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Chaucer’S Lists And The Parson’S Priests: Heresy, Censorship, And The Parson's Tale, Samantha Burleson

Master's Theses

Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale is a sermon on penance told by a fictional late-fourteenth-century Parson in The Canterbury Tales. What the Parson preaches is incompletely aligned with Roman Catholic orthodox beliefs, as suggested both by accusations of Lollardy elsewhere in the Canterbury Tales and heterodox features of the sermon itself. The Parson’s soteriology—the theology of how to attain salvation—invites consideration of the sermon’s potential influence from the contemporary heretical movement known as Lollardy, including the theology of John Wyclif; this theology disagreed with orthodox Catholic penitential practices.

However, despite increasing anti-Wycliffite sentiment at the turn of the fifteenth century, Chaucer’s …

Constructing Community: Heresy In The Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries, Alexis Nunn

WWU Graduate School Collection

This work examines the formation of Cathar and Waldensian communities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It looks at how Cathars, Waldensians, and the Catholic Church thought about community and how they asserted their identities. All three communities showed a concern for boundaries and shared the same ideals based on a sense of unity within the community, even as the way they talked about those ideals changed over two centuries. They took Scripture as the basis of their identity, and they sought to share their interpretations with the laity through preaching and debate, bringing theological concerns to a wider audience. …

"Wolves In Sheep's Clothing": Dissimulation Within Sixteenth-Century Castile’S Luterano Community, Susana Joy Kenyon

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the role double lives played in sixteenth-century luteranismo in the Spanish city of Valladolid. Luteranismo’s existence in Valladolid and surrounding Castilian towns was fleeting. The Spanish Inquisition discovered the evangelical network within a couple years of its emergence and began a vigorous campaign to identify all its adherents and completely eradicate heresy. Why did luteranismo remain undetected as long as it did in a society closely monitored by the Inquisition? In this thesis, I argue that luteranismo owes its existence - albeit a brief one - to the fact that its adherents led double-lives. Luteranos in Castile …

Heretical Communes: The Struggle For Authority In The Fourteenth-Century Papal Territories, Luca Roberto Foti

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation tackles a series of interconnected questions concerning the transformation of papal authority in fourteenth-century Italy. Challenging previous assumptions of a clearly planned process of “state-building” undertaken by the popes in the provinces of central Italy, I argue that papal secular rule was instead the result of a highly localized process of negotiations and compromises with local elites. More specifically, I look at inquisition trials for heresy as a space in which local elites could contest papal authority and advance claims to govern their own cities. This dissertation is based on research conducted in the Vatican Secret Archives and …

Magic Performances: Rituals And Practice In Italian Theatre And Culture, 1520–1650, Erika Mazzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation investigates theatrical and historical sources that deal with early modern magic, in order to re-evaluate its role in Italian society between the 16th and the mid-17th century. During this period, many were the attempts carried out by the Catholic Church to avoid the spread of heretical beliefs among people. By the middle of the 16th century, the battle against heresy focused on magic, which was considered a dangerous practice. Despite the Inquisition’s prohibition of books of magic and the condemnation of magic rituals, magic still survived in literary works, especially theatrical. Many performances brought magic on the Italian …

The Chronicle Of William Pelhisson: A Microcosm Of Early Thirteenth Century Papal Inquisition, Emily Petillon

Scripps Senior Theses

This study will use Pelhisson’s account of the Toulouse inquisition of 1230-1238 as a case study into the causes of the inquisition, the mindset of the Dominicans who carried it out, and the institutionalization of the inquisition process.

Bobok: A Theater Piece Exploring Heresy, The Afterlife, And The Art Of Translating Text To The Stage, Eileen Marie Goodrich

Senior Projects Spring 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Lost Prophets: Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, And Early Montanism, Brice Andrew Larson

Seminary Masters Theses

ABSTRACT The dearth of reliable primary source material on the New Prophecy has led to a proliferation of interpretations of the character of the movement. However, a careful examination of the New Prophecy’s preserved sayings, the writings of Tertullian, and the movement’s earliest critics preserved by Eusebius and Epiphanius reveal a movement steeped in the Christian tradition that came into conflict with other Christians because of their willingness to pay ministers and their passive understanding of the charisma of prophecy.

Resisting The Influence Of The Imeyomwana Heresy In The Nyangweta District, Lenard B. Aencha

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Imeyomwana (a heresy involving the concept of what it means to be in Christ), a group of former Adventists, is causing problems in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Nyangweta district of the South Kenya Conference. Many of their teachings contradict those of the Seventh-day Adventists Church and many members are apostatizing to this group.

