Christian Thought and Historyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/2092024-03-28T20:38:25Z2024-03-28T20:38:25ZThe significance of apocalyptic ideas in the thought of Thomas MüntzerBradstock, Andrew Whttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/47722023-04-13T01:47:27Z2014-04-09T23:43:52ZThe significance of apocalyptic ideas in the thought of Thomas Müntzer
1992
Bradstock, Andrew W
This dissertation attempts to explore the apocalyptic dimension of the thought of Thomas Müntzer, a preacher and pastor of the early Reformation period in Germany who became embroiled in the "Peasants' War" of 1525 and was executed that year following an abortive uprising in which he took a leading part.
Apocalyptic ideas surface frequently in Müntzer's writings, and the aim here has been, against the background of his theology as a whole, to examine the form and content of these ideas, and particularly the function or rôle they appear to have had in his thinking and praxis.
The dissertation begins with a short introduction to Müntzer. This in no sense purports to be a comprehensive biography, but aims merely to outline the main events in his life, and provide a rudimentary background against which the main study may be read. Some indication of the context out of which Müntzer's main writings emerged will also be offered.
The second chapter attempts to describe, in so far as this can be done in any schematic way, the main outline of Müntzer's theology, in particular its firm roots in the soil of medieval German mysticism. A discussion like this is necessary because it is barely possible, and certainly not instructive, to attempt to understand any strand of Müntzer's thinking, including the apocalyptic, in isolation from his thought as a whole. Furthermore, since the apocalyptic and mystical dimensions are very closely linked in Müntzer's thought - a point made strongly in the final chapter - this discussion does some vital groundwork for that chapter.
The two longest chapters, three and four, contain the main body of the discussion. Chapter three examines in considerable detail the shape and content of Müntzer's apocalyptic, and notes how he draws upon a wide range of biblical and other sources as he persistently warns his hearers of the imminent overthrow of the present world order, the separation of the elect from the godless, and the handing over by Christ of the kingdom to the former. The singular rôle Müntzer believes he will have in the upcoming drama is highlighted, as is his conviction that the reshaping of the world will be in accordance with the order of things (ordo rerum) instituted by God at the Creation.
The final chapter attempts to understand Müntzer’s apocalyptic within the whole framework of his theology, and, with the aid of modern computer technology, reveals how even those of his writings which might appear to be the most unambiguously apocalyptic contain a close interweaving of both mystical and apocalyptic themes. Presenting the fruits of a close linguistic analysis of some of these writings, the chapter argues that the mystical terminology Müntzer uses when describing the path to true faith in the individual believer also becomes incorporated into his apocalyptic. There is a close correspondence, in other words, between the mystical categories he employs to describe the reformation of the inner person, and those he adopts to interpret the external world and the signs of the times. A final conclusion of the chapter is that Müntzer's apocalyptic had serious consequences for his 'political' programme: his certainty that the unrest he saw around him was a sign that God was now bringing about a 'full and final reformation' of the world gave him a misplaced confidence in the ultimate success of the peasants' cause, and led him not to take seriously the actual scale of the opposition ranged against them.
Format: iii, 95 leaves; 30 cm.; The author has published the research from this thesis in the following book:
Bradstock, A. (1997). Faith in the revolution: The political theologies of Müntzer and Winstanley. London: SPCK.
