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The Rationality Of Motherhood, Genevieve Kineke

Theology Graduate Theses

Since both men and women, made in the divine image, bear rational souls, and the Catholic understanding of redemption requires that persons respond freely to the gift of grace, Saint Paul’s comment to Timothy that women can be saved through childbearing (cf. 1 Timothy 2:13-15) indicates that motherhood must be rational. This thesis responds to three different arguments against that premise—those of Simone deBeauvoir, Julia Kristeva, and Gertrude von le Fort—by illustrating that Thomas Aquinas’ application of Aristotelian principles restores both a proper understanding of rationality and how our hylemorphic construct directs us to our supernatural end. Weaving together a …

University Ethics: The Status Of The Field, Matthew J. Gaudet

General Engineering

This paper’s task is to provide a summary of this nascent field at its current state of development. First, I trace Keenan’s work to germinate university ethics as a new field worthy of study. Second, I examine several precursors to university ethics and how these precursors continue to provide fertile soil for the field from which this new field may continue to grow. Next, I survey the current state of the field, identifying where the field has already begun to bloom and bear fruit. Finally, I look to the future of the field, identifying issues that are either already plaguing …

Ukraine Orthodoxy Autocephaly: Social And Value Challenges, Oleksandr Brodetskyi, Iryna Horokholinska, Mykola Lahodych

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the relevant aspects of the canonical autocephalous status acquisition process for Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The resonant events of the last two years are considered when crucial decisions had been made that led to the emergence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as autocephalous on the basis of the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its acting Primate Patriarch Bartholomew. Sociocultural, geopolitical, and moral aspects of the corresponding processes are conceived. The national and cultural role of the functioning of Ukraine Orthodox Church is considered. The authors analyze the current religious and political …

A Crisis Of Mistaken Identity: The Ethical Insufficiency Of The Corporate University Model, Conor M. Kelly

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Lessons From “Fratelli Tutti” For The Contemporary United States, Vincent J. Millwer, Kate Ward, Drew Christiansen, Kevin Ahern, C. Vanessa White

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

From Political Theology To Critical Political Ethics, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Building upon the tradition of the New Political Theology and Iiberation, decolonial, and feminist theology, this article explores the consequences of a decolonial epistemology of theology for ethical theory. It introduces a critical political ethics that concurs with critical, post-structural, and decolonial theory that knowledge and ethics is necessarily situated while standing firm in their ethical orientation towards liberation from injustice. In all these approaches, the question of freedom is of central importance for the development of political ethics, and political theology as well as critical theory raise the question of authority. Rather than presupposing the liberal concept of autonomy …

Don Quixote And Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality, Michael J. Mcgrath

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Four hundred years since its publication, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote continues to inspire and to challenge its readers. The universal and timeless appeal of the novel, however, has distanced its hero from its author and its author from his own life and the time in which he lived. The discussion of the novel’s Catholic identity, therefore, is based on a reading that returns Cervantes’s hero to Cervantes’s text and Cervantes to the events that most shaped his life. The authors and texts McGrath cites, as well as his arguments and interpretations, are mediated by his religious sensibility. Consequently, he …

Everyday Solidarity: A Framework For Integrating Theological Ethics And Ordinary Life, Conor M. Kelly

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

As moral theology responds to the pastoral emphases of Pope Francis’s pontificate, more work must be done to facilitate the integration of theological ethics and ordinary life. In order to pursue this goal in a consistent fashion, this article proposes a new form of “everyday solidarity” as a framework for linking Catholic theological convictions with everyday moral choices. The article clarifies the often-ambiguous notion of solidarity found in Catholic social teaching and describes how the new species of everyday solidarity can function as both a principle and a virtue to transform discernment in ordinary life.

Cultivating A Decolonial Feminist Integral Ecology: Extractive Zones And The Nexus Of The Coloniality Of Being/Coloniality Of Gender, Melissa Pagán

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

No abstract provided.

Why Is Love Considered The Greatest Of The Theological Virtues?, Harry Mcclifty

Aristos

This paper will, after providing a succinct yet necessary definition of Christian caritas, offer three reasons for why love is considered to be the greatest of the theological virtues. First, upon attainment of eternal beatitude in heaven, caritas is not abandoned like faith and hope, but finds it fulfillment. Secondly, caritas is the only theological virtue which is chiefly concerned with the salvation of one’s neighbour. And thirdly, caritas enables man to live out the commandments of God in their fullness, thereby beginning the process of his divinization.

Re-Imagining An African Family Ecclesiology In Dialogue With Ratzinger’S Christo-Pneuma Communion Ecclesiology, Tegha Afuhwi Nji

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis seeks to elaborate an African ecclesiology that brings into conversation African notions of family and Ratzinger’s theological reflection on koinōnia. The model of Church-as-family was popularized by the 1994 Synod of African Bishops, and since then it has been espoused by numerous African theologians, who view it as the African response to the communion ecclesiology elaborated by the Second Vatican Council.

