Christianity Commons^™

The Influence Of Religion On Marital Crisis: A Qualitative Study, Kendal Florence Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explore how married Christians couples and pastors perceive the influence of religion, religious over-idealization, and community-centered social processes on couples’ ability to cope with relationship crises within their marriage in New York. The theory guiding this study was the Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura (1977). The Social Learning Theory was fundamental in the discussion of marriage because behaviors can occur in a marriage that one spouse may disagree with, but due to lack of consequences or rewards, the behavior has persisted, leading to conflict within the marriage. The researcher interviewed ten …

Charles Spurgeon And A Biblical View Of Wealth, Robert Sheppard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Charles Spurgeon preached wealth as a spiritual commodity based on his Christological exposition which countered the preaching of wealth as a divine right. Some people have come to view earthly wealth as a substance that comes as a result of obedience to God. There are also a number of people that believe that any biblical theology pertaining to wealth is amendable and see no lasting truth in the text. Spurgeon critiques these approaches. He saw earthly wealth primarily as a spiritual commodity and believed it to be a substance that should be utilized for the purpose of bringing glory to …

Lux Et Fides - Full Issue (Volume 1, 2023)

Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars

Volume 1, 2023

In Gratitude For Tim Keller (1950-2023), Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The primary purpose of preaching is to give people an encounter with the beauty of Jesus Christ."

Posting about the influence of Tim Keller from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/in-gratitude-for-tim-keller-1950-2023/

"The Perfect Penitent": Matthew 3:13-17, David Westfall

Pro Rege

Sermon originally preached on January 8, 2023 at Covenant CRC in Sioux Center, IA.

Huck And The Vanns And Me And You, James C. Schaap

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

A Critical Review Of Brock And Sutano's Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction, Eduardo Echeverria

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction by Cory C. Brock and N. Gray Sutanto. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2022. 322 pp.

The Earth As An Altar: Understanding Humanity's Place And Duty In Creation Through Neo-Calvinism, Eoghan Holdahl

Pro Rege

Eoghan Holdahl, a Dordt University junior and member of the Kuyper Honors Program majoring in Agriculture and Community Development, submitted this essay to the Lambertus Verburg Prize for Excellence in Kuyperian Scholarship competition, 2023.

Replaced By Ai: Developing A Kuyperian Philosophy Of Work In The Face Of Advancing Artificial Intelligence, Erin Holmberg

Pro Rege

Erin Holmberg, a Dordt University junior and Kuyper Honor Student majoring in Computer Science, submitted this essay to the Lambertus Verburg Prize for Excellence in Kuyperian Scholarship competition, 2023.

The Fight Against The Threat Of Witchcraft And Paganism In Anglo-Saxon England, Russell I. Knapp

Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars

Unlike the general assumption that England was completely Christianized after Augustine’s mission to the island, witchcraft and paganism thrived all throughout the Christian period of Anglo-Saxon history. Sources condemning witchcraft and paganism increased during the Danish raids in the mid-ninth century and beyond due to an increased sense of a perceived threat of paganism. King Alfred himself reacted to this threat by doing everything he could to strengthen his people in their Christian beliefs through education reform and his law code. The Church battled against the perceived threat through penitentials–which they used to discourage pagan practices. Lay-people fought against …

Wirtschaftswunder: A Macroeconomic Study Of Germany, Connor M. Dollarhite

Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars

The German economy is currently known to be an economic powerhouse of the present, but it is a mystery to most as to why this is so. By investigating historical examples, we can determine whether proposed economic policy will work, and Germany proves useful to this idea through the continued historic usage of Eucken and Erhard’s economic theories that generated the German economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder). Germany has survived dark economic collapse and become thriving economic powerhouse today. This proliferation of success is through the three consistent pillars of their macroeconomic profile, balanced fiscal budget, maintaining price stability, and always allowing …

God In The Dock: From Theory To Experience, The Odyssey Of The Theodicy Of C.S. Lewis, Anthony Vance Halford

Masters Theses

Problems, for us as humans, can be seen to as a moving target. There are two concerns that immediately come to the forefront. Those concerns are as follows: who defines the problem and how do they define the problem. Answering these two questions provides the direction for answering the next concern. And that concern then turns to how does one solve the problem? For solving a problem involves defining if there is a problem and can it be solved. Quite possibly the most confounding and complex problem to face humanity as a whole and Christianity specifically is the problem of …

