripheries and the chronic poverty of the countryside. The concerns caused by these realities, whose evidence is incontrovertible evidence of a concrete situation, are questions motivating the research. In focusing on them as reflective content for theology, the questions turned into hypotheses inferred: the Amazonian myths, in their symbolic expressions, synthesize and express principles (criteria) for defense of life and the environment, especially as regards water resources? They can become meeting points for reflection of moral theology, in their task of criticizing and help in ethical procedures, before the destructive processes in the Amazon region? In base of the new Amazon environment in light of theological ethics, the research makes the application of defensive force of nature removed from Amazon and imaginary, in the light of biblical texts, recognizing their contributions by offering ethical values and the urgency to apply them in combat impending ecological collapse. These principles are embodied in the consideration of water as a source of life. They advertise at the same time, a "respectful solution" for all creation and support for critical analysis of reality by means of theological ethics; postulate for humanity re-invention of Life from a ethical and theological focus. Thus, the research helps to define some functions that theology must take in face of reality conflict, which has the Amazon region as a paradigm for real, foremost among them, to justify the value of human life and renew hope in those who fight for longing to see the renewed creation in harmony and peace / O conjunto da tese reflete sobre a exuberância das florestas, dos rios e da riqueza do ethos amazônico como criações divinas, as quais estão submetidas a formas de destruição impostas pelo avanço tecnológico e pela globalização. A degradação e a destruição dos ecossistemas geram uma realidade desumana, que assinala o colapso ecológico da humanidade. A exploração dos ecossistemas e o desrespeito à dignidade do homem consolidam e ampliam as desigualdades sociais profundas, manifestadas pela crescente miséria das periferias urbanas e pela pobreza crônica do campo. As inquietações provocadas por estas realidades, cujas evidências são provas incontestáveis de uma situação concreta, são questionamentos motivadores da investigação científica. Ao assumi-las, como conteúdos reflexivos para a teologia, as perguntas se transformaram em hipóteses inferidas: os mitos amazônicos, em suas expressões simbólicas, sintetizam e expressam princípios (critérios) de defesa da vida e do meio ambiente, especialmente no que se refere aos recursos hídricos? Eles podem se tornar pontos de encontro para a reflexão da teologia moral, em sua tarefa de criticar e contribuir nos procedimentos éticos, frente aos processos destrutivos na região amazônica? Ao analisar o novo ambiente amazônico à luz da ética teológica, a pesquisa faz a aplicação da força defensiva da natureza retirada do imaginário amazônico e, à luz de textos bíblicos, reconhece suas contribuições ao oferecer valores éticos e a urgência de aplicá-los no combate ao iminente colapso ecológico. Esses princípios estão consubstanciados na consideração da água como fonte geradora de vida. Eles anunciam, ao mesmo tempo, uma solução respeitosa para toda a criação e oferecem suporte para a análise crítica da realidade, através da ética teológica; postulam para a humanidade uma re-invenção da vida em foco ético-teológico. Dessa forma, a pesquisa colabora na definição de algumas funções que a teologia deve assumir diante da realidade conflitante, que tem a região amazônica como paradigma real, destacando-se entre elas, a de fundamentar o valor da vida humana e renovar a esperança naqueles que lutam por querer ver a criação renovada na harmonia e na paz

The objective of this research is to examine the theological ideas and moral vision of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and to explore how his theology (and theological hermeneutics and ethics) has influenced his politics of solidarity and social activism on behalf of the oppressed and the poor in Haiti in particular, and the wretched of the earth, in general. Through the use of the postcolonial, decolonial, and Liberation Theology paradigms as hermeneutical and theoretical methods of investigation, the project seeks to answer a threefold question: what is the relationship between theology and social activism and transformation in the thought and writings of Jean-Bertrand Aristide? What is the place and function of the community of faith, the poor, the oppressed, hope, and human liberation in the political theology of Jean-Bertrand Aristide? What is the place of (defensive) violence in Aristide’s theology? Our goal in this scholarly investigation is an attempt to provide an answer to these daunting questions above and to explore more fully and intelligently the theology of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. This present study considers Aristide’s democratic and social justice projects and theological reflections and theological intersections in the disciplines of theological anthropology, theological ethics, and political theology, as he himself engages all four simultaneously. The doctoral thesis locates Aristide’s thought and writings within Black intellectual tradition both in continental Africa and the African Diaspora. It establishes shared intellectual ideas and parallelisms, and strong ideological connections between Aristide and Black theologians and thinkers in both continental Africa and the African Diaspora. On one hand, Aristide’s intellectual ideas and political activism should be understood in the context of the struggle for democracy in Haiti; on the other hand, it is suggested the intellectual articulations and propositions of these Black and African thinkers aim at a common vision: the project to make our world new toward the common good. While we do not undermine the problem of violence in Aristide’s theology and political program in the context of Haitian history, the doctoral thesis argues that Aristide’s theological anthropology is a theology of reciprocity and mutuality, and correspondingly, his theological ethics is grounded in the theory of radical interactionality, interconnectedness, and interdependence, and the South African humanism of Ubuntu. It also contends that Aristide’s promotion of a theology of popular violence and aggression in the Haitian society should be understood as a cathartic mechanism and defensive violence aimed at defending the Haitian masses against the Duvalier regime and their oppressors. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / PhD / Unrestricted