PhD Students
Felix Percy Longdon
Contextualizing Biblical Text(s) and Concept(s) in Akan (Ghanaian) Language: A Case Study of Contemporary Charismatic / Pentecostal Ministries
Thesis directors : Catherine Clifford and Christian Dionne
My thesis focuses on addressing the strengths and weaknesses of biblical interpretation among charismatic and Pentecostal ministries in Ghana, West Africa. I argue that some Ghanaian Charismatic / Pentecostal ministers quote scriptural text(s) out of context to promote their own ideology, such as to exploit congregants of financial and other material resources. Such use of the Bible has a negative impact on Ghanaian society, where such religious leaders become rich by exploiting their members, who are often poor.
Joshua Zentner-Barrett
Unmasking Coloniality in Canadian Anglican Liturgy
Thesis director : Sarah Kathleen Johnson
My thesis examines the ways in which the lived practices of the liturgy of the Anglican Church of Canada forms participants colonially. Using ethnography, I expose the insidiousness of coloniality in the liturgy and how it continues to deform participants away from right relations and ethical living.
Alexandre Farley
C. Taylor and C. Van Til in Conversation: The contribution of A Secular Age to Christian Apologetics
Thesis directors : Martin Bellerose and Karl E. Hefty
My project is set in the context of the difficult and often conflicting relationship between Christian faith and Western and Quebec secular culture, in which secularization is often understood in terms of subtractive narratives. It aims to answer the question: what is the contribution to Christian apologetics of Charles Taylor’s polemic against subtractive narratives in A Secular Age? My hypothesis is that this polemic makes a significant contribution to Christian apologetics, without being Christian apologetics proper. To verify this, I will correlate Taylor’s polemic with the characteristic features of apologetics, as well as with Cornelius Van Til’s apologetic methodology. If Taylor truly contributes to Christian apologetics, it could inspire Christians to develop a new paradigm for the relationship between Christian faith and Western and Quebec secular culture.
Aaron Debusschere
Ubi Est Ecclesia? A Comparison and Analysis of Salvation Outside the Catholic Church in the Theology of Augustine of Hippo and the Second Vatican Council
Thesis director : Catherine E. Clifford
In the midst of a growing ecumenical movement, the world’s Catholic bishops met in Rome for the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) to discuss the nature of the Church and the relationship of the Catholic Church to other Christian communities. One of the most important outcomes of the Council was the affirmation that there are good and valuable elements of the Church in non-Catholic communities. This decision stands in tension with Pius XII’s previous identification of the one Church of Christ with the Roman Catholic Church. Highly influential in the Council’s declaration was the work of the early Christian writer, Augustine of Hippo (354–430). It is my hypothesis that Augustine’s theology of the Church and baptism is an appropriate lens for interpreting the Second Vatican Council and an effective tool in alleviating the present tension in Catholic theology and can provide a solid foundation for the pursuit of Christian unity in the twenty-first century.
Erik Sorensen, SJ
Rituals of Communal Reconciliation: Pathways Towards Decolonization and Healing After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Thesis director : Sarah Kathleen Johnson
My research project will focus on the Catholic Church, as one of the Christian churches addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and its relationship to the process of reconciliation represented by the Calls to Action. The project will examine how the Catholic Church’s rituals of communal reconciliation and their associated theology contribute to or hinder the process of healing and reconciliation between Settlers and Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian context. Relying on qualitative methods, this research will bring into dialogue the current Catholic practices of communal reconciliation with Indigenous perspectives on reconciliation.
Mary Catharine Carroll
The Theology Expressed in The Middle English Bible
Thesis director : Karl E. Hefty
My research is on The Middle English Bible (MEB), a text from 1470. It is a compilation of stories from the Bible, apocryphal literature and legend. I argue that the MEB’s redactor included specific texts to promote and assert Rome’s hegemony in the ecclesiastical and theological realms in response to the Reform Movement in late-medieval England.
Francisco DCB Brandao
The Spiritual Implications of Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Hope in the Praxis of the Priesthood of all Believers in Traditional Baptist Communities.
Thesis director : Mark Slatter
The research delves into the spiritual implications of Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Hope in the context of Traditional Baptist Communities facing multifaceted challenges such as domestic violence, social injustice, poverty, religious conflicts, and more. Despite alignment with New Testament principles, the study aims to explore why effective responses to these issues within the framework of the priesthood of all believers have been lacking in 20th and 21st-century Baptist communities.
Mykayla Turner
Reckoning With Rural: A Qualitative Study of Ecumenical Worship in Rural Canadian Communities
Thesis director : Sarah Kathleen Johnson
My thesis examines ecumenical worship in rural communities. Partnering with three ecumenical shared ministries in rural regions of Canada to conduct qualitative research, I ask how the ritual practices of these congregations can shape the collective future of both Christians and their wider communities. I frame ecumenical worship in this context as a specific but instructive instance of encountering theological and sociocultural difference in an increasingly diverse world.
Alice Candy
She Who Could Be: The Doctrine of Deification as a Resource for Reconstructive Feminist Theologies
Thesis Director: Catherine E. Clifford
My research builds on the work of reconstructive feminist theologians to consider the Eastern Christian doctrine of deification as a significant resource for women and those marginalised by the Christian tradition. While deification in the Eastern and Western theological traditions has typically been seen as something that can hinder their flourishing, I suggest that it is also something that could empower resistance to their continued oppression and exclusion from full humanity.