Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Schism, Synodality, And Communion In The Contemporary American Catholic Church, Nicola Peck

Undergraduate Theses

Divisions in the American Catholic Church have resulted in widespread dissent from Catholic moral teaching. In response to this dissent, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has used the language of communion to bar dissenting Catholics from the Eucharist, which is to push them to the margins of the Church. In contrast, Pope Francis has used the language of communion to welcome dissenting Catholics to the table through the Synod on Synodality. This thesis explores the theological implications of these different approaches to communion. It argues that the people of the Church must embrace an understanding of communion …

The Experiences Of Transgender Anglicans In The Eucharistic Liturgy, Jordan D. Sandrock

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study asked how transgender Anglicans respond to God’s action in the Eucharistic liturgy. Transgender Christians may have different experiences in faith than our cisgender peers, which influences the way in which we respond to God and to God’s action in the liturgy.

Over the course of the study, I interviewed seven transgender Anglicans from three geographic regions (Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Using semi-structured interview questions, I spoke to the participants about their experiences in the Eucharistic liturgy and how it related to their sense of God’s action. I then analysed the contents of the interviews …

Catholicism Online: How The Church Is Communicating In The Visual Field, Alexandra Barfield

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

Given the rise and importance of social media in the last two decades, religious institutions, especially the Roman Catholic Church, have an important place online to fulfill their mission and belief of spreading the Gospel message. Communicating this message on social media and with contemporary marketing practices is an opportunity and a challenge for churches, Catholics, and apostolates alike. In this study, I analyze a variety of Catholic-related Instagram accounts and interview individuals involved in Church management and content creation. This primary research is prefaced with secondary research exploring the status of the Catholic Church in the United States, …

Developing Practices Within The Lord’S Supper That Develop Central Identity At Queen City Church Of Christ, Ryan Russell

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project was designed to meet a need at the Queen City Church of Christ (QCC) for developing intentional practices around the Lord’s Supper for forming a central identity in a diverse community. The scope of this project focuses on the project group’s ability to develop practices based on the theology of the Lord’s Supper, biblical teaching, engaging in practices of spiritual formation as a group, and their observations of Lord’s Supper practices in other Christian traditions. Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth provides the textual context for the discussion of the role the Lord’s Supper plays within …

Re-Imagining The Lord's Supper As A Place Of Belonging And Hospitality In The Christian Churches/Churches Of Christ, Katy Drage Lines

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation reimagines the independent Christian Churches' practice of Communion as a means of belonging within a community—and as an opportunity for hospitality and welcoming others. Unfortunately, the deficient theological understanding and trivializing of communion within many independent Christian Churches contributes to a lack of ecclesial identity and authentic openness to others. It will be argued that when an independent Christian Church congregation prioritizes and collectively practices communion, it strengthens their identity, mission, and connection to one another and puts in place opportunities to welcome outsiders into their community through shared meals. The concept of permeable belonging will be introduced, …

The Medievalizing Process: Religious Medievalism In Romantic And Victorian Literature, Timothy M. Curran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Medievalizing Process: Religious Medievalism in Romantic and Victorian Literature posits religious medievalism as one among many critical paradigms through which we might better understand literary efforts to bring notions of sanctity back into the modern world. As a cultural and artistic practice, medievalism processes the loss of medieval forms of understanding in the modern imagination and resuscitates these lost forms in new and imaginative ways to serve the purposes of the present. My dissertation proposes religious medievalism as a critical method that decodes modern texts’ lamentations over a perceived loss of the sacred. My project locates textual moments in …

The Church As A Eucharistic And Prophetic Community In India: A Theological Exploration Into The Challenges And Implications Of A Eucharistic Ecclesiology Based On The Early Church And The Statements Of The Indian Theological Association (Ita), Shibi Devasia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theological trends change from time to time to make the faith more meaningful and relevant to the contemporary context. To an extent, the Second Vatican Council, by its commitment to two concepts, “ressourcement” and “aggiornamento,” succeeded in this mission in the last century. The communion ecclesiology of the Council, which has its foundation in the sacrament of Eucharist, shows that the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church cannot be overlooked, because the ecclesial body of the Church is built up by the Eucharistic body of Christ. Any Eucharist-centered ecclesiology is prophetic and eschatological by nature. The “Eucharistic” and …

Come To The Table: An Ancient-Future Ecclesiology, Christopher Lapp

Doctor of Ministry

The medium of the contemporary evangelical church in North America is incongruent with the gospel message. Where the gospel message invites people into a family, the evangelical church invites people into pews; while the gospel invites beggars to a feast, the evangelical church invites people to partake of a thimble of grape juice and a tasteless wafer. The Millennial generation values family and authenticity and longs for the alignment of mediums and messages.

