Ethics in Religion Commons^™

Restoring Peace: Toward A Conversation Between The Just War And Reconciliation Traditions, Matthew J. Gaudet

General Engineering

Tragically, ethnic conflicts have become one of the hallmarks of the post-Cold War era. In response to this, two distinct traditions appear to be emerging.The first continues the classical just war tradition while the second represents a new "reconciliation tradition," built largely around questions of restorative justice in areas of social division. Our goal in this essay is to begin a rapprochement of these divergent traditions by asking the question, what does a restorative justice perspective offer to the just war tradition? We proceed in three stages: first, we survey the current state of the just war tradition; second, we …

Empiricism And Wesleyan Ethics, Kevin Twain Lowery

Faculty Scholarship – Theology

In this article, the open-endedness of Wesleyan ethics is affirmed; attempts to articulate a system of Wesleyan ethics have been few, and it would be virtually impossible for any single expression of Wesleyan ethics to be regarded as definitive for the tradition as a whole. The fact that Wesleyan ethics is a relatively open field allows it to be developed in a number of ways that can still be regarded as Wesleyan or are at least consistent with basic Wesleyan commitments. Wesley’s allegiance to empiricism is then recalled, and the importance of addressing epistemological questions is stressed. An outline of …

Crafting A Congregational Narrative For The College Church Of Christ In Fresno, California, Jason W. Locke

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis describes a ministry project in the College Church of Christ in Fresno, California. In this project I led the congregation through a narrative crafting process in order to clarify the church’s identity and increase its capacity for mission. In recent decades, the College Church moved away from some of its founding characteristics yet failed to clarify a new sense of identity. It subsequently had difficulty acting with a unified sense of purpose and instead moved increasingly toward fragmentation.

Data for crafting the new narrative came from three weeks of group interviews. My research team conducted these interviews in …

Discerning A Vocational Theology Of Marriage For The Smyrna Church Of Christ, Daniel F. Camp

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The goal of this project was to discern a vocational theology of marriage for the Smyrna Church of Christ in Smyrna, Tennessee. Through a group discernment process, the participants studied Genesis 1-3 and 2 Corinthians 5 as a basis for understanding God’s design for marriage at creation, the effects of sin on the vocational aspect of the marriage relationship, and the call of Christ for husbands and wives to participate in the resurrection life through the ministry of reconciliation. At the end of the discernment process, the participants articulated a theology statement for the church that examined our current context …

Episcopal Applicants To Ordained Ministry: Are They Psychological Healthy?, Thomas G. Plante, Christopher Apodaca

Psychology

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of applicants to the diaconate and priesthood for several Episcopal dioceses. Applicants included both genders and their ages ranged from 29 to 67 years. A psychological testing battery including the MMPI-2, 16PF, and MCMI-III was administered to 42 applicants between 2008 and 2009 who subsequently entered the diaconate or priestly formation program in the Episcopal Church. Results indicate that these applicants were generally well-adjusted. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness, repression, naïveté, and a strong need for affection, as well as for being emotionally stable, intelligent, trusting, and open to change. …

Disrupting Homelessness : Alternative Christian Approaches, Laura A. Stivers

Laura Stivers

Interview Of Steven J. Stahley, Steven J. Stahley, Kate Ambrose

All Oral Histories

Steven J. Stahley was born in 1951 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He spent his childhood growing up in the Catholic school system, eventually moving to Cardinal Dougherty in 1965 to attend high school. It was in high school that Mr. Stahley decided he would enter the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. During his first year with the Missionary Servants, a decision was made that all men would attend college and receive the “full college experience.” This brought Mr. Stahley to LaSalle University in 1970. After three years, Mr. Stahley graduated and worked his way through the process of becoming …

The Identity Of The Διψυχος In The Shepherd Of Hermas, Jeremiah Mutie

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Hospitality And Homelessness, Laura A. Stivers

Laura Stivers

Questioning The Epistemic Virtue Of Strategy: The Emperor Has No Clothes!, Steven French, Alexander Kouzmin, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Joining Or Changing The Conversation? Catholic Social Thought And Intellectual Property, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Thinking Like A Mountain: Nature, Wilderness, And The Virtue Of Humility, Paul Lauritzen

Paul Lauritzen

No abstract provided.

Oncofertility And The Boundaries Of Moral Reflection, Paul Lauritzen, Andrea Vicini S.J.

