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Reviving “Cult”: A Qualitative Analysis Of A Female-Led Cultic Sect, Olivia Summers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes the Word of Faith Fellowship (WOF), a female-led Evangelical church that social scientists have not yet studied. My thesis explores how a female leader operates within a patriarchal space and why WOF owns a Holocaust Museum. I conducted content analysis of the church and museum websites, Google reviews, and visited the museum in person. My research highlights the limitations of current taxonomies of religion in sociology. I address this oversight, argue for the re-introduction of “cult” as an analytical term, and propose a rubric for cult identification. I suggest that WOF is a sectarian cult with similar …

Review Of Know. Be. Live., Cory T. Branham

Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal

Born between 1995 – 2012, America’s young and emerging adults are known as “Generation Z.” As with nearly everything they are involved in, a shorter version of that label is available as simply Gen Z, or Gen Z’ers. Generally speaking, Gen Z’ers were raised by Millennials but have had life and social interactions going as far back as the Baby Boomer Generation (those born near the end of World War II and into the mid-sixties). In “Know. Be. Live.,” the combination of what has been handed down to them by previous generations, and the current state of cultural, …

Breaking Depression’S Silence Within The Church Through Friendships, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which …

Narcissistic Pastors And The Making Of Narcissistic Churches, Darrell Puls

Great Commission Research Journal

Can churches take on the pathological behaviors associated with narcissism through the influence of a narcissistic pastor? While there is a large body of literature on narcissistic individuals, and a smaller body of research into narcissistic organizations, there is little research on the prevalence of toxic narcissism in clergy and little to none on narcissistic churches. This paper is written from the perspective of currently available research and the author’s experience in working with churches suffering from severe internal conflicts in which both the pastor and church evidenced toxic levels of narcissism. The intent is to increase awareness, open a …

Records Of The Institute On Religion And Democracy Presidential Papers Of Diane Knippers, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Hartford Puritanism: Thomas Hooker, Samuel Stone, And Their Terrifying God, Baird L. Tipson

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Statues of Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone grace downtown Hartford, Connecticut, but few residents are aware of the distinctive version of Puritanism that these founding ministers of Hartford's First Church carried into the Connecticut wilderness (or indeed that the city takes its name from Stone's English birthplace). Shaped by interpretations of the writings of Saint Augustine largely developed during the ministers' years at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Hartford's church order diverged in significant ways from its counterpart in the churches of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Hartford Puritanism argues for a new paradigm of New England Puritanism. Hartford's founding ministers, Baird Tipson …

A Pitcher Of Cream, Bud Robinson

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

My Life's Story, Bud Robinson

Heritage Material

No abstract provided.

Creating A Millennial Generation Contextualized Church Culture, Christopher Deitsch

Masters Theses

The Millennial generation, or Generation Y as some people know them, is the biggest generation in the United States of America history. As they flood schools, universities, and the job market it is easy to see that there are major differences between them and previous generations. Simultaneously, the church in America has hundreds of individual churches each year closing and tens of thousands each year declining; most churches are ceasing to grow. The inability to reach Millennials is one of the reasons for this decline. This thesis purposes to give a snapshot of the Millennial generation, overview a few of …

This Was The Place: Apostasy From The Lds Church, Traci K. Burnett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As with every religion, the LDS (Mormon) Church suffers from attrition of membership. This study looks at the experiences of 21 individuals who have left the LDS church, asking about the reasons for leaving the church and about the consequences of making such a decision.