This thesis, however, seeks to present a unique perspective of Church-as-family. In the first place, while the prevalent African family ecclesiologies tend to present the aspect of communion or fellowship in ways that undermine the institutional …

Towards A Pastoral, Apologetic Approach To La Santa Muerte Devotion, Henrry Christopher Mendez Fajardo

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Death is and will continue to be a most intriguing reflection topic. It is interesting to note how the topic of death extends its reach to different areas of study which range from the most biological and material to the most philosophical and spiritual. Undoubtedly, death does not cease to be an event rooted in all aspects of our material reality, since life only makes sense in relation to death.

In recent decades in some Latin American contexts, devotion to the personification of death has increased significantly. In a special way, this devotion has gained greater strength and relevance in …

Cultivating Virtue: Developing A Guiding Document For Youth Ministry At Cookeville First United Methodist Church, Adam Daniels

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to produce a guiding document of virtues that represented the type of Christ-like character qualities desired in youth at Cookeville First United Methodist Church. The six virtues chosen in the document represent a comprehensive vision for character growth over the course of students’ time in the program. To provide a theological foundation for this project, I examined the idea that virtue has a narrative shape where words find their meaning in a story. For our purposes, this story is generally stated as the story of Jesus at first but is then seen as best …

Long's "Truth Telling In A Post-Truth World" (Book Review), Julie E. Sweeney

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Jesus Came "Not To Abolish The Law But To Fulfill It": The Sermon On The Mount And Its Implications For Contemporary Law, David Vandrunen

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article interprets Matthew 5:17–48 and argues that, because Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets, the Old Testament law takes on a new form for New Testament Christians. The law of God has been refracted through the ministry of Christ. While Matthew 5 does not address contemporary human law directly, its teaching does have radical implications for it. These implications flow particularly from the fact that Matthew 5 marks a decisive shift from the Mosaic theocracy to the worldwide new-covenant church that has no civil jurisdiction.

Reclaiming A Multiplying Discipleship: Fostering The Dance Of The Gathered And Sent Church, Matthew Lake

Doctor of Ministry

In the postmodern world, the local church has experienced significant decline as Christendom gives way to a more secular culture. Many shrinking denominational churches have missed imaginative opportunities and practices to produce multiplying disciples. This dissertation explores how declining denominational churches can embrace new opportunities for flourishing in a postmodern context through the development of a culture of multiplying discipleship. History—through examples such as the early church and Wesleyan movements—has shown that multiplying discipleship movements are possible in cultures not familiar with the Gospel. Such movements reveal new possibilities produced through the tension found between more formational offices of teaching, …

Virtue And Human Fragility, Kate Ward

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

New perspectives from virtue ethicists engaged with human fragility make concrete moral theology’s long understanding that humans are both free and constrained in our virtue pursuit. Theologians examine the possibilities of virtue under conditions of oppression as well as the virtue and vice of oppressors. Some adapt the term “moral luck” from philosophy to describe how persistent life circumstances shape the pursuit of virtue. Others focus on determinative individual acts through the lens of moral injury, a concept developed by psychologists caring for veterans. Finally, theologians engaged with disability describe flourishing, virtuous lives lived amid human mental and physical fragility.

A Wesley Bibliography [Ninth Edition], Kenneth J. Collins

Academic Books

No abstract provided.

Improving Spiritual Care By Chaplains For Service Members Who Witness Death, Beth M. Echols

Doctor of Ministry Doctoral Projects

This research studied the experience of military and Veteran Affairs chaplains who work with a spectrum of military veterans. The purpose was to better understand how chaplain training prepared or failed to equip spiritual care providers to minister to service members during and/or after the initial experience that they identified as traumatic.

The researcher asked nine open-ended questions to encourage and facilitate reflective responses. After grouping responses with similar answers, the researcher coded the chaplains’ responses to determine themes that would describe and somehow encompass the phenomenon of serving as a chaplain in a war theater. Throughout the study, the …

Popes Benedict Xvi And Francis On The Sexual Abuse Of Minors: Ecclesiological Perspectives, Mariusz Biliniewicz

Theology Papers and Journal Articles

This article does not have an abstract.

Wealthy Hyperagency In The Throwaway Culture: Inequality And Environmental Death, Kate Ward

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Should We Be Just, Loving Or Both? Understanding The Relationship Of Justice And Love, Edwin B. Odulio

Theology Department Faculty Publications

In this article, I argue that the relationship of justice and love can be seen and understood through the prophets’ message in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ manifestation and proclamation of the Kingdom of God. This relationship is continuously affirmed by the Church, in particular, through its Catholic social teachings. The love for God and God’s people is the essence of the human beings’ commitment to work for justice while living out justice is the concrete manifestation of humanity’s response to their loving relationship with God and one another.