Revitalizing Mitchell, South Dakota’S United Church Of Christ Through Practicing Spiritual Disciplines, Michelle Nuss

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Revitalizing Mitchell, South Dakota’s United Church of Christ Through Practicing Spiritual Disciplines seeks to stop the spiritual decline in Mitchell, South Dakota’s United Church of Christ. The problem with this church is the focus on serving the world rather than God. The thesis project topic identifies the significant points of spiritual growth and renewal. The project is centered on revitalizing Mitchell, South Dakota’s United Church of Christ. This project is greatly needed because many people attending this church have ceased to make serving God their ultimate life goal. The congregants’ reluctance to grow spiritually is this project’s problem of focus. …

Social Media: A Tool For Discipleship, Allen James Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this DMIN action research project is to equip students within The Next Generation Ministry at Christ Community Church Pinehurst with social media as a tool for discipleship. The academic literature reviewed reveals that social media introduces significant levels of influence, causes addictive habits, and often results in overconsumption of content. To determine if these aspects could be overcome, an intervention was developed to train and equip a group of thirteen participants to avoid those traits and instead use social media as a tool for discipleship. The research shows that it is possible for social media to be …

Dealing With The Problem Of Lack Of Interest In Evangelism At Freedom Hill Community Church, Max Prudent Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

To deal with the problem of lack of interest in evangelism at Freedom Hill Community Church, a curriculum was designed as an intervention. Given the existence of many barriers to evangelism, this curriculum aimed at addressing only two of them, namely fear and biblical illiteracy. The curriculum was taught to ten participants over the course of six weeks over Zoom. Data collection tools that were used include a pre-course survey, a post-course survey, and a feedback survey. Analysis of the data has shown a positive change in attitude post-intervention in the areas of the relevancy of the intervention to participants’ …

Commissioned: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Evangelism Beliefs, Practices, And Results, Shane Redding

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although Jesus clearly commanded His Church to spread His gospel to the world and make disciples of all nations, the modern American Church has struggled to evangelize effectively, resulting in declining church attendance. While many churches claim to value evangelism, the results indicate a need for churches to reevaluate their current evangelism approaches. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if a relationship exists between the levels of importance that churches place on evangelism, the churches’ tangible evangelism practices, and their new believer baptisms. The target population for the study was lead pastors from non-denomination, baptistic, evangelistic, Christian …

Unsung Holiday: Memorial Day And Christian Patriotism, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The holiday has had a complicated relationship with religion and contentious issues around our national identity."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­Memorial Day from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/unsung-holiday-memorial-day-and-christian-patriotism/

There Is A Place For You And Your Little Ones: Homiletics And Liturgy In View Of Pregnancy Loss, Joseph Michael Baumgarten

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Baumgarten, Joseph M. There is a Place for You and Your Little Ones: Homiletics and Liturgy in View of Pregnancy Loss. Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 81 pp.

Pregnancy loss and the grief that follows is more common than most people think. However, there is a gap in resources, discussion, and care for those who have experienced such losses. This is true in wider culture as well as in the church. While there are a few resources available, they are limited. This project addresses the church’s ability to provide proper recognition of pregnancy loss, the validation …

Hospitality: Areas That Are Effective In Creating A Desire For A Visitor To Connect To Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Brent M. Hartwig

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This major applied project explores hospitality offered by the local congregation. Biblical hospitality is implicitly and explicitly commanded in scripture. Balancing the Missio Dei and two kinds of righteousness will keep us on the straight and narrow theologically when pursuing hospitality.

When churches offer hospitality, we are feeding, clothing, visiting, providing, and welcoming our neighbor. Our Redeemer wants to continue serving the community as a family-oriented, mission focused, hospitable congregation. We are doing the feeding, clothing, and providing through many efforts in the community. We are active with the local homeless shelter and crisis center. For the MAP, we wanted …

Behind The Numbers: A Traditional Church Faces A New America, Larry Vogel

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The dissertation examines membership data for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) from the mid-1970s to the present. It considers the analysis of LCMS decline by two scholars, George Hawley and Ryan MacPherson, who independently proposed that LCMS membership decline was internal in causation due to diminished birthrates and fewer young families. While acknowledging the reality of such internal decline, this dissertation argues that the lack of external growth is a greater cause for LCMS decline. Its lack of external growth is due primarily to the racial and ethnic homogeneity of the LCMS and its failure effectively to evangelize the increasingly …