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The last couple of decades have witnessed a great emphasis on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, with higher education institutions "demanding" innovation or claiming that innovation takes place (Gilbert et al., 2020). Research has seen a resurgence of interest in innovative teaching and learning in higher education. High-quality teaching in the tertiary sector has become essential in maximising student learning. University teacher identities are manufactured from what they do, their work, their practices, and the context they work in. This research focuses on how thirty-eight innovative university teachers who have been awarded a teaching prize at a local or national level, been commended for innovation, or have a genuine interest in innovation, in the academic year 2019-2020 develop their professional identities, perceive, interpret, and characterise themselves in their daily teaching lives at two English teaching and research-intensive universities, Millfield-U and Causeway-U. A qualitative case study using visualisations (drawings) was adopted as a lens for exploring the core narrative, representations, and manifestations of innovative university teacher identity bringing 'form to the formless' (Bauman, 2013, p.82); outwardly trapping self-evoking reflections, and revealing the narrative understanding of teacher professional identity showing the emerging complexity of university teachers and aspects of teacher thinking around identity. The data analysis used in this inquiry combines Braun & Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis for the textual data element and Jungian focal points for drawings. The findings underpin how visualisations (drawings) add value to the conversations with innovative university teachers. Drawings connect the sub-identities of the self and demonstrate agency. The use of pictorial representations uncovered the professional roles of teachers in a highly marketised sector and demonstrated that many participants felt detached from their institutions and academic disciplines. The innovative teachers in this inquiry were constrained by time pressures, student numbers, increased workloads, and the lack of recognition within the role and academic discipline, all of which are part of the neoliberal agenda (Taberner, 2018).

Over the 2002 to 2010 period of New Labour administration, a key strand of educational policy was the notion of 14-19 education. A key component of which was a belief that for this to be delivered most effectively, organisations needed to work in partnership. This research aimed to understand and explain the operation of a 14-19 partnership, of which I was a member, and to suggest possible ways in which its operation could be improved. It was carried out as the Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition was introducing significantly different accountability measures for the 14-16 age group. A critical realist methodology was used as the ontological and epistemological basis (Bhaskar 1998; Bhaskar 2008). Since such a methodology does not have a preferred underpinning theoretical framework, results were predominantly analysed through the lens of Bourdieu’s triad of sociological principles of habitus, field, and capital (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). Where appropriate, results were also framed by performativity (Lyotard 1984) and partnership perspectives from education (Hodgson and Spours 2006) and organisational studies (Contractor and Lorange 2004). Two key data collection methods, both from the perspective of an insider researcher, were used. Participant observation was used to obtain in situ evidence of partnership operation. In addition, eleven senior managers from partnership organisations were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. An analysis of field positions and a reflexive self-analysis were also carried out. This study identified that, for this partnership, the introduction of ‘Progress Eight’ led to the partnership’s demise. Using empirical evidence, the study provides theorised explanations of factors that affected partner engagement within this particular ‘weakly-collaborative’ 14-19 partnership, thus providing a number of original contributions to knowledge. It extended conceptions of educational partnership based upon theories of social capital by linking partnership engagement to capital exchange, capital cost-benefit analysis and the influence of government statist capital. The study also provided an early indication of the likely influence of ‘Progress Eight’ on partnership behaviour and, more generally, on the 14-16 curriculum within schools. Finally, the research methodology is an operationalised example of how a Bourdieun theoretical framework could be combined with a critical realist ontology to research the educational organisation context.

Liturgical interpretation is the application of the methods of patristic and medieval biblical exegesis to public worship. This thesis examines for the first time its importance in the religious culture of Scotland during a period of renaissance and reformation. The first section defines the genres and method involved with reference to the most popular liturgical commentary of that time, the Rationale divinorum officiorum of William Durandus of Mende (c.1230-1296). The reasons for the decline of this genre and its neglect by modern scholarship are then explored. The central section of the thesis employs a wide variety of evidence, including material culture, to argue, firstly, that liturgical interpretation was a fundamental part of the culture of Catholic Scotland; secondly, that interest in it was a sign of commitment to Catholic reform. It is also argued that it had an important place in the education system and influenced the design and understanding of churches and their furnishings. Drawing upon inscriptions in liturgical commentaries, networks of clergy in Scotland committed to Catholic reform and the liturgy are identified. The ‘Aberdeen liturgists’ were the most significant group. Formed by Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen who was consecrated in 1488, it is shown that their influence lasted beyond 1560 and created a distinctive religious culture in the North-East. The final section examines what happened to this intellectual tradition during the period of the Scottish reformations, both the Catholic reform associated with Archbishop Hamilton in the 1550s and the Protestant reform which triumphed in 1559-60. While interest in liturgical interpretation survived in Aberdeen after 1560, its use by Catholic writers declined in the later sixteenth century. A Reformed version of liturgical interpretation did, however, emerge combining an anti-commentary on the Catholic liturgy with the use of aspects of the medieval method to interpret the liturgy of the Reformed church. This can be found in official Protestant texts and, in its fullest form, in the 1590 sermons on the Lord’s Supper by Robert Bruce. This hitherto unnoticed genre demonstrates an important continuity across the Reformation divide. It suggests that ‘the Scottish Reformation’ is best seen as a phenomenon which was both Catholic and Protestant and that the reformers on both sides had more in common than they or subsequent historians allow.

