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Full-Text Articles in Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Analogy As Higher-Order Metaphor In Aquinas, Robert Masson Oct 2009

Analogy As Higher-Order Metaphor In Aquinas, Robert Masson

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

At a Thomas Instituut conference in 2000, Otto-Hermann Pesch suggested somewhat enigmatically that the sharp distinction in scholastic Thomism between analogy and metaphor can no longer be maintained since on closer examination analogous statements are in effect instances of a kind of 'higher-order metaphor'. I Pesch intended this qualification primarily to draw attention to the agnostic or negative aspect of analogous speech.2 It is evident from Herwi Rikhof's portrait of 'Thomas at Utrecht' ,3 that this emphasis on the negative dimension did not introduce anything controversial or novel at the Instituut.


Enlightenment And Ecumenism, Ulrich Lehner Oct 2009

Enlightenment And Ecumenism, Ulrich Lehner

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The contribution of monasticism to Christian theology's framework in almost all periods is undisputed. However, the eighteenth century as a period of monastic theology is still—unjustly—overlooked. That was precisely the time when monks, mostly Benedictines, challenged the traditional ways of theologizing and, along with a number of dedicated individuals, initiated what came to be called the Catholic Enlightenment.1 This movement worked not only for a renewal of ecclesiastical practice and thought, but also for a peaceful dialogue between the Christian churches and even toward an ecumenical theology. One of the most intriguing figures of this enlightened theology is the Swabian …


The Pteromorphic Angelology Of The Apocalypse Of Abraham, Andrei Orlov Oct 2009

The Pteromorphic Angelology Of The Apocalypse Of Abraham, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this article is to explore the anti-anthropomorphic features of the angelological developments in the Apocalypse of Abraham.


The Sky Is Wide Enough: A Historico-Critical Appraisal Of Theological Activity And Method In Africa, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator May 2009

The Sky Is Wide Enough: A Historico-Critical Appraisal Of Theological Activity And Method In Africa, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This essay presents and critiques the methods and claims of the principal theological schools and camps of African theology. While situating them in their historical context, it examines their respective claims as the best representative or expression of theological activity in Africa. The historico-critical appraisal of these African theological schools generates some useful lessons on the nature and method of theological reflection in Africa, particularly the necessity of taking experience and context seriously.


Medicine As Friendship With God: Anointing The Sick As A Theological Hermeneutic, M. Therese Lysaught Apr 2009

Medicine As Friendship With God: Anointing The Sick As A Theological Hermeneutic, M. Therese Lysaught

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

A theological bioethics needs, first, a theological politics. The thesis of this essay rests on the claim that the contours of a theological politics are found in the nature of sacramental practices. More specifically, a theological politics of medicine is found in the sacramental practice of anointing of the sick. Anointing provides a radically theological hermeneutic—a theologically robust vision for interpreting medicine that, if enacted, can powerfully make real God's work in the world. Such a vision is embodied in one particular twentieth-century exemplar—the organization called Partners In Health (PIH) and its cofounder, Paul Farmer. Farmer and PIH, I argue, …


Reclaiming Our Identities, M. Therese Lysaught Apr 2009

Reclaiming Our Identities, M. Therese Lysaught

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Review Of Cosmology: From Alpha To Omega: The Creative Mutual Interaction Of Theology And Science By Robert John Russell, Jame Schaefer Feb 2009

Review Of Cosmology: From Alpha To Omega: The Creative Mutual Interaction Of Theology And Science By Robert John Russell, Jame Schaefer

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


The Eschatological Yom Kippur In The Apocalypse Of Abraham: Part I: The Scapegoat Ritual, Andrei Orlov Jan 2009

The Eschatological Yom Kippur In The Apocalypse Of Abraham: Part I: The Scapegoat Ritual, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Suffering In Communion With Christ: Sacraments, Dying Faithfully, And End-Of-Life Care, M. Therese Lysaught Jan 2009

Suffering In Communion With Christ: Sacraments, Dying Faithfully, And End-Of-Life Care, M. Therese Lysaught

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Docile Bodies: Transnational Research Ethics As Biopolitics, M. Therese Lysaught Jan 2009

