Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Thirty Year Collaboration In Uniquely Black And Catholic Mission, Kathleen Dorsey Bellow

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The Institute for Black Catholic Studies arose out of a passion for authentically Black and truly Catholic theology and ministry in 1980. It continues to inspire its students, its faculty, and all those who are touched by its unique approach and identity. Kathleen Dorsey Bellow and C. Vanessa White reflect on the history and mission of the IBCS.

Review — M. Shawn Copeland, Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, And Being, Kimberly Flint-Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

Thirty Years Of Impact: The Institute For Black Catholic Studies, C. Vanessa White

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The Institute for Black Catholic Studies arose out of a passion for authentically Black and truly Catholic theology and ministry in 1980. It continues to inspire its students, its faculty, and all those who are touched by its unique approach and identity. Kathleen Dorsey Bellow and C. Vanessa White reflect on the history and mission of the IBCS.

The Decline Of Black Catholicism: What’S Racial Slavery To Do With It?, Kwame Assenyoh S.V.D.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

This essay links the current decline of black Catholicism to the racial slavery practiced in Roman Catholicism at its settlement in the USA. Employing missiological anthropological analysis, Assenyoh, S.V.D., argues that the racism that characterized the beginning of New World slavery remains in the Church and accounts for the decline of black Catholicism. Assenyoh calls for persistent critiques of racial slavery in the Church’s history if there must be transformation rather than reformation.

“Righteous Discontent:” Black Catholic Protest In The United States Of America, 1817-1941, Diane Batts Morrow

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

In this essay, based on a paper delivered at the 2009 Annual Meeting at the Atlanta University Center, Morrow shows the awareness of black Catholics about their position within the Catholic Church between the years 1817 and the 1940s and their struggle to improve their situation. Black Catholics from this period show a strong desire to function as agents of positive change in their Church, and to challenge discrimination within their parishes.

I Knew Sister Thea Bowman, Cyprian Davis O.S.B.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The year 2010 marks another anniversary, this one more somber than the others. Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A., Ph.D., after a great deal of suffering, finally lost her battle to cancer in 1990. Her zest for living, her profound spirituality, and her joy marked all those who had the honor of knowing her. Here are two reflections on her life and influence, the first by Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. who worked with Sr. Thea at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies, and the second by one of her former students, Maurice Nutt, C.Ss. R., D.Min.

Why Study Mary?, François Rossier

Marian Library Faculty Presentations

Simple as the title "Why Study Mary?" may sound, Father François Rossier situates Marian studies in the broader context of Scripture and the Christian tradition. Making special reference to the Marianist tradition and its intimate connection with the University of Dayton's spirit and vision, he sees in Mary the "origin of theological reflection." It is a reflection that is documented not in a book, but in Mary's person. Being the "first theologian," she has a "concretizing function." She makes Jesus "tangible, concrete, accessible to our senses," but she also helps us "to get a sense of God's action and presence …

Singular Christianity: Marriage And Singleness As Discipleship, Jana Marguerite Bennett

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

If only Paul had not written chapter seven of his first letter to the Corinthians. Christians can fairly easily avoid questions about whether to be married or single when they stick to the Gospels, for Jesus does nothing clear-cut with respect to states of life. He is present at the wedding at Cana in John; in Matthew, he issues a prohibition against divorce; he speaks about being eunuchs for the Kingdom of God, and reconfigures family in his exhortation that the ones who are his disciples are his mother and brothers. Because Jesus does not appear to have much of …

Dynamical Similarity And The Problem Of Evil, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Discussions of evil commonly fault God for not “doing something.” Defenders of God respond that God had good reasons for not “doing something.” Detractors observe that if a human being can snatch the toddler from the path of the oncoming bus, why does not God snatch the bus from the path of the oncoming toddler? The underlying assumption in such discussions is that God’s “doing something” is similar to humans’ “doing something.”

If human beings bear the image of their Creator as the Abrahamic faiths maintain, it is natural to suppose that divine action is similar to human action. But …

Review — M. Shawn Copeland, Lareine-Marie Mosely, And Albert Raboteau, Eds., Uncommon Faithfulness: The Black Catholic Experience, Kimberly Flint-Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Flames Of Namugongo: Issues Around Theological Narrativity, Heteronormativity, Globalization, And Aids In Africa, Ken Hamilton S.V.D

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Hamilton’s paper, delivered during the 2008 Annual Meeting in Chicago, uses the hagiography of Charles Lwanga and the Martyrs of Uganda to reveal an unrelenting problem of the Church – the ways in which the assumptions of heternormativity and sodomitical discourse drown out the voices of those who do not fall into heteronormative sexual and/or gendered identities, and lead to the open persecution, imprisonment, and torture of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons in Uganda, and in fact all over Africa. Casting those with ‘othered’ sexual identities as evil, or even simply turning a deaf ear to the persecution faced …

A Year Of Extremes, Kimberly Flint-Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

What an incredible year! A year of almost inconceivable highs, and lows that bore down into our very beings, the time since we met last October has filled us with high hopes as well as dark fears. These conflicted realities are reflected both in our lives and in our work. For most BCTS members, indeed, for most Americans, the election of our first African American president was one of the most significant moments of our lives. I’ll never forget when Obama was declared victor shortly after 11:00 pm EST on November 4, 2008. As late as it was, I picked …

The Marian Library Newsletter: Issue No. 56, University Of Dayton. Marian Library

Marian Library Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Voices From The Margins: African Women’S Hermeneutics, James Chukwuma Okoye C.S.Sp.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

In this article delivered during the 2008 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Okoye describes several landmarks in African biblical interpretation from the various lenses of race, class, and gender. From the early days of a culturally-sensitive African hermeneutics in the 1960s, to modern popular readings of the Bible, to women’s unique readings of the shades of meaning therein, Okoye focus on the intersection points of biblical and cultural interpretation and the ways a marginalized people have found meaning in the Bible.

