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Biblical Literacy And The Creative Mind, Michael Farrell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Biblical Literacy and the Creative Mind will explore interpretation tracing the history of English literature back to biblical aspirations and its continued profound influence on Western human perspectives. It will examine the decline in adults reading literary texts and the diminishing number of English majors among prospective students. I am arguing for poetic interpretations over hermeneutic ones, which analyze what is structurally in a sentence to make a reader feel a certain way. I will use the theory of intertextuality, meaning a text comprises the consumption of past texts, to aid my argument. This theory underscores the importance of celebrated …

The Benefits Of Using The Bible As A Historical Reference To Teach History And Literature, Anne Auringer

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The purpose of this capstone is to examine the benefits of teaching by using the Bible as a reference in both the primary grades in and the public schools. Given the factual evidence about correlations with academic success and Biblical pedagogy, this senior capstone research project brings awareness to educators about the benefits of that the Bible can be a valuable historical reference to teach history and literature to students in the classroom. Through the use of literature review and a case study, the findings revealed that using the Bible to teach history and literature, purely is a great source …

Keeping The Heart: Contemporizing The Parables Of Jesus, Hannah Tullos

Honors Theses

One of the main teaching techniques of Jesus was his usage of stories, also known as parables. Although the power of his words never fades, the impact of the details of his stories inevitably gets lost when the stories are read in a different cultural context. This thesis provides a method that brings Jesus’s parables into a modern context. In being able to completely transform parables into a modern context, the message of the parables can reach wider audiences on a more personal level. The goal is to revive the heart of storytelling within the parables of Jesus and communicate …

A Daily Time With God For Spiritual Growth: How Worship, Scripture, And Prayer Transform People Into Fully Devoted Followers Of Jesus, Luke Cunningham

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Bible engagement, faith practice, and people identifying as followers of Jesus are at an all-time low in America. Christians are casually attending church, occasionally volunteering, but not transforming into fully devoted followers of Jesus. Discipleship is defined differently from church to church, and “spiritual formation” is the new rave without much local church praxis. How do Christians go from a weekly faith of attendance to a daily faith of transformation? The focus of this doctoral dissertation is to present the practice of daily meetings with God as the solution to this problem. It is by laying out a clear theology …

The Dwell Bible Listening App As An Effective Tool To Habituate Daily Bible Engagement In The Local Congregation, Daniel Russell Prugh

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Prugh, Daniel R. “The Dwell Bible Listening App as an Effective Tool to Habituate Daily Bible Engagement in the Local Congregation.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2023. "115" pp.

Congregational members desire to engage the Bible daily. However, oftentimes there are barriers to this goal. One of the most important barriers is that people do not regularly read. This is problematic if the church desires for people to read the Bible daily. In addition, people encounter a tsunami of information every day, that makes it hard to prioritize regular engagement with the Bible. However, the church can …

Sol's Porch: Seeking A More Unified Church In A Divisive Culture, Kevin Miller

Doctor of Ministry

In this project portfolio, I will address the following NPO: The fragmented church has countless interpretations of truth caused by tribal fear, which has created ongoing divisions and a longing for control. If unified in Jesus, we could see radical inclusivity in future generations. The key finding in my research revealed the unifying power of Jesus being the ultimate authority of our faith, Bible readings, and Christian practice. I have seen the prevalent church fragments in America and in my current context as a missionary in Toulouse, France. I believe the power of story and metaphor can play a part …

Reading Zora Neale Hurston's Works Through An Islamic Lens: The Absence Of Islam In Moses, Man Of The Mountain And Jonah's Gourd Vine, Asma Abdullah Saud Alqahtani

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Zora Neale Hurston is an African-American writer, anthropologist, and ethnographer of the Harlem Renaissance. She is distinguished for documenting and celebrating the religions of African Americans in the South. In this study, the author argues that Hurston represents the practiced religions in Southern African-American communities in Jonah’s Gourd Vine and Moses, Man of the Mountain while noticeably omitting Islam, despite the fact that Islam predominated in more Northern African-American Communities as a reclaimed religious history and practice. Hurston’s exclusion prompts inquiries into the history of Islamic erasures in Southern African-American communities and introduces ambiguity in interpreting the metaphors found in …