The settlement history of the Çarsamba alluvial fan is investigated for the interval circa 9,000-1000 BP using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and satellite remote sensing data. Models of landscape and settlement pattern development are evaluated with reference to the archaeological settlement record. Exploratory data analysis methods are used to examine the spatial characteristics of reconstructed settlement distributions. The use of multi-date Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and SPOT Panchromatic satellite data to increase the visibility of past settlements is described within a methodological section of the thesis. Vegetation cover conditions and the contrast between decomposed mudbrick and alluvial soils are identified as important factors in the visibility of settlements. The successful specific detection of previously unrecorded past settlements from Landsat and SPOT data is reported. The archaeological settlement record of the Çarsamba alluvial fan displays complex spatio-temporal patterning as a result of the interaction of cultural and taphonomic factors. While some features of the archaeological record are artifacts of differential preservation or recovery, others clearly reflect the influence of changing physical environments on past landuse and occupation.

Incorrect system operation can, at worst, be life threatening or financially devastating. Software testing is a destructive process that aims to reveal software faults. Selection of good test data can be extremely difficult. To ease and assist test data selection, several test data generators have emerged that use a diverse range of approaches. Adaptive test data generators use existing test data to produce further effective test data. It has been observed that there is little empirical data on the adaptive approach. This thesis presents the Heuristically Aided Testing System (HATS), which is an adaptive test data generator that uses several heuristics. A heuristic embodies a test data generation technique. Four heuristics have been developed. The first heuristic, Direct Assignment, generates test data for conditions involving an input variable and a constant. The Alternating Variable heuristic determines a promising direction to modify input variables, then takes ever increasing steps in this direction. The Linear Predictor heuristic performs linear extrapolations on input variables. The final heuristic, Boundary Follower, uses input domain boundaries as a guide to locate hard-to-find solutions. Several Ada procedures have been tested with HATS; a quadratic equation solver, a triangle classifier, a remainder calculator and a linear search. Collectively they present some common and rare test data generation problems. The weakest testing criterion HATS has attempted to satisfy is all branches. Stronger, mutation-based criteria have been used on two of the procedures. HATS has achieved complete branch coverage on each procedure, except where there is a higher level of control flow complexity combined with non-linear input variables. Both branch and mutation testing criteria have enabled a better understanding of the test data generation problems and contributed to the evolution of heuristics and the development of new heuristics. This thesis contributes the following to knowledge: Empirical data on the adaptive heuristic approach to test data generation. How input domain boundaries can be used as guidance for a heuristic. An effective heuristic termination technique based on the heuristic's progress. A comparison of HATS with random testing. Properties of the test software that indicate when HATS will take less effort than random testing are identified.

In light of the lack of systematic theology work on the demonic-spiritual realm, the aim of this thesis is to construct a doctrine of God which is commodious and coherent enough to locate a theology of spiritual warfare. The specific question that guides the thesis is 'does the contemporary theology of Paul S. Fiddes offer a better framework than traditional theologies to explain the nature and character of God that best fits with a theology of spiritual warfare?' Indeed, the reached answer concludes that at variance with traditional doctrines of God, a critical evaluation and reconstruction of Paul Fiddes' theology - with emphases on God's kenotic sovereignty, passibility, openness to the created order and panentheistic reality - offers a better structure to construct a Doctrine of God that best imbibes a theology of spiritual warfare. In order to address and answer the question, the development of the thesis has three distinct phases. First, after the introduction, chapters two and three broadly delineate with some analysis Fiddes' doctrine of God and his understanding of the demonic realm and nature of evil. From this follows, in chapters four to six, critical examinations of the three incommunicable attributes of God, - divine omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence - which are explicated using Fiddes' corpus as well as salient interlocutors. These chosen attributes are central to a doctrine of God that helps make sense of the spiritual world, especially the demonic, as attested to by scripture, reason and experience. Finally, in chapter seven, the overall findings of these five chapters are then used to build a constructive theology of spiritual warfare, a dialectical theology operant on the planes of the individual and corporate which is theologically congruent with the critically adapted doctrine of God presented in the previous chapters. The entire thesis takes the form of a dialogue between Fiddes and this author, who continually draws upon pertinent modern (and some historical) scholarship concerning divine conflict and the doctrine of God.

From at least the middle of the nineteenth century much scholarship on Calvin's theology has taken the apparent omission of a locus on the divine attributes in his Institutio as evidence that he did not teach a doctrine of God's essence and attributes, and so instantiated a significant rupture with patristic and medieval theology. Others have claimed that Calvin imported a nominalist or ‘Scotist' metaphysics of God into Protestantism. This thesis challenges such accounts. Throughout his exegetical works Calvin assumes a classical account of God's perfections; he regards this account to be both biblically warranted and necessary for metaphysically responsible interpretations of divine revelation. Calvin affirms a series of materially traditional commitments concerning divine attributes in accordance with his own particular theological purposes – chiefly, the scriptural exposition of the nature of God so as to build up trust, hope, and confidence in God as origin, cause, and end of all things. The thesis surveys Calvin's specific theological, exegetical, and pastoral arguments on a range of incommunicable and communicable perfections, from simplicity and aseity to mercy and grace. It offers a portrait of Calvin as a particular sort of biblical theologian, one for whom divine metaphysics and scriptural exegesis are inseparable modes of Christian reasoning, the conclusions of which are themselves intrinsically generative of Christian piety.

