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Holistic And Holy: An Inward Journey Toward Healing And Wholeness, Chad Mcswain

Doctor of Leadership

There are two ubiquitous challenges to the modern church in North America: declining church attendance and the mental health crisis. This is an opportunity for the modern church to take up the missional imperative by providing access to mental health resources to meet the mental and spiritual needs of those they serve, while creating a positive connection to those who do not currently attend church.

This doctoral project seeks to address both challenges by providing a podcast called, Holistic and Holy, Listener Guide, and website that creates conversations at the intersection of mental health and spirituality. This approach uses traditional …

"A Dreadful Thing": C.S. Lewis And The Experinces Of War, Timothy J. Demy

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

From a Christian perspective, war entails the death and killing of people who are all created in the image of God and therefore have inherent dignity and incalculable worth. And yet, even after experiencing war at firsthand, C. S. Lewis believed that war is sometimes justifiable and necessary.

Like others of his generation, Lewis was deeply affected by the experience of war. He lived through the First and Second World Wars, serving as an officer on the Western Front between November 1917 and April 1918. His brother Warren (“Warnie”) was a career officer serving in the British army in both …

Review Of The Making Of C. S. Lewis: From Atheist To Apologist, Crystal Hurd

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Crystal Hurd: Review of Harry Lee Poe, The Making of C. S. Lewis: From Atheist to Apologist (1918- 1945) (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2021). 344 pages, including Notes and Index. $32.99. ISBN 9781433567834.

From Vocal Agnostic To Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis And C.E.M. Joad, Joel Heck

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

After a brief consideration of Joad’s life and career this essay will examine the events that led to his return to the Christian faith, and the extent of Lewis’ influence on it. As we will see, Joad and Lewis’ interest in philosophy and the world of ideas, their reading of one another’s work and the mutual respect that emerged out of that effort, their published debate over the issue of theodicy in 1941, their lively debate over the merits of Christianity at the Socratic Club in 1944, and their exchange over the troubling issue of animal pain in 1950, comprise …

A Culture Of Scarcity And A God Of Abundance: Leading A Church Into A Bigger, Better, More Beautiful Story, Jamie Mccallum

Doctor of Ministry

Christians live in the ever-present tension of two competing stories. The first is the story our culture promotes. It is one of scarcity. In this story, there is never enough money, resources, time, or love to go around. The other story is the one God tells in Scripture. It is a story of an abundant Creator who gives more than enough for life, love, purpose, and enjoyment in this world. This paper explores my journey in leading Belfair Community Church away from a mindset of scarcity and into a living theology of abundance. When we truly trust that God is …

Winsome Wounds: A New Perception Of Pastoral Suffering, Stephanie Hurd

Doctor of Ministry

Pastors may view their divine calling as quid pro quo assurance against personal suffering. Yet everyone suffers. Seminaries train pastors in the technical skills required for ministry, but hermeneutics and homiletics do not help a pastor who is wounded. Churchcraft is about thriving as a leader in a church environment and acquiring the navigational tools, experiential knowledge, and soft skills to do so. Section 1 establishes the problem: Misperceptions about typical pastoral suffering, the disorientation it causes, and the lack of tools needed to respond in a productive way. Section 2 presents possible responses such as Stoicism, Legalism, Epicureanism, increasing …

Chapter Two: Quaker Spirituality Of Protestant Spiritual Traditions, Volume 2, Cherice Bock

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The debate over whether or not Quakers should be categorized as Protestant rages among scholars in Quaker studies as well, although the question is generally posed in the form of original influences on early Quaker leaders. Scholars differ about whether Quakerism grew out of Puritanism, or whether it appeared as a mystical tradition, springing up through spiritual inspiration rather than as a logical evolution of thinking from one group to the next. A third viewpoint sees Quakerism as prophetic, combining mystical personal experience of Jesus Christ and connection to the biblical call for justice through love. This third understanding combines …

An Historian’S Christmas, Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

Keywords: Christmas, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Shepherds, angel, angels, glory, birth of Jesus, Quirinius, Christmas story, peace on earth, good will to men, midnight clear, gospel of Luke, Caesar Augustus, Rome, Roman republic, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Judea, prophecy of Micah 5:2, Israel, Judah, Herod the Great, Messiah, dream, favored of God, Elizabeth, blessed, faith, sanctuary, no room in the inn, stable, Scriptures, Son of God, wrapped Him in a cloth, laid Him in a manger, great light, darkness, good news, great joy, city of David, savior, Christ the Lord, Heavenly Host, Glory to God in the Highest, Luke 2:19, treasured up all …

