Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Patient Response To Find New Meaning In Familiar Language, Kelly Olson

Obsculta

This piece is a reflection of the ongoing controversy of feminism in a patriarchal society. The reflections in this essay are limited to the conversation of male versus female body but it should be understood this is not intended to overlook or undermine the diverse spectrum of gender expression. While there is much needed to be said, explored, contemplated and shared regarding gender identity in the Body of Christ, this reflection addresses the female narrative in scripture.

"Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views" [Review] / Beilby, James K. And Paul Rhodes Eddy, Eds. ., Ronald Rojas

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review

Mystic Writers: Religion From A Perspective Of Gender In The Poetry Of St. Teresa Of Avila And St. John Of The Cross, Megan Swope

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Religion and the way in which people approach it is a complicated topic. There are a multitude of ways in which humans experience religion in their lives. Christian mysticism is a type of thought within the Christian religion, and it is evident in the works of two Spanish writers – Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. These two saints are good examples to study because, as writers and mystics, they worked closely together in the Spanish Catholic Church and had similar religious beliefs. Much of their writings tie into the same Biblical ideas, while their poetry demonstrates a …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Beliefs Related To Gender Equality In The Church Of Christ, Timothy J. Priestley

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, American Christian churches, including the Church of Christ, have grappled with the role of women in their congregations. As women have gained legal rights, expanded social roles, and access to leadership, certain churches, including the Church of Christ, have lagged in adapting to these changes. This study aims to understand the organizational change process within these churches, exploring why belief systems can be slow to change and how some congregations have successfully transitioned from a complementarian to an egalitarian stance related to women's leadership roles. The research employs a contextual lens, considering how human psychology influences beliefs …

The Yellow Qipao, Feibi Wang

Honors Projects

This is a creative project centered around the pre-production of a short film about queer Asian American Christianity and the research that went into it. The synopsis of the script written for the short film is a life in the day of Aspen. Aspen prepares for church and is indecisive of the clothes they want to wear, because they are gender non-conforming. They come out to their mom and there is conflict. My research going into this project consists of researching media representation of queerness, Asian American identity, and Christianity, and how the three identities intersect in Aspen’s life and …

The Purpose Of Hell: Control Of Communities Through Apocalyptic Literature., Madison S Fogle

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Literature depicting Hell in late antique Christianity reveals more than the theological concern for one’s eternal soul, revealing the underlying values and morals of the growing society. Borrowing from Roman, Greek, and Jewish culture, Christians were seeking to set themselves apart while also grappling with their past around them. Through visions of Hell, apocalyptic literature in late antique Christian society exhibits the control exercised over parishioners, specifically control over their bodies and their wealth. The moral laws from Greek, Roman, and Jewish influences is evident through early Christian literature, which dictate the ways in which people are regulated by Christianity …

The Protoevangelium Of James: Mary, Purity, And Womanhood, Sophia Gilmour

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

Despite its somewhat misleading title, The Protoevangelium of James is an unofficial gospel about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although many contemporary Christians may not know it, this text is where we find many ideas surrounding Mary. Like many early Christian writings, the identity of the author is unclear, but based upon the writing, it would seem the author had firsthand knowledge of the events recorded. The Protoevangelium of James, also known as The Infancy Gospel of James, outlines the divine circumstances surrounding Mary’s birth and upbringing and reports that she lived a very holy childhood. In this paper, I …

The Labor Of Mary: A Comparative Analysis Of The Virgin Birth In The Qur’An And The Gospels, Jessica Leu

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

Mary has been called a bridge between Christians and Muslims for centuries. Both religions revere her as the mother of Jesus (Isa) and for her status as a virgin when she conceived him, and both traditions have within them devotees who venerate Mary. But despite this shared adoration for the blessed mother, there are a variety of differences between their understanding of Mary’s role in salvation and of her virginity. While the New Testament Gospels make some mention of Mary in their texts, the Qur’an dedicates an entire surah (chapter) to her story and mentions her with more frequency than …

Wonders In The Deep: Faith And Religious Practice In The Shipboard Writings Of American Sailors, 1810-1859, Valerie Sallis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While stereotypes of sailors as immoral, godless ne’er-do-wells flourish in mainland historical accounts, little attention has been paid to the records left by sailors that document their own faith and religious practices. This thesis examines the logbooks, journals, and diaries written by American sailors while at sea, sounding the depth of sailors’ religious beliefs through their own words. While American seamen certainly drank, swore, and caroused, sailors also frequently captured in their writing a much more religious nature than the mainland expected of them. Sailors’ position as highly mobile laborers on the ultimate borderlands—the sea itself—impacted their religious practice and …

