CU Dissertations
Pages
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- “That the Scriptures Might Be Fulfilled” through Perfect Worship: John 19:36-37
- “That the Scriptures Might Be Fulfilled” through Perfect Worship: John 19:36-37The evangelist implicitly attaches an immense importance to the two OT fulfillment citations in John 19:36-37 by placing them as the final scriptural quotations in his Gospel. In offering no explicit guidance for comprehending the fulfillment he acknowledges with 19:36-37 (cf. 12:37-43) after the culmination of Jesus’s hour (19:25-30) and the things that took place following his death (19:31-35), John requires his audience to rely entirely on contextual information. This study examines the implications of fundamental aspects of first-century Judaism presumed by John in light of the Gospel’s proximate context of early Christian worship to gain greater insight into the fulfillment attested by 19:36-37.The study identifies elements of first-century Jewish worship and the OT that provide valuable contextual information for the Gospel and 19:36-37, in particular. It addresses exegetical methods utilized by ancient author-exegetes that are relevant to John’s use of the OT in 19:36-37 and their implications on the fulfillment it attests. The study also provides evidence to substantiate the abovementioned claim that Christian worship is the proximate context for the Gospel and identifies aspects of its theme of worship that are valuable for understanding the fulfillment conveyed by John through his presentation of the Scriptures in 19:36-37. After performing a textual analysis of the passage, it utilizes the external contexts that John presumes (i.e., first-century Judaism and Christian worship) and the literary context he provides to gain greater insight into the fulfillment attested by 19:36-37.This study demonstrates that these final OT fulfillment citations in conjunction with the things that happened following Jesus’s death (19:31-34) establish that he offered and enabled the true worship (19:25-30, 34) prefigured in the worship of Israel and collectively foretold by the OT and Jesus himself (4:21-24) as the work given him by the Father (4:34). The recognition of the combined testimony of the OT (19:36-37) and “these things” that happened following Jesus’s death (19:32-34) illuminate the culmination of his hour and attest to the fulfillment he accomplished through perfect worship., Biblical studies, Theology, Religion, 19:36-37, 4:34, baptism, Eucharist, Passover, worship, Biblical Studies, Degree Awarded: S.T.D. Biblical Studies. The Catholic University of America
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- “Removing Our Sandals Before the Sacred Ground of the Other”: Finding the Roots of Catechetical Accompaniment in the Thought of Pope Francis and in the Ancient and Restored Catechumenates
- John Paul II articulated in Catechesi Tradendae that the “definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (5). This identification of the objective of catechesis connotes a relational aim. Due to various factors such as a focus on textbook publication and promulgation of curricula, the relational aim of catechesis has often suffered within the American catechetical context. However, the concept of accompaniment popularized by the pontificate of Pope Francis helps to correct an overly intellectual emphasis in catechesis. Accompaniment is a practice of intentional relationships of guidance and companionship oriented towards growth in faith. Though accompaniment is most recently associated with Pope Francis, it actually lies at the heart of the catechetical tradition. This dissertation explored the roots of catechetical accompaniment. Through the examples of the ancient and restored baptismal catechumenates, this study investigated the precedent for the concept of accompaniment within the catechetical tradition. This study first traced the lineage of the concept of accompaniment from its Latin American origins and parsed the four most essential qualities of the concept of accompaniment from an analysis of Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortations Evangelii Gaudium (2013), Amoris Laetitia (2016), and Christus Vivit (2019). Four qualities of relationality, orientation towards gradual growth, personal approach, and mutuality were then placed in conversation with the ancient baptismal catechumenate of St. Augustine through the text of De catechizandis rudibus (403), as well as the restored catechumenate through the text of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (1988). This study found a strong precedent for the concept of accompaniment within the catechetical tradition. Throughout the history of catechesis, human relationships have been a primary means of faith formation. Through recovering the roots of catechetical accompaniment, catechesis can be reoriented towards its relational aim. , Religious education, Theology, accompaniment, catechesis, catechumenate, Pope Francis, RCIA, St. Augustine, Religious Education/Catechetics, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Religious Education/Catechetics. The Catholic University of America
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- “Partakers of the Divine Nature” (2 Peter 1:4): The Role of Participation in St. Thomas Aquinas’s Moral Theology