Review — Tim Wise, Between Barack And A Hard Place: Racism And Denial In The Age Of Obama , Cyprian Davis O.S.B.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

Code Black: A Black Catholic Liberation Bioethics, Shawnee M. Daniels-Sykes S.S.N.D.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Based on a paper delivered during the 2008 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Daniels-Sykes, S.S.N.D., proposes that the long history of neglect and abuse suffered by blacks at the hands of the health care industry results from entrenched assumptions fostered by Western philosophies and principles that guide mainstream medical ethics, particularly in light of the 1979 Belmont Report, produced in response to the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. That the report failed to take into consideration the circumstances of poverty and race, factors key to our understanding those victimized by the Study, underscores the prevailing implicit assumptions of black inferiority. Daniels-Sykes advises …

Cover And Front Matter, Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Cover, table of contents, administrative information

What A Difference A Year Makes, Cecilia Moore

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

I’d like to reflect briefly on the election of President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joseph Biden in 2008 and their inauguration in January 2009, on the historical significance of the election, and my hopes for cooperation between the Black Catholic community and the Obama Administration in working for social justice. On January 20, 2009, I joined my sister, Margaret, my brother, Mark, and a million or more of our fellow citizens on the nation’s Mall to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joseph Biden. In freezing temperatures, without access to restrooms for more than 14 hours, and …

Review — Clarence Thomas, My Grandfather’S Son: A Memoir, Robert L. Bartlett

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Marian Library Newsletter: Issue No. 55, University Of Dayton. Marian Library

Marian Library Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Hymn To Mary, Loving Mother, Barry J. Trick

Musical Compositions about the Marianist Charism

Hymn to Mary

Teaching Engineering Ethics By Conceptual Design: The Somatic Marker Hypothesis, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In 1998, a lead researcher at a Midwestern university submitted as his own a document that had 64 instances of strings of 10 or more words that were identical to a consultant's masters thesis and replicated a data chart, all of whose 16 entries were identical to three and four significant figures. He was fired because his actions were wrong. Curiously, he was completely unable to see that his actions were wrong. This phenomenon is discussed in light of recent advances in neuroscience and used to argue for a change in the standard way engineering ethics is taught. I argue …

Lonergan And Shea On Belief And Knowledge: Positions, Counter-Positions, And Contexts, Dennis M. Doyle

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

William Shea was my teacher for two academic years at the Catholic University of America, 1978-80. He had a profound influence on me in several ways, one of which was introducing me to the work of Bernard Lonergan. He directed the first major paper I wrote in the field of theology, which later appeared as an article in The Thomist. Sometime shortly after my 1984 dissertation became available, a study that focused on the topic of belief and truth in the works of Lonergan and of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Shea read it. He gave me a compliment that I …

Wesley’S Methodist Movement: What Might It Have To Offer To Contemporary Roman Catholics?, Dennis M. Doyle

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

What might the 18^th century English Methodism connected with John Wesley might have to offer contemporary Roman Catholics? What is the relationship between organizations and movements? What are the possibilities for dual identities and membership? Wesley intentionally envisioned and fashioned the Methodist movement as an ecumenical endeavor. His approach anticipated key points made in Vatican II’s “Decree on Ecumenism.” Although Wesley remained highly critical of Roman Catholicism throughout his life, many of the positions he advocated tended in a “catholic” direction.

There are interesting parallels to be drawn between Wesley’s Methodism and the contemporary movement of A.A. One can …

Angels And Saints, God's Holy Throng, Barry J. Trick, Louis Lambilotte S.J.

Musical Compositions about the Marianist Charism

A hymn about welcoming someone into heaven

History Of Bcts Annual Meetings, Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

Review — Giddings, Ida: A Sword Among Lions; Ida B. Wells And The Campaign Against Lynching, Cyprian Davis O.S.B.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

No abstract provided.

Canons And Customs In Colonial Zimbabwe: Jesuits And African Marriage Practices, C. 1890-1967 (Part 2), Nicholas M. Creary

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

In this second installment Creary treats the question between African marriage customs and canonical marriages in church. This resulted in an attempt to modify the one in accepting parts of the other.

Thirty Years Of Fellowship: A Retrospective, Kimberly Flint-Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

2008 is an exciting year for the BCTS. The fact that we’ve survived as long as we have is nothing short of a miracle. In 1978 our organization included thirty-four members, thirty of whom were clerics. Several were graduate students trying to complete their PhD dissertations. Today, we are assistant, associate, and full professors, canon lawyers, and even bishops, although there are still a few graduate student associate members. Slightly more of us are lay members than clergy. We are theologians, historians, social scientists, natural scientists, classicists, philosophers, deans, liturgists, and campus ministers. Some of us are now the leading …

“Poor Fools, Nothing But Bellies” (Theo 26-27): Eating Imagery In Hesiod As Personification Of Oppression, Kimberly Flint-Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Delivered during the 1999 meeting at the University of Notre Dame, this paper discusses the symbolic power of food imagery, especially its use in the cultural construction of humanity and in the process of dehumanization of oppressed groups. Tracing the use of food and eating imagery to the early seventh century BCE Greek poet Hesiod, Flint-Hamilton demonstrates the importance of studying early Classical texts to help us better understand modern-day oppression and the legacy of slavery.