2014-04-09T23:43:52Z"Fouling the nest" : the conflict between the 'church party' and settler society during the New Zealand Wars, 1860-1865Grimshaw, Michael Phttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/36232022-09-01T03:34:05Z2012-12-14T04:58:55Z"Fouling the nest" : the conflict between the 'church party' and settler society during the New Zealand Wars, 1860-1865
1999
Grimshaw, Michael P
In New Zealand in the 1860s, wars were fought between Maori and Pakeha over issues of land rights and sovereignty. The traditional historiography of the period has concentrated on this inter-cultural conflict and written its accounts out of what can be termed official sources and a predominantly secular viewpoint. Yet to do so is to ignore another conflict that was fought concurrently over issues of the extent of secularization, over notions of sovereignty and of Pakeha colonial identity. It is this conflict between what can be termed the 'Church party' and colonial Pakeha society that is the subject of this thesis.; It is argued that this conflict has been marginalized and almost completely ignored by later New Zealand historians because it is not only a conflict involving issues of religion which conflict with the secular historiographical focus of this period, but also because the primary sources for understanding the scope and extent of this conflict are the distinctly unofficial ones of the colonial newspaper and the colonial memoir journal.; This thesis is informed and underwritten by postcolonial and postmodern theory which stresses the need to recover and include those voices and narratives previously lost and discounted by the Modernist Grand Narrative. It is out of this theoretical analysis and approach that there has been the recovery of the marginalized narratives of the conflict between 'Church party' and settler which formed a bitterly contested, widespread and influential second-tier conflict to the prevailing Maori-Pakeha conflict of the 1860s.; This second-tier conflict is read as an expression of both competing Pakeha sub-cultures and as another version of the colonial Pakeha experience and situating of otherness that occurred within colonial Pakeha society. This conflict was led, promoted and most often fought within the pages of the colonial newspaper throughtout the whole of the colony on the years 1860-1865. It resulted in vehement expressions of anti-clericalism, in calls for the exclusion of clerics from influence in issues of politics and raised questions over notions of what being "British', 'civilized' and a 'colonist' were thought to entail.; It is out of this context that this thesis argues that the prevailing historiographical accounts of this 1860-1865 period have ignored a conflict that is to be found in the existence of competing narratives of 'Church Party' and settler as predominantly expressed in the colonial press that are crucial for understanding colonial Pakeha society at this time. This exclusion has reduced a complex period to the relative simplicities of an intercultural conflict to the detriment of the important 'second-tier' issues and debates of the nature and future of colonial Pakeha society and identity. It is these concerns that are the focus of this thesis which is a re-reading of the period located primarily in the unofficial sources and informed by postcolonial and mostmodern theory. The result is a new understanding of the conflicts that occurred within the colonial Pakeha society of the early 1860s and which have been excluded from the historiography of the period until now.
328 leaves ; 30 cm. Includes bibliographical references. University of Otago department: Theology and Religious Studies
2012-12-14T04:58:55Z"Church state relations in New Zealand 1940-1990, with particular reference to the Presbyterian and Methodist churches"Evans, John Adsetthttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/36022022-09-01T03:30:57Z2012-12-14T04:58:29Z"Church state relations in New Zealand 1940-1990, with particular reference to the Presbyterian and Methodist churches"
1992
Evans, John Adsett
In the period between 1940 and 1990 church state relations in New Zealand underwent an extensive change. In 1940 New Zealand purported to be a Christian nation, while by 1990 New Zealand was said to be secular and pluralistic. Also in 1940 church and state were separate. No state aid was given for church schools and little other direct state assistance was provided to the church. By 1990 an "integrated" education system operated in which church schools received state funding and the state also provided considerable support for Christian social service work. This thesis examines these and other changes, and describes the forces and factors that contributed to the change. It concludes with an analysis of New Zealand church state relations in 1990.
In examining the period 1940-1990, two aspects of church state relations are considered: firstly, the church's position with the state as an institution within the community which provides educational and welfare services; and secondly, the church's concern for Christian moral or ethical principles, involving such matters as sexual morality and broader justice questions. These two aspects of church state relations are in turn examined in three periods: 1940-1960, which is regarded as benchmark for the study; the 1960's, a decade of new emphases and considerable change; and finally 1970-1990. In examining the relationship within in each of these periods, developments in the law, theology, Christian social ethics, society, political movements and government administration are considered.
By 1990 New Zealand church state relations are seen to be complex and not capable of any easy categorisation. No one factor has alone determined this new pattern of engagement since 1940. Five themes are however, suggested as being relevant: the changing importance of denominational and sectarian rivalry; the growing cleavage between conservative and liberal Christianity over the nature and issues of political involvement; the changing nature of New Zealand state-sector policy and New Zealand's own economic prosperity; the process of secularisation as it has affected the role of religion in legitimating state action; and the increasing recognition by the state of cultural diversity and the plurality of views, or as it is called here, the process of pluralism. By 1990, these factors placed the church in a different position with the state, but not necessarily one of a reduced role or influence.