This thesis explores a Ukrainian Baptist understanding of the ecclesiological nature of associations of churches. The thesis re-constructs historical understanding of the nature of associations, maps the current perspective on associations and suggests its further development through constructive dialogue with Paul S. Fiddes' covenant ecclesiology. In the process of reconstruction and mapping special attention is paid to associational practices, organisational structure and theological language and imagery related to associations of churches. The thesis demonstrates that Ukrainian Baptists understand associations of churches as ecclesial entities. This is evident in associational practices and the theological language and imagery they use with regard to associations. Employment of Fiddes' concepts of the covenant, participation in the Trinity and theology of trust permits moving beyond pragmatic reasons for associating and mission and to construe associations as covenantal brotherhood in Christ that visualises unity of the Body of Christ, commits to mutual care through the ministry of trans-local ministers and participates in Christ's mission in the world.

This thesis is an exploration of the renewal of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in the 1990s. It argues that key to this renewal were two streams of thought that developed during the 1980s, one arguing more for denominational renewal from an evangelical position and the other more for theological renewal from an ecumenical and catholic position. From these two streams particular individuals - David Coffey, Nigel Wright, Paul Fiddes and Brian Haymes - were influential in the discussions within the Union that took place after Coffey was appointed General Secretary of the Union in 1991. These discussions centred around mission and identity, ministry and associating and ecumenical engagement. The first stream, represented by Coffey and Wright emphasised mission; and the second, represented by Fiddes and Haymes, emphasised covenant. Both mission and covenant are important markers of historic Baptist identity, the former becoming prominent in the late 18th century and the latter in the early beginnings of Baptists in the 16th century. While not antithetical to one another I show how these two emphasises pulled in different directions. An attempt was made in the subsequent changes to the structures to hold both together, but I argue that this meant neither were fully bedded into the life and members of the Union. I suggest that one of the problems here was the place and practice of theology within the Union and especially its Council.

There exists a lack of clarity concerning the concept of perichoresis in contemporary theology. Although most theologians hold a similar formal definition of this term which attempts to describe the union of the persons of the Trinity, the variety of ways with which it is being used as a tool renders it potentially unhelpful. The most serious area of theology which is affected by these differences of usage for perichoresis is that of human participation with the divine. In order to seek clarity and logical consistency between these two concepts, this thesis first provides a brief overview of trinitarian theology as it stands today and expresses why these concepts are of importance at this time. Secondly, it explores the origins of perichoresis, categorizes the different ways modern theologians utilize the concept, and provides a definition which may be useful when moving forward. Thirdly, the thesis examines the concept of human participation with God, starting with an overview of the Eastern concept of theosis, followed by a categorization of the different ways the concept of human participation is expressed today, and ending with a brief definition which may be helpful in future conversations about the topic. Finally, the thesis explores the theological movements which are logically allowable when one takes his or her doctrine of perichoresis to bear on the concept of human participation with God. I argue that there are ways of using perichoresis which logically necessitate certain understandings of participation and logically prohibit others. The twofold goals of this thesis are, first, to provide clarity of language when discussing the concept of perichoresis by categorizing the thoughts of theologians into an understandable framework, and second, to encourage scholars to examine carefully the ways in which their understanding of perichoresis affects their understanding of human participation with the divine.

The eighteenth-century Particular Baptist minister Andrew Fuller lived a consequential life. He assisted in forming the Baptist Missionary Society, the first modern Protestant missions society. His published theological tracts, particularly his works on soteriology, left an indelible mark on Baptist and even evangelical life. Fuller remains most famous for rebutting a form of Calvinism described as hyper- Calvinism or false Calvinism in the relevant literature. This theological tradition sought to maximize divine grace by minimizing human participation in salvation's reception. To downplay human action, hyper-Calvinist ministers denied both the legitimacy of free offers of the Gospel and a universal duty to respond to the Gospel. Despite Fuller's significance, existing scholarly accounts of his life present deficient readings of the hyper-Calvinist theology that he rejected. They either fail to explore the primary source material closely, or they rely on incorrect assumptions about hyper- Calvinism's development. This fact has led to incomplete portrayals of Fuller's biography. Contemporary scholars are unable to discern accurately the concerns that animated Fuller, the particular ministers that he sought to engage, and even the sources on which he relied. In this thesis, I provide a more nuanced reading of the hyper-Calvinism relevant to Fuller's setting to contextualize his response to that theology. I present hyper-Calvinism as a diverse movement-more diverse than the current literature portrays. Though hyper-Calvinist theologians shared the goal of diminishing human agency, they disagreed on approach; some preferred to present salvation as occurring pre-temporally in the covenantal arrangements of God while others chose to emphasize a human inability to believe the Gospel. I argue that this reading of hyper-Calvinism provides new insight into Fuller's writings; in particular, it reveals that Fuller relied on the works of John Gill and publications composed by participants in the modern question debate more than scholars have realized.

