Sewanee: School of Theology Theses 2009
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Item The Perpetual Advent of Christ the Eschaton: Beauty, Resurrection, and Hope(University of the South, 2009-05) Rusk, Christopher JudeCentral to Christian belief is a pervasive hope; hope which lies in God's revealed word, can be viewed in God's creation, is realized in God's son, and resides in the hearts and minds of the faithful. We hope for redemption, for salvation, and ultimately, for resurrection. Hope and transfiguration are the central part of the Gospel message, but their proximity to us is unclear with cryptic metaphysical descriptions of what is, exactly, the nature of the Kingdom of God. Eschatology is perhaps too far removed from the average Christian life to be meaningful to and present in the conscious awareness of the average Christian on a daily basis. Yet hope is an inherent part of our created condition which makes us desire goodness for and toward those whom we love, and for ourselves. However Christian hope lies not in common hope, but in the uncommon, even absurd, hope of the faithful. Hope is what undergirds our common life in Christ and dispels all evil. As part of our common humanity and seen through the distinct lens of faith, hoping in and through Jesus Christ, thereby uniting us with God, makes possible our living into the Kingdom of God now, and not then. The primary theologian cited in this thesis is Jiirgen Moltmann because of his extensive work in the area of eschatological hope. However I will then enter more fully the cross-traditional theological dialectic of hope among Moltmann, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Robert Jenson.Item A Guide for the more fleshly-minded: Gregory of Nyssa on erotic and spiritual desire(University of the South, 2009-05) Lawson, Richard T.This thesis highlights the theme of desire in the work of the fourth-century bishop and theologian Gregory of Nyssa. In light of four of Gregory's most important works (On Virginity, Homilies on the Song of Songs, The Life of Moses, and On the Soul and the Resurrection), this thesis notes the numerous ways in which desire is both a critical theological analogy and a spiritual practice. Using a wide range of analogies and images, Gregory describes desire as an integral dimension of the spiritual life. Furthermore, the ultimate human desire is for the Triune God. Gregory's treatise on celibacy, On Virginity, is a detailed description of the spiritual meaning of this way of life. Gregory's knowledge of celibacy came in part from his brother Basil's establishment of a monastic community in Asia Minor. However, this treatise does not dismiss marriage (and hence erotic desire) as a spiritual practice. Perhaps writing with his own marriage in mind, Gregory describes the tragedies and joys of married life. Both celibacy and marriage find their meaning, Gregory argues, in relation to God. Homilies on the Song of songs is a rich, fast-paced commentary upon the biblical Song of Songs. The Homilies are highly kataphatic, providing numerous examples of the prominence of analogy for Gregory. Erotic desire is analogous to spiritual desire. Gregory of Nyssa also reminds his audience that erotic desire mirrors spiritual desire only in part; spiritual desire -and ultimately the divine nature -cannot be limited to erotic desire. Thus, Gregory of Nyssa highlights both God's imminence and God's transcendence. The Life of Moses is the locus classicus for Gregory's description of divine transcendence. Here Gregory develops the Pauline concept epektasis. Humanity's desire for God continually expands throughout life and into eternity. This dramatic expansion of desire is made possible by the fact that the transcendent God is the ultimate human desire. Therefore, human desire for God never reaches a limit or an end. The expansion of human desire, however, is not synonymous with the expansion of human knowledge. The soul's journey into God's presence is a journey into darkness, not light. The darkness is Gregory's 'image' for both the limitations of the human mind and the transcendence of the divine nature. The Life of Moses is, then, an important source for the apophatic within spiritual theology. In his On the Soul and the Resurrection, Gregory develops this theme of the soul's eternal progression into God's presence, and yet even here he emphasizes the apophatic dimension of human knowledge. Because God's nature and hence eternal life are transcendent realities, speculation about the exact nature of the resurrection needs to be restrained. Gregory warns against the assumption that eternal life is a simple continuation of bodily life, specifically questioning in a subtle way the permanence of gender and certain aspects of material life. Gregory's use of analogy here (and in the other three books) also informs his method of scriptural interpretation by which he highlights the connection and the distinction between the literal and the spiritual. Gregory's theological vision is, paradoxically, a vision of a human nature rooted within the material world and within time. This is one reason why Gregory of Nyssa becomes an important resource for an Anglican spiritual theology in dialogue with a world questioning the meaning of desire, beauty, bodies, and gender.Item Camp