xv, 179, [10] leaves :ill. ; 30 cm. Includes bibliographical references. University of Otago department: Theology
2012-12-14T04:58:29ZExploring a Christian conception of economic life from within Karl Barth's doctrine of creationCallander, Andrew Lesliehttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/22442022-09-01T03:19:22Z2012-04-25T23:11:30ZExploring a Christian conception of economic life from within Karl Barth's doctrine of creation
2012
Callander, Andrew Leslie
This thesis uses Barth’s doctrine of creation in Church Dogmatics III as a theological resource to explore a Christian conception of economic life. It gives particular emphasis to Barth’s pivotal insight that the covenant is the inner basis and reason for creation, the creation is the external basis and possibility for the enactment of the covenant, and that both covenant and creation exist in an irreversible order and in an unbreakable unity. The order and unity of covenant and creation is used to demonstrate that Barth’s claim that “Dogmatics itself is ethics; and ethics is also dogmatics” (CD 1/II, 793) is a genuinely workable claim. On this basis Christian ethics may be understood as holding covenant and creation in proper order and unity and in so doing provides us with a standard by which we may understand the command of God as it orientates us toward God, toward others, and toward our actions in the created environment as economic agents. Thus a Christian conception of economic life that serves its proper function in the economy of God will be recognisable in that it will (1) uphold the unity of covenant and creation and so avoid a form of life in which these exist independent of each other. Thus it will neither conceive of Christian service as constituting the totality of a spiritualistic vision concerned only with the saving of souls that has no concern for the bodies of whose souls they are; nor will it conceive of economic agency as constituting the totality of a materialistic vision concerned only with the betterment of bodies that has no concern for the souls of whose bodies they are. It will also (2) uphold the order of covenant and creation and thus put love of God and service to neighbour at the ruling centre and the work of economic agency at the serving circumference. Thus it will reject a form of life in which Christian faith becomes a tool serving economic advantage. It will not annex the glory of God to sanctify our material aspirations; rather it will seek to annex our functioning as economic agents in service of the glory of God. We invite catastrophe if we attempt to make economic activity lie at the ruling centre of our lives, or treat economic activity as the sole purpose of our existence.
2012-04-25T23:11:30Z"Is Anyone In Charge Here?" A Christological Evaluation of the Idea of Human Dominion Over Creation.Yeoman, Selwyn Christopherhttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/22252022-09-01T04:09:06Z2012-04-18T21:06:01Z"Is Anyone In Charge Here?" A Christological Evaluation of the Idea of Human Dominion Over Creation.
2012
Yeoman, Selwyn Christopher
How are we human beings to understand our place and apparently unique power among all other creatures of the Earth? This may seem a naive question, except that the world of the early twenty-first Century is increasingly degraded precisely because of inadequate answers to that question – or refusals to answer it at all. Apocalyptic scenarios surrounding human induced climate change, global conflicts over access to the Earth’s bounty, resource depletion, unconscionable disparities of wealth and poverty, and dramatic rates of bio-diversity loss seem frequently to be met with the response, “don’t worry. Go shopping!” Consumerism is not only an economic strategy but a therapy, and a way of understanding one’s place in the world.
Such indifference is not universal however. In 1967 American historian Lynn White Jnr. suggested that our present ecological crisis was deeply rooted in the Judaeo-Christian heritage and especially the inspirations drawn from the Biblical creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2.1 His argument was that these stories imagined humanity set apart from the rest of Creation by being made in the image of the Creator God, to exercise domination of the world, and indeed, ‘no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man’s purposes.’2
1 Lynn White, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science, New Series, Vol.155, No. 3767 (Mar. 10, 1967): 1203 - 1207.
2 White, “Historical Roots,” 1205.
The purpose of this thesis is firstly, to interrogate White’s account of the impact of Christian faith by demonstrating the reality of serious environmental degradation in contexts quite untouched by Biblical ideas or the Christian tradition. Secondly, I will explore ideas about Creation and human dominion as articulated by the Patristic theologians. These were critical influences during the period of which White writes but are completely ignored in his critique, as also are the Promethean experiments with human power and freedom that have impacted the world since the European Enlightenment.
Trinitarian accounts of God are central to Patristic theology and it is in the light of such accounts that I address issues to do with the nature of Human Dominion. It is the heart of Christian faith that Jesus Christ is the true image of God, and as the Word of God embodied in the materiality of Creation he is also the authentic human being. To properly understand our place within the ecology of Creation we must learn from the humanity of Jesus. To exercise our power rightly we must learn his exercise of power. But the Earth’s ecological crisis is ample evidence that humanity is not readily disposed to living well here. This disorientation, in Christian theology, is our sinfulness. It is repaired, not by individual decisions to try and do better, but by deep-seated conversion into the life of Christ, and into participation in the community of his new humanity, which he proclaimed as the Kingdom of God.