Paul Lauritzen

Advances in medical technology provide regular opportunities to explore theological reflection and magisterial teaching at the border of science and conscience. This article reflects on one such advance involving fertility preservation for cancer patients. The authors argue that ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) poses intriguing questions for Catholic teaching and theologians about reproductive technology.

Children In God's House: Teaching Cosmology At A Nazarene University, Stephen Case

Faculty Scholarship – Geology

This is one of a collection of essays that attempts to articulate the common “center pole” around which Nazarene higher educators stand and the theological and pedagogical commitments that draw them together. It is one of a series of values documents for Nazarene educational institutions and was produced and reviewed by 51 faculty at 16 institutions from six countries. The title of the collection, Telos, comes from the Greek term used in the New Testament to address the perfect end, or destination, for which Christians are designed. This essay sets out how understanding and engaging with contemporary theories regarding the …

Bridging The “Excluded Middle”: The Case Of Brazilian Evangelical Missionaries Serving Among Arab-Muslims, Edward L. Smither

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

Since Paul Hiebert first challenged missiological reflection with his notion of the “excluded middle,” missiologists and practitioners from the West have been forced to face the deficiencies of a rationalistic worldview; especially when serving in animistic contexts. Hiebert, Bill Musk, Rick Love, and others have further asserted that Western missionaries serving among Folk Muslims need to be better equipped to minister to the felt needs of their host peoples. While the literature and evidence of missionary practice suggest that North Americans and Europeans are working hard to climb “learning curve” dealing with this worldview. Missionaries from Brazil serving among Arab-Muslims …

Missão Integral [Holistic Mission Or The ‘Whole Gospel’] Applied: Brazilian Evangelical Models Of Holistic Mission In The Arab-Muslim World, Edward L. Smither

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

In this article, I will first show the historical development of this theological approach within the Brazilian and Latin American evangelical spheres through the work of the Latin American Theological Fraternity – a movement founded in 1970 that maintained historic evangelical values (i.e. a high view of Scripture, the necessity of conversion) whilst also taking Latin America’s great social needs into account. Nurtured by thinkers such as René Padilla (Ecuador), Orlando Costas (Puerto Rico), Samuel Escobar (Peru), and later Valdir Steuernagel (Brazil), the movement has not only responded to the concerns raised by Liberation theologians, but it has also influenced …

2011 - 105th Annual Summit, "Enough: Isaiah 1:11-17", Abilene Christian University, Abilene Christian University

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.

The Master Argument Of Macintyre's 'After Virtue', Brad Kallenberg

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In September of 1995 the Associated Press released a wire photo showing Russian lawmakers of both genders in a punching brawl during a session of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.' Is this behavior an ethnic idiosyncrasy? Do only government officials duke it out over matters of great importance? Or have fisticuffs suddenly become politically correct?

No, on all counts. Pick a topic, any topic -- abortion, euthanasia, welfare reform, military intervention in the Balkans -- and initiate discussion with a group of reasonable, well-educated people and observe the outcome. Chaos ensues. Of course the volume of the debate …

The Highest Good And The Best Activity: Aristotle On The Well-Lived Life, Philip William Bauchan

Master's Theses

The question of how Aristotle characterizes eudaimonia, or living-well, in the Nicomachean Ethics has long been a contentious issue amongst Aristotelian scholars. The secondary literature has been roughly divided between inclusivist readers, who argue that Aristotle designates both theoria, or contemplation, and the practical virtues, and exclusivist readers, who argue that Aristotle singles out theoria alone. This thesis seeks to forge a middle ground between these two perspectives by focusing on the central claim of Book I that the eudaimonia is virtuous activity. Reading Book X in light of Book I's claim then allows one to show that both the …

Virtue Ethics, Nikki Coffey Tousley, Brad Kallenberg

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Virtue ethics emphasizes the development of moral excellence in terms of character qualities called virtues. Virtue are (1) habituated dispositions involving both an affective desire for the good and the skill to both discern and act accordingly; (2) learned through practice within a tradition (i.e., a historical community with a rich account of the "good"); and (3) directed toward this tradition's particular conception of the good (making virtues "teleological"). From a Christian perspective, virtue ethics is an ethics of discipleship, which emphasizes the development of the habits, practices, and wisdom necessary to pursue the "good" exemplified by Christ. Reading Scripture …