Miroslav Volf argues traumatic memories are a temporal and eschatological stain on divine-human relations, making non-remembrance a mandatory component of reconciliation. Yet I contend the ‘problem of traumatic memories' is more convincingly addressed through remembrance, exemplified in the continuity of the divine and human embodiment of scars. The investigation begins temporally, in Part I, with consensus neuroscientific data arguing remembrance is the human brain's autonomic response to trauma and cognitive embodiment is how the brain best reconciles that remembrance of scars. Congruent with this biological reality, scripture records how the incarnate Son embodies his scars without attempts ‘to let go of such memories'. Then, eschatologically, because of the forerunning way of redemption how the Father accepts the Son's embodiment of scars is eternally perfect – without having to be erased, uncreated, or non-remembered – so will humanity's embodied remembrance of scars be accepted as eternally perfect in their elevation. Yet this conclusion is highly problematic for Volf because any form of eschatological remembrance of trauma is a perpetuation of evil (sin) poisoning God's eternal perfections. In direct response to Volf's concern, Part II offers a doctrinal construction of the paradox of Triune (im)possibility detailing how divine kenosis creates a bridge from the temporal possibility of traumatic memories to the Godhead's impassable nature without poisoning the eternal perfections. I argue all divine kenotic suffering in the world, including, prominently, the cross event, was already eternally conditioned in the united will (in difference) of the Trinity. Therefore eschatological remembrance of trauma cannot poison the eternal perfections because its temporal possibility has already been perfectly qualified by a divine continuity of victorious elevation. Just like the eschatological remembrance of the cross's trauma, all other remembrance of trauma continues only in a perfected state wholly unconnected from the nature of sin permeating the memories' temporal iterations. This is how remembrance better answers the problem of traumatic memories – by forging temporal-to-eschatological continuity of the divine and human embodiment of scars, no temporal suffering is done in vain because it is perfectly redeemed in the eschatological victory of divine-human remembrance.

This thesis studied the experience of worship in Scotland in the first generations after the Scottish Protestant Reformation. It was inspired by the realisation that earlier historiography had been a denominational battle-ground whose dogmatism had obscured the view of worship in the parish. Aonghus MacKechnie’s phrase, ‘Dour-Mongers All?’ sums up the leading question; was Reformed worship as austere and colourless as its detractors and advocates suggested? Questions surrounding the key components of Reformed worship: architecture, liturgy, music and preaching have more recently been addressed with less sectarian interest, but these individual strands have tended to be studied in isolation. In terms of the experience of worship, they belong together. Traditionally, the period 1560-1638 has been used as the period defining the first phase of the Reformed Kirk, with the National Covenant of 1638 marking the end of what could be called the experimental phase of the new dispensation. However, 1559 was chosen as the starting point to recognise the significant changes to worship that began with the “cleansing” of the churches and friaries of Perth and St Andrews in that year. The terminal date of 1617 marked King James VI’s return to Scotland, during which worship at Holyrood Palace was conducted in the manner of the English court both in terms of liturgical materials, music, and the refurbishment of the Chapel Royal. This proved to be a portent of James’ vision for liturgical change by statute in the Five Articles of Perth that were a significant watershed for the Kirk. Whilst it took another 20 years for the full outworking of this policy under his son Charles I, after 1617 the vibrant and complex worship culture of the Scottish Kirk that had been developed since 1559 began to be squeezed. That culture became a victim of the polemicized battle between extreme Scottish and English Reformed models advocated in the growing controversy over the relationship between Church, Crown and State within the Three Kingdoms. By 1650, an austere new psalter and worship directory had been adopted by the victors and the diversity and richness of the earlier Scottish worship culture had been lost. The first part of the necessarily multi-disciplinary thesis explores the experience of worship by isolating its key components: church buildings and furnishings, liturgical material, and singing. It does this by analysing the surviving material culture and the written and visual documentary evidence of church buildings and interior furnishings used for worship after 1559; surveying the nature, extent and use of the liturgical material included within the Psalme Buiks, with particular focus on the Henrie Charteris edition of 1596; and exploring the development and impact of the new and popular phenomenon of metrical Psalm-singing. The second part assesses the contribution of four significant ministers: John Davidson, James Melville, William Cowper, and John Welch, examining their lives, writing and preaching and judging how their contribution enriched the experience of worship in their parishes. This evidence is used to reconstruct the experience of worship in this period and show that it was vibrant and compelling, influenced in its raw materials by much from outside Scotland but strongly developed in the diverse contexts of Scottish parishes.

This research explores the method and theological content in Stephen Charnock's discourses on the attributes and the existence of God with the intention to determine whether this material is structured upon the influence of the scholastic method. This is accomplished (1) by locating Charnock within his own academic and historical context and by interpreting his works according to the theological genre to which they belong, (2) by identifying the conceptual and methodological presuppositions that framed the discourses, (3) by examining and accounting for the order of exposition found in the discourses, and (4) by performing a descriptive analysis of the material seeking to identify traces of the scholastic method and style of argumentation. The findings of this investigation indicate that Charnock's discourses are theological sermons primarily intended for homiletical purposes and yet organised and reasoned per the scholastic method.

The subject treated in this thesis is the doctrine of the church among the English Calvinistic Baptists in the period, circa 1640-1660. This timeframe covers the significant phase of early Calvinistic Baptist emergence in society and literary output. The thesis seeks to explore the development of theological commitments regarding the nature of the church within the turbulent historical context of the time. The background to the emergence of the Calvinistic Baptists was the demise of the Anglican Church of England, the establishment by Act of Parliament of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and the establishment of a Presbyterian Church of England. The English experiment with Presbyterianism began and ended in the years covered in this work. Ecclesiology was thus one of the most important doctrines under consideration in the phase of English history. This thesis is a contribution to understanding alternative forms of ecclesiology outside of the mainstream National Church settlement. It will be argued in this thesis that the emergence and development of Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology was a natural development of one stream of Puritan theology of the church. This was the tradition associated with Robert Brown, and the English separatist movement dating from the 1570s. This tradition was refined and made experimental in the work of Henry Jacob. Having developed his ecclesiology in the Netherlands, in 1616 Jacob founded a congregation in Southwark, London from which Calvinistic Baptists would emerge with distinct baptismal convictions by 1638. Central to Jacob's ideology was the belief that a rightly ordered church acknowledged Christ as King over his people. The Christological priority of early Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology will constitute the primary contribution of this thesis to investigation of dissenting theology in the period.

