Biblical Studies Commons^™

The Perceived Need For Spiritual Development Among Female Church Of Christ Students At Harding University, Anessa Westbrook

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This work explores how female students perceive their need for personal spiritual development. In a male-dominant structure, women may question their need to develop spiritually. Three areas of college life were investigated to see how they influenced female students’ perception of their own need for spiritual development: pre-college experiences, classroom experiences, and co-curricular religious activities. The research questions focused on these three areas in an effort to identify what was most effective in achieving spiritual growth among female students from a Church of Christ background. A survey was conducted among a sample of 610 sophomore female and male students.

Results …

A Narrative, Missional Approach To Discipleship And Spiritual Growth, Travis A. Sharpe

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

All Christians have the desire to grow in faith and knowledge of God. The difficulty is that most do not have the tools to help them accomplish the task. While churches desire to help their members grow in faith, many have never created an intentional plan to make spiritual formation possible. While there are a multitude of ways this could be accomplished, one avenue would be for churches to implement an intentional discipleship program. A discipleship program that combines a missional/narrative reading of scripture with spiritual disciplines has been shown to help participants grow in spiritual formation and join the …

Through The Lens Of The Cross: Cruciformity As A Model For Teaching Ministry, Benjamin D. Pickett

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

As the contemporary church travels deeper into the postmodern era, modern methods of education and catechesis have remained. In this paper, a foundational set of principles drawn from Michael Gorman’s analysis of Pauline spirituality—known as “cruciformity”—is examined and presented as a lens to inform and support the teaching ministry in churches. Gorman’s thought provides a fresh way to understand the central theme of Paul’s correspondence to the first century churches.

The paper begins with a brief explanation of the current conditions regarding the adult education ministry of churches and then examines Gorman’s cruciform patterns of faith, love, power, and hope, …

Easter 7 Series C 2016, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Series C, and offers up sermon ideas.

Forward To The Son Of God: Three Views Of The Identity Of Jesus, James F. Mcgrath

James F. McGrath

James McGrath's Forward to: The Son of God: Three Views of the Identity of Jesus, by Charles Lee Irons, Danny Andre Dixon, and Dustin R. Smith. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015.

Jude's Enochian Apocalypse, Lucian Lopez O.S.B.

Obsculta

Jude’s was an apocalyptic imagination much like that of the writer of Revelation, but he had no need to write his own apocalypse. In his brief epistle, written sometime before 62 CE,¹ Jude revealed that the apocalyptic imagery fueling his own mythos was none other than that of Enoch and various other ancient stories of the Hebrew people.

¹. Simon J. Joseph, “’Seventh from Adam’ (Jude 1:14-15): Re-examining Enochic Traditions and the Christology of Jude.” The Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol. 64, Pt. 2 (2013): 464. Simon J. Joseph is Adjunct Professor of Religion at California Lutheran …

A Biblical Hermeneutic For Dominion: Domination Vs Stewardship, Nancy Opstad Weldon

Obsculta

In his encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis argues that modern anthropocentrism has contributed to the valuing of technical thought over the dignity of the natural world with grave environmental consequences. Over a half-century earlier, Lynn White Jr. offered a similar criticism, stating that the dualism existing between humans and nature allows Christians to exploit nature for their own end. This paper turns to scripture to explore how an intertextual understanding of the original Hebrew may help reframe what it means for humans to have dominion over the natural world.

Jesus, The New Temple Mark 11:20–25 In Its Narrative Context, Daniel Jeffrey Berge

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The cursing of the fig tree in Mark has led to myriad readings, and wide-ranging discussions from botany to textual criticism. This work argues that reading Mark 11:20–25 in its narrative context shows that the cursing of the fig tree in Mark should be seen in the light of the previous temple-cleansing scene, signaling the condemnation of the present temple order. However, in 11:20–25, the Marcan Jesus provides his followers with encouragement to have faith that God is still with them despite the condemnation of the present temple order. The very activities that one would have seen as dependent on …

Easter 6 Series C 2016, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Series C, and offers up sermon ideas.