Docile Bodies: Transnational Research Ethics As Biopolitics, M. Therese Lysaught

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

This essay explores the claim that bioethics has become a mode of biopolitics. It seeks to illuminate one of the myriad of ways that bioethics joins other institutionalized discursive practices in the task of producing, organizing, and managing the bodies—of policing and controlling populations—in order to empower larger institutional agents. The focus of this analysis is the contemporary practice of transnational biomedical research. The analysis is catalyzed by the enormous transformation in the political economy of transnational research that has occurred over the past three decades and the accompanying increase in the numbers of human bodies now subjected to research. …


Review Of Approaching The End: A Theological Exploration Of Death And Dying, By David Albert Jones, M. Therese Lysaught Jan 2009

Review Of Approaching The End: A Theological Exploration Of Death And Dying, By David Albert Jones, M. Therese Lysaught

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Wisdom Editing In The Book Of Psalms: Vocabulary, Themes, And Structures, Steven Dunn Jan 2009

Wisdom Editing In The Book Of Psalms: Vocabulary, Themes, And Structures, Steven Dunn

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study examines the pervasive influence of post-exilic wisdom editors and writers in the shaping of the Psalter by analyzing the use of wisdom elements--vocabulary, themes, rhetorical devices, and parallels with other Ancient Near Eastern wisdom traditions. I begin with an analysis and critique of the most prominent authors on the subject of wisdom in the Psalter, and expand upon previous research as I propose that evidence of wisdom influence is found in psalm titles, the structure of the Psalter, and among the various genres of psalms. I find further evidence of wisdom influence in creation theology, as seen in …


From A Systematics Of History To Communications: Transition, Difference, Options, Thomas Hughson Jan 2009

From A Systematics Of History To Communications: Transition, Difference, Options, Thomas Hughson

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Pentecostal Theology According To The Theologians: An Introduction To The Theological Methods Of Pentecostal Systematic Theologians, Christopher Adam Stephenson Jan 2009

Pentecostal Theology According To The Theologians: An Introduction To The Theological Methods Of Pentecostal Systematic Theologians, Christopher Adam Stephenson

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation is a twofold argument that 1) existing pentecostal systematic theology can be interpreted according to four analytical categories and that 2) future pentecostal theological method should incorporate a form of lex orandi, lex credendi for the benefit of pentecostal theology and spirituality.

I analyze the theological methods of major past and present pentecostal systematic theologians and demonstrate that they have followed four basic patterns. First, Myer Pearlman, E. S. Williams, and French L. Arrington take the material for their theologies almost exclusively from the Bible. Second, Steven J. Land and Simon K. H. Chan center their theologies on …


Beyond Stewardship: Toward An Agapeic Environmental Ethic, Christopher J. Vena Jan 2009

Beyond Stewardship: Toward An Agapeic Environmental Ethic, Christopher J. Vena

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation is a work in theological anthropology and environmental philosophy. It seeks to provide a conceptual framework for a Christian environmental ethic rooted in love.

The heart of the crisis of ecological degradation is found in human attitudes and behaviors. In the late 1960's it was suggested that Christianity was a key source of the problem because it promoted the idea of human "dominion" over creation. This spurred a variety of responses designed to show that Christian faith was compatible with environmental care. A key theme emerging from this debate was the image of humans as Stewards of God's …


Church, State, And Catholic Ethics: The Kenyan Dilemma, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator Jan 2009

Church, State, And Catholic Ethics: The Kenyan Dilemma, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Arboreal Metaphors And The Divine Body Traditions In The Apocalypse Of Abraham, Andrei Orlov Jan 2009

Arboreal Metaphors And The Divine Body Traditions In The Apocalypse Of Abraham, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

The first eight chapters of the Apocalypse of Abraham, a Jewish pseudepigraphon preserved solely in its Slavonic translation, deal with the early years of the hero of the faith in the house of his father Terah. The main plot of this section of the text revolves around the family business of manufacturing idols. Terah and his sons are portrayed as craftsmen carving religious figures out of wood, stone, gold, silver, brass, and iron. The zeal with which the family pursues its idolatrous craft suggests that the text does not view the household of Terah as just another family workshop …


Sanctifying Grace, Charity, And Divine Indwelling: A Key To The Nexus Mysteriorum Fidei, Robert Doran Jan 2009

Sanctifying Grace, Charity, And Divine Indwelling: A Key To The Nexus Mysteriorum Fidei, Robert Doran

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.