This
first section consists of papers that I have prepared in
my days at Deakin University in religious studies. Many people had read
these papers before the advent of the home page and found them interesting,
so I thought that I would share them with the wider world. Everything here
either got a high distinction, or just missed out (what is the point of
a 79%, really?) For the sake of brevity, they are in 4 categories;
The
second section is a collection of work that I've done for
other training institutions under the Australian college of Theology. Included
here are my lecture notes and background material that I used.
Equality verses Subordination in world Religion
Religious systems often find themselves affirming equality of the sexes,
while at the same time viewing women as being subordinate socially and
ontologically. This essay suggests that the position of women within religion
changes as power structures develop over time. Special reference to the
experiences of Hinduism and Christianity.
Click here for Women in World Religion
Women mystics
Mysticism has a wide and varied history. This essay contrasts two women
mystics. Hildegard of Bingen stands out as a unique character whose style
and Papal sanction gave her immense influence within the church. was unlike
future women mystics. Julian of Norwich was part of the Middle English
Mystic school which drew together several strands of style and doctrine.
Click here for Female Mysticism
Women within Islam
Women have played an important role within Islamic history, but have
often only been recorded as playing a negative role. As modernization has
stretched across the Muslim world, feminist voices have been able to speak
out calling for reform within Islam. This essay seeks to identify the root
causes behind the issues raised by these feminist reformers, asking whether
these issues are religious, cultural or social in nature.
Click here for Islamic Feminist Reformers
The hermeneutical philosophy of Baruch de Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza was expelled from a Amsterdam synagogue during the
seventeenth century. The Christians believed that, being an enemy of Judaism,
Spinoza must be a friend of Christianity. They were probably wrong. His
main passion was to see a world where religious liberty toleration were
social standards. This essay seeks to examine the way in which he contributed
to hermeneutical philosophy.
Click here for Spinoza's Hermeneutical Philosophy
A Critique of Rudolf Bultmann
This is a brief examination of a critique by Edwin Good on the hermeneutical
process described by Bultmann as demythologizing.
Click here for Hilton on Good on Bultmann
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a term widely used throughout the media to describe
radical terrorist religious organizations. This essay seeks to examine
the nature of fundamentalism, with special attention to its rise in the
twentieth century and critique the way in which the term is applied to
various religions.
Click here for Fundamentalism
Miscellaneous Ideas
This is part of a take home exam paper (please see disclaimer) covering
1. Differences between oral and literary traditions 2. Spinoza and natural
science 3. Bultmann and demythologization 4.
Schleiermacher and modern hermeneutics.
Click here if you promise not to cheat
The Natural Theology tradition of St Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas is famous for his five proofs for the existence of God. This
essay asks whether such philosophical analysis can prove characteristics
or attributes of God as understood from the Judaeo-Christian tradition
with reference to some objections raised by Kant.
Click here for Natural Theology and theistic
constructions
Logical and rational analysis in Buddhist philosophy
The function of logical and rational analysis in Buddhism's 'middle
way' is an issue of some contention. Some interpreters understand analysis
purely in terms of giving intellectual proofs for emptiness, while others
find that analysis is used for producing insight into emptiness. This essay
examines the way in which analysis is used and the way in which western
interpreters have sought to understand the interconnection between rational
analysis and the achievement of insight.
Click here for Logical and rational analysis
in Buddhist philosophy
Modern Religious Philosophy and Ecclesiology
The interdependence of Twentieth century religious philosophers can
be seen in the development of particular theological concepts. This essay
explores the way in which the distinct philosophical approaches of Karl
Barth, Paul Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans Kung combine to formulate
a modern ecclesiological framework.
Click here to move towards a philosophical
formulation of modern eccleiology
Idealism, realism and religious influences in Plato
It can be said that Plato was influenced by two brands of religion.
The native brand, which led to a philosophical realism, and the foreign
brand of Orphism, which led to a philosophical idealism. It was the emphasis
on the Orphic line that had led to a particular interpretation of Plato's
philosophy.
Click here to re-interprate Plato
Philosophical understanding of Religious Experience
Rudolf Otto in 'The idea of the Holy' seek to find a common element
to all religious experience which he calls the numinous. R.C. Zaehner constructs
a value hierarchy to categorize experience using the process of comparative
religion. Steven Katz uses epistemology demonstrate that there as as many
kinds of religious experience as there are interpretative frameworks. This
essay asks the question 'Which one of these could be most right?'
Click here for Otto, Zaehner and Katz
Aboriginal Religion in Australia
How are we to understand notions of 'Dreaming' within Aboriginal Religion,
and what common ground can we find between the worldview of Aboriginal
Religion and the worldviews of other religions such as Christianity and
Hinduism?
Click here for Dreaming in Aboriginal
Religion
Islamic Liberalism
Islam has found itself on the outer as societies throughout the world
took on board Liberal ideologies. Can Islam accommodate Liberalism
either theologically or politically, and where might such reform movements
be found?
Click here for Islamic Liberalism
The Response of Neo-modernity to concepts of democracy
in Indonesia.
This looks at the responses of Islamic Neo-modernists Nurcholish Madjid
and Abdurrahman Wahid to the concept of democracy and the role of Islam
in the democratic debate during the later part of the reign of President
Soeharto, and was written just prior to the 1999 election.
Click here for Indonesian Islam
The Christ of Liberation Theology
Twentieth century theology have witnessed an increase in the influence
of liberation theology throughout many parts of the world. This essay seeks
to understand how ‘liberation Christology’ lines up against the more orthodox
evangelical Christologies.
Click here for Liberation Theology
Nominalism in the Australian Protestant Church
Nominalism in its Christian context is a situation where a person claims to belong to a particular denomination but whose claim is questioned by the religious elite as not being representative of their underlying faith structure. Research states that nominalism is most prevalent in the Australian Anglican Church.
The 20,000 word thesis on Nominalism in Australia.
All pieces of work are ã
David Hilton 1995-2001.