To assess our power, sources of identity, community or autonomy, orientation of desire, and ecological relatedness, all in the light of Jesus Christ is to engage in a Christological evaluation of our humanity. Such an evaluation is a central task of this thesis. Jesus exercises his power or Dominion as a servant, and we will explore some implications of serving the well-being of all Earth’s creatures. As he embodies the Word of God, we examine what it means for us to be formed by that Word, and how the contemplative life is a necessary counter to the destructiveness of the consumerist life. As he is the true image of God, we will explore aspects of advocacy and representation, participating in Christ’s priesthood for the Earth. By such an evaluation we articulate a way of being that is able to recognize a unique power for responsible nurturing, a fellowship in Christ with all Creation.
2012-04-18T21:06:01ZThe God of Israel in Robert W. Jenson's TheologyNicol, Andrew Williamhttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/21842022-09-01T03:49:44Z2012-04-05T00:09:17ZThe God of Israel in Robert W. Jenson's Theology
2012
Nicol, Andrew William
This research analyses the important place God’s identity as the God of Israel has in the systematic theology of American Lutheran theologian Robert W. Jenson. I demonstrate that the identification of the God of Israel as the agent of Jesus’ resurrection functions as a foundational premise in Jenson’s trinitarian theology. In addition, I show that this premise, whilst consistent with his earlier theological thinking, develops more acutely in and around, what he describes as, a ‘new encounter with Judaism.’ In response to a number of stimuli which have arisen around this ‘encounter,’ Jenson has in recent years vigorously pursued the implications of this foundational premise in the formation of a thoroughly non-supersessionist dogmatic theology. A central characteristic of Jenson’s work then, is not merely his recognition that the same God who rescued Israel from Egypt raised Jesus from the dead, or the related, yet distinct step, of renovating his theology in a non-supersessionist fashion, but his attempt to conceive of the full implications for doing so in Christian theology, in the church’s self-understanding and in the church’s relation to Israel and continuing Judaism. This identification of God as the God of Israel serves to anchor Jenson’s trinitarian theology in the very particular story of God with a peculiar people in history. It is also an attempt to elucidate, in faithfulness to the scriptural narrative, how this one God works in Israel and the church to bring about his purposes in the consummation of all things.
The thesis argues that Jenson’s attention to the centrality of God’s identity as the God of Israel permeates his theology and its profound importance for Christian theology is convincingly developed by Jenson himself, but that the abiding significance of the God of Israel’s identity is nevertheless undermined by his tendency to conflate the being of God with the divine economy, and by promoting futurity at the expense of protology. I contend, that despite Jenson’s stated intentions, the identity of the God of Israel is sublated within a temporal schema of trinitarian becoming, which also renders the antecedent basis of Jesus’ unique identity as the ‘beloved Son’ indeterminate and impairs the capacity to speak of the incarnate Christ as an active subject in the God of Israel’s mission.
In order to establish and elucidate this argument the significance of the God of Israel in Jenson’s system is extrapolated and analysed across a number of theological loci. The introductory chapter identifies several broad motifs which are indicative of the centrality of the God of Israel to Jenson’s thought. Chapter 2 explores the formation of Jenson’s biblical hermeneutic; in particular his convictions regarding the abiding significance of the Old Testament for Christian theology. In chapter 3 I continue to extrapolate how Jenson conceives God’s involvement by and with canonical Israel. The God of Israel’s relation to Jesus is developed in chapter 4. Jenson’s doctrine of God continues to be highlighted as the centrality of Jesus’ place in Israel is discussed. Chapter 5 explores the crucial interrelation between Trinitarian doctrine and the oneness of the God of Israel. Jenson’s construal of the ‘people of God’ is examined in chapter 6, along with implications for thinking about the eschaton. Chapter 7 further examines Jenson’s doctrine of God with critical assessment of his narrative ontology and the degree to which it might be said that’s God’s being is constituted by the economy. It is argued that such an account also pays insufficient attention to the ‘whence of Christ.’ Chapter 8 assesses how the God of Israel’s relation to the church and continuing Judaism in Christ is to be considered. This is augmented by a discussion of how the ‘where’ of Christ is critical to the account. The thesis argument is summed up in a brief conclusion.
2012-04-05T00:09:17ZA Braided River: New Zealand Baptists and Public Issues 1882-2000Tucker, John Harveyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/21342022-09-01T04:05:23Z2012-03-07T01:18:30ZA Braided River: New Zealand Baptists and Public Issues 1882-2000
2010
Tucker, John Harvey
This thesis examines various attempts by New Zealand Baptists to engage with social and political issues. It does this by exploring ten significant public debates that occurred between 1882 and 2000 and attempting to identify a range of broad themes and trends.