We find ourselves, as interpreters and listeners, living, discerning, prioritizing, asking, and answering questions in and through particular communal and theological traditions. As the discerning and prioritizing process is inevitable, we suggest to move the question about prioritizing from the context of ‘privileged access or interpretation' to the context of the ‘preferences' of the believing communities. We imply by this ‘relocation' the interdependent relationships between believing communities and their beliefs and practices. We propose, following Maturana's epistemology, three steps to argue about the dynamic and interdependent relationships among believers, communities, and their beliefs and practices. We affirm, first, that whenever we engage in the discerning process we have before us two paths of explanations. These two paths place the believers in a central place in their task for deciding for one of the options. The recognition about the interpreters' active participation suggests the crucial role of the believers and their preferences. The crucial point in the process of discerning and deciding for one of the paths is the type of believing communities that we would like to promote and conserve. We suggest, second, that the proposal of answers and the acceptation of those answers as explanations imply the active participation of both interpreters and listeners. We propose the interdependence relationships between our existence in particular believing communities and those questions and answers that we prioritize, ignore, and conserve. We claim, third, that in language or in and through our dialogical spaces we distinguish and coordinate the many and possible dimensions of our existence and relationships. As believers, in and through the contexts of our believing communities we discern, prioritize, and conserve the accents of our beliefs and practices. We stress the crucial role of the preferences as the believing communities prioritize and conserve the ‘nature' and ‘course' of their particular communities.

This thesis investigates the significance of the Church's experience of transcendence in the theologies of Robert W. Jenson (b. 1930) and Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983). Both theologians emphasize the indispensable role of eschatology for Christian theology, but they offer strikingly different accounts of what that means. Following an introductory chapter, the first half of the thesis (chapters 2-4) clarifies the loss of transcendence by following Jenson's and Schmemann's respective theological diagnoses of the chief problems facing the Church in the late-modern West. Jenson argues that a long hidden error in the ontology of the doctrine of God is the underlying cause of the nihilism pervading Western culture. Schmemann perceives secularism as the pervasive cultural backdrop to Christian faith in the West, identifying the betrayal of the Orthodox Church's liturgical experience of the Kingdom of God as the chief culprit. By placing their critiques in dialog with one another I further trace the mutually diagnosed problem of the Church's debilitated eschatology to underlying problems in received ontologies of transcendence. The second half of the thesis (chapters 5-7) explores Jenson's and Schmemann's theological proposals for rehabilitating eschatology. Jenson revises the ontology of God to more adequately fit the God identified by the gospel. His narratival ontology enables him to conceptualize God's transcendence in terms of triune faithfulness through time rather than in metaphysical immunity to time. Schmemann retrieves a symbolic ontology in order to affirm the sacramentality of the world by which God's transcendence can be mystically experienced in the Church's liturgical worship. I argue that Jenson's theological rejection of timelessness rests upon historicist assumptions which Schmemann's eschatological theory has resources to withstand and that, furthermore, theology should preserve apophatic humility rooted in the aseity of God rather than historicize the doctrine of God as Jenson proposes.

While few would deny America is the most powerful nation on earth, there is considerable debate, and controversy, over how America uses its foreign policy power. This is even truer since the “unipolar moment,” when America gained sole superpower status with the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. In the Cold War Reinhold Niebuhr was the main theological voice speaking to American power. In the Unipolar world, the Religious right emerged as the main theological voice, but instead of seeking to curb American power the Religious right embraced Neoconservatism in what I will call “Totemic Conservatism” to support use of America's power in the world and to triumph Manifest destiny in American foreign policy, which is the notion that America is a chosen nation, and this legitimizes its use of power and underpins its moral claims. I critique the Niebuhrian and Religious right legacies, and offer a classical realist strategy for theology to speak to America power and foreign policy, which avoids the neoconservative and religious conservative error of totemism, while avoiding the jettisoning of Niebuhr's theology by political liberals, and, the political ghettoizing of theology by his chief critics. This strategy is based on embracing the understanding of classical realism, but not taking the next step, which both Niebuhr and neoconservativism ultimately do, of moving from a prescriptive to a predictive strategy for American foreign policy. In this thesis, I argue that in the wake of the unipolar moment the embrace of the Religious right of Neoconservatism to triumph Manifest destiny in American foreign policy is a problematic commingling of faith and politics, and what is needed instead is a strategy of speaking to power rooted in classical realism but one which refines Niebuhrian realism to avoid the risk of progressing a Constantinian theology.

