Center for Religious Studies Electronic Dissertations (UMKC)
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The items in this collection are the dissertations written by students of the Center for Religious Studies. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item Forgive Me, Father, For I Have Sinned: The Dramatic Potency of Confession on the Early Modern English Shakespearean Stage(2023) Schulenberg, Lara Jennifer; Ellinghausen, Laurie, 1972-; Bennett, Jeffrey S.Though forcefully absent in its traditional practice by political and religious reformation, evidence of confession in early modern English drama remained and became representative of an exchange of power between dramatic characters on Shakespeare’s stage. By closely examining Shakespeare’s dramas Measure for Measure, The Winter’s Tale, The Tragedy of Richard the Second, and The Tragedy of Richard the Third, this dissertation argues that examples of confession are a symbolic and psychological acknowledgment of authority. The potency of this symbolic representation was made possible by generations of reinforcement of the two participatory sides of penance, the penitent and confessor, by emphasizing a power discrepancy between both roles. This dissertation will first present a thorough history and the development of the practice of confession–emphasizing the manner in which the role of confessor is imbued with religious and social authority, while the composition of the dynamic relationally exposes the penitent. To establish how this symbolic speech act arrives at the meaning it holds in the early modern period, the historical scope of this project will examine the practices and regard of confession in the early Catholic Church, along with critical theologians’ writings addressing the significance of the role of the priest or confessor in receiving confession, along with defining the behavior of the penitent. Furthermore, by establishing the approach to doctrinal piety in early Christian and medieval religious texts and examining the practices of popular piety in literary texts of the Middle Ages, a clear relationship tone is distinguished between penitent and confessor. This dissertation will move on to prove how this dramatic relationship signifies a symbolic power dynamic in early modern English drama. Though presented through subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, verbal cues and character juxtaposition, Shakespeare’s dramatic confessionary created on the early modern stage has an indelible impact on the recognition and reception of these symbolic exchanges of power.Item Mothers Making Meaning: An Exploration of Contemporary Ritual Practices Surrounding Childbirth(2023) Marksbury, Erika Jeanne; Bennett, Jeffrey S.; Greer, Jane, 1964-Many contemporary American women undergo one of the most intense identity shifts of their lives—becoming a mother—without prescribed ritual resources to navigate that transition. Lacking a common cultural script to follow, these women are inventing their own rites of passage, drawing from various times, places, and traditions to craft intimate ways of infusing this time with attention, meaning, and a sense of the sacred. This dissertation draws data from personal interviews, ethnographic observations, and written accounts to understand the motivations and experiences of these ritual participants and the consequences of their creative work for birthing people more broadly. The first chapter addresses the assumption of a dearth of contemporary ritual surrounding childbirth in the United States and introduces the ritual theorists whose work will frame the study. The second chapter explores ceremonies intended to “bless the way” of the mother-to-be, to root her in her own wisdom and in the love and care of a community of women. The third chapter traces the history of placentophagy, the act of consuming the placenta following childbirth, and looks at ways contemporary women are incorporating that practice to ward off postpartum depression and to honor their bodies and their embodied experience. The fourth chapter explores birth storytelling as it happens for a variety of motivations and with a variety of audiences. The conclusion ties together common threads between the three practices and proposes that participants in ceremony, placentophagy, and storytelling are all engaged in both personal and collaborative acts of self-construction. The three rituals each in unique ways also contribute to the production of a matrilineage, which, in many cases, becomes central to the birthing person’s experience and understanding of herself.Item How Religious Narratives and Rituals Function in Constructing the Experience of Immigrants Within the Context of a Haitian Baptist Church in South Florida(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2019) Fugitt, John Jeffrey; Ebersole, Gary L., 1950-This dissertation examines how religious narratives and rituals function in constructing the experience of immigrants within the context of a Haitian Baptist church in South Florida. The church and its contexts are described. Then, an overview of relevant literature provides the foundation for the theory that is outlined below. The search for a descriptive model of the fluid and complex nature of the social processes involved in intersubjective experience led to the development of a new conceptual tool based upon the analogy of sound-mixing. Conceptual and practical components of this religious context that express, shape, and perpetuate personal and group subjectivity are analyzed. Data were gathered through a survey, interviews, and participant observation. This study provides a multifaceted approach to analyzing immigrant experience based upon a constellation of issues. Attention was given to continued influence of homeland memories and ties, as well as the practical needs of daily life and negotiation of constraints in the host country context that necessarily drive much of the appropriation of resources. The church as a mediating institution and moral arbiter are aspects also considered. This dissertation yields clarity on several issues; most notably, the important role that religious discourse plays in immigrant subjectivity and practice. Charles H. Long has defined religion as “orientation in the ultimate sense, that is, how one comes to terms with the ultimate significance of one’s place in the world.”