- While painstaking work has been undertaken by scholars to clarify exactly what Aquinas means by “participation” in his metaphysics, there has not been an equal effort in Thomistic moral theology. Such a lacuna (both historically and in recent scholarship) is striking given that Aquinas’s appeal to participation is no less ubiquitous in his moral thought than in his metaphysical thought. Accordingly, the purpose of this dissertation is to closely examine the causal role participation plays for St. Thomas and carry this analysis forward into moral theology. Chiefly, this will be done by closely investigating what St. Thomas means by “participation” and how a proper appreciation of participation illuminates Aquinas’s understanding of man’s end, the natural law, and virtue so as to settle a long running debate about whether Christians only develop supernatural/infused virtues or both these virtues and natural/acquired virtues. Furthermore, since every politics assumes an account of the human good (morality), Aquinas’s participation moral theology has implications for the self-definition of certain movements in Catholic politics, namely neo-integralism. The first chapter of this dissertation closely examines Aquinas’s Summa Contra Gentiles and In de Hebdomadibus, the types of participation discussed therein, and the scholarly consensus regarding Aquinas’s own works. Crucial to this analysis is the role of participated perfections within Aquinas’s overall theory, the limited application of the divine ideas for participation, and Aquinas’s participatory light example. Chapter two closely analyzes Aquinas’s participatory account of man’s end, law, and virtue—concluding after analyzing his mature understanding of Macrobius that Aquinas’s moral theology is properly a divinization morality. This chapter will also offer a reason for why participation has been historically overlooked within the Thomistic Tradition. Chapters three and four follow closely from chapter two—particularly Aquinas’s understanding of infused virtue and the way natural and divine law participate the eternal law in lower and higher ways. Chapter three argues that Christians only ever act out of infused virtue. Chapter four argues that the self-definition of neo-integralism is not in harmony with a participatory understanding of natural and divine law or with Aquinas’s participatory understanding of infused and acquired virtue. , Ethics, Metaphysics, Aquinas, Divinization, Infused Virtue, Integralism, Natural Law, Participation, Systematic Theology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Systematic Theology. The Catholic University of America
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- “No Greater Love”: Friendship as a Soteriological Theme in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas and Bernard Lonergan.
- Friendship has been a recurrent theme in the history of Christian thought, used most readily to characterize the individual’s, as well as the Church’s, relationship with Christ. In the 13th century, St. Thomas’s contribution is notable for incorporating into his work on the life of grace Aristotle’s philosophy of friendship. More recently, Bernard Lonergan, S.J., 1904-1984, a student of the thought of St. Thomas, has brought Thomas’s understanding of friendship into his own work on the life of grace. In addition to the context of grace, the notion of friendship has also functioned in a soteriological context for both Lonergan and Thomas. This dissertation offers an in-depth study of the notion of friendship within the soteriology of both Thomas and Lonergan; and, through their comparison, it demonstrates how Lonergan develops Thomas’s thought on the soteriological significance of friendship in his formulation of the Law of the Cross. The first two chapters focus on the theological understanding of friendship found in the work of Thomas, first by presenting Thomas’s understanding of friendship, his use of Aristotle, and how he identifies charity as “a certain kind of friendship” in the life of grace. The second chapter explores Thomas’s early soteriological writings that incorporate the concept of friendship and his brief appeal to friendship in the Summa Theologiae in the context of satisfaction in which he states that if two are “one in charity” then one can atone for the other.The third chapter examines Lonergan’s assimilation of Thomas’s notion of friendship in the context of grace in which Lonergan builds on and transposes this concept for his own theological project. The fourth chapter explicates Lonergan’s expansion of Thomas’s theme of friendship in a soteriological context to better understand how and why satisfaction occurs through the union of wills that Thomas indicated. Lonergan draws out the implications of Thomas’ construal of charity as friendship by identifying Christ’s saving work as God’s offer of friendship to the unfriendly. This offer becomes an integral and central part of God’s redemptive transformation of evil into good through Christ’s self-sacrificing love for his friends enacted on the cross., Theology, Bernard Lonergan, Friendship, Jesus as friend, Law of the Cross, Soteriology, Thomas Aquinas, Systematic Theology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Systematic Theology. The Catholic University of America
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- “Mystically Espoused to Christ, the Son of God (c. 604 §1)”: The Basis for Proposing Juridic Principles to Guide the Development of Norms for the Ordo virginum