“I Don’T Want To Hear Your Language!” White Social Imagination And The Demography Of Roman Corinth, Ekaputra Tupamahu

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

This article aims to deconstruct the hidden pervasive whiteness in biblical scholarship and to propose another way to reimagine the linguistic dynamic of Roman Corinth from an Asian American perspective. It highlights the legal and historical interconnectedness of whiteness and the dominance of English. English is a critical marker of whiteness in the United States. In this context, immigrants are expected to conform to and assimilate themselves with whiteness by performing English. This particular racialized context has influenced and resulted in a scholarly historical reconstruction of immigrants in Roman Corinth as “Greek speaking im/migrants.” Immigrants can come from many different …

The Church's Lament: Moving The White Church From Grief Of Complicity To Lament, Kristin Hamilton

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation begins with the presupposition that leaders and members of the white, evangelical church are aware that there is an ongoing racial struggle in the United States, and in the church. Beginning with the theory that the church is in denial regarding historical complicity toward racism and white supremacy, this paper uses Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s Grief Stage model to explore how the white church has become stuck in the early stages of grief (denial and anger). This exploration reviews historic and current examples in which white Christians have been complicit with systematic oppression against Black people and non-Black persons of …

"Do What You Do In The Wisdom Of God": Theological Resources For Quaker Ecological Action In The Writings Of George Fox (Chapter One Of Quakers, Creation Care, And Sustainability), Rebecca Artinian-Kaiser, Cherice Bock

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

In a time when intentional action to care for our planet is of increasing importance, Friends drafted the Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice (2012) to call Quakers to ecological action as an expression of faithfulness. The following work represents one starting point for drawing Friends' awareness to the theology and practice of early Friends in relation to creation by exploring the writings of George Fox. In this essay, we examine Fox's use of the motif of "wisdom," his view of the connection between wisdom and creation, his understanding and experience of the Word of wisdom (that is, Christ), and …

The Apostle’S Creed, Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

Excerpt: "Today, when the problem with the written word is not too little, but too much-- too much that is either a waste of time, vulgar, or blasphemous-- the power of a memorized creed lies in its reminder of the majesty of God, who He is, and our relationship to Him. Some Christians object to creeds, claiming the Bible is all they need. The mistake in this thinking is the idea that a Biblical creed is something outside the Bible, when in fact it is a memorable and valuable expression of Biblical truths that help us explain what we believe. …

Wrestling For The Souls Of The Survivors: Helping Partners Who Are Married To Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, John N. Raymond

Doctor of Ministry

For some who partake in the wonders of marriage, the experiences of pleasant memories and successful challenges mark their dreams in their twilight years. For couples where one or both experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA), marital challenges have far greater negative effect on each of the marital partners—their twilight dreams may not be so pleasant. Although many couples experience setbacks and hardships, for the couple affected by CSA, the setbacks are experienced with greater intensity and duration. This dissertation will highlight research quantifying the negative long-term consequences of CSA. I also will give examples of qualitative research that describes the …

Study Guide For Skeel’S "True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense Of Our Complex World", Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

From the introduction: "Skeel prefers to defend the Christian faith by examining how it explains the truth of human existence more fully than any other system. The result is not a thorough defeat of materialism or materialists. It is rather a gentle apologia that hopefully provides non-Christians cause for interest in Christianity, and Christians a deeper sense of the value and truth of their faith.

This study guide is divided into five parts, each corresponding to a chapter of the book. The book may be easily read one chapter per week for a Sunday School class or Christian book study." …

Study Guide For C. S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity", Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

Dr. Kerry Irish’s study guide for C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is unique in that it begins with an introduction that explains how Mere Christianity came into being, and also how Lewis became a Christian.

The guide consists of six discussions. It is suitable for use by book groups or Sunday schools as well as individual study. It is compatible with any edition of Mere Christianity, as it follows book and chapter designations rather than page numbers.

Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, 1647-1723, Paul N. Anderson

Quaker Religious Thought

It is with great appreciation to the authors and editors of this important volume on the theological thought of early Friends— Stephen Angell and “Ben” Pink Dandelion—as it fills a gap in the history of Quaker research in much needed ways. While the social histories, political concerns, spiritual interests, and social-action contributions of early Friends have been explored extensively, and while the spiritual experience and the theological contributions of some standout leaders have been explored, the theological convictions and contributions of key Quaker leaders has not been amassed as a collection until now. That being the case, this book stands …

New Perspectives On Eighteenth-Century British Quaker Women, Edwina Newman, Judith Jennings

Quaker Studies

In the last three decades, research on eighteenth-century British Quaker women reflects a range of different methodological perspectives. Recent studies focus on female spiritual development and sense of identity in the formative seventeenth century. New influences and changing contexts in the eighteenth century, especially Quietism, engendered new themes: a continuing concern with self and collective identity; theology and practices; and participation in the public and private spheres. The experiences and perceptions ofBritish Quaker women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries reflect the influence of Deism and Evangelicalism. Despite these valuable studies, further research and systematic analysis is needed, …

'What They Seek For Is In Themselves': Quaker Language And Thought In Eighteenth- And Nineteenth-Century American Literature, James Peacock

Quaker Studies

This paper argues that Quakerism was an important influence on a number of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American writers. Looking at the work of, amongst others, Charles Brockden Brown, Robert Montgomery Bird, Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Greenleaf Whittier, it demonstrates that both the stereotyped depiction of Quakers and the use of Quaker ideas, such as the inward light in literature of the period, helped writers tackle some of the paradoxes of democracy in a young nation. The perceived mystery of Quaker individualism is used in these texts first to dramatize anxiety over the formation of American 'character' as either fundamentally …

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, His Life In Brief, Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

This brief 3500-word biography emphasizes Bonhoeffer's theology, spiritual journey, and work in the German resistance until his death in April 1945.

Study Guide For Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Life Together", Kerry Irish

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

"The study begins with a short essay on Bonhoeffer’s life that explains the context of his work, especially Life Together. The study guide is organized in five parts, easily read in weekly installments. There is also a short conclusion."

The Study Of Eighteenth-Century English Quakerism: From Rufus Jones To Larry Ingle, David J. Hall

Quaker Studies

This brief study of writing on eighteenth-century English Quaker history begins with an assessment of Rufus Jones's contribution in his The Later Periods of Quakerism (1921). It goes on to supplement the views of the century expressed by Larry Ingle in 'The Future of Quaker History' (1997) by surveying concisely a major proportion of the relevant published work between 1921 and 1997. It refers also to Ingle's identification of gaps and weaknesses in the published literature on the subject.

'A Protest Against Protestantism': Hicksite Friends And The Bible In The Nineteenth Century, Thomas D. Hamm

Quaker Studies

Differing views of the nature and authority of Scripture were at the heart of the Hicksite Separation of 1827-1828 among American Friends. Mter the separation, the Bible became a source of conflict among Hicksites. Some Hicksite leaders feared anything that tended to diminish the authority of the Bible; other Hicksites argued for a critical view. By 1870, the liberals had the upper hand, as virtually all Hicksite Quakers came to share views of the Bible, including a sympathy for critical scholarship, that mirrored the modernist movement among Protestants.

Patterns And Practices Of Women's Leadership In The Yorkshire Quaker Community, 1760-1820, Helen Plant

Quaker Studies

By the second half of the eighteenth century, women ministers had become the principal upholders of the spiritual life of Quakerism in Yorkshire. Drawing on a range of sources including the institutional records of Quaker Meetings, personal correspondence and spiritual journals and autobiographies, this paper aims to shed light on the precise nature of female leadership in the Religious Society of Friends and to contribute to greater understanding of the conditions under which it became dominant. It suggests that the growing tendency for women to outnumber men as ministers was closely linked to wider social and economic trends within contemporary …

An Absent Presence: Quaker Narratives Of Journeys To America And Barbados, 1671-81, Hilary Hinds

