God’S Narrative Of Redemption: Creation, Imago Dei, And Water Imagery, Dawn Lewis Sutherland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research demonstrates that the reclamation of imago Dei identity is the ultimate and terminal end-state of God’s plan for humanity’s redemption; this plan is universally expressed to humanity through water imagery in the Old Testament (OT) and in Ancient Near East (ANE) context. The Creator unveils supernatural intent through natural processes and contends that the restoration of imago Dei identity represents the conclusive fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan for humanity. In pursuit of this argument, the research critically explores creational identity, the contrasting biblical notion of idolatry, and the cross-cultural significance of water imagery within the contexts of the …

Arab Feminism And The Hijab: Exploring The Intersection Of Feminism And Islam In Jordan, Melanie Kallah

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The goal of this qualitative research is to procure a definition of Arab Feminism from the religious and cultural beliefs of Jordanian Muslim women while also highlighting the feminist roots of Islam. The hijab is the perfect symbol to analyze Arab feminism under and discuss the difference between religion and culture.

This paper first dives into the history of the Jordanian women’s movement and the origins of today's activism. This hinges on the work of Rana Husseini, who has the only in-depth account of the Jordanian women’s movement. This history allows the reader to better understand the current conditions of …

Augustine Of Hippo: A Historical Theology Critique, Zachary Monte

Honors Program Projects

This study evaluates how current historical theology survey texts understand and present the theology of Augustine. The texts are examined to assess the following: accuracy of presentation on discussed topics, specific theological topics Augustine addressed excluded in the surveys, and theological bias on the part of the authors. The historical theology surveys include Gregg Allison’s Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine, Justo González’s A History of Christian Thought, and Alister McGrath’s Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. The three major topics treated include Augustine’s Trinitarian thought, the Donatist Controversy, and the Pelagian Controversy. The findings …

Morality And The Personhood Of God: A Moral Argument For The Existence Of A Personal God, Stephen Scott Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The concept that God is personal is an important part of religious belief. If God were not personal, it would be odd to think of him as moral or loving; it would also seem counterintuitive to speak of him as One with whom humans can have a personal relationship, One who can be trusted, cares for the people he created, listens to their prayers, acts on their behalf, has their best interests at heart, and so on. In short, to talk of such matters in a sensible manner and to experience them in everyday life seemingly requires that God is …

Early Modern Christian Platonism, Derek A. Michaud

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Faith, Doubt, And Reason - Conclusion And Epilogue, Brent Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Courtesy of Wipf and Stock Publishers:

Faith, doubt, and reason are universal human faculties, yet they are frequently misunderstood, denigrated, and even abused. What does it mean to have faith, and what distinguishes faith from belief? Can someone have faith without religious commitments? What is doubt, and what is its relationship to faith and belief? How do we make sense of evil and suffering? What roles does reason play in our lives? What do we do when we have the sneaking suspicion that life is absurd? What do we love, and what do we fear? How do faith, doubt, and …

Clement Of Alexandria And The Logos, Lois Eveleth

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Director of a catechetical school in Alexandria, Clement employed a key concept in Middle Platonism, i.e. Logos, as a means to spread the Gospel among Hellenized Egyptians and Berbers. Ever the pedagogue, Clement freely employed rich metaphors; especially memorable was "Christ the Minstrel"; singing a "... new song for the cosmos."

The Multidimensional Unity Of Life, Theology, Ecology, And Covid-19, Derek A. Michaud

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Black Lives, Sacred Humanity, And The Racialization Of Nature, Or Why America Needs Religious Naturalism Today, Carol W. White

Faculty Journal Articles

Embedded in persistent representations of people of African descent as inferior beings or subpar humans are problematic notions of animality, race, and nature in the U.S., or a lethal combination of intimately conjoined white supremacy and species supremacy. Confronting these processes is a model of African American religious naturalism, which presupposes human animals’ deep, inextricable homology with each other and with other natural processes. Building on the ideas of Anna J. Cooper, W. E. B. du Bois, and James Baldwin, this model of religious naturalism emphasizes humans as sacred centers of value and distinct movements of nature itself where deep …

Contemporary Jesuit Epistemological Interests, James G. Murphy

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Apart from an orientation to and interest in the discernment of spirits as laid out in St Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises, there does not exist a Jesuit epistemology as such. Compared to the numbers of Jesuit systematic theologians, scripture scholars, metaphysicians, and ethicists, there have been few Jesuit epistemologists.2 In metaphysics, Jesuits have been Thomist or Suarezian, even Platonist. In ethics, they have ranged from proportionalist through deontologist to virtue ethicist. No similar distinctive Jesuit presence is to be found in epistemology....

