Defense Date

12-3-2024

Graduation Date

Spring 5-9-2025

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Theology

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Darlene Fozard-Weaver

Committee Member

James Bailey

Committee Member

Anna Floerke-Schied

Keywords

Theological Anthropology, Image of God, Race, Black Catholics

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on race as a critical, yet largely unaddressed, topic in Catholic theological anthropology. In Catholic colleges and universities that are recognized as members of the Cardinal Newman Society, theological concerns about race are deemed irrelevant for theological education in the faith and are altogether absent from the theology of the human person. As a result, this collection of institutions treats race as a specialty within pastoral theology, one that is significant to groups, but not a part of the fundamental theology of the human person. This ‘un-raced’ theological anthropology results in the institution’s inability to respond effectively to racial diversity and systemic racism. I argue that there is a need to create a more inclusive theological approach for reflection on the human person that considers all aspects of the human person, including race. This project brings contemporary theories of race, culture, and liberation theologies into dialogue with each other to develop a theology of the human person that takes race into consideration and forwards an expanded theological anthropology.

Language

English

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