Millennials are the largest and most diverse generation in North American history and it is vital for the evangelical church in North America to connect with them. …

The New Reformed Pastor: Zwinglian Wisdom For Modern Ministers, Scotty Jermaine Williams

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout churches in the Reformed tradition, there is a growing interest in renewing Eucharistic practices. This growing interest has led to a series of discussions among Reformed clergy regarding the role of pastors in the Eucharistic context. According to some church leaders, many Reformed pastors have a faulty sacramentality that stems from a misunderstanding of John Calvin’s pastoral vision. Instead of compelling faith in action through the Eucharist, where communicants share the grace they receive, this sacramentality leads them to be passive recipients that keep Eucharistic grace within the church. Unlike other research, which addresses the aforementioned issue by only …

The Promise And Problematic Of The Virtual Eucharist Mass According To The Roman Catholic Church’S Position In “The Church And The Internet”, Andrew W. Labenek

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study is concerned with articulating a valid community-building role that the virtual Eucharistic Mass could play within the Roman Catholic Church. I undertake this task in view of those unable to attend a real world Mass because of physical and geographical impediments or for fear of violence. According to the Pontifical Council of Social Communications’ document, “The Church and the Internet,” Eucharistic Mass celebrated through the internet is invalid. The first chapter of this study contextualizes and explains the Church’s stance in this document. The remaining two chapters are framed by the Pontifical study’s two main objections to virtual …

The Development Of The Epiclesis: Alexandrian Or Syrian?, Nathan Peter Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper explores the origins and development of the epiclesis in Eucharistic prayers. It begins by looking at the pneumatological developments around the time of the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople in the 4th century. It then turns to the work of influential scholars in the field to try and present a status quaestionis on the epiclesis which seeks to answer the questions: 1) How did it develop?, 2) Where did it develop?, and 3) Why did it develop? The paper ends by affirming the uncertainty of scholarship on the answers to these questions, while …

A Theological Inquiry Regarding The Practice Of The Eucharist In Cyberspace, Janice L. Duce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at the Eucharist in cyberspace, beginning with a case study of a faith community who met with controversy after the group shared the ritual in cyberspace. Based on a qualitative study of the practice and its aftermath, the theoretical analysis includes the nature of the Internet itself and its capacity as a location for networked communities; its capacity to operate as a communication medium for a religious ritual; and the involvement of active users.

The users in this case were members of a religious community interested in preserving their Eucharist theological tradition. The first set of major …

The Sacramental Theology Of John Owen And John Calvin, David Van Eyk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis compares the theology of the Lord's Supper in the Reformed theologians John Owen (1616-1683) and John Calvin (1509-1564), and addresses the differences discerned between the two. The argument is that the Federal theology which undergirded Owen's theology led him to develop a problematic theology. Owen's theology of the Lord's Supper focuses attention on the atonement and on covenant obligations, whereas John Calvin, who was not encumbered by the assumptions of Federal theology, draws attention instead in his theology of the Lord's Supper to the believer's union with Christ, and to its soteriological implications. The thesis concludes that those …

Trilectic Of Testimony: A Phenomenological Construal Of The Eucharist As Manifestation-Proclamation-Attestation, Donald Lee Wallenfang

