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Examining Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’S “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Through A Historical Lens Of Black Theology And Evangelical Theology: Forming A More Perfect Theology, Lisa P. Christian

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A key theological justification for nonviolent resistance in the Civil Rights Movement is “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” This dissertation presents a historiographical and theological analysis of King’s letter, arguing that it serves as a framework for critiquing the validity of Black and Evangelical theologies’ responses to injustice. It engages in a critical dialogue between Black theology and evangelical theology, examining how theologians such as James H. Cone and Carl F. H. Henry interpret King’s claims about justice, morality, and nonviolent resistance within the context of segregation in the 1960s South.

Tracing key theological developments that shaped the doctrines, dogmas, and …

Unshackling The Coffee Supply Chain: An “Ethics Project” For Catholic Colleges And Universities, Bernard Prusak, Kimberly Lamberty

2026 Faculty Bibliography

Against the background of a growing and increasingly sophisticated body of theological literature on economic ethics, this article proposes a project to change for the better, morally, how coffee is supplied on the campuses of Catholic colleges and universities. We argue that this project is squarely in service of a Catholic college or university’s core educational goal of humane development of its students. The article then proceeds in three steps. First, we explain how the coffee supply chain works and how it is entangled in what Pope Francis called “the economy that kills.” Second, we discuss obstacles to our proposed …

Look To Him And Be Radiant With Joy: The Necessity Of The Body For Man's Ultimate Beatitude And The Role Of Ecstatic Joy In The Extensive Growth Of The Beatitude Of The Soul, Sister Maximilian Marie Garretson, O.P.

Theology Graduate Theses

Saint Thomas Aquinas states that our “final and perfect happiness consists in nothing other than the vision of the Divine Essence.”¹ Yet, he distinguishes between the essence and perfection of beatitude and argues that the perfect beatitude of man is fulfilled at the resurrection of the body, after which beatitude grows extensively in the soul of the blessed.²

Based on Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy of the body, his metaphysics of beatitude, and his treatment of charity, it is clear that the glorified body is necessary for the human person’s experience of the fullness of beatitude. How then, does the …

Perspectives On Mental Health And Disability Theologies Through Dialogue Between The Disciplines, Emily Heidick

Obsculta

This piece places some voices from theologies of mental health in dialogue with voices from disability theology. While far from exhaustive, this piece seeks to spark insight into how theology and society at large contemplates mental health and disability. Specifically, this piece seeks to challenge assumptions about suffering and calls for greater understanding and inclusion.

The ‘Temple Of The Holy Spirit’ & Christian Identity: Old Testament Echoes In 1 Corinthians, Sr. Amata Christi Lippert O.P.

Theology Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Gratia Gratis Data: A Thomistic Perspective Of Grace In The Life Of The Church, Sister Mary Josephine Spellman, O.P.

Theology Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

An Interdisciplinary Theological Method From The Knowledge Of The Forgotten, Alexandre A. Martins

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Theological Questions, Todd R. Hanneken

Open Textbooks

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

Spring 2020: Reflections On Trauma, Vocation And What Tips The Balance, Annika Osell, Mckenna Kaminski

St. Norbert College Magazine 2019-2023

Students grappling with their studies in vocation tapped deep into painful experiences – their own and others’ – as they wrote a series of outstanding papers for Paul Wadell (Theology & RS) in their senior capstone class last year. Reprinted here with kind permission of the authors.

The Craftsman Mirroring The Creator: Explorations In Theatrical Theology, Andrew Noah

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This will be my presentation given to theology faculty on Scholarship and Creativity Day required for the Theology Capstone course. I will be discussing the idea that when doing theology in a theatrical mode, it becomes a way to focus on God working in the world and our call as the audience to take part in the performance. Because God does not just exist in the abstract, but makes Godself known through the senses, theatre, as a sensual art, becomes the perfect mode to explore and make relevant God’s divine revelation.

Contemporary Jesuit Epistemological Interests, James G. Murphy

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Apart from an orientation to and interest in the discernment of spirits as laid out in St Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises, there does not exist a Jesuit epistemology as such. Compared to the numbers of Jesuit systematic theologians, scripture scholars, metaphysicians, and ethicists, there have been few Jesuit epistemologists.2 In metaphysics, Jesuits have been Thomist or Suarezian, even Platonist. In ethics, they have ranged from proportionalist through deontologist to virtue ethicist. No similar distinctive Jesuit presence is to be found in epistemology....

White Supremacy, The Election Of Donald Trump And The Challenge To Theology, Susan Ross

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article is a transcript of an interview conducted by Susan Ross on 12 January, 2017, with Professor Bryan Massingale. Following the election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency, there was a surge in the number of racial and ethnic attacks on minorities across the country, and an increased concern over the place of minorities in the United States. During the previous two years, a number of shootings of black men and women had attracted much attention and protest, particularly around the Black Lives Matter movement which began after the killing of Michael Brown in the summer of 2014. …

The Relationship Between Love And Reason, Tracey Rowland

Theology Papers and Journal Articles

No abstract is available for this article.

