Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Not Quite Calvinist: Cyril Lucaris A Reconsideration Of His Life And Beliefs, Stephanie Falkowski

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Cyril Lucaris is primarily remembered as an Eastern Orthodox patriarch who held Calvinist beliefs. A more nuanced view is gained from often ignored facets of his life and times, the extant letters he wrote, and in recognition of various possible interpretations of the existing evidence. This paper, challenging common misconceptions about Lucaris, explores three main areas relevant to this discussion: his biographical influences, his beliefs and their development, and his own intentions and self-understanding of his relationships with Protestants. The result shows a man engaged in a world influenced by Western theological developments from the Reformation, fostering friendships as he …

Ecclessiology Today And Its Potential To Serve A Missionary Church, Kristin Colberg

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

This article engages the theme of the 2017 meeting of the American Society of Missiology: “Missiology’s Dialogue Partners: Practitioners and Scholars Conversing about the Future of Mission.” It seeks to contribute to that conversation by providing a survey of the discipline of ecclesiology with an eye towards how it might learn from the field of mission and how it might inform it. This exploration begins by defining some of the goals, methods, and boundaries of the field of ecclesiology. It then considers three critical issues at the forefront of ecclesiological work today: 1) questions emanating from the ecumenical sphere; 2) …

On Dionysian Theological Methodology, Joseph Arrendale

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite was an anonymous theologian who likely lived in Syria around the sixth century CE. He is primarily known for his advancements in the field of apophatic, or negative, theology. However, far from being against positive statements about God, Dionysius viewed them as necessary springboards for the worship of a God that is beyond word or concept. The structure of the Dionysian method for doing theology allows for the avoidance of idolatry as well as for sidestepping the charge of onto-theology in Christian God-talk. Thomas Aquinas and Hans Urs von Balthasar are theologians that each appropriated the Dionysian …

Do This, In Memory Of Me!, Joseph Qiu-Lin Zhang

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

In order to better understand the meaning of the Eucharist, in this paper I describe three theologians’ views about the Eucharist. Their views represent three denominations of the Church. They are: Martin Luther (Lutheran), Alexander Schmemann (Orthodox), and Thomas Merton (Roman Catholic). I compare their views from three aspects: The meaning of the presence of Jesus Christ in bread and wine in the Eucharist, the qualification of receiving communion, and the entire meaning of the Eucharist.

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Mismeasuring Humanity: Dangers Of "The Contemporary Orthodoxy", Vincent M. Smiles

Headwaters

The various unjust discriminations (racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc.) that plague society are tied to the larger question of how human lives and minds are regarded in society as a whole. Humans have always had a problem of mismeasuring the “other,” but this problem is compounded by promotion, from powerful voices, of the view that humans are just so much physics and chemistry, that the mind is the brain, and that humans are deluded about the power of consciousness and freedom. Daniel Dennett refers to the latter as “the contemporary orthodoxy,” as though it is the view of humanity that all …

Religion And The New Technologies, Noreen L. Herzfeld

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Books

Noreen Herzfeld's featured article: https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03842-531-1

“I Am The Mahar Of Your Mahars:” Cokhāmelā, The Modern Dalit Movement, And The Dalit Christian Theology, Chris Conway

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

Over the last century, Cokhāmelā’s place and prominence in the Modern Dalit Movement and Dalit Christian theology have waned significantly. As the liberating potential of his work failed to be actualized, and more recent Dalit figures like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and movements like Dalit Sahitya began to examine his work and life more critically, Cokhāmelā and his abhangas were found inadequate. Cokhāmelā became identified as one whose conscientisation remained incomplete, primarily because he failed to convert from Hinduism and saw his caste through the lens of karma. This essay re-examines Cokhāmelā’s life, death, and legacy so as to reassess his …

Transcendent Mind, Emergent Universe In The Thought Of Michael Polanyi, Vincent Smiles