Method

To deal with the heresy I employed a two-pronged strategy. On one hand I sought to enter a dialogue with those involved in Imeyomwana, while on the other hand I confronted the false teaching with biblical truth. This strategy employed two powerful planning …

Lessons From Florence: The Savonarolan Movement, Joseph Kiernan

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the life of Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), a Renaissance preacher from Ferrara, Italy. From his early beginnings as a student of theology, to his years spent preaching from the pulpit in the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, this paper shows how his life transformed into one driven by the Will of God. The thesis is divided into three sections. The first section covers the early life of Savonarola and how hatred for the materialistic and sinful world, along with the teachings of his grandfather, drove him towards religion. The second section focuses on Savonarola executing the …

Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition To Mormonism And Its Effect Upon Mormon Identity, Derek J. Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox …

Defender Of The Faith? : Anti-Heresy Policy And The Consolidation Of Ecclesiastical Authority Under Henry Viii On The Eve Of The English Reformation, Daniel James Rudary

Honors Theses

In March 1521, Catholic Europe was on the brink of rupture. It had been more than three years since Martin Luther had posted his Ninety-Five Theses in the university town of Wittenburg, and what had been a mere invitation to a public disputation concerning the power and efficacy of ind ulgences had gone on to embroil Christian Europe in an unprecedented doctrinal conflict. The political and religious significance of Luther's revolt was certainly not lost on Rome, which had by this point responded to Luther's December 1520 bonfire fueled by copies of Leo X's excommunication bull and books of canon …

Ælfric And The Orient, Jacqueline Geaney Elkouz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines why Ælfric's choice of texts included in his Lives of Saints differs so radically from contemporaneous lists of saints venerated by Anglo-Saxons. Writing between 992 and 1002, while England faced a second wave of invasions from the North, Ælfric selected saints predominantly from the Orient.

A close analysis of several of these lives reveals four major agents of persecution: Paganism, Judaism, Heresy, and Satan. Faced with such trials, most of the saints included in Ælfric's Lives commonly suffer a violent death and always stand firm in their faith in the face of persecution. For Ælfric, the orthodox …

Between The Way To The Cross And Emmaus: Deconstructing Identity In The 325 Ce Council Of Nicaea And "The Shack", Trevar Simmons

MA in English Theses

This paper argues that when Christians acknowledge the deconstruction of their identity surrounding orthodoxy/heresy, Christians can embody the imitatio Christi and imago Dei. The argument begins by analyzing how Christians construct their identity along the orthodoxy/heresy lines by investigating a 2009 Bible burning by Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, NC. Reaching into the past and present, deconstruction is found in a prototypical orthodoxy/heresy debate at the 325 CE Council of Nicaea and the modern hubbub in and surrounding William Paul Young's novel The Shack.

Le Christianisme "Marginal" Chez Chrã©Tien De Troyes: L'Hã©Rã©Sie Dans Perceval, Melanie Anne Hackney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our perception of the Holy Grail is, for the most part, the result of orthodox views that have dominated literary interpretation. However, the first appearance of the Holy Grail in literature does not conform to the orthodox rules and traditions. In fact, the narrative of Perceval is filled with evidence that points to a very different form of Christianity, one that would have been considered heretical at the time that Chrétien de Troyes was writing it. The twelfth century in France is often called the "Golden Age" of heresies. As Manichaeism and Bogolism swept through the country, they gave birth …

Original Sin In The Smalcald Articles With An Excursus On The Coat Of Skins As An Image Of Original, Albert Collver Iii

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

In order to understand better how Luther understood original sin in the Smalcald Articles," this paper will compare SA with two other Luther writings, one contemporary with its composition and one from his earlier writings. Since Luther adopted the term "original sin," it will be useful to briefly examine the events that led to the coinage of the term by Augustine in addition to examining a few patristic sources in order to see how the idea of "original sin" was expressed formerly. Finally, Luther's confession of original sin in SA will be addressed to current issues such as the decay …

Orthodoxy And Heresy In Hans Küng: An Analysis And Critique Of His Criteria And Norms Of Christian Truth And Error, C. Enrique Espinosa

Dissertations

This investigation deals with the concepts of orthodoxy and heresy in the thought of the Swiss theologian Hans Kung.

Chapter I sketches the broad outlines of the development of Christian orthodoxy and, by implication, of the heresy which opposed it, starting with the New Testament times. The most relevant elements constituting the structure of the orthodoxy-heresy antithesis are identified, described, and analyzed. The attention is thus focused on the traditional and modern principles, criteria, norms, and theological issues which have interplayed in the church's efforts to understand the Christian message correctly.

Chapter II shows that the pastoral concerns which constitute …

[Mythoi (Romanized Form)] And [Genealogiai (Romanized Form)] In The Pastoral Epistles : A Reappraisal, Dale Banke

Bachelor of Divinity

This paper is a tentative reappraisal of the nature of the μυ̑θοι and δενεαλοδίαι as these reflect a portion of the heresy combatted in the Pastorals. It is not intended to be an investigation of the entire heresy, much less the complete gamut of exhortation which the Epistles contain. This might appear to pose a false separation, since the wider contexts of the passages that include mention of the μυ̑θοι and δενεαλοδίαι seem to draw in much of the polemic and even some of the advice concerning early church order contained in these letters. Nonetheless, only those aspects of the …

The Gnosticism Opposed And Condemed In The New Testament, Erwin Lueker

Bachelor of Divinity

It is our purpose in this thesis to trace the movement in the form in which it is opposed and condemned in the New Testament, and, if possible, find external information on these movements. Although many of the passages which condemn false teachers may have been written against gnostics, we shall deal only with those in which gnostic tendencies are revealed.

Gnosticism And Its Conflict With Christianity, Gerhardt Nitz

Bachelor of Divinity

The study of such a movement as Gnosticism is doubly important to the student of' theology. This is a phase of history which greatly influenced the church in its infancy. It has left marks upon the church which will never be erased. Moreover, a study of this heresy is essential for the proper understanding of the New Testament. Again, the influence of Gnosticism, as will be pointed out later continued for many centuries. Such a deeply rooted, powerful, paganistic tendency cannot be lightly passed by.