A number of methodologies have been utilised across several disciplines. The study draws heavily on written artefacts, both published statements and unpublished manuscripts, but also makes use of personal interviews with surviving leaders of the Baptist movement in twentieth-century New Zealand. It attempts to utilise the insights of social historians, on the one hand, but also those of intellectual historians and historical theologians, on the other. It focuses on Baptists in New Zealand, but also tries to make connections with the experience of other denominations and other countries.
The thesis attempts to answer three main questions. First, to what extent did New Zealand Baptists attempt to reshape their society through public debate? It is argued that in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries an influential stream of Baptists was vocal on a wide range of social issues. While Baptist efforts were mainly channelled into crusades on issues of personal morality, a number of Baptists also spoke against unjust social and economic structures. By the 1950s, however, and increasingly from the 1970s, there was an evident decline in the level and breadth of Baptist engagement in public debate.
The second question driving this thesis concerns the elements which have influenced Baptist involvement in debate. How have shifting theological currents or developments within secular thought or the wider social environment affected the flow of Baptist discourse? This study concludes that the Baptist movement’s evangelical priorities largely determined the issues on which they focused their attention, the style of their engagement, and the timing of their withdrawal. Besides this, however, traditional Baptist ecclesiology and wider theological developments were also significant, as were the contours of secular thought and culture.
Finally, this thesis examines the effect of Baptist participation in public debate. What did it achieve? In alliance with other churches and other groups, Baptists made an important contribution to public debate in New Zealand. They won numerous, though limited, victories in the area of alcohol licensing and gambling. They played an important role in the suspension of compulsory military training and the emergence of the welfare state. However, their style of engagement had its weaknesses. By the end of the twentieth century, as issues became highly politicised, society more secular, and churches more polarised, Baptists found engaging in public debate more difficult. The stream of Baptists that had been committed to social renewal though social and political action largely dried up. If the New Zealand Baptist movement was to reengage significantly in public debate it would need to discover a new vision and strategy for social reform.
1 v. (various paging) :ill. (some col.), maps (some col., some folded) ; 30 cm. Includes bibliographical references. University of Otago department: Theology and Religion.
2012-03-07T01:18:30ZDietrich Bonhoeffer's Spatially Structured Ecclesiology. Reconfiguring the Confession of Christ's Presence.Fergus, Donald Murdochhttp://hdl.handle.net/10523/20992022-09-01T03:30:58Z2012-01-30T01:58:51ZDietrich Bonhoeffer's Spatially Structured Ecclesiology. Reconfiguring the Confession of Christ's Presence.
2012
Fergus, Donald Murdoch
From the beginning of his career Dietrich Bonhoeffer was invested in describing and then crafting a form of religious community that provided a way of being human, and a form of corporate sociality that was grounded in and grew out of the presence of the person of Jesus Christ. The sanctorum communio was that form of sociality. Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiology was the outcome of his relentless searching for a form of the church that could meet the challenges of National Socialism’s Third Reich and contribute meaningfully to the life of the German nation.
A reading of Bonhoeffer reveals the widespread use of spatial metaphors or descriptors in the development of his ecclesiology. Bonhoeffer was always interested in the empirical church and a careful reading shows how his spatially structured ecclesiology underlies and supports the church’s Christological core and its communal nature, giving a concrete form to the ministry of the church in the culture in which it is embedded. Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiology serves to shape the way in which the church structures its confession of Christ’s presence in the world, while at the same time keeping a steady eye on the church as a creation and gift of God. The quest for a vibrant articulation of Christ’s presence becomes a persistent hermeneutic throughout Bonhoeffer’s writing. His robust doctrine of the church based on the images of place and space leads eventually to the form of the suffering servant, Jesus Christ. Collectively, the images build a compelling case for a form of sociality that brings the motifs of self-giving love and of dying and rising in Christ together to shape discipleship in Christ and the theological reflection on that discipleship.
Bonhoeffer's use of spatial imagery places the church’s central acts of announcing and bearing witness to the word of God, and its celebration of the sacramental enactments of that word of promise and hope within a particular space in which the church is highly visible. Bonhoeffer called this ‘the living space [Lebensraum] of the visible church-community’. It is from within this living-space that the church is committed to pushing back the boundaries of life until the world is held by Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life.
2012-01-30T01:58:51Z