- The 1970 revision of the rite of consecration to a life of virginity roused an ancient practice that had fallen into disuse over the centuries: the consecration of virgins who lived in the world, rather than in the enclosure of a monastery. Canon 604 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law juridically recognizes this restored Ordo virginum as “similar to” (accedit) other forms of consecrated life, defining members of the Ordo as those “who are mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God” through their consecration to God by the diocesan bishop. (Canon 604 §1: “Hisce vitae consecratae formis accedit ordo virginum quae, sanctum propositum emittentes Christum pressius sequendi, ab Episcopo dioecesano iuxta probatum ritum liturgicum Deo consecrantur, Christo Dei Filio mystice desponsantur et Ecclesiae servitio dedicantur.”)Drawing from analogous ecclesial law for both marriage and for institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, and in response to the expansion of the Ordo virginum throughout the world since 1970, this study proposes juridic principles that may be applied in the development of norms to govern the Ordo. Chapter one probes the theological underpinning of mystical espousal to Christ by examining the mystery of virginal nuptial love in the Most Holy Trinity, in the Blessed Virgin Mary, and in God’s bond with created man, revealed in both the Old and New Testaments. Chapters two and three study ecclesial law and liturgy in the development of the Ordo virginum as a stable way of life, from the earliest days of the Church to today. Employing a canon-by-canon analysis, chapter four considers analogous application of marriage law in the 1983 code to the mystical espousal to Christ that characterizes the Ordo virginum, and chapter five follows by considering an analogous application of the law on consecrated life to the Ordo. The study concludes by proposing thirty-four principles to guide the development of norms for the Ordo virginum in the following areas: juridical/theological identity; validity of consecration; governance; admission and formation of candidates; obligations and rights of members; apostolate; and separation of members from the Ordo virginum. The theological-juridical approach of this canonical study contributes to the Church’s appreciation and safeguarding of the vocation of consecrated virginity as “among the most excellent gifts bequeathed by Our Lord to His Bride, the Church.” (Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, decree Novus consecrationis virginum ritus promulgatur, May 31, 1970: AAS 62 (1970) 650: “Sacram enim virginitatem, donum in primis excelsum, Christus Iesus quasi hereditate Sponsae suae reliquit.”), Canon law, Theology, Religious history, betrothed to Christ, canon 604, consecrated virgin, mystical espousal, ordo virginum, virginity, Canon Law, Degree Awarded: J.C.D. Canon Law. The Catholic University of America
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- “In all the Factious Humours You Have Bred”: Music as Political Propaganda in Seventeenth-Century England
- Music is one of the core elements of human culture. As ubiquitous as language and asfundamentally important, music is not neatly partitioned into one corner of the culturalframework of a society. It is impossible to fully understand a historical period and culturewithout understanding how music functioned and what music meant to the adherents of thatculture. England in the seventeenth century is no exception, and the centrality of seventeenth century English culture in shaping the modern world makes understanding the ideas andhistorical events of the period important not only for our understanding of that time, but also forour understanding of our own time.Though many works have documented musical culture over the course of the seventeenthcentury in England, scholars have yet to consider broadly how music influenced the politicalclimate of the century. Therefore, this dissertation gathers all extant printed sources from earlymodern England that include, relate to, or discuss music and analyzes them for propagandisticcontent. In doing so, it proves that music functioned as political propaganda consistentlythroughout the seventeenth century in England to advance numerous political causes for diversepolitical groups. Musicians defended their profession and reputations with it. Parliamentariansattacked the Church of England and Royalists with it. Supporters of the Commonwealth used itto defend and establish a Puritan orthodoxy, while Royalists used it to maintain their culturalidentity. Music served as public-image propaganda for the Restoration monarchies, and theChurch of England used music to market their denomination to a post-Toleration Actmarketplace of religious consumers who were no longer legally required to be members of theAnglican congregation.By exposing the intimate and consistent connections between music and political activityacross the seventeenth century in England, this work offers new insights into the meaning andfunction of music in early modern England. Music could serve devotion and praise, it couldentertain and provide solace, but it could also be used to manipulate readers and listeners, a factthat this dissertation proves was well known and consistently utilized by propagandists in earlymodern England., Music, English literature, Political science, England, English, history, music, propaganda, seventeenth century, Musicology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Musicology. The Catholic University of America