Dissertations

This thesis seeks to revolutionize thinking the sacrament, in particular the Eucharist. Instead of construing the Eucharist in terms of substance or symbol, the Eucharist is construed phenomenologically as manifestation-proclamation-attestation. In this way, the particular emphases of Catholic (manifestation), Jewish and Protestant (proclamation, attestation) thought converge around the question of the phenomenality of the religious phenomenon, specifically the Eucharist-phenomenon. Representative of each of these three faith traditions, the following prominent thinkers are placed in dialectical confrontation: Jean-Luc Marion (Catholic, manifestation), Paul Ricoeur (Protestant, proclamation/attestation) and Emmanuel Levinas (Jewish, proclamation/attestation). Building on the seminal work of Louis-Marie Chauvet, Symbole et sacrement: …

The Purpose Of The Pastoral Office As Taught By The Church Fathers, Augsburg Confession V, And The Contemporary Age, D Lee Cullen Jr.

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

This paper will seek to identify the basic understanding of those Church Fathers who spoke most directly to this topic, namely, Ignatius of Antioch, Gregory of Nazianzus, St. John Chrysostom, and Gregory the Great. The rationale for the selection of these Fathers is twofold. Firstly, their proximity and place in what we identify as the era of the Early Church. Ignatius of Antioch stands closest to the Apostolic Age while Gregory the Great provides the other bookend, standing at the end of what is commonly accepted as the era of the Early Church. Secondly, this wall provide a reasonable expectation …

The Study Of Intercommunion 1951-1971 : Evidence Of A Hermeneutical Shift In Faith And Order, Mark Buetow

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

The thesis of this paper is that the approach to the problem of intercommunion taken by the Commission on Faith and Order demonstrates a foundational change in the hermeneutical approach taken by the Commission in doing theology. This conclusion is suggested as an answer to the question: What caused the shift in Faith and Order's study and discussion of intercommunion from one that seeks agreement among doctrinal differences and difficulties to a pluralistic approach which embraces all perspectives as complimentary and mutually affirming? The significance of the hermeneutical shift is this: the seeming theological convergence on intercommunion has come at …

The Eucharist: Center Of The Church's Worship And Life, David Stohlmann

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

THE EUCHARIST: CENTER OF THE CHURCH'S WORSHIP AND LIFE. I will develop a seminar of four modules which provides assistance for pastors and worship committees in the practice of Lutheran liturgical worship centered in word and sacrament and its effect on daily living. The modules (theological foundation, annual planning, the basics of chant, and suggestions for occasional services) offer resources and rationale for use of the standard liturgical material as found in the Lutheran service books.

The Lord's Supper's Eschatology In The Blood Of The Covenant, Joel Lehenbauer

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The thesis we will try to defend is that the theology of the Lord’s Supper is the matrix of the theology of the Lord's Supper's23eschatology. What gives the Lord's Supper its unique character will also give the Lord's Supper's eschatology its unique character. One’s view of what holds the Lord's Supper together will determine one's view of what holds the Lord's Supper together with its eschatology. What is seen as the proprium of the Lord's Supper will also be the center of the Lord's Supper's eschatology.

Faith Affirmed Through Eucharistic Miracles, Teresa Santoyo

Pastoral Institute

The purpose of this project is to explore what is the relationship between the declining participation of the faithful in the celebration of the Mystery of the Eucharist and their respective understanding of the term "Real Presence" as it relates to the mystery of the eucharist.

A Law-Gospel Comparison Of The World Council Of Churches' Document Baptism. Eucharist. And Ministry And The Book Of Concord, Glen Thomas

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Before comparing Baptism. Eucharist, and Ministry(BEM) and The Book of Concord with respect to their confession of the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, it will be helpful to establish and define what is meant by the terms Law and Gospel.as well as their proper distinction. While an investigation of all aspects of Law and Gospel would consume an entire thesis in itself, only those aspects of Law and Gospel which will be helpful in the investigation of BEM and The Book of Concord will be explored (those dealing with how man is justified before God). The material presented in …

The Apostolic Tradition- A Study Of The Texts And Origins, And Its Eucharistic Teachings With A Special Exploration Of The Ethiopic Version, Eshetu Abate

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

This study will engage only one piece of the great body of material that is ours by way of the Ethiopic tradition. What we know of the inter-testamental period and of early Christianity would be poorer without what comes to us through the Ethiopic tradition, both where it overlaps with other traditions, and where it is unique. Among its unique witnesses of the inter-testamental period are Jubliees, 1 Book of Enoch and the Ascension of Isaiah. Of these the complete text is provided only by their Ethiopic versions. The traditions of the Early Church preserved in the Ethiopic tradition are …

