Christian Denominations and Sects Commons^™

Prayers In Prisons? The Politics And Performance Of Christian Faith-Based Initiatives In The Us, Ashley Edliq

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

This article will address the mission of Christian Faith-Based Initiatives and the correlation of this mission to positive reform in the United States carceral state. The method of identifying positive reform is dependent on the increase in rehabilitation programs, the decrease in recidivism rates, and the anecdotal evaluation of reentry into society. The demographic will primarily focus on men and women between the ages 18 to 65, including all ethnic and racial backgrounds, and use the previous religious affiliation to predict the effectiveness of Christian Faith-Based Initiatives. This article will assess the level of significance of progressive Christian Faith-Based Initiatives ...

Reviews, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Reviews Wonsuk Ma and Kathaleen Reid-Martinez. Human Sexuality & the Holy Spirit: Spirit-Empowered Perspectives.

Robert D. McBain ................................................................................................333

Robert D. McBain. Depression, Where is Your Sting?

Cletus L. Hull, III .................................................................................................335

John R. Levison. The Holy Spirit Before Christianity.

William Lyons ......................................................................................................337

Andrew Ray Williams. Washed in the Spirit: Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Water Baptism.

Christopher J. King ..............................................................................................341

Makoto Fujimura. Art and Faith: A Theology of Making.

Martin Mittelstadt ................................................................................................343

Hannah R. K. Mather. Spirit, Scripture, and Interpretation in the Renewal Tradition.

Rick Wadholm, Jr. ................................................................................................345

Frank D. Macchia. The Spirit-Baptized Church: A Dogmatic Inquiry.

Jeremy Bone ........................................................................................................347

Lora ...

Spiritual Struggle And Spiritual Growth Of Bereft College Students In A Christian Evangelical University, Melinda G. Rhodes, Andrea C. Walker Ph.D.

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article examines spiritual struggle in bereft Christian evangelical students and how struggle might potentiate spiritual growth. The death loss of a close person can result in shattered assumptions about the world that trigger spiritual questions and struggle (Chen, 1997; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2006; Pargament et al., 1998), and spiritual struggle can be a catalyst for growth (Lord & Gramling, 2014; Magyar-Russell et al., 2014; Pargament et al., 1998; Pargament et al., 2011). To our knowledge, spiritual growth has not been measured utilizing the actual voices of those struggling with the loss, nor has it been measured in Christian evangelical populations who may find it more ...

The Holy Spirit The Ultimate Counselor And Transformer For Healing And Wholeness: A Nepalese Perspective, Karuna Sharma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Nepal is a country with cultural and religious diversity. This country has gone through much turmoil and many crises. Since the time of the Maoist insurgency up to the recent pandemic situation, people have faced various emotions, feelings, and thoughts. These sudden devastating moments have not only affected their physical wellbeing, but has in turn affected the whole being of a person. These experiences of accusation, suffering, violence, and pain have led many to sadness, worry, anger, and fear resulting in various mental disorders. Therefore, the ministry of counseling is very important in order to help people get connected to ...

Breaking Depression’S Silence Within The Church Through Friendships, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s ...

Counseling In The Already, Not Yet: Reflections On The Work Of The Christian Counselor Through An Eschatological Lens, Haley Rae French

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article reflects on the work of the Christian counselor through an eschatological lens, specifically exploring the notion of what it means to counsel in the “already, not yet.” The counseling process is presented as a place in which the dialectics of this eschatological tension are present and outworked. Pain and suffering are encountered and explored as the counselor stands in solidarity with the sufferer, and yet the Christian counselor also anticipates hope and the power of change in the present, particularly as ushered in by the eschatological Spirit of God. To this end ...

How Jesus Communicates #Metoo: A Perspective On Intergenerational Trauma And Healing In The Atonement, Pamela F. Engelbert

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article offers a practical theological praxis of how the church may participate in Christ’s atoning ministry of healing towards persons who have experienced sexual violence. Drawing from the theory of intergenerational trauma, it uses the mentioning of “the wife of Uriah” in Matthew’s genealogy to convey how Jesus identifies with survivors of sexual violence. The article then focuses on the hypostatic union to establish how Jesus provides ontological healing in the atonement for said survivors. It concludes by demonstrating how Matthew’s Gospel calls radical disciples to a healing praxis of listening to stories of the disenfranchised ...

Expanding God's Redemptive Fractal: Spirit-Centered Counseling And The Transformative Wisdom Of Jesus, Bill Buker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic ...

The Spirit, Change, And Healing: Toward A Spirit-Centered Model Of Healing, Edward E. Decker Jr., Bill Buker, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spirit-centered counseling is an approach to counseling that makes full use of Spirit-centered spirituality as well as techniques and interventions used within Spirit-centered faith groups. An emphasis is always on the importance of being aware of, and experiencing, the Spirit and utilizing this awareness within the counseling endeavor. Three orienting assumptions are delineated to provide direction for the specific practices and methods of Spirit-centered counseling that prepare the way for Spirit-directed changes. Of special importance are the pneumatological imagination, Holy Spirit empowerment, and the development of a trialogical encounter, within which the counselor and the person seeking counseling experience the ...

