<p> What role does beauty play in our moral formation? What difference does the perception of beauty make to the way we live our lives? In order to answer these questions, I look to the twentieth-century Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar. Relatively little has been written about Balthasar&rsquo;s ethics. He is, perhaps, best known for his retrieval of beauty as a transcendental property of being. Balthasar, though, never set down an extended account of his ethics or moral theology. While he had no explicit ethic, he certainly thought that his theology could be lived. The <i>Theo-Drama,</i> for instance, discusses the implications that the perception of beauty has for Christian life. </p><p> I do not intend to present &ldquo;Balthasar&rsquo;s ethics.&rdquo; Instead I will offer a &ldquo;Balthasarian ethic.&rdquo; Drawing from his theological aesthetics and dramatics, I will outline the morality implicit in his theology: a Balthasarian theo-dramatic ethics. We can see this kind of ethic at work, I contend, in some of Balthasar&rsquo;s lesser-known works on Christian life. I will then go beyond Balthasar to consider how we might put this moral formation into practice in the possibility of living out Christian pacifism in the nation-state and in our treatment of non-human animals. </p><p> This dissertation points to the convergence of method and performance. The method of theo-dramatic ethics can never be distilled to a set of abstract rules or terms. We can do so artificially in order to better express what makes performances of the good beautiful. But it is the performance, not the method, of theo-dramatic ethics that we find enrapturing. Being formed by performances of beauty better enables us to recognize and express new forms of beauty. My thesis is that recognizing beauty as the foundation of moral formation affirms the formational power of the Christian tradition as well as that of new experiences and practices because in both cases we are responding to beauty.</p>

<p> The project director conducted the current project to improve his sermon delivery practices and skill level, better equipping him to combat the consequences of exposure to technology and consumerism in his congregation. He researched the impact of technology and consumerism on the ability of his listeners to absorb and retain sermon content. Once he identified consequences of exposure to technology and consumerism, the director researched which sermon delivery characteristics or mechanics he could use to abate such consequences. The director then implemented a sermon delivery methodology in his preaching to abate such consequences by consistently employing the identified characteristics and mechanics. He measured the effect of the delivery methodology on his listeners&rsquo; cognition through the use of a pre-test and post-test, administered to project participants. Surveys contained statements related to each participant&rsquo;s ability to understand and remember the content of the director&rsquo;s sermon in relation to various delivery characteristics and mechanics. Subjects responded to statements on a scale using strongly agree, agree, not sure, disagree, and strongly disagree. Comparative analysis of survey results before and after project implementation revealed that consistent use of the identified delivery characteristics improved his listeners&rsquo; ability absorb and retain sermon content.</p>

Published version of author's Thesis (habilitation)--Würzburg, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.