Theology Faculty Publications

This essay vindicates two major aspects of the science-based philosophy of Michael Polanyi: 1. His concept of tacit knowing, and 2. His concept of the multi-levelled character of reality. These two notions relate closely with one another, and together support the thesis to be argued here, that when it comes to understanding human beings, and most especially the human mind, science and religion have to meet on the common ground of the transcendent capacities of human beings, which are pointers to the transcendent character of the universe. The mind is an emergent of the universe, as are all of its …

Benedictine Communio: A Gift For The Church?, Michael Leonard Hahn

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Church Built On Charity: Augustine's Ecclesiology, Michael J. Clinger Jr

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This thesis will undertake the mission of articulating the ecclesiological thought of Augustine with particular emphasis on charity as the fundamental component to church unity. Hopefully, this will further demonstrate his inclusivity, not exclusivity. The beginnings of this thesis will simply show his influences, and thus serve as a background to understanding the mind of Augustine. The next step will take the reader into the world of Augustine’s theology of charity. Charity in the Christian life is the result of being gifted with God’s grace; how charity works and how proper, authentic charity appears will be the topic of the …

My Brother's A Jerk And Dad's Gonna Spank Him: Roles And Relations In Obadiah, Aletta Stumo

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper presents research and analysis on the use of violence in the Book of Obadiah to make claims of a restored strong masculinity for God, the nation of all-Israel, and the author. The paper finds that these claims can only partially be validated due to the violent nature of the threats and due to how the exile ended.

James Baldwin And James Cone: God, Man, And The Redeeming Relationship, Rea Mcdonnell S.S.N.D.

Obsculta

Originally written as a graduate paper in 1972 as part of a Master of Arts in Theology. See http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/sot_papers/439/

Assessing The Christian's Response To The Annihilating Self-Communication Of A Suicide Bomber, C. A. Chase

Obsculta

In a world, where cartoonists and grocery shoppers are gunned down in Paris, and journalists are beheaded on Youtube, the annihilating self-communication of a suicide bomber serves as a ready-made opportunity for a radical claim at sovereignty, if only for a moment. To bomb is to communicate an absolute immanence. Such bombing is a demand for a response.

This paper assesses the Christian’s response to the use of such bombing-as-communication. It does so by first considering the agent of the response, and her self-identity as Christian, and then bombing as a form of self-communication, from: the perspective of its nature, …

All For Jesus, Jesus For All: A Refocused Theology On The Mission Of Jesus Christ, Alex Wald

Obsculta

Both Benedict XVI and John Paul II were forming their faith when they witnessed the great atrocities committed by the communist Soviet Union, and both held strong aversions to liberation theology which shares several essential ideas with Marxism. In Pope Francis’ side of the world, liberation theology came to be viewed in a completely opposite light. There, it was popularized as a God-blessed revolution against oppressive dictatorships. Pope Francis has an opportunity to enrich the Church’s mission with the gains made by Latin American liberation theologians.

A Comparison Of The Christological Praxis Of Søren Kierkegaard And Pope Francis, Alex Juguilon O.S.C.

Obsculta

Although faced with different needs and warrants from different eras, both Søren Kierkegaard and Pope Francis challenged the Christian populous of their times to live authentically. For the two, Christianity is a way of existence that transcends doctrine and speculation. Authenticity is predicated upon an internal transformation that is manifested externally by the way one relates to others. This paper outlines the unique approach each man takes to this challenge.

Gifting Freedom To The Samaritan: Considerations On Access To Both The Sacramental Event And Salvation For Those Who, For Whatever Reason, Find Themselves Outside The Church, And The Consequences Of Identity For The Church In Gifting Such Access, C. A. Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This thesis gives consideration to issues surrounding the question of access to salvation, and to sacramental event, for contemporary ‘Samaritans’ – those persons who, for whatever reason, find themselves outside the Church. To chart such access, attention must be afforded, not only to the historical pronouncements of the Church, but also, most importantly, to the voiced laments and insights of these Samaritans themselves, enduring their dissonance and respecting their critique, both theological and ecclesiastical. Through such colloquy, a return to the Samaritan in Luke who offers hope to the exigencies of access, and leaves to linger an ecclesiastical question of …

Christology, Theology, & Evolution In Celia Deane-Drummond's Christ And Evolution, Trevor Beach Sj

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper explores the relationship between theology and biological understandings of evolution. This paper explores some of the major themes in theology as they relate to contemporary observation of the natural world in biology. By this paper, I hope to highlight kenosis and eschatology as two theological foci that can aid in the discussion between biological evolution and contemporary theology.