Relationship Between Religion And Native American Identity, Gennaro W. Milo

Graduate Research Posters

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between religious affiliation and Native American Identity. Based on the findings of this study, a component of a Native American's Identity is their religious affiliation. To contribute to the research on Native American and Alaskan Native identity, this study targeted the teenage demographic of ages 12 to 19 years old. Over growing concern, expressed by tribal elders, about a loss of cultural identity amongst teens, this study investigates a connection between a teen’s sense of identity and their religious affiliation (Quigley, 2019). This study used a multiple-choice …

Is This A Christian Nation?: Virtual Symposium September 25, 2020, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Gendered Conflict Resolution: The Role Of Women In Amani Mashinani’S Peacebuiding Processes In Uasin Gishu County, Kenya, Susan Kilonzo, Kennedy Onkware

The Journal of Social Encounters

The role of women in peacebuilding is acknowledged by many stakeholders central in peace work. While this is so, there are still concerns about what we know about women’s involvement in peacebuilding structures established by non-state actors. Drawing from Amani Mashinani (Peace at Grassroots) peacebuilding model initiated by the Catholic Church in Kenya’s North Rift region, we examine the role of women in processes of conflict resolution in Uasin Gishu County. Suggestions to support women’s participation will be discussed.

Unpresentable Members: The Theology And Radical Phenomenology Of The Sexual Flesh, Justin Pearl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unpresentable Members begins with a wager: that a proper account of the flesh and its sexual character may not only prove philosophically fertile within its own limited domain, but may also provide insight into the theological question of the proper role and place of gender and sexual difference within communities, particularly Christian religious communities. In this regard, this dissertation has two distinct goals: one phenomenological and one theological. Phenomenologically, it offers an account of the manifestation of concrete sexual determinations not only as they objectively appear across the “body-object” (Körper, le corps) but with equal importance as …

Dimensionality And Factorial Invariance Of Religiosity Among Christians And The Religiously Unaffiliated: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Based On The International Social Survey Programme, Carlos Miguel Lemos, Ross Joseph Gore, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

We present a study of the dimensionality and factorial invariance of religiosity for 26 countries with a Christian heritage, based on the 1998 and 2008 rounds of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Religion survey, using both exploratory and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed that three factors, common to Christian and religiously unaffiliated respondents, could be extracted from our initially selected items and suggested the testing of four different three-factor models using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. For the model with the best fit and measurement invariance properties, we labeled the three resulting factors …

Creating Genderless God-Language Through Lutheran Liturgy, Eileen A. Ruppel

Celebration of Learning

Drawing on the work of feminist and queer theologies, this paper examines and challenges traditional God-language, proposing the implementation of genderless language in Christian worship liturgies. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is used as a model for potential methods of shifting God-language. This work focuses on God-language in Lutheran liturgy, focusing on Scripture, hymns, doctrine, and prayer. This work seeks to prove that implementing genderless God-language throughout the liturgy will provide ELCA leaders the opportunity to be more inclusive, while representing God’s transcendence beyond human conceptions such as gender.

Sexuality, Gender, And Marriage: Pentecostal Theology Of Sexuality And Empowering The Girl-Child In India, Brainerd Prince, Atula Walling

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Th e focus of the article arises from a case study of an Indian woman and her adopted child, Sunita and Komal. Th ere are three key issues that can be abstracted from the story of Sunita and Komal. Th e abandoned “girl-child” Komal raises the question of sex—what am I? What does it mean to be biologically female? What consequences are there for being born female? Sunita’s and Komal’s rejection from their families has led them to ask the question about their gender—who am I? What does it mean to be a girl or woman in a predominantly Hindu …

The Fetal Position: An Examination Of The Validity Of Gender Through The Lens Of Ecological Fluidity Of Behavioral Dimorphisms, Tanya Daughtry

Dialogue & Nexus

Sex and gender is not dichotomous as traditionally thought. Once the biology of sex is understood, perhaps a correction of the teaching about male and female uniqueness can be balanced with Jesus’ teaching regarding eunuchs. Until this is done, persons with gender identity discontinuities will be marginalized by the church. Recognizing that this dichotomous view is incorrect is the first step in correcting the marginalization.