Isaac Watts was a dissenting minister, theologian, philosopher, hymn writer and poet in the first half of the eighteenth century. Despite exercising significant influence over dissent and beyond he remains an understudied figure. In particular there has been little attempt to find coherent patterns of thought in his works. We examine Watts' view of the role of reason and the place of passion in the Christian life. These are shown to be foundational themes in his thought. In particular they lie behind his more practical works which attempted to bring reformation and revival to the church of his day. On reason Watts in many ways followed Enlightenment thought as expressed by John Locke. However he departed in significant ways which echo his Puritan background. As a result Watts is shown to be an ‘Enlightenment Puritan' on this topic. On passion Watts accepted some of the view of the new sentimentalist thinkers but again continued significant elements of Puritan thought. Hence on both these areas Watts is shown to hold a modified Puritan position, modified that is in the light of the new thinking of his day. Watts' position on these foundational topics is then shown to lie behind his attempts to revive religion in the areas of preaching, praise and prayer. Watts' distinct views on these practical topics are shown to flow directly from his view of reason and passion. Hence in a time of increasing rationalism and sentimentality in the church Watts attempted to bring revival because of his modified Puritan views on reason and passion. As a result Watts' thought is shown to have a far greater degree of consistency than has been previously appreciated. It is not claimed that Watts has been relocated but that we have located him far more precisely.

This thesis provides an examination into the primary features in the theology of one of the turn of the century's leading evangelical theologians, Stanley J. Grenz. It begins by establishing the controversial nature of Grenz's project within evangelical theology, and how his aims were misread by a number of evangelical scholars. It then argues that the primary feature in his writings was the doctrine of the Trinity, giving shape to his methodology, theology, and ethical engagement. Accordingly, this thesis identifies the most significant features he adopted and adapted from Wolfhart Pannenberg, whose influence on Grenz is readily seen. These features include not only how Grenz derived particular methodological aspects from Pannenberg (chap. 2), but also those related to the shape of his trinitarian theology itself (chap. 3). Next, while realizing that Grenz's new-found emphasis on a trinitarian project was not placed on a tabula rasa, a wider account of his trinitarian background is considered (chap. 4), as is the particular developmental shape of his doctrine of the Trinity itself (chap. 5). Following this, an examination is made into how Grenz accessed this doctrine of the Trinity, through the imago Dei concept, informed by a theological hermeneutic, theological exegesis, and weaved through the traditional systematic loci (chap. 6). Finally, the shape of his trinitarian ethical work is considered in light of the overall coherence of his body of writings, both in its early form as a Christian ethic as well as in the test-cases that were part of his engagement (chap. 7). This is followed by a summary of the reception of Grenz's project, which is deemed consistent with his aims of being both a distinctly evangelical and trinitarian theologian.

This study enters into the dialog within Christian theology between annihilationism and traditionalism on the nature of eternal punishment. The positions and issues within the topic will be examined theologically and analyzed doctrinally. In my first chapter I will summarize the views and arguments in the debate, establish operating definitions, address preliminary issues, and provide some historical context. I will establish a thesis agenda with dual aspects: negatively, to examine and critique annihilationism on theological grounds, and positively to offer arguments for a modified traditionalism. Chapters two, three, and four primarily serve the negative purpose. Chapter two critically considers annihilationism on exegetical and hermeneutical issues, concluding that the view is inferior to traditionalism. Chapter three examines annihilationism for consistency with other areas of Christian theology, concluding that the view generates major theological problems in Christology. Chapter four considers both annihilationism and traditionalism regarding the disproportionality problem of hell, concluding that annihilationism and two types of traditionalism can resolve the problem but of these three only one sort of traditionalism can do so whilst also satisfying other important theological criteria. Regarding the negative aspect of the thesis, I conclude that the severe theological problems in annihilationism constitute sufficient reason to reject the view. In chapter five I accomplish the positive aspect of this thesis, offering six criteria of success for any view of eternal punishment. I then provide detailed argumentation for a modified traditionalism called reconciliationism, concluding it best meets these criteria and is the most theologically and exegetically satisfying view on offer. In the concluding chapter I state this thesis' contributions, suggest several areas for further research, and offer some implications for pastoral theology. I finally conclude that annihilationism has seemingly insurmountable theological problems, but a modified traditionalism can succeed as a doctrine of hell.

As a key contributor to the current discussion of the Catholic theology of religions, Gavin D'Costa's writings represent a consistent attempt to utilize the resources of the doctrine of the Trinity to address a number of issues regarding the theological significance and function of religions in the salvific plan of God. The aim of this thesis is to examine critically his Trinitarian theology of religions through the lens of a main proponent of patristic theology, Basil of Caesarea, and through a historical-systematic study, address the question of whether his underlying Trinitarianism is consonant with classical Trinitarian theology. After a discussion of Vatican II and post-Conciliar sources, the main contours of D'Costa's theology are highlighted through an interpretive grid of particularity/universality (Christology/Pneumatology) with a second-order universality/particularity. Despite his distancing from the three-fold typology of exclusivism-inclusivism-pluralism, we analyzed that much of his theology continues to fall within the category of traditional inclusivism, particularly since his recent proposal of the limbo of the Fathers contained serious difficulties pertaining to his intention to maintain a singular OT Judaism-Christianity relationship. Next, we examined the main features of Basilian Trinitarianism, and proposed that three major themes are of relevance for a comparative analysis with D'Costa's theology, namely, (1) the doctrines of divine simplicity and inseparable operations, (2) the enlightening work of the Spirit, and (3) the theology of baptism and theosis. Throughout the discussion, in recognition that Basil's thought is part of the patristic theological matrix of his time, we will also reference the writings of other Church Fathers, including Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine. We concluded that while in Basil's theology, economy, relationality and ethics are intricately woven into each other, D'Costa's system, despite its significant merits, was at risk of disaffiliating the connections between the three.