Unlike many other studies concerning religious apostasy, this research takes a strictly qualitative approach to examining the causes and consequences for leaving the LDS Church. Instead of focusing on demographic characteristics such as race, class, or gender as indicators for apostasy, this research asks a small group of individuals in-depth questions to gain a deeper …

The Pharisee Church: Why The Heart Of The Modern American Church Does Not Match The Heart Of Christ And What We Can Do To Change It, Samantha J. Blue

Senior Honors Theses

Religious discussions often hinge on semantics. Currently debate abounds concerning the state of the modern American Church. Is it failing? Is it flourishing? Who is a part of it? Comparing the biblical understanding of church to the state of the modern American Church provides great insight into how the modern church has erred. Investigating the semantic range of the word “church” also sheds light on why perceptions of the modern American Church vary. Additional comparisons are made between the typical American Christian and Pharisees. Potential similarities are identified and analyzed. Finally, suggestions are made regarding church reform so that the …

The Postmodern Church, Timothy C. Lawless

Senior Honors Theses

Within the past twenty years, the Church (especially in America) has experienced dwindling membership and attendance, along with a host of other problems. Many of these problems are symptomatic of a massive cultural shift toward postmodernism, leading to discontentment with the Church. In attempting to respond to these challenges, the emergent Church has arisen as a major element of American religious culture. Their methodology and doctrine is heavily influenced by postmodernism, which presents a further challenge for Christian leaders and ministers. This paper will survey the challenges facing the Church, will describe the emergent Church’s origin and response to these …

Witnessing To Christ In A Pluralistic World: Christian Mission Among Other Faiths, Lalsangkima Pachuau, Knud Jorgensen

Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series

'Christian Mission among Other Faiths' was one of the Edinburgh 2010 themes. As part of the study process, position papers and case studies were invited from a wide range of contributors representing various theological positions, confessional traditions and denominational bodies. The quality of the studies and the variety they represent convinced us to publish in this form. The position papers are reflections on the theme by scholars belonging to Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant-Conciliar, Protestant-Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Seventh-Day Adventist Churches. Among the case studies are articles on Christian mission among Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, new religious movements and folk or …

A Revitalization Strategy For Central New York United Methodist Churches, Robert J. Norrix

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ch 502 Church History Ii, William Kostlevy

Syllabi

Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 2. (1985). Roland H. Bainton and Jaroslav Pelikan, The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (1985). Hugh T. Kerr, editor. Readings in Christian Thought (1990). Stanley Grenz and Roger Olson, 20th CenturyTheology: God and the World in Transtition (1992).

Shembe, Ancestors, Or Christ?: A Missiological Inquiry Into The Status And Role Of Jesus Christ In The Amnazaretha Church, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, Edley Joseph Moodley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Witness And Worship In Pluralistic America, John F. Johnson, Joel Okamoto, Charles Arand, David Adams, Richard Warneck, Andrew H. Bartelt, Paul Raabe, William Schumacher, Paul Robinson, James Voelz, Robert Kolb

Ebooks

American society in the twenty- first century poses a myriad of challenges for the church as it seeks to be an effective witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Among these challenges is an increasingly pluralistic cultural and religious context.

The Mormons In Wilhelmie Germany, 1870-1914: Making A Place For An Unwanted American Religion In A Changing German Society, Michael Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1853 and 1914 the kingdom of Prussia and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, disagreed over the issue of Mormon missionaries proselyting in Prussia. In 1853 royal magistrates banished all Mormon missionaries from the kingdom for advocating emigration. A new church policy of preaching without seeking for official permission, in addition to an improved relationship between the Mormons in Utah and the United States government after the Manifesto of 1890, led to an increase in missionaries sent to Germany, including Prussia. By 1900 mormon success alarmed the Prussian Protestant clergy and a few Prussian governors …

Revitalization And The Church: A Study Of The Renewalmovement In The Sixth Conference Of The Brazillian Methodist Church, João Carlos Lopes

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

7. A Postscript To The Age Of Reformation, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section VII: The Protestant Movement

Estimates regarding the results of the Reformation differ as widely as do the names used to characterize it. As it has been called a revolt, a reaffirmation, a reaction, or a reformation, so its results have been assessed as a shattering of Christendom, a resurgence of the gospel, a return to religious scholasticism, or a real quickening in the faith of Western man. Therefore, any conclusions as to its influence which we might draw will of necessity be somewhat affected by the views of the writers. With this in mind, we shall examine several important ramifications of the Reformation. [ …