¹ While there are multiple factors at work in the perpetual process of self-understanding, theologically orienting activities prove to be key for many participants in this congregation under consideration. Religious narratives and rituals provide master narratives to interpret and relativize competing narratives. These narratives and attendant practices have acted upon these subjects to one degree or another throughout their lives, shaping their lifeways in multiple ways in everything from sexual practice and gender relations to prayer methods and casual greetings. Formed by the social environments in which they were born, immigrants engage with new environments and all the attendant material concerns and competing ideological frameworks. Through congregational involvement they are emplotted within their larger social contexts in ways that provide transcendent theological meanings. These meanings give a sense of greater purpose and ultimate hope beyond the current, observable, and often challenging contingencies of life. They also lead to particular concrete actions, that is, ways of living. Ongoing participation in congregational life transforms the experience of immigration into an experience of divine providence, blessing, and mission. Within that frame, all sorts of morally charged practices are implicated. This highlights the importance of participation, or lack thereof, in religious social groups where theological discourse offers a way of making sense of the disparate elements of immigrant experience. From this congregational case study, our understandings of the complex processes involving relations between religious practice and immigrant experience are increased.Item The Victorian Preacher’s Malady: The Metaphorical Usage of Gout in the Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2017) Smith, Dale Warren; Ebersole, Gary L., 1950-; Payne, Lynda Ellen StephensonThis dissertation examines the use of the gout metaphor in the life and writings of one of Victorian England’s most eminent preachers and gout sufferers, the Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Careful scrutiny of his sermons, articles, and personal correspondence reveals both theological continuity with the seventeenth-century English Puritans as well as contemporaneous cultural currents, such as the Victorian ideal of Christian manliness and the presence of persistent tropes from England’s Georgian period. This study highlights the dramatic presentation and use of Spurgeon’s body in his preaching performances, especially in his early ministry. Spurgeon’s dramatic style, which was often pejoratively labeled as “theatrical,” and his phenomenal success, led to the construction of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Completed in 1861, this mammoth structure had a capacity to seat six thousand congregants. The architecture of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, as it was also known, contained a protruding platform and was devoid of a traditional pulpit and organ. It was truly a “preacher’s hall.” These features focused the hearers’ attention on the body of Spurgeon. Spurgeon’s platform became the scene of another drama, one that took years to play out. Gout, along with Bright’s Disease (chronic inflammation of the kidneys) took its toll on the body of Spurgeon, transforming the once youthful, energetic preacher into a soft and bloated figure that struggled, at times, even to stand through the sermon. This very public transformation was also chronicled in Victorian material culture through cartes-de visite, Cabinet cards, cartoons, and caricatures. The dissertation concludes with an analysis of gout and the contested body of Spurgeon. Particular attention is paid to the cartoon, “Parsons in the Pulpit.” The cartoon, like Spurgeon’s life, does not become intelligible unless read with gout and the notion of Christian manliness in mind.Item The Theological Edifice of Modern Experiential Protestantism: Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, and Palmer’s Reconstruction of nineteenth Century Pietism(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2017) Davis, Justin Allen; Freeman, David ForsThe aim of this work is to address the development of experiential Protestantism in the nineteenth century, commonly called Pietism, through the theological contributions of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Søren Kierkegaard, and Phoebe Palmer. While an emphasis on experiencing God exists in all forms of Christianity, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and the various forms of Protestantism, the expression and development of experiential Protestantism faces interesting historical challenges. The first challenge is grounded in the community’s conception of itself, primarily the desire to remain an outsider movement. Unlike the other expressions of Protestantism, such as Scholasticism and Rationalism, Pietism’s early history in the development of Protestantism began as a counterweight to these intellectual movements. As a result, the necessity to remain outside of the established power structures became rooted in the habitus of Pietism. Pietism seeks to remain a countercultural movement that fashions itself as the authentic expression of Protestant Christianity. Pietists within Lutheranism, Reform, and Anglicanism view themselves as the preserved remnant of God’s people within those denominations and the primary objects of God’s covenant, as well as the true church. Opposing the need to remain outsiders, the covenantal relationship with God is coupled with eschatological hopes for success. In many ways this success occurred with the institutionalization and denominational formation of Pietism that emerged in the eighteenth century. This success produces a new challenge for Pietism in the nineteenth century, namely how to remain outsiders after relative success. Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, and Palmer all produce distinct theologies that seek to answer this dilemma and they each reinterpret and reconstruct experiential Protestantism. Their theologies also demonstrate the radicalizing tendency of experiential Protestantism that must constantly reimagine the world and prioritize new experiences of the divine, serving to reinforce both their status as outsiders and reinforce their covenant with God. The emphasis on experience within Protestantism differs from its Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox counterparts since an established ecclesial hierarchy and value of tradition is absent or can be eliminated. New radical sect formation becomes expected rather than hindered by the established churches.