This thesis centers on the doctrine of Christ in the theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon through the lens of Spurgeon's highly developed metaphor, that of Jesus Christ, the “Prince of pilgrims.” That no scholarly work has thus analyzed or surveyed Spurgeon's ontological, functional, and exegetical Christologies warrants continued contribution to the field of scholarship. Though not a systematician, Spurgeon stood in direct theological continuity with his Nonconformist Puritan predecessors and transmitted a highly developed Christology that was Chalcedonian in creed and Alexandrian in style. This thesis positions Spurgeon's Christology against the backdrop of a complex Victorian religious context that, through the use of scientific enquiry, sought to recover the full humanity of Christ. Though reacting against modern conclusions concerning the person, natures, and work of Christ, Spurgeon also sought to recover Christ's humanity, though his theological presuppositions stood in marked contradistinction to the spirit of the age. Particular attention is given to Spurgeon's utilization of an allegorical hermeneutic to the end that his vernacular, at times, potentially deviates from traditional, orthodox Christological teachings. The scope of this research is a survey of Spurgeon's Christology by way of his sermons, published writings, lectures, and letters. The purpose of this study is to analyze Spurgeon's doctrine of Christ in the context of the wider theological tradition through an investigation of his allegorical and innovative rhetoric.

The purpose of the thesis was to edit for publication, with an accompanying commentary, the text of the Thomas F. Torrance (1913-2007) dogmatics lectures at New College, Edinburgh from 1952-78. The commentary examines their background in his early intellectual development (from upbringing to university graduation), focusing on his earliest lectures and publications (1938-42), memoirs, interviews and other biographical information. When seen against their formative background and in the light of his whole career, the lectures are opened up to illuminating new perspectives on their significance, originality, content and place in his theology. The commentary has four sections, a) on sources consulted and on Torrance's general intellectual development and formation of theological goals, b) on the development of his views on the nature of rationality, including his early use of the ‘Christological analogy' as the guiding analogy of Christian theology, c) on Torrance's use and innovative development of the key concepts anhypostasis and enhypostasis, d) on the editing process with a full breakdown of the type and scale of the work involved. From the material uncovered, the commentary highlights three points as central conclusions: (i) the intrinsic unity of Torrance's work and career, (ii) the constitutive importance of revelation in Jesus Christ for a proper view of reason, (iii) the pivotal centrality of positive dogmatics. Despite the seeming welter of criss-crossing interests, Torrance's life has an intrinsic unity, centred on the gospel and on understanding the ontological grounds for faith. His concern for rationality stems from the nature of the gospel, the intelligible self-revelation of God in Christ engaging the whole human person in transformation and conformity to the mind of Christ. Throughout all he did, the gospel of Jesus Christ and its positive explication in ‘Trinitarian-Christocentric' dogmatics remained the central and ultimate focus of Torrance's life and work.

This dissertation considers the mystery of the relationship between human free choice and God by focusing on the Controversy de Auxiliis (1582-1607) and the thought of Domingo Báñez, O.P. (1528-1604) in particular. The dissertation comprises four chapters and a conclusion preceded by a preface and brief historical introduction. The preface introduces the issue to be explored and the motivations for exploring it before providing a general synopsis of the dissertation that is more detailed than the present abstract. The historical summary that follows introduces a theological debate that has become widely unfamiliar to contemporary theology, even while conceptually, that debate remains perennial. The four-chapter body that follows may be divided into two general parts: Broadly, chapters One and Two exposit Báñez’s thought, while chapters Three and Four critique it. Chapter One explores Báñez’s positive account of physical premotion, human freedom and sin. Chapter Two examines Báñez’s critique of Luis de Molina S.J.’s alternative proposal, in conjunction with some contemporary sources from both sides of the debate (Molina was Báñez’s principal adversary in the Controversy de Auxiliis). Báñez’s line of critique in Chapter Two is found to be cogent. Chapter Three investigates Molina’s critique of Báñez and finds it too to be cogent, even though Molina’s positive account was found to be problematic in Chapter Two. Chapter Four begins by exploring Bernard Lonergan S.J.’s work on divine causality and human free choice. Lonergan attempts to provide a fresh historical reading of Aquinas that is unencumbered by the presuppositions of the Controversy de Auxiliis. The first part of Chapter Four explains Lonergan’s critique of Báñez and finds it convincing, while the second part of the chapter finds Lonergan’s interpretation of Aquinas problematic from a theoretical standpoint. Chapter Four then offers a constructive critique of Lonergan’s interpretation before advancing an alternative way to think about God’s causation of human free choices. In closing, this dissertation argues that God creates human free choices, but that in creating a human free choice, God, or God’s creative will, is not an antecedent condition that determines choice. Rather, God creates the entire reality of a human free choice—both what it is and that it is—and in so doing, part of the reality God creates just is that choice’s being up to its human agent.