Cultivating Christian Community In A Post-Covid Era, Susie M. Lloyd

Journalism

This study focuses on how to meet the needs of young adult Christians through community and resources, all of which aim to help them live more like Jesus. There are many online resources for Christians, but society lacks a “one-stop shop” website that has every resource a young adult following Jesus could need. These resources include an online community where people can choose what mode of community they need, whether that be one-on-one discipleship or mentorship, consistent group meetings with people their own age, an accountability partner, or just a friend who shares similar beliefs and values. In an era …

Gospels Of (Anti)Inequality: The Politics Of Biblical Interpretation In The New Poor People’S Campaign And Capitol Ministries, Jonathan Peter Tschudy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the role of biblical interpretation in the politics of inequality in the United States. Building on scholarship in American Political Development that identifies ideas as integral to institution building, I analyze the interplay between biblical interpretations, organizational structures, and political strategies within two contemporary religio-political groups: the New Poor People’s Campaign (NPPC) and Capitol Ministries (CM). Methodologically, I combine in-depth, interpretative readings of primary source documents with an historical institutional analysis of the secondary literature on the role of religion in American politics. I argue that the two organizations’ elite leaders – Reverends William Barber II and …

The Reception Of Isaiah's Suffering Servant In Thomas Aquinas' Theology Of The Cross, Daniel Waldow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Thomas Aquinas' reception of Isaiah 53 throughout his major works of theology.

Women And Supposition: The Chronicles Of Narnia And Biblical Womanhood, Carolyn Dailey

Honors Projects

Supplemented by C.S. Lewis' works in theology, predominately Mere Christianity, and 'Priestesses in the Church?" as well as sources from other theologians, and historians, this paper explores the relationship between Christian tradition and Biblical womanhood that is expressed in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. This paper finds that C.S. Lewis drew more from the core tenets of love and equality that exist at the heart of Christianity rather than from traditional Christian beliefs, including some he held himself. In doing this, he crafted an imaginative fiction that affirms Biblical womanhood.

Six-Bullets Faith, Justin R. Lazor

ETD Archive

At a religious school of unspecified denomination—but definitely NOT Catholic—two women fall in love. One of them has a chainsaw, the other a gun. There’s also a horny parrot, a horny pastor and a senile mother, not to mention Lucifer, who is a bit of a teenage girl and a HUGE Billie Eilish fan. And the end of the Universe is coming, FYI, via the Big Rip, so there’s that too. And this play is also about addiction and withdrawal and recovery and the capacity or incapacity for love to overcome forces that can overwhelm the self.

Teaching The Art Of Sacred Storytelling For Use In Ministry, Abbylynn Haskell

Doctor of Ministry

Storytelling is of immense value in ministry today for enriching preaching, liturgy, teaching, worship, pastoral care, mission, evangelism and discipleship. I serve as a part-time pastor in rural Maine and have a passion for using storytelling in all these aspects of ministry. I observed an opportunity for teaching storytelling in my local ministry schools and churches.

I designed a curriculum for oral storytelling instruction that includes teaching techniques for sharing personal experiences and the re-telling of myths, legends, wisdom, folklore and Biblical stories for use in preaching, ministry, mission and pastoral care. This storytelling educational program consists of online and …

Isaac Newton As A Prophetic Interpreter, Kenneth Jørgensen

Dissertations

Throughout his life, Sir Isaac Newton was deeply dedicated to the science of decoding biblical apocalyptic writings. To understand and appreciate Newton's prophetic scheme, it will be advantagous to have a certain grasp of what sources and ideas might have influenced him. No comprehensive study before this one has helped us see Newton from that perspective. A survey of the development of canonical apocalyptic hermeneutic and interpretation, beginning before the time of Christ and ending with Newton, shows that four distinct systems of hermeneutics had developed by that time. Historicism was the earliest and the preferred system among Protestants until …

Apologetic-Based Curriculum Addressing Intellectual Skepticism Among Young Adults In Knoxville, Tennessee And The Surrounding Areas, Bryan Laue

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

In the Knoxville community, young adults who lack biblical knowledge and confidence struggle to accept question and answer Bible study guides without additional intellectual support. This struggle by young adults is attributed to a lack of knowledge and trust in the Bible as the Word of God. In addition, I have observed that when young adults read the Bible, it evokes feelings of alienation and distance from the spiritual conversation when underlying doubt in the Bible is present. One contributing factor is the lack of extra-biblical apologetics within question and answer study guides.

