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Re-Interpreting The "Will Of God" In The Discernment Of Spirits According To Ignatian Tradition For Young Women In Vietnam, Tran Thi Linh Chi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Young Vietnamese women seeking to discern a religious vocation often confuse their own unconscious motivations and desires with what they perceive as the “will of God” for their lives. This study argues that a clearer understanding of the “will of God” will lead young women to a more mature decision-making process when discerning a vocation to religious life. The thesis investigates how the “will of God” has been interpreted and understood in the Christian tradition and uses these insights to develop a systematic structure aiming to assist young Vietnamese women in their life discernment.

It first examines how the will …

Church And Formation Of Conscience: Towards A Liberative Ecclesiology For Peace And Justice In Kenya, Augostine Ekena

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Kenya, like many other African countries, continues to experience, fifty years after independence, various challenges including political instability and violence resulting from negative ethnicity. Kenya‘s history is rife with examples of divisive politics and negative ethnicity ranging from ethnic violence, ethnicized politics, dictatorship of the ethnic majority and ethnic clashes. Evidence of the deeply seated hatred can be found in the apparent reality of ethnic division and intertribal clashes often experienced either before, during or after elections.

The 2007 post-election violence which claimed over 1300 lives and the displacement of more than 300,000 people demonstrated the depth of the culture …

The Uprooted People Of The Land: An Ethical/Theological Reflection On The Protection Of Adivasi Land And Human Dignity In The “New And Shining India”, Ashok Kujur

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The uprooting of Adivasis from their land raises theological, anthropological, and ethical questions regarding the intrinsic dignity of Adivasis as human persons, created in the image of God. This thesis argues that the looting of Adivasi land on the part of the multinational corporations (MNCs) is an unethical and sinful reality. It proposes a paradigm of prophetic dialogue and critical pedagogy that joins the effort to conscientize Adivasis about their own oppression, the power of the political dynamics, and to empower them in their struggle for freedom and liberation.

In this project I analyze and critique the issue of displacement …

Rekindling The Role Of Affectivity In Ignatian Discernment Of Spirits In The Context Of Christian Life Communities In Darjeeling, India, S. John Kennedy

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis addresses and offers solutions to the issue of lack of affectivity in decision making among the Christian Life Community members in Darjeeling. The problem has been traced from their former religious practices of immediately appeasing spirits by offerings material things through village priests when the spirits interfere in their life. This practice has come down to instant decision making without out paying close attention to the consequences, as they would cease all activity to appease the spirits. To examine and resolve this issue, this thesis first presents the relationship between affectivity and discernment. Second, the thesis presents an …

Religious And Cultural Foundation Of Reconciliation: The “Truth And Reconciliation Commission” In South Africa As A Suitable Model For Rwanda And Burundi, Egide Ndayisenga

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The problem this thesis tackles is the difficult cohabitation between two ethnic groups found in Rwanda and in Burundi, namely Hutus and Tutsis. From the time of Independence, these two countries have known different tragedies, conflicts, lack of tolerance and exclusion of the other because of a gradual loss of deep cultural values that had sustained commonality and mutual respect for many years in both countries. The colonial rule and missionaries have contributed to the exacerbation of differences between Hutus and Tutsis by neglecting or erasing those values. Violations of human rights and genocidal acts that the history has recorded …

The Alienation Of Jezebel: Reading The Deuteronomic Historian's Portrait Of Jezebel In The Contemporary Global Context, Conrad Kandelmwin Bayor

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Even the casual reader of the books of Kings will notice that the Deuteronomic Historian assigns a disproportionately large amount narrated time (Erzählzeit) to the reign of the house of Ahab (1 Kgs 16:29-2 Kgs 10). This is surprising because, in the judgment of the Deuteronomic Historian, “no one sold himself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH as did Ahab, incited by Jezebel, his wife.” (1Kgs 21:25). Why does the Deuteronomic Historian dedicate so much narrated space not only to Ahab but especially to the character and deeds of his wife, Jezebel? And why in this …

The Characterization Of Tobit In The Light Of Tobit 1:1-2, Emmanuel Nshimbi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

In Hebrew –el means ‘God,’ and the reader or hearer of the Book of Tobit learns that, Tobit, the character after whom the narrative is named, lacks that –el ending in his name. He remains faithful to Jewish religious practice when the rest of his tribe secedes from the temple in Jerusalem, but he experiences exile. He risks execution by burying corpses of fellow Israelites in exile, whom the king of Assyria murders. He loses his sight after sparrows excrete onto his eyes in his courtyard at night after burying the dead.

This dissertation characterizes Tobit in the light of …