This study addresses eighteenth-century English-speaking evangelicals' understandings of church history, through the lens of published attempts to represent preceding Christian centuries panoramically or comprehensively. Sources entail several short reflections on history emerging in the early years of the transatlantic Revival (1730s-1740s) and subsequent, more substantial efforts by evangelical leaders John Gillies, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Joseph and Isaac Milner, and Thomas Haweis. Little scholarly analysis exists on these sources, aside from the renaissance of interest in recent decades in Edwards. This is surprising, considering the acknowledged prominence of history-writing in the eighteenth century and the influence attributed, then and now, to the works of authors such as Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson. The aim is, first, to elucidate each of the above evangelicals' interpretations of the Christian past, both in overview and according to what they said on a roster of particular historical events, people and movements, and then to consider shared and divergent aspects. These aspects range from points of detail to paradigmatic theological convictions. Secondarily, evangelical church histories are analyzed in relation to earlier Protestant as well as eighteenth-century 'enlightened' historiography, in part through attention to evangelical authors' explicit engagement with these currents. This contextualization assists in determining the unique qualities of evangelical interpretations. Is there, then, evidence of a characteristically 'evangelical' perspective on church history? An examination of this neglected area illumines patterns and particulars of evangelicals' historical thought, and these in turn communicate the self-perceptions and the defining features of evangelicalism itself. Findings support the primary contention that evangelical leaders made use of a dynamic pattern of revival and declension as a means of accounting for the full history of Christianity. Beyond displaying the central place of 'revival' for evangelicals, these church histories demonstrate evangelicalism‘s complex relationship—involving both receptivity and critique—with Protestant and Enlightenment currents of historical inquiry.

This thesis examines the ecclesiology, or doctrine of the church, of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), who was one of the leading and most prominent members of the Plymouth Brethren in the nineteenth century. The thesis systematically outlines the structure of Darby's thought on the subject of ecclesiology. It explains how Darby defined the church and understood its nature. His ecclesiology is shown to be foundational to the system of Dispensationalist theology in that the church is seen in occupying a period of time unforeseen in biblical prophecy. Darby's ecclesiology is also shown to be an ecclesiology of crisis in that he believed that the church had fallen into such a state of ruin that no bodies existed that could truly be described as churches. The thesis considers Darby's solution to the ruin or failure of the church found in 'meeting in the name of the Lord.' It examines how Darby's view of how the church should meet successfully synthesized the conflicting concepts of unity and separation. It suggests that other writers have not always recognized how Darby distinguished between separation from individuals and separation from institutions. Nevertheless while arguing that Darby's ecclesiology achieved a stable synthesis between unity and separation, it presents a number of practical problems with Darby's ecclesiology. Attention is given to Darby's teaching on discipline, ministry, church government and sacraments. The thesis considers his ecclesiology within a number of contexts. First, its place within the development of ecclesiology in theological history and in relation specifically to modem ecclesiologies. Second, in his life and involvement with the Brethren movement. Third, his role in the development of American fundamentalism, a major proportion of which has adopted significant aspects of his theology, particularly Dispensationalism, a form of millennial theology that makes a strong distinction between the church and the nation of Israel within salvation history. This thesis argues that while some American fundamentalists adopted Darby's dispensational views, they found very different practical applications for them in their ecclesiastical activity. A number of reasons are considered as to why they did not adopt Darby's ecclesiology in its entirety. Fourthly, the thesis considers the place of Darby's ecclesiology in relation to other ecclesiastical movements in nineteenth century Britain. It argues that Darby's ecclesiology shared similar themes to three ecclesiastical movements.

This thesis focuses on the legacy of Jonathan Edwards on the Particular Baptists by way of apprehending theories held by their congregations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In particular, special attention is directed to the Edwardsean legacy as manifested in the theology of Andrew Fuller. The thesis positions itself between Edwards and Fuller in the transatlantic, early modern period and attempts by the two theologians to express a coherent understanding of traditional dogma within the context of the Enlightenment. The scope of the research traces Fuller’s theological indebtedness by way of historical reconstruction, textual expositions, and theological and philosophical implications of the following works: Freedom of the Will, Religious Affections, Humble Attempt, and Justification by Faith Alone et al. It identifies unique Edwardsean ideas as the basis for investigating whether such concepts permeate Fuller’s intellectual and spiritual life. In that process, the study establishes whether Fuller read and interpreted Edwards correctly or otherwise. This dissertation, therefore, endeavors to determine the extent of Edwards’s impact upon Fuller over and above such other influential factors, which could also have been considered influential in his works. An attempt to determine the parameters of such factors is the basis for the ensuing discussion.

This thesis seeks to explore two fundamental theological questions: first, what does it mean for the Christian community to conceive of itself as a community defined by the covenant of grace; and second, what are the implications of this distinctiveness for its socio-political mission in an age of globalization. The project is interdisciplinary in its approach, and seeks to integrate biblical and theological inquiry together with the specific opportunities and challenges found in a globalized world. Our way of organizing this thesis is attuned to the demands of argument and method of research employed. Divided into three parts, the thesis derives from a critical examination of a theology of grace and its ramifications for the mission of the church in addressing contemporary issues. Part 1 commences by surveying broadly Reformational theological scholarship from the turn of the twentieth century, and explores how this thesis will make a distinctive contribution to scholarly discussion of the church's socio-political mission through focusing on the central doctrine of grace. Part 2 constitutes a comparative analysis of three leading contemporary theologians evaluating to what extent a theology of grace is evident in their theological political theories. Part 3 is where we seek to apply our theological investigation with the phenomenon of globalization, and engage with international political theory through concentrating on the concepts of power and justice in an interdependent world. The conclusion reached in this thesis is that the doctrine of grace, by virtue of its theocentric and trinitarian emphasis on revelation, reconciliation, election, and creation, directs the Christian community in an age of globalization to be an agent of God's justice in the socio-political arena through demonstrating servant-leadership to contribute in enabling the world's poorest and weakest citizens to share in the benefits brought by a globalized world.