The Soul Of The Drone Operator: The Place Of The Cardinal Virtues In Drone Warfare, Lazarus Ejike Onuh

Theology Graduate Theses

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter

1. The Value of Human Life and the Paradox of War
2. The Nuts and Bolts of Drones
3. The Moral Landscape of Drone Warfare and Its Implication on the Just War Theory
4. The Cardinal Virtues and the Drone Operator
5. The Victimhood of the Drone Operator
6. Beyond Moral Injury; Soul Wound and Repair

Conclusion

Bibliography

Understanding Human Sexuality In John Paul Ii’S Theology Of The Body: An Analysis Of The Historical Development Of Doctrine In The Catholic Tradition, John Segun Odeyemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most volatile area of contention in the discourse between a pure secularized world and the Church in contemporary times is located in the area of sexuality, marriage and family life. Modernist and liberal post enlightenment culture accuse the Church to be unchanging, and unreflective of modern ‘personal’ choices in the contested areas of human sexuality. Within the Church, there are voices also who call for ‘developments’ in such areas of doctrine. For over forty years, these conversation has taken on many shades of grey coming to a head with questions of discordancy and same sex unions among other pressing …

The Theological Virtue Of Faith As The Foundation Of The Christian Moral Life, Sr. Mary Jacinta Li O.P.

Theology Graduate Theses

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Chapters

Introduction

Chapter One: Scriptural Notion of Faith and the Life of Faith

• Introduction
• Faith as God’s Work of Salvation in Jesus Christ
• The Gospel as the Content of Faith
• Faith and the “Obedience of Faith” are Gifts of God’s Grace
• Faith Transforms the Life of the Believer
• The Life of Faith is “Faith Working Through Love”
• Conclusion

Chapter Two: The Moral Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Faith in Christ

• Introduction
• Happiness as the Keystone of the Moral Life
• Faith and Man’s Perfection and Happiness
• “Living Faith” and “Faith Working Through Love”
• Faith and the …

The Treatment Of Rape In Theology, Sr. Pauline Logue

The ITB Journal

When I first began to research the treatment of rape in theology some five years ago I was frequently asked what rape had to do with theology. That is not a question I hear today. Largely due to scandals in both church and state a theological response has been demanded to the serious question of sexual abuse. That response is underway. This article presents a brief summary of central theological issues that arise from an analysis of the experience of rape victims.1 It presents an overview of the treatment of rape in traditional and mainstream theology and finally it examines …

The Contemporary Context Of Milton's Typology: Biblical Exegesis And Literature In The Seventeenth Century, Everett T. Wade

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Literary scholars have recently shown renewed interest in John Milton’s unconventional religious and political thought. Milton was at odds with the dominant Protestant theology of his day. He believed that humans had free will, thus rejecting the central Calvinist doctrine that God predestined men for salvation or damnation. He also rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, claiming that Christ was not equal with God the Father, but rather a subordinate being. These departures from Protestant thought have considerable impact upon Milton’s major poems, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes. While scholars have explored the role of Milton’s heretical thought, …

The Relationship Between A Theological Understanding Of Marital Commitment And A Juridical Articulation Of Marital Consent In Sacramental Marriages In The United States, Angela Robb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sacramental marriage is an essential social, public, ecclesial, and theological good, yet its influence in the United States is threatened by a divorce rate comparable to the U.S. population in general, an explosive increase in cohabitation, and a declining marriage rate. The underlying assumption of this dissertation is that commitment and consent, more thoroughly understood and consistently lived, are essential to lifelong, faithful, and life-giving marriage that symbolizes and makes present Christ's indissoluble love for the church. Through an adapted use of Don Browning's fundamental practical theological method, this study begins with practical concerns regarding concrete marital and family practices …

Roman Catholic Teaching On International Debt: Toward A New Methodology For Catholic Social Ethics And Moral Theology, M. Therese Lysaught

Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Philosophy And Theology: End Of Life Questions, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

To Speak Of God In A Feminine Way In The Churches And Theologies Of The Americas, Susan Ross

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Vision And Black Theology And Experience, Angelo Sylvester Riley

Dissertations

To this day, philosophical ethics and dominant discussions in Christian ethics have paid insufficient attention to how vision shapes the moral life. Too much focus is given to moral decision-making and action, while too little focus is given to the way vision and patterns of attentiveness ground our capacities for genuine morally responsible action. Therefore, in this study, I draw on important works in philosophical and Christian ethics to examine both the ethics of responsibility and the central role that an ethics of vision plays in our attempts to live responsibly. I use the "ethics of vision" as method and …

The Systemic Erasure Of The Black/Dark-Skinned Body In Catholic Ethics, Bryan Massingale

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

One of the questions I address in my scholarly work is this: What would Catholic theological ethics look like if it took the "Black Experience" seriously as a dialogue partner? To raise the question, however, is to signal the reality of absence, erasure, and "missing" voices. The question is necessary only because the "Black Experience"--the collective story of African American survival and achievement in a hostile, exploitative, and racist environment--and the bodies who are the subjects of this experience have been all too often rendered invisible and therefore "missing" in U.S. Catholic ethical reflection.

Kalon And The Symphony Of Lament": The Integration Of Cosmology And Social Ethics In Cappadocian Thought ", Adam Sheridan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Catholic Sexual Ethics - A Necessary Revision: Theological Responses To The Sexual Abuse Scandal, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Moral Theology Haiku, Mary Lavoy

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Our Identities: From Ethicist To Moral Theologian, M Therese Lysaught

Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The CHA Ethics Survey issues a challenge to those who "do" ethics within Catholic health care: is it time to reclaim the identity of the Catholic moral theologian for Catholic health care? If the answer is "yes," what will it take to do so?