Method

An apologetic-based curriculum was designed …

Training Local Church Leaders To Study And Teach The Bible Inductively At Manteca Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Bruce Blum

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Seventh-day Adventist churches in Northern California are experiencing a trend toward larger districts and fewer pastors per capita. A decreasing pastoral presence means that local churches are more dependent on volunteers to lead out in the spiritual care and feeding of the church family. In this setting, much depends on the competence of volunteers who teach the Bible. Most of these volunteers have not had the benefit of formal training in hermeneutics, biblical languages, or effective teaching methods, yet they are called on to facilitate Scripture study that leads to inspiration, engagement, and transformation.

Method

I proposed in this …

Making The Bible Modern: How I Created A Retelling Of The Good Samaritan, Laura Beth Warner

Honors Theses

This thesis includes the process and methods employed in creating a modern-day retelling of the parable of The Good Samaritan for a first-grade audience and the final product of a children's picture book.

The Canonization Of The Books Of The Jewish, Catholic, And Protestant Scriptures, Kaleb J. Jung

Classical Conversations

The three Canons of Judaism, Catholic Christianity, and Protestant Christianity all claim more authority or consistency than what they have. Judaism puts too much authority on an unknown group in 200 CE that was not regarded until 400 years later in the Mishnah. Catholicism emphasizes the divinity of scriptures that the early church fathers almost universally disbelieved. Protestantism held that the Canon put forward by Calvin was entirely equal in its truth and that it should not be changed even in the face of changing beliefs or new discoveries. However, just because a Canon has been altered or closed in …

Paul Ricoeur And Biblical Hermeneutics: Narrative, Genre, And Self, Collin Angell

Senior Theses

In short, this thesis seeks to develop a biblical hermeneutic centered on one central axis, based on the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. That central axis is narrative. The Bible is written in various genres, ranging from prophecy to wisdom to hymn. The goal of this thesis is first to show how a biblical hermeneutic that treats narrative as the central mode of discourse informs a better understanding of the other biblical genres of discourse, and thus of the Bible as a whole. Furthermore, this thesis takes an existentialist direction by taking the narrative-centered biblical hermeneutic and deriving from it a …

Experiencing The Shock Of Mark 13, Jeremiah Jordan Hamby

MA in Religion Theses

The Gospel of Mark is a narrative text, a piece of literature, a story. In this narrative, the apocalyptic rule of God, Jesus, and other literary elements of the narrative then come together in a particular way within Mark 13 to shock the readers. Readers progress through the narrative and are shaped by various aspects of it along the way. The primary goal of this thesis is to look at Mark 13 and how narrative elements come together to evoke a particular experience in readers. Readers and stories meet at places where their horizons, their vantage points, converge. Narrative experiences …

Front Pew Reflections: Redefining The Role Of Women And Solid Theology In The Church, Yanna Telyeten

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

If we are honest, the modern Evangelical Church has struggled to find a clear answer on what the Bible says about the role of women. This ambiguity often causes women of faith to be confused or uncertain about their value, role, and function in the church. In Front Pew Reflections: Redefining the Role of Women and Solid Theology in the Church, I tell of my personal experiences and struggles as a young woman of faith growing up in the Slavic church. In this reflective piece, I share the discoveries I have made about what the Bible says about the …

God’S Forgiveness As Expressed In The Gospels, Rod Womer

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the twenty-two passages in the Gospels in which God’s forgiveness of human sin is explicitly addressed. Using modern textual, literary, form, redaction, and historical criticisms as exegetical tools, the examination maps out the development of these biblical vignettes so as to extract from the process an understanding of what the Gospel writers wanted to convey to Jesus’ followers about God’s forgiveness. Four distinct forgiveness modes were discovered: repentance leads to forgiveness (e.g. proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations in Lk 24:47), faith acts as a conduit to forgiveness (e.g. sinful woman kissing Jesus’ feet in Lk …

Orson Pratt And The Expansion Of The Doctrine And Covenants, Brian C. Passantino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a faith that is distinguished by its religious texts. The nickname "Mormon," that has been applied to adherents of the faith, comes from the name of its most cherished canonical book, the Book of Mormon. Aside from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Latter-day Saints accept two other books of scriptures – the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants. These four books constitute the authorized scriptures of the faith, or as they refer to them, "the standard works."

