Digital Commons Network^™

Amici Curiae Brief Of Scholars Of American Religious History & Law In Support Of Neither Party, Nathan B. Oman, Anna-Rose Mathieson

Nathan B. Oman

No abstract provided.

A Defense Of The Authority Of Church Doctrine, Nathan B. Oman

Nathan B. Oman

No abstract provided.

God And The Executioner: The Influence Of Western Religion On The Use Of The Death Penalty, Davison M. Douglas

Davison M. Douglas

In this Essay, Professor Douglas conducts an historical review of religious attitudes toward capital punishment and the influence of those attitudes on the state's use of the death penalty. He surveys the Christian Church's strong support for capital punishment throughout most of its history, along with recent expressions of opposition from many Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups. Despite this recent abolitionist sentiment from an array of religious institutions, Professor Douglas notes a divergence of opinion between the "pulpit and the pew" as the laity continues to support the death penalty in large numbers. Professor Douglas accounts for this divergence by …

Theology Proper, Norm Mathers

Norm Mathers

No abstract provided.

Secular Humanism And Christianity.Docx, Stenislos Daniel

Stenislos Daniel

No abstract provided.

The Epistemology Of Esoteric Culture: Spiritual Claim-Making Within The American Neopagan Community, Marty Laubach

Marty Laubach

Non-institutionalised religious communities within western esotericism, such as New Age or Neopagan subcultures, are dynamic marketplaces for knowledge construction that may appear to be chaotic and governed only by the rule of caveat emptor. However, a close examination reveals authorization processes developing along similar lines as those followed by scientific empiricism during the seventeenth century. Claims of esoteric knowledge are developed from psychism experiences, and are authenticated by examining the claimant’s social standing, the narrative structure of the claim and the interests of the claimant and the judge. Such claims are authorized by incorporation into collective action, publications, workshops and …

A Brush With Weimar Germany.Docx, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

The 2012 U.S. Election And Political Messages In Sermons, Daniel Roland, Darin Freeburg

Daniel Roland

This study sought to determine to what degree clergy members of various denominations mentioned the 2012 Presidential Election in their sermons. A convenience sampling of 1,012 sermon texts prepared and delivered by 141 Protestant Christian clergy members from August 5 through November 4, 2012, were gathered and analyzed for occurrences and type of political messages. Analysis found that political messages were more likely to be given by clergy located in Blue States and least likely to be given by clergy located in Red States. Extensive political messages were more likely delivered by clergy located in Swing States. Clergy members were …

The 2012 U.S. Election And Political Messages In Sermons, Daniel Roland, Darin Freeburg

Darin Freeburg

This study sought to determine to what degree clergy members of various denominations mentioned the 2012 Presidential Election in their sermons. A convenience sampling of 1,012 sermon texts prepared and delivered by 141 Protestant Christian clergy members from August 5 through November 4, 2012, were gathered and analyzed for occurrences and type of political messages. Analysis found that political messages were more likely to be given by clergy located in Blue States and least likely to be given by clergy located in Red States. Extensive political messages were more likely delivered by clergy located in Swing States. Clergy members were …

Trinitarian Thought In The Early Modern Era, Ulrich Lehner

Ulrich L. Lehner

This article explores Catholic and Protestant Trinitarian theology from 1550 to 1770. It discusses various issues, from the mystical visions of Ignatius of Loyola to the Augustinian approach of Jonathan Edwards. It considers the growing variety of eclectic views and the influence of anti-Trinitarian thinkers, beginning with Michael Servetus and Faustus Socinus. It also highlights the rise of confessionalism and anti-Trinitarianism and the explosion of mystical theology during this period.

Using Sermon Text Archives To Investigate The Construction Of Social Values: A Proposal For A Collaborative Research Agenda In Social Epistemology, Daniel Roland

Daniel Roland

This article presents a detailed description of a research agenda and methodology inspired by Jesse Shera’s notion of social epistemology as the study of “the ways in which society generates new knowledge, disseminates it, and uses it to contribute to the values the society seeks.”1 The research agenda is ambitious and echoes the call that Shera put forth with Margaret Egan that librarianship be a discipline “for the effective investigation of the whole complex problem of the intellectual processes of society.”2 The research agenda focuses on sermons as a communication medium that significantly influences the social construction of knowledge. With …

A Primary Human Challenge, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

We may ask why, at both the individual and collective levels, it has seemed so difficult for us to choose to evolve our human games with Joy. There is no one answer for such a question, for each of us has the gift of free will. I will suggest, however, that built into our human games is what I call a primary human challenge. That primary human challenge is a dynamic tension, flowing from our creative urge for the freedom “to be” who we really are in our current physical form, and simultaneously to embrace our responsibility for our Being-ness.