Master thesis | Theology and Religious Studies (Master)
open access
This research question relates Meerten and Berend ter Borg’s maintenance mechanisms to the tensions within the reformatoric community while acknowledging the existence of different approaches among...Show moreThis research question relates Meerten and Berend ter Borg’s maintenance mechanisms to the tensions within the reformatoric community while acknowledging the existence of different approaches among the pillar’s elite. I dedicate specific attention to the identification of three general patterns. In the first place, I identify the location and nature of the disturbances facing the reformatoric community. I differentiate between primary and secondary disturbances to indicate whether these arise from outside (primary) or within (secondary) the pillar. In the second place, I comment on the choice and use of maintenance mechanisms. Opposing integration and defence mechanisms that are based on the same shared element tend to be invoked during discussions concerning the community’s future. Moreover, some mechanisms have greater salience in the community’s context due to their rooting within its ontological framework. In the third place, I analyse the differences between the pillar’s progressive and conservative factions. I highlight that their differentiated use of maintenance mechanisms stems from their differentiated identification of disturbances. I conclude with a brief reflection on the three innovations I propose to Ter Borg and Ter Borg’s framework: the identification of shared elements among opposing integration and defence mechanisms, the introduction of judgment and expulsion as theodicy’s defensive counterpart, and the classification and influence of disturbances on the use of maintenance mechanisms.Show less