My thesis focuses on the book entitled the Doctrine …

Reclaiming Lilith As A Strong Female Role Model, Kendra Levine

Senior Theses

We live in an increasingly patriarchal society, and in order for women to not only survive in our society, but thrive, they need strong female role models. Now the question is, how do we find strong female role models? The field of Religious Studies can be used to uncover said female role models by way of examining mythology and ancient texts. Perhaps one of the most unexpected role models to come out of this examination is Lilith. She is unexpected because her story is often told in a deeply negative way, and her portrayal in both mythology and rabbinical …

Selections From & The Process Of Creating "My Blue Scarf: The Story Of Ruth, A New Play", Abigail Jane Ayulo

Honors Projects

My Blue Scarf: The Story of Ruth, A New Play, provides an adaptation of the Hebrew Book of Ruth that is focused on minority and female voices and experiences. It employs Hebrew poetic verse forms to pay homage to the story’s origins. This style contributes to diversity of voices in English-speaking theatre outside of Western poetics. My Blue Scarf shares a well- known and multicultural story to contribute to the diversity of contemporary American theatre and promote conversation about cross-cultural relationships in a time of division and prejudice. This project consists of eight selected scenes from the larger play and …

Sovereign, Christian Johnson

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Sovereign is a musical retelling of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book of the Bible. This Scripture describes the end times, the temptations of Satan and his followers, the destruction of the world, the pouring out of God’s wrath on unbelievers and the presence of God’s grace within this wrath, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the battle of Armageddon, and the eternal kingdom to come. The musical work is directly inspired by the text and attempts to represent the events that are foretold.

The first movement, “Whoever Has Ears,” depicts chapters 1-4 of the book of Revelation, …

Do We Have Enough Bibles Yet? English Bible Translations And The Transitions Through Time, Allison C. Stephan

Selected Honors Theses

The Bible is read in a variety of contexts, but with the hundreds of translations in English and controversy over which is “most accurate” or “best,” this thesis examines a brief history of Bible translation, a few translation theories such as formal and functional equivalence, what to look for in a Bible translation, and some of the most common English Bible translations. A study was conducted with college students, focusing primarily on the purpose of each translation and the people who read a specified version. Finally, this thesis supports the usage of different translations in different contexts, according to the …

The Domestic Bible: William Tyndale's Vernacular Translation, Joul Layne Smith

English Dissertations

This translation study of William Tyndale’s revised New Testament of 1534 identifies the translator’s motivations and strategies then explores the effect of the translation on the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) and Shakespeare’s plays. Tyndale’s primary motivation was to create a text for his would-be congregants during the Reformation and his strategy was largely one of domestication. However, his unique concern for his mother-tongue coupled with an insistence on his preferential theological material extends his domestication activity into an idiosyncratic attention to his lingua mater (English), resulting in a personalized translation project, a Tyndalian effect that influenced the …

Of One Divided Mind: Fundamental Causes Of The Nineteenth-Century Brethren Schism, 1850-1880, Daniel S. Weller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Historical research involving the schism within the German Baptist Brethren Church in the 1880s has only been found within broad, general histories of the church. The explanations given by historians relating to the cause of the split have previously centered on individuals and the church publications between 1850 and 1883, and on contemporaries who argued among themselves about whether to adopt practices common among surrounding American religions and society. No known project has focused directly on the content within the publications as it relates to the way these brethren used the Bible and other religious and spiritual rhetoric to substantiate …

Nature Of The Crescent: Humans And The Natural World In Genesis 1-11 And Mesopotamian Mythology, Bryton A. Smith

Honors Papers

This capstone thesis examines the human-nature relationship in the Genesis primeval history (Gen. 1-11) and compares it to the human-nature relationship in the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish, Atrahasis, and Epic of Gilgamesh myths. Despite common threads running in the two sources of mythology, I argue that Genesis is the only text that portrays humans in a religiously and royally authoritative position that includes responsibility for nature. To clarify, modern Jewish or Christian thought on Genesis in relation to the environment is not the focus of this study. Instead, this study examines Gen. 1-11 in the context of the ancient Near East, …