Challenging Students At Fort Worth Christian School To Engage The Economically Disadvantaged In Their Community, James Hensley

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents a project in which I led a group of students at Fort Worth Christian School in experiences that challenged them to be more engaged with the economically disadvantaged in their community. The problem I identified at the outset of the project was a lack of such experiences along with troubling attitudes about poverty. Many students initially demonstrated ambivalence or even outright hostility toward the notion of helping people who live in poverty. I found such attitudes to be contrary to the teachings of Jesus and to my central beliefs as a Christian. I believed …

Obligations Of Grace, Mark E. Roberts

Empowered21 Scholars' Consultations

Grace obliges recipients to respond in gratitude and obedience to God, the giver of grace. While the New Testament emphasizes God's grace given through Jesus Christ in a New Covenant with believers, the Old Testament emphasizes grace more than many Christians recognize. Grace is expressed in the Old Testament especially through God's free choosing of Abraham as the "father of the faithful," through divine covenants with Abraham, with the divinely constituted nation of Israel, and with the governing house of David. Such grace abounds when God's covenanted people fail to keep their covenant, yet God, after disciplining the covenant people …

Biblical Principles Of Small Group Ministry, Shawn Barr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Small group ministry models abound today, and so do the materials that provide the methodology for these models. However, there seems to be a dearth of resources that connect the methods with a theological foundation. This project will demonstrate the need for examining small groups from a theological aspect, and then examine the principles of biblical community as found in Scripture. These principles will then be measured through surveys of at least fifty participants in small group settings from several churches, including the churches where the author was the small group pastor for the last seven years and where he …

A Causal Comparative Analysis Of Biblical Worldview Among Graduate Students Based On Christian School Attendance, David Baniszewski

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the primary objectives of the Christian school (K-12) is the development of a biblical worldview in its students. This study examined the impact that these Christian schools had on their students’ biblical worldview development by administering a biblical worldview assessment to graduate students at a private, Christian university (Liberty University). Christian, graduate students in the School of Education at Liberty completed a demographic survey and a biblical worldview assessment. The survey collected information on age, gender, type of K-12 schools attended, profession to the Christian faith, and denominational background. The results of the survey and assessment were analyzed …

Suffering In The Human Experience: An Examination Of The Book Of Job And King Lear, Allison Denton

English Department Student Scholarship

This thesis uses the Old Testament figure of Job and the Shakespearean character King Lear to examine how suffering calls us to question life and its meaning. These works were chosen because of their authors' demonstrated value of life despite their protagonists' pain. This project originated from a desire to answer questions about the meaning of life that had arisen during four years of study at the College of the Holy Cross.

Exploring The Dynamics Of Transformative Change Of Lectio Divina In The Context Of Transformative Learning Theory, Joyce M. Chen

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

‘Perfect’ In Matt 5:48: A Case For Mandatory Retirement, Kent Yinger

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

The English gloss “perfect” is used less and less to translate Heb tam and Gk teleios in biblical texts referring to human beings (e.g., Noah, Job). Understandably so, since it strikes most readers (and exegetes) as out of place to refer to flawed human beings as “perfect.” In one place, however, this gloss stubbornly persists; namely, in Matt 5:48 (“be ye therefore perfect”). This paper will examine the interpretive background to this translation, possible reasons for its persistence in Matt 5:48, and will suggest alternatives for future translators.

The Pragmatic Constraints Of ἈΛλά In The Synoptic Gospels, Shawn I. Craigmiles

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Developing Parental Leadership Through Biblical Love As Expressed In Presence, Communication, And Discipline In The Homes At Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Shelby, North Carolina, M. Lamont Littlejohn Jr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

A Christian education curriculum was established at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina, to develop parental leadership centered on biblical love. The goal was to train parents to model biblical love in their homes. Relying upon scripture affirming parental leadership in the home, parents were enlisted and participated in a six-week study. Surveys measured experience, involvement, practice, and understanding of biblical knowledge. There was no significant statistical difference between the control group and focus group quantitatively; however, the focus group was also assessed qualitatively by means of theological reflection, presence, communication, and discipline application activities. Final reviews indicated …

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Leaven

No abstract provided.

It Doesn't Feel Like Church To Me, Laura Callarman

Leaven

No abstract provided.