The Hope And History Debate In Fundamental Theology, David Patrick Collits

Theses

The hope and history debate in twentieth century Catholic theology concerned to what extent the object(s) of eschatological hope could be realised within history. Its context was the ‘secularisation of Christian eschatology’. On the one hand, Joseph Ratzinger, who was indebted to the philosophical work of Josef Pieper, considered hope’s object to belong to the realm of gift. He was sceptical of the extent to which hope could be manufactured by human means within history. On the other, Edward Schillebeeckx, Johann Baptist Metz and Gustavo Gutiérrez presented theologies of futurity, including political theology and liberation theology, in which the realisation …

Martin Luther’S Understanding Of Faith In Relation To Infant Baptism, Francis Gayoba

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This article explores Martin Luther’s understanding of faith as a means to reconcile the seeming tension between his emphasis on faith in baptism against Roman Catholicism and his de-emphasis on faith against Anabaptism. This tension is most evident in his support of infant baptism despite his belief in sola fide. It is proposed that Luther’s predestinarian understanding of the sovereignty of God influences his perception of the role of faith in baptism, which emphasizes God’s role and de-emphasizes human acts in the ceremony. Luther argues that human faith, while important for the daily application of baptism, cannot be the …

Habermas And The Question Of Bioethics, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In The Future of Human Nature, Jürgen Habermas raises the question of whether the embryonic genetic diagnosis and genetic modification threatens the foundations of the species ethics that underlies current understandings of morality. While morality, in the normative sense, is based on moral interactions enabling communicative action, justification, and reciprocal respect, the reification involved in the new technologies may preclude individuals to uphold a sense of the undisposability (Unverfügbarkeit) of human life and the inviolability (Unantastbarkeit) of human beings that is necessary for their own identity as well as for reciprocal relations. Engaging with liberal …

Mission As Virtuous Practice: A Theology Of Mission Through The Lens Of Virtue Ethics, Michael Niebauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work uses theological virtue ethics as a guide both for critiquing various models of Christian mission and for constructing a model of mission that adequately addresses these criticisms. The first section of the dissertation (chapters one, two, and three) is devoted to an assessment of three major models of mission, which I have labeled mission as the missio Dei, mission as growth, and mission as dialogue. This assessment generates three recurring issues within the field of missiology that have remained largely unresolved: the problems of distinction, agency, and persuasion. The second half of the dissertation (chapters four, five, …

Natural Law, The Object Of The Act, And Double Effect: Moral Methodology For Catholic Health Care Ethics, Travis Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Veritatis Splendor is the first and only magisterial document that systematically articulates a moral methodology for Catholic moral theology. This dissertation makes explicit the methodological connection between Vatican teaching and the United States Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The thesis of the dissertation explains the systematic connection between Natural Law, the Moral Object of the Act, and the Principle of Double Effect and by extension the ethical Principle of Cooperation. Second, the thesis applies this complex moral method of official teaching to health care ethics.

Following the introduction, chapter …

Priestly Formation And Sexual Abuse In The Roman Catholic Church: In Dialogue With The Nigerian Church, Simonmary Asese Aihiokhai

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Reading the signs of the times today cannot be done legitimately without a critical look at the current sex abuse crisis perpetuated by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. To deny the fact that the Church has a crisis on its hands is to trivialize the pain and sorrow experienced by all in the Church, and most especially by the victims of the crisis. This work provides an x-ray vision of some of the factors shaping this crisis and boldly offers some interventions that can help the Church to navigate its way out of the crisis. There is an …

Biblical Coens: Can We Laugh Now?, Richard G. Walsh

Journal of Religion & Film

A review of Coen criticism, specifically attending to Elijah Siegler’s recent, significant collection of essays, indicates that Coen brothers’ films frame characters in harsh, amoral worlds. This aesthetic “framing” is similar not only to Camus’ analysis of the absurd, but also to the “feel” of some biblical narratives. Where Camus urges one to move beyond the absurd to absurd creation and biblical narratives press on to faith—at least, in most religious readings of them—the Coens laugh. A selective overview of the use of bibles in Coen brothers’ films demonstrates that the Coens’ biblical hermeneutic is risible. Their films frame bibles …

Chapter 8: Paul Ramsey's Christian Deontology, Bharat Ranganathan

Religion Faculty Publications

Commonsense tells us something about what Christian ethics may look like. For Christians, certain things are fixed, for example, about God (Gen. 1.1; Ps. 18.30; Ps. 50.6; Ps. 116.5; Jn. 1.5), the Fall (Gen. 3), and Christ’s life, death (Matt. 27.32–56), and resurrection (Matt. 28.1–10). Moreover, in his social teaching, Christ commands: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the …