Able: A Unique Camping Experience for Persons with Special Needs(University of the South, 2009-05) Bennett, Kyle VernonMy project is to create a camping experience for persons with disabilities within the Diocese of Southwest Florida. My interests in persons with mental and physical disabilities are many faceted. My ministry and worldview have been formed by over twenty-five years of working at camps for persons with disabilities. This project will include the timeline of steps taken to make this dream into the reality of Camp Able. This project will look at what has shaped the construct and changing meaning of mental retardation. My focus will be primarily from the 1950s to the present including background material to set the stage. The primary text used in the historical research is Inventing the Feeble Mind by James W. Trent, Jr.. I propose to look at the factors of inclusion and exclusion to determine the "call" of God's church. It is my intent to develop a model of inclusive ministry, which has practical applications within the life of the church. I will look at this, not only from the perspective of benefits garnered by those we have marginalized, but with the belief that if one person or group is excluded from the community, the community itself has gone astray from the fold of the Good Shepherd, and therefore needs to be brought back in, i.e. found. We in the church uphold central beliefs about humanity that are stated in our baptismal covenant. In seeking to define ourselves in relation to each other, and in this case those labeled with disabilities, we may find that we hold more in common than we ever thought possible and need each other more than we ever could imagine. The dialogue begins when we fully comprehend that our dependency on God is manifested in our dependency on each other, for hope stems from the reality that we are all children of the same Father. It is my goal in this project to develop a camping experience that manifests God's love for a special group of God's children. Once undertaken, I intend to continually apply what I've learned into a dynamic model of ministry for persons with disabilities. This model is presented in the handbook for the staff of Camp Able. This project represents the formational and foundational underpinnings of my understanding of God and the opportunity we have to manifest God's love in community. It is a statement of my understanding of the practice of ministry, especially as we define ourselves through the eyes of the 'least of these.' The project will entail an examination of faithful relationships in relation to scripture and tradition. I envision Camp Able to be a Christian model of human respect and dignity that continually challenges the norms and practices of the church, identi@ing characteristics that are inclusive and those that are not. Theologically, I will seek to understand the fundamental theological question of those labeled disabled. If we are all made in the image of God, how do I explaiii who I am? What does that say about God? And how is this knowledge made manifest in the Body of Christ? Camp Able is a playground that defies imagination. Our care for persons with disabilities is not about control and isolation, but about integration and innovative support. Personal limitations are seen as community challenges. Accessibility is not seen as an add-on but integrated into our community ethos, just as acceptability and respect are mandated by our baptismal call.Item The Sudanese in War Compared to the Hebrews of the Exodus(University of the South, 2009-05) Awan, John GarangThe Hebrew people were subjected to severe oppression; their sons were killed at birth, and their people were forced to hard labor by the Egyptians. The Hebrews cried and pled to God for deliverance (Ex. 1:13-14,2: 1 1,23-25). God heed to their cry and he sent Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. The Hebrews' experiences of the Exodus were used by the Sudanese, who have suffered as the result of the oppression by their government, to console, to inspire, and to give them hope to wait for God's deliverance. As the Hebrew people were challenged by the shortage of food and water when they were in the desert, the Sudanese refugees and internally displaced people were challenged with these basic needs. The Hebrews and the Sudanese peoples were forced to the oppression by the governing authorities, but they had hope in God. These two groups of people believed in God who is always on the side of the oppressed; they hoped God would intervene to bring peace, justice, and reconciliation to meet their needs.Item A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Michael Mayne(University of the South, 2009-05) Huffstetler, Joel W.Michael Mayne served as Dean of Westminister Abbey and as the Vicar of Great St. Mary's at Cambridge. He wrote five books which have received a wide readership in the United Kingdom. The published reviews of Mayne's books are nearly universally positive, recognizing his breadth of reading and his profound pastoral insights. He was not an academic theologian, but was a pastor at heart. This thesis offers an introduction to and an overview of Mayne's five books from a critical perspective, comparing and/or contrasting his writings to other spiritual works written in a similar register.