Ceremonial And The Sacramentals Which Are Authorized In The Agenda Used By The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Peter Hoyer

Bachelor of Divinity

We shall give direction only to some of the sacramentals and their ceremonies in the Agenda. This is due to space, time, and the purpose of the Fourth Year Research Paper at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Factors Affecting Frequency Of Celebration And Reception Of The Eucharist In Twentieth Century Non-Roman Churches And Religious Communities, Paul Clarence Dorn

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The study traces the practice of the Christian. church from the time of the New Testament to the present day in re1ation to the matter of frequency of reception and celebration. The assumption is that a study of earlier eucharistic practices will give a better perspective to the study of present-day churches and religious communities.

Evaluation Of Current Lutheran Materials Training The Congregation To Worship, Duane Brunette

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The initial approach of this paper is to define worship as a basis for the evaluation of the materials. Its premise is that worship is an action on the part of the Christian.

The Significance Of The Concepts Διαθηκη And ‘Αιμα Toward Understanding A Passover Background Of The Lord's Supper, Armand Sailer

Bachelor of Divinity

The importance of such a study is not just that the events in the life of Jesus be clarified and harmonized, but that the real meaning of the Supper may be ascertained. If the Supper has no connection with the Passover, our theology of the Eucharist needs to be re-evaluated and harmonized to whatever is the real intent of Christ's institution. The aim of this study is to investigate the significance of the concepts διαθήκη and αί̑μα toward such a Passover understanding of the Supper. Chapter II will examine the four accounts of the institution, evaluate the critical variants, and …

Eucharistic Sacrifice: An Expression Of Good For Others, William Hempel

Bachelor of Divinity

We would hope to demonstrate that the entire topic of Eucharistic sacrifice might be placed upon a much broader base than has been the case prior to this. It is hoped that this study will reveal the possibility of doing this with7some profit as well as increase our present understanding of the historic background of eucharistic sacrifice.

The Study Of The Real Presence In The Ante-Nicene Fatherswith Some Lutheran Comparisons, Paul Pahl

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

A study of the nature of the eucharistic presence of .Christ in the writings of the early Fathers would therefore seem to have considerable practical value and should also help in forming a sound opinion and conclusions about the nature of this evidence.

In the present study it is also intended to examine Luther's views on the matter under discussion especially where they impinge on viewpoints and ideas set forth in the writings of the Fathers under consideration. Wherever possible reference will also be made to the Lutheran Confessions.

It is intended to examine and evaluate the patristic evidence up …

The Historical Deveopment Of The Postcommunion Collects For The Sundays And Some Feast Days Of The Church Year, Leo La Fontaine

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This study surveys the historical development of the post-communion collects according to the Sundays and some feast days of the Church year.

Philip Melanchthon's Doctrine Of The Holy Eucharist, Randell Tonn

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This dissertation is an attempt to determine, primarily on the basis of his own major writings, opinions and letters, the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist as taught, believed and confessed by Philip Melanchthon. The question we seek to answer is: “What was Philip Melanchthon’s doctrine of the Holy Eucharist?" This question is deliberately phrased to exclude the question, "What do other commentators say that he taught and believed?" On the basis of his own words, we seek to determine what is Melanchthon saying about the Eucharist; not what might he be interpreted as saying; what would we prefer him to …

A Comparative Study Of Eucharistic Teachings Of The Didache With Canonical, Early Christian, And Non-Christian Literature, Joseph Richard Bennett

Graduate Thesis Collection

In this study it is not the author's aim to attempt to cover the field pertaining to the origin and development of the Eucharist. A vast number of competent works have been vrritten on the subject, but the primary purpose here is to examine the Eucharistic teachings of the Didache in the light of Canonical, early Christian, and non-Christian literature, in an effort to determine if the Didache presents the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper) in its original form as practiced in the primitive Christian Church of the first century. Further, we propose to show how the simplicity of the act …