My Interaction With God, “I”, And Others, Adam Fitzpatrick

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Contours Of The Catholic Mind, Julia Smucker

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

The Religious Vision Of Saint Francis Of Assisi As Mission: Entering Into The Experience Of The Other, Thomas Piolata

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Consideration Of The Church's Identity And Mission, Predicated On The Church Be-Ing 'Ligamen' (Bond), C. A. Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

In 1965, the Roman Catholic Church, in Gaudium et spes, declared to the world: this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds (GS 1). Shifting her identity from being one in opposition to the modern world, she announced the possibility of becoming the very bond (ligamen) binding diverse human communities and nations of the world, whilst existing as a function, a light, an energy (GS 42). Framed against the classical understanding of ecclesia as a perfect society, and the fact that this was no longer realistic in …

Gustave Thibon And Human Freedom, Wesley Sutermeister

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Joy As Illumination: Participation In God's Life-Giving Trinitarian Love, Trevor Beach Sj

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This graduate paper is on the topic of joy, especially as understood in the commentaries of Adrienne von Speyr, and the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar. In this paper, I show Christian joy as participation in God’s own joy through an illuminated and inter-personal life-giving love as given through and shown in the entire life of Jesus Christ, from the Incarnation, through the suffering Passion, and unto the Resurrection.

The Christological Remnants Within Eucharistic Prayers, Nathan Peter Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper explores the development of Christology in the early Church concluding with a look at Angel Christology in the Roman Canon and Logos Christology in The Prayers of Sarapion of Thmuis. A lack of Christological precision in early Christian praying has anachronistically led modern scholars to question the orthodoxy of early prayers. This paper argues that just as liturgical scholars have long realized that the development of liturgy moved from diversity to uniformity, so too this is the case with theology. The movement to tighten the borders of orthodoxy has led to liturgical standardization. Just as the dating of …

Christ, The Meeting Point Of Sacramental And Trinitarian Theology, Nathan Peter Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper explores the relationship between the liturgical life of the Church and the operation of the Trinity in the economy of grace through the work of Fr. Edward Kilmartin. Kilmartin sought to better explain how humanity’s relationship with God through prayer and the sacraments was established. For him, theologians’ understanding of the Trinity in what has become known as the procession model allowed for the katabatic flow of grace to humanity but failed to explain the anabatic flow of grace from humanity back up to God. This paper looks at the complementary model, the bestowal model, that Kilmartin developed …

Toward A Theology Of Infertility And The Role Of Donum Vitae, Kathryn Lilla Cox

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

A theology of infertility is needed to help couples and the broader ecclesial community understand the theological implications of infertility. Infertility raises questions about human freedom, finitude, embodiment, childlessness, and parenthood. In this article, dominant cultural assumptions surrounding each of these areas when considering reproductive technologies are sketched. Official Roman Catholic teaching on reproductive technologies (Donum Vitae), while rejecting most forms of such technologies, does provide a viable response to the presupposition that reproductive technologies resolve infertility. Given the dominant cultural assumptions and insights from Roman Catholic teaching, this article advocates for several ecclesial changes when considering infertility. …

Tongues Of Fire, Ozzie Mayers

Headwaters

No abstract provided.

What Is Life And How Do We Know It? Theological Possibilities In Michael Polanyi's Epistemology, Vincent M. Smiles

Theology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Oberammergau: Germany’S 376-Year-Old Passion Play Before And After The Holocaust, Vatican Ii, And Ongoing Research Into Early Christianity, Anna Lisa Ohm

Headwaters

No abstract provided.

The Good, The True, And The Beautiful: Insights From Ken Wilber And Michael Polanyi On The Integration Of Religion And Science, Vincent Smiles

Collegial Conversation Lectures

No abstract provided.