Editorial: A Special Issue And A New Venture!, Andrea C. Walker Ph.D., Edward E. Decker Jr., Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Special editorial by Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward E. Decker, Jr. introducing the special issue dedicated to the subject of "Counseling and the Spirit."

Front Matter: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), Spiritus@Oru.Edu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Counseling And The Spirit: Spiritus 6.2 (Fall 2021), Spiritus@Oru.Edu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

A special issue of Spiritus dedicated to exploring the role of the Holy Spirit in the Counseling profession. Guest editors, Dr. Andrea C. Walker and Dr. Edward Decker, collected essays on the subject of the Spirit and counseling in anticipation of the launch of the new ORU Counseling Journal.

Frederick Wiseman's Essene (1972): The Duality Of Mary And Martha, Nilita Vachani

Journal of Religion & Film

America’s legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman shot Essene 50 years ago at the height of the commune movement in the United States. Unlike his previous institutional films which showcase an insane asylum, a public high school, an inner city police force, a hospital, and a military training school, Essene's canvas is the far less turbulent terrain of a serene and austere Benedictine monastery devoted to the love and service of God and the divine spirit. This paper undertakes a close textual and hermeneutic analysis of Essene alongside an appraisal of Wiseman’s working methodology, his cinematic portrayals of ...

Baptists, Catholics, And The Whole Church: Partners In The Pilgrimage To Unity, Steven R. Harmon

Gardner-Webb University Faculty Sabbatical Presentations

Within the whole church, Baptists and Catholics might seem to be ecclesiological and liturgical polar opposites. The two traditions are arguably more dissimilar from one another than each is from almost any other Christian tradition. Yet they share much in common that can enable them to travel together as fellow pilgrims on the journey toward a more visibly united church. Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Partners in the Pilgrimage to Unity, the book on which Steven R. Harmon (Professor of Historical Theology, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity) worked during his Fall 2020 sabbatical research leave, challenges Baptists, Catholics, and ...

From News-Sheet To Scholarly Quarterly: A Brief History Of Discipliana, James L. Mcmillan

Journal of Discipliana

During the 80th year of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society’s existence, January 2021 marked the rebirth of the Society’s scholarly publication Discipliana under a new name, with a broader scope, the Journal of Discipliana. This essay will help new subscribers to the Journal of Discipliana understand, and past subscribers to Discipliana recall, the birth, growth and significance of Discipliana in its eight decades.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Person-Centered Disability Awareness Seminar In A Congregational Setting, Joshua H. Jones

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

People with disabilities and their families frequently experience barriers toward inclusion and belonging in multiple spheres of life. These barriers are also present in Christian congregations. However, many congregations express a godly desire to love people with disabilities and their families without these obstacles.

The Old and New Testaments provide examples of how God’s people sought to love people with disabilities in their midst creatively and intentionally in response to God’s gracious actions, invitation, and command. Recent research in disability studies routinely highlight the necessity of being attentive to the uniqueness of each person with disabilities and his ...

Review Of Robert W. Steffer's Saving Cane Ridge, Robert D. Cornwall

Journal of Discipliana

A review of Robert W. Steffer, Saving Cane Ridge, published at Cane Ridge, KY, by Cane Ridge Shrine, Inc, 2015.

Traveling Together To Ward Off Fear: Lenten Reflections During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Laura Suhr Osb

Obsculta

Reflections on life in a Benedictine Monastery provide insights into how the Benedictine way of life can help Christians during the trials and tribulations of the coronavirus pandemic. Humility, community living, and our inner attitudes can also deepen our experience of Lent.

On Silence In The Rule Of St. Benedict: A Study Of Chapter 6: 1-6, Karen F. Arce

Obsculta

This paper is a study of Chapter 6: On Silence in The Rule of St. Benedict. It studies verses 1-6. It briefly includes verses 7 and 8, which reinforce Benedict's value of humility and the exhortation to refrain from useless conversation. This study shows the value of silence as a way to stop all interior and exterior chatter in order to have the chance to listen to God, one’s neighbors and oneself. This study also gives a deeper understanding of the Latin word taciturn Tate which emphasizes a state of being which opens the person for a deeper ...

Lgbtq+ Inclusion: An Appeal To Stone-Campbell Movement Ideals, Michael Shepherd

Journal of Discipliana

To name exclusion as religiously-motivated violence requires us to confront the ways in which spiritual communities contribute to the marginalization of others, both by-design or as collateral damage. While violence against a minority group can be motivated by various factors, religious belief has been historically and continues to be a significant influence toward violence against the LGBTQ+ community. This presents a paradox for Christians whose sense of who they believe themselves to be (rational) and what they believe about the early and persisting Christian witness (loving) creates a religious tradition that is not fixated on violent expressions of divine commands.