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- “I Am the Gate” (John 10:7, 9): The Background and Function of the Gate Motif in the Fourth Gospel
- This study undertakes a systematic analysis of the neglected Johannine image of Jesus as the gate of the sheep (John 10:7, 9). In light of the major gaps in recent scholarship concerning the study of John 10:1-18, it explores especially the literary background of the gate image and its function in the narrative of the Fourth Gospel, utilizing author-oriented narrative criticism. After an initial narrative-reading of John 10:1-18 (chapter 2), this study conducts a survey of potential background texts to the Johannine gate image, the results of which further identify proper precursor texts to John 10:1-10 and texts which reflect its general cultural milieu (chapter 3). This intertextual study sheds light on the rich meaning of the gate image (chapter 4), which helps to identify the multiple occurrences of the gate motif in the gospel narrative and to extract their narratological and theological significance (chapter 5).This study identifies five layers of intertextual echoes in the Johannine gate image. First, the gate image articulates Jesus’ identity as the gate of heaven (see John 1:51), which echoes especially Gen 28:17 and possibly Rev 4:1 and more broadly other pertinent Jewish texts. Second, it echoes Ps 118:19-20 which highlights the core of Jesus’ teaching on worship. Third, it potentially echoes Rev 3:8 and 3:20, which, together with Rev 4:1, form a unity of thought on true discipleship and its abundant reward at the eschaton. Fourth, it echoes collectively the texts on the gates of the new Jerusalem, which speak of eschatological salvation and worship. Fifth, it also reflects the general cultural notion of associating the gates with legal judgment. Through these echoes, the Johannine gate image conveys the message of Jesus’ multiple functions pertaining to revelation, judgment, and the access to life eternal (which includes worship). It not only provides a commentary on its immediate context (9:1-41), but also functions as an enduring motif in the second half of the gospel story, making significant contributions to the narrative features of characterization, plot, and point of view., Biblical studies, Ancient languages, Literature, apocalyptic, gate, intertextuality, narrative criticism, the Fourth Gospel, Biblical Studies, Degree Awarded: S.T.D. Biblical Studies. The Catholic University of America
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- Your Word Pierced My Heart, and I Fell in Love: Teresa of Avila's Reading of Augustine of Hippo's Confessions
- In 1554, after twenty years as a Carmelite nun in the Monastery of the Encarnación in Avila and having begun to practice the Prayer of Recollection, as espoused in Francis of Osuna’s El Tercer Abecedario, Teresa of Avila noticed a shift in her prayer before an image of the suffering Christ. At that time, she was given a copy of Augustine’s Confessions, which had been newly translated into Spanish. She writes, “As I began to read the Confessions, it seemed to me that I saw myself in them. I began to commend myself very much to this glorious saint. When I came to the passage where he speaks about his conversion and read how he heard the voice in the garden, it only seemed to me, according to what I felt in my heart, that it was I the Lord called” (Vida 9.8). Teresian scholarship acknowledges a connection between Augustine and Teresa and recognizes the influence of his writings upon her. Much has been done in the way of paralleling Libro de la Vida with the Confessions, especially in its autobiographical rendering. However, this scholarship typically falls short in addressing just how the Confessions impacted her life. The Confessions speaks to various levels of conversion in Augustine’s life, all of which come together and culminate in the garden scene recorded in Book VIII. Interestingly, one of these levels is how Augustine approaches texts and comes to appreciate language. A gifted rhetorician, Augustine himself will notice a shift in how he experiences texts and is invited to “take up and read” Scripture and encounter the living Word. It is precisely this invitation that grabs Teresa’s attention and pulls her into the story of Augustine, and subsequently into her own story, that is worth exploring closely. The Confessions enabled Teresa to see, read, and understand her experience(s) differently and deeply, helping her to develop a new mystical language. In other words, Teresa’s reception of this text marks a conversion in itself, namely, in her relationship to books, in how she receives and reads them. In effect, the Confessions serves as a bridge to understanding her mysticism. Using the fourfold contemplative method of lectio divina, this dissertation examines Teresa’s reading of Augustine’s Confessions, which she describes as part of her own conversion experience, and, as a result, changes the ways in which Teresa reads, approaches, and reflectively writes of her own experience., Theology, Spirituality, Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, gender, lectio divina, mysticism, Teresa of Avila, Spirituality, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Spirituality. The Catholic University of America