Quaker Studies

Through case studies of writings by George Fox, Alice Curwen and Joan Vokins, this article identifies a marked discrepancy in style and focus between early Quaker accounts of journeys to the American mainland and to Barbados. Accounts of the mainland journeys are detailed and often dramatic narratives which, like most early Quaker writing, read the spiritual in and from the places and people encountered, whilst those concerned with Barbados are brief, bland and apparently unconcerned with the immanence of God in the material and social world. An explanation for this discrepancy is sought in the particular cultural and social circumstances …

'On Behalf Of All Young Women Trying To Be Better Than They Are': Feminism And Quakerism In The Nineteenth Century: The Case Of Anna Deborah Richardson, Elizabeth A. O'Donnell

Quaker Studies

Historians of the early British women's movement have frequently drawn connections between the theology and practice of Quakerism and the involvement of female Friends in nineteenth-century 'women's rights' campaigns. These connections are usually expressed in terms of religious, organizational and environmental factors particular to Quakerism, and embody the assumption that the cultural milieu of Quaker women was peculiarly conducive to the development of 'feminist consciousness'. This article examines the complexity of these assumed links, through an exploration of the life and writings of Anna Deborah Richardson (1832-1872) of Newcastle Monthly Meeting. Through her close association with Emily Davies, who established …

'Some Account Of The Progress Of The Truth As It Is In Jesus': The White Quakers Of Ireland, James Gregory

Quaker Studies

The White Quakers were a small but vocal sect of schismatic Quakers in Dublin, Waterford, Clonmel and Mountmellick, under the leadership of Joshua Jacob and Abigail Beale, between c. 1840-1854. The history of the sect, its connections with contemporary utopian leaders in England, its contemporary reputation in the Quaker and non-Quaker world, and treatment in historiography are examined. White Quaker ideas on religious authority, gender and marriage, capitalist and commercial activity, are also outlined in the following study.

Seventeenth Century Published Quaker Verse, Rosemary Moore

Quaker Studies

Early Quakers disapproved of most aspects of popular culture, and before 1661 they published very little verse. During the 1660s some thirty Quaker authors published verse, addressed both to Quakers and to the public. The impetus behind this surge of verse publication was probably the appearance during 1660 and 1661 of a number of papers by John Perrot, a Quaker preacher who had been arrested in Italy and imprisoned by the Inquisition . His writings, which were brought to England, included a considerable amount of poetry. Perrot was released in 1661 and returned to England, feted by many Quakers as …

Deviating From The Path Of Safety: The Rise And Fall Of A Nineteenth Century Quaker Meeting, Elizabeth O'Donnell

Quaker Studies

This article examines the re-establishment, expansion, and subsequent decline of a Quaker community in Benfieldside, north-west county Durham, between 1839 and 1886. It shows that the presence of a leading family and economic opportunities were both key factors in drawing Friends to the area. The failure of the largest north-east joint stock bank in 1857 was largely caused by its over-lending to the Derwent Ironworks. Prominent members of the Benfieldside Quaker community had interests in both concerns and were thus enmeshed in the financial scandal which ensued. An examination of the Newcastle Monthly Meeting reports, which investigated the affair, reveals …

Tradition Versus Innovation: The Hat, Wilkinson-Story And Keithian Controversies, Clare J. L. Martin

Quaker Studies

The post-Restoration period saw the development of the Society of Friends from an ill-defined religious group to a well-ordered denomination. This process of institutionalisation was marked by struggle between Friends' traditional emphasis upon the freedom of the light within to guide the individual and the need to impose some order upon the Society. The process saw perceived innovations develop into accepted traditions and is most clearly demonstrated by the Quaker controversies of this period. The 'Hat Controversy' of the 1660s shows early resistance to the innovation of some Friends exerting their authority over the consciences of others. Although this controversy …

Seeds Of Truth: The Importance Of C. S. Lewis's Interactions With Child Readers In The Chronicles Of Narnia, Joseph Thouvenel

Doctor of Ministry

This paper explores the ways in which C.S. Lewis's interactions with child readers in The Chronicles of Narnia provide important insight for communicating theological and spiritual truths to children. Through a brief examination of Lewis's own childhood as well as a concise analysis of his writings to and about children, important insights regarding the place of imagination and wonder within The Chronicles of Narnia will be revealed. This paper also inspects the seven books that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia, paying specific attention to Lewis's use of first- and second-person narrative within this series as a means of demonstrating his …