Creation, Sex, Gender, And Jesus, Gregory A. Couser

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Christians’ Cut: Popular Religion And The Global Health Campaign For Medical Male Circumcision In Swaziland, Casey Golomski, Sonene Nyawo

Anthropology

Swaziland faces one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world and is a site for the current global health campaign in sub-Saharan Africa to medically circumcise the majority of the male population. Given that Swaziland is also majority Christian, how does the most popular religion influence acceptance, rejection or understandings of medical male circumcision? This article considers interpretive differences by Christians across the Kingdom’s three ecumenical organisations, showing how a diverse group people singly glossed as ‘Christian’ in most public health acceptability studies critically rejected the procedure in unity, but not uniformly. Participants saw medical male circumcision’s promotion and …

“Man, Don’T Feel Like A Woman”: Christian Scriptural Interpretations, The Binary Gender System, And How They Can Lead To Misogyny And Homophobia, Alyssa Froehling

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

This paper utilizes different analyses of scripture to argue that a binary gender system is not inherent in Christianity. Contemporary societal norms placed onto Christianity contribute to the oppression of women and those in LGBTQ+ communities.

The Gender Revolution: Are We Getting It Right?, Dannah (Barker) Gresh

Alumni Publications

No abstract provided.

Inspiration, Interpretation, And Authority: Laying Down The Law, Leah Jo M. Shelton

Religion: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper examines the relationships between and the complexities within biblical inspiration, interpretation, and authority and how they might contribute to liberating and oppressive uses of the Bible. For an example of an oppressive interpretation, the introduction includes a brief case study concerning the interpretive history of 1 Corinthians 11:10 and 1 Timothy 2:12. Continuing, David Law’s book, Inspiration, serves as the main source for theories of inspiration. He discusses two categories of theories—word-centered and non-verbal—and provides his own theory which locates inspiration in relationship between the text and the reader. In response to Law, this paper centralizes around …

In His Image: A Content Analysis Of Evangelical Youth Books For Their Representation Of Gender Roles And Ideals, Taryn Renee Vis

Honors Projects

This content analysis discusses the results of the analysis of twelve major Evangelical books for young adults and their representation of gender roles and gender ideals. The background of the Evangelical church’s handling of gender, particularly in relation to media beginning in the 1970s is established and discussed at length in order to situate this analysis amongst previous discussion of Evangelical gender roles. This analysis found that each of the books discussed four main themes of gender roles and relations: biological essentialism, complementarianism, counter-cultural branding of gender, and sexual purity (especially for young women).

The Faith And Rationality Of Dalit Christian Experience, Mathew Schmalz

Mathew Schmalz

No abstract provided.

Book Review: God's Design For Man And Woman, Jeremy M. Kimble

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Like A Girl”: Why Our Words Matter, Jason Lief

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Did you see the Always #LikeAGirl Super Bowl XLIX commercial? Why does this commercial matter?"

Posting about how Christians should respond to the video/commercial #LikeAGirl and the phrase "like a girl" which can have a negative impact on the self-confidence of young girls from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/like-a-girl-why-our-words-matter

The referenced video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Femininity, Masculinity, Gender, And The Role Of Shame On Christian Men And Women In The Evangelical Church Culture, Joy L. Hottenstein

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Previous research has suggested that individuals (men and women) who endorse more feminine characteristics according to Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) are more prone to shame. There have been no known studies conducted to determine if this link also exists within the Evangelical Christian church. Shame, across the research literature, is linked to psychological maladjustment and is defined as a sense that one’s core self is defective and comes up short on expectations. The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between gender, gender role, and shame for men and women who are active in the Evangelical church …

Reading Resource: Recent Books And Articles Relating To Gender And Christian Service, Claude Cox

Leaven

No abstract provided.

Can't Be Tamed: A Feminist Analysis Of Apocrypha And Other Scripture, Catherine Alison Ballard

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper is my own unique feminist analysis of certain apocryphal texts. Though the texts I use have common themes, they are divided into what I consider the three most societally important aspects of an ancient woman’s identity: virgin, mother, and whore. The Acts of Thecla and The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena deal with virginity. II Maccabees, The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, and select chapters of Augustine’s Confessions represent motherhood. Finally, the hagiographies Life of Pelagia and Life of Mary navigate through the mire of sexualities that deviate from norms.

The Relationships Of Genesis 2.4b-3.24: Past, Present And Future, Jared Wolfe

Leaven

No abstract provided.