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- The York Cycle and the Law
- Degree awarded: Ph.D. English Language and Literature. The Catholic University of America, The York Cycle Passion sequence yields numerous references to fifteenth-century laws and the practice of law. The trial of Jesus is conducted using the language of contemporary English trials, and during the trial, Jesus is accused of such fifteenth-century crimes as witchcraft, defamation, preaching without a license, and high treason. Many scholars have studied the trial and Passion sequence, noting the references to contemporary law practice and debating how Jesus' trial follows or flouts the justice system. What has not yet been discussed thoroughly is the pervasive reference to law and law-breaking throughout the cycle as a whole. Throughout the Old Testament plays and the New Testament plays that precede the Passion sequence, characters are accused of English crimes from scolding to adultery to high treason. Furthermore, these crimes cut across jurisdictional boundaries, including deeds that would be tried before ecclesiastical courts, local law courts, and royal justices.This dissertation examines not only the trial and Passion sequence but also focuses on the more neglected legal aspects of the earlier plays. As stated above, the crimes described encompass many jurisdictions; what they also include is a genuine cross-section of contemporary English society. Peasant farmers (Adam and Eve) break their promise to their lord, middle-class wives scold their husbands (Noah and his wife), and Jesus, who is often depicted as royal, especially in "The Entry into Jerusalem," is put to death for crimes against the state. What seems true in all cases is that when God is involved directly in judgment, innocent parties are exonerated; however, when earthly justice comes into play, judgment is no longer impartial, fair, or correct. Attention to the many nuances of laws, judges, jurisdictions, and legal practices can profoundly alter our understanding of the York Cycle and its legal contexts., Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-25T14:59:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Wilson_cua_0043A_10409display.pdf: 1321883 bytes, checksum: 876cfe7af30e3325c8163c265e845793 (MD5)
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- Worship in the Charismatic Renewal: A Case Study in the Word of God Community
- The advent of the Charismatic Renewal in the 1960s and 1970s played a critical role in reshaping the experience of worship for millions of Christians across the globe. Catholics within the renewal contributed to much of the renewal’s early growth and helped direct the path that the renewal took. There is arguably no community with a greater impact on the development and shape of this Catholic Charismatic worship than the Word of God Community, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This study will offer a beginning for a liturgical study of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Rather than attempting to synthesize the whole of the renewal; this study will follow a methodology that examines the life of the Word of God Community through new primary source research and interview and presents a case study of their own life of worship – looking at their history, practices and the significance of their context for worship. The focus is on the years 1967-1990. This period reflects the years of greatest impact and influence from the community and demonstrates how their life as a covenant community impacted their contributions to the history of worship. , Religion, American history, Religious history, Catholic, Charismatic, Covenant Community, Liturgy, Pentecostal, Sacraments, Liturgical Studies/Sacramental Theology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Liturgical Studies/Sacramental Theology. The Catholic University of America
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- Work in the Spirituality of Teresa of Avila
- Degree awarded: Ph.D. Spirituality. The Catholic University of America, Before June 20, 2019, this dissertation can be viewed by CUA users only. [60 months embargo], This dissertation explores the theme of work in the life and writings of St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th-century Spanish Carmelite mystic and reformer. While much has been written about Teresa's mystical experiences, her writings on prayer, and her reform of the Carmelite Order, her contributions to the management of work within women's monasteries has not been as well-studied. This dissertation examines Teresa's approach to work in religious life during a time of global expansion, socio-economic change and religious reform in Spain, and it seeks to discover how Teresa's approach to work may be reconciled with contemplative Carmelite spirituality.We approach the study of Teresa's work from two perspectives: 1) her life story within her context, and 2) her work of writing and establishing reformed foundations. Teresa's early life is brought to bear on her later work, especially in leadership and administration, and her middle years are examined as contributing a strong foundation for prayer and Carmelite spirituality. By the time she reached her later years Teresa's ideas were well-formed and her inner relationship to God had grown to a high degree of intensity, which culminated in her extremely productive and active later years, when she traveled throughout Spain, wrote most of her major works, and established many new monasteries. This study of Teresa's approach to work sheds light on her innovations as a reformer and leader. Her innovations encouraged equality among nuns, which went against the existing culture of aristocratic honor and a highly structured system of social classes, and she led from within, maintaining an intense life of prayer while engaging in a highly active life of reform and writing activities well into her later years. In this dissertation, we first introduce Teresa's writings on work, followed by a description of her context, and then we examine the three major periods of her life to explore how her own development with respect to work led her to implement her reform and write her spiritual masterpieces with such courage, dedication and intensity., Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-20T16:22:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Olsen_cua_0043A_10477display.pdf: 1696145 bytes, checksum: 91184b5b05d66b3cc6571c178edadb41 (MD5)
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- Words, Thoughts, and Phrases: Defining and Measuring Literalness in English Bible Translations
- The bulk of the project is spent examining five English translations of eight texts from the Hebrew Bible in order to determine how literal each translation is. According to this project, a literal translation is a word-for-word translation in which lexical items and formal features are retained. The English translations are the King James Version, the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, the English Standard Version, and Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. The Hebrew texts are Genesis 1, 2 Sam 18:1-15, Ruth 3, Ps 120, Ps 121, Ps 130, Eccl 4, and Obad 1-18. The texts are first subjected to a constituent analysis to ascertain whether each translation accurately represents each constituent of the Hebrew text in English. Next, a word order analysis is performed on each text to show divergences between the Hebrew and English texts. Finally, each text is examined for lexical variation, showing how each English version translates repeated uses of the same Hebrew word. In each of these analyses, the English translations are given scores to rate how closely they reflect the underlying Hebrew text. In the end, Alter’s translation is the closest to the definition of literal proposed in this paper, while the NIV is the furthest. This is not to say that the NIV is inherently inferior to the other translations surveyed. Conclusions are meant to be objective and not evaluative., Near Eastern studies, Bible translation, Linguistics, Old Testament, Translation theory, Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures. The Catholic University of America
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- Woman as Mother and Wife in the African Context of the Family in the Light of John Paul II's Anthropological and Theological Foundation: The Case Reflected within the Bantu and Nilotic Tribes of Kenya
- Degree awarded: S.T.D. Moral Theology/Ethics. The Catholic University of America, This study examines the theological and anthropological foundations of the understanding of the dignity and vocation of woman as mother and wife, gifts given by God that expresses the riches of the African concept of family.There are two approaches to inculturation theology in Africa, namely, that which attempts to construct African theology by starting from the biblical ecclesial teachings and finds from them what features of African are relevant to the Christian theological and anthropological values, and the other one takes the African cultural background as the point of departure.The first section examines the cultural concept of woman as a mother and wife in the African context of the family, focusing mainly on the Bantu and Nilotic tribes of Kenya. This presentation examines African creation myths, oral stories, some key concepts, namely life, family, clan and community, marriage and procreation, and considers the understandings of African theologians and bishops relating to the "the Church as Family."The second section examines the theological anthropology of John Paul II focusing mainly on his Theology of the Body and Mulieris Dignitatem. The third section presents the theology of inculturation, examines the African theological anthropological values and compares the teachings of John Paul II with the African, draws a conclusion and synthesis.According to John Paul II, the dignity and vocation of woman is "something more universal, based on the very fact of her being a woman within all the interpersonal relationships, which, in the most varied ways, shape society and structure the interaction between all persons," (Mulieris Dignitatem no. 29). This "concerns each and every woman, independent of the cultural context in which she lives and independently of her spiritual, psychological and physical characteristics, as for example, age, education, health, work, and whether she is married or single," (Mulieris Dignitatem, no. 29).The theology of inculturation as presented in this dissertation opens the way for the integration of theological anthropological teachings of John Paul II in understanding African woman as mother and wife., Made available in DSpace on 2012-06-01T16:43:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adhunga_cua_0043A_10355display.pdf: 1851446 bytes, checksum: 0e54d8caa91d74423ba0f748e7df14be (MD5)
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- Wisdom's Missionary: Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality
- Alfred, King of Wessex (r. 871-899) is commonly studied as a military, political, and educational leader and reformer in Anglo-Saxon England, but not as a religious leader, and his cultural reform program’s translation of Latin works into Old English receives little attention in scholarship on Christian spirituality or medieval English vernacular theology. Such inattention is a symptom of the larger problem that Anglo-Saxon Christianity, particularly with regard to its vernacular literature, is often overlooked in the study of medieval Christian spirituality. This dissertation repositions Alfred as an Anglo-Saxon spiritual authority dedicated to teaching and learning for the purpose of Christian spiritual formation. It interprets two texts from Alfred’s reign: the Vita Ælfredi by Asser, and Alfred’s Old English translation of Gregory the Great’s Cura pastoralis. These works are treated as primary theological sources for examining Alfred’s role as a wisdom seeker and spiritual authority. The Vita Ælfredi intentionally depicts Alfred as a kingly wisdom figure with a lifelong devotion to the study of religious literature. As a hagio-biography, the Vita demonstrates how teaching and wisdom are fundamental to Alfred’s religious experience. Alfred’s orientation to wisdom becomes a central tenet of his personal and vocational life, and the text positions Alfred as a new Solomon for Anglo-Saxon England. Alfred’s prologue to the Cura pastoralis serves as Alfred’s meditation on English Christianity’s sapiential decline, and his Old English translation of the Cura promotes teaching and the practice of wisdom for the restoration of Christian glory. Further, Alfred’s writing and his deployment of Gregory’s ascetical handbook establishes Alfred in the lineage of spiritual leaders responsible for the religious oversight and continued spiritual formation of the Anglo-Saxons. These texts demonstrate that Alfred’s cultural and educational reform functions as a program in spiritual reformation aimed at the restoration of the Anglo-Saxons as a wise Christian people. Furthermore, both Alfred’s Old English translation and original text for the Cura pastoralis serve as primary sources for the study of Anglo-Saxon Christian spirituality and Old English vernacular theology., Spirituality, Medieval literature, Religious history, Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon, Old English, Spiritual formation, Vernacular theology, Wisdom, Spirituality, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Spirituality. The Catholic University of America
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- Wisdom of Solomon 10: A Jewish Hellenistic Reinterpretation of Early Israelite History through Sapiential Lenses
- Degree awarded: Ph.D. Biblical Studies. The Catholic University of America, The Wisdom of Solomon 10 is a unique passage in OT Wisdom literature since it both presents Lady Wisdom as God's acting agent in early Israelite history and explicitly categorizes key biblical figures as either righteous or unrighteous. Structurally, Wisdom 10 is a pivotal text that binds the two halves of the book together through its vocabulary and themes. Although chap. 10 is such a unique passage that is central to the work, no full-scale study of this chapter has been attempted. Recent scholarship on the Wisdom of Solomon has focused on the identification of genres in the book's subsections and the author's reinterpretation of Scripture. Through the use of historical and literary criticism, this study especially focuses on the genre and hermeneutical method of Wisdom 10 in comparison to other passages in the book and similar types of literature inside and outside the Bible. Chapter One establishes the purpose and methodology of the study, Chapter Two sets the literary and historical contexts for the Wisdom of Solomon, and Chapters Three to Six analyze the text poetically, form-critically, exegetically, and hermeneutically. This study concludes that Pseudo-Solomon, the book's author, composed and used Wisdom 10 in order to bind the two halves of the book together. Its genre is that of a Beispielreihe, or example list, and its form is an alternation of positive and negative examples that are linked by the repetition of a keyword. The passage also reflects elements of aretalogy, synkrisis, and midrash. Because of the first two of these elements, chap. 10 may be seen as supplementing the encomiastic genre in chaps. 6-9. Furthermore, the aretalogical flavor of the text depicts Lady Wisdom in ways similar to the popular Hellenistic Egyptian goddess Isis in order to show Wisdom's superiority to the pagan deity. Lastly, chap. 10 exhibits six primary hermeneutical principles used by the author throughout the book, albeit with differing degrees of focus. Since the Wisdom of Solomon is a late composition, this study illuminates one facet of the Jewish Hellenistic reinterpretation of Scripture and will elucidate similar modes of exegesis in the early rabbinical and early Christian eras., Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:46:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Glicksman_cua_0043A_10055display.pdf: 1727330 bytes, checksum: feeb3caa805f8efadb8ef13e8a95d7f3 (MD5)