Philosophy And Theology: Reflections On Speciesism, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Cultural Decoding: A Humanities Program For Gifted And Talented High School Students Seeking University Entrance, Laura D'Olimpio, Angela Mccarthy, Annette Pedersen

Philosophy Papers and Journal Articles

This article details Cultural DeCoding, a humanities based high school extension program for gifted and talented Year 11 and 12 students in Western Australia. The brainchild of Dr Annette Pedersen (UWA & John XXIII College) and Dr Angela McCarthy (UNDA), the program runs for four days across the summer holidays before the start of the school term. The program fills a gap that exists in the education of gifted and talented secondary students who are interested in the humanities. It is comprised of sessions run by academics who facilitate discussion and activities based on their area of research and teaching …

The Theology And Agency Of Love As The Substance Of Kingian Non-Violent Philosophy And Activism., Matthew Quainoo

Senior Honors Projects

The theology of Love focuses on King’s understanding of God as love:

A Research Abstract (Project Summary)

Problem: Almost 50 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., controversy continues to swirl around the motivational forces that inspired the nonviolence approach employed by King in his fight for equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. Some scholars argue that Kings was inspired by such advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha Shakyamuni. Others believe that Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence was an expression of the Christian theology of God …

Common Sense Theology: An Analysis Of T. L. Carter's Interpretation Of Romans 13:1-7, Joshua Alley

Senior Honors Theses

Common sense theology has been a part of American theology since the time of the Revolution when Evangelicals incorporated ideals from the Scottish didactic Enlightenment into their thought. This paper deals with the work of one particular author, T. L. Carter, and his interpretation and exegetical work on Romans 13:1-7. It deals with the two major presuppositions of his common sense theology, namely that interpretations of any passage of Scripture will adhere to common sense and will result in a value-based ethic. Following this is an analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of Carter's methodology.

Philosophy And Theology: End Of Life Questions, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

When God Dies: Deconversion From Theism As Analogous To The Experience Of Death, William David Simpson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this thesis, I explore the psychological and experiential aspects of the shift from a supernatural theistic worldview (specifically born-again Christianity) to a
philosophically naturalistic and atheistic worldview in the context of the religious
landscape in the U.S. I posit that certain features of this transition, which is known as "deconversion,” can be thought of as potentially analogous, both psychologically and subjectively, to the experience of another's death as an objective environmental change. I provide anthropological and psychological evidence that believers often experience the God of born-again Christianity as an independently existing and active agent in the world. The similarities …

Philosophy And Theology: Reproductive Rights, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

The article discusses the philosophy and theology regarding reproductive rights and reproductive duties. It is stated that the term "reproductive rights" is a common euphemism for the ability to access abortion and contraception. It is noted that the ambiguity in speaking about reproductive rights comes from the multiple meanings of the term "rights."

A Response To Clark Pinnock's Hope For The Unevangelized As Seen In A Wideness In God's Mercy, Joshua Covert

Masters Theses

This paper will offer a response to Clark H. Pinnock's hope for the unevangelized as seen in A Wideness in God's Mercy. Pinnock argues that God saves individuals based upon their faith not primarily their knowledge. Pinnock develops a concept called the faith principle which he uses to support his claims. Pinnock provides five examples of unevangelized persons who are saved through faith without knowledge of Christ. Through Pinnock's faith principle and these five examples he argues that the unevangelized do not need special revelation - knowledge of Christ. It will be argued that the five examples provided by Pinnock …

A Comparative Study: Traditional Evangelical Friends Pastors With Contemporar Evangelical Pastors For Twenty-First Century Application, Thomas Crawford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This is a study of the dominant views of traditional evangelical Friends pastors and contemporary evangelical pastors. A comparative study of lifestyle, methods of ministry, and primary doctrinal beliefs is used to discover areas of agreement, differences, and points critical to successful leadership for Evangelical Friends pastors. Being a pastor and denominational leader in the Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region for the past 32 years gives the author a critical interest in this study. Every church and denomination wants to effectively reach people for Christ. The author and Evangelical Friends are no different. Academic research is combined with interviews of evangelical …

An Apologetic To Sun Hwan Pyun's Dialogue Theology As A Liberation Theology Of Religions, Youngchan Kim

Masters Theses

Sun Hwan Pyun was a professor at Methodist Theological University. As a theologian, he grappled with two important theological questions: "Is Christianity an exclusive religion?" and "Is Christianity only a religion for the upper class?" Regarding the exclusivism of Christianity, Pyun searched for an answer in ecumenical-religious pluralism. As an answer for "is Christianity for the poor", he accepts Minjung liberation theology. Pyun wanted to combine these two theologies and, subsequently, referred to his dialogue theology as a liberation theology of religions. The purpose of this thesis is to search for the theological and biblical answers to these theological questions …

Philosophy And Theology: After-Birth Abortion, Christopher Kaczor

Philosophy Faculty Works

The article focuses on the issues related to philosophy and theology. It cites the example of an article based on the topic by philosopher Michael Tooley in the year 1972. As mentioned, article made critics of abortion squirm and also tried to extend the ethics of exclusion to cover not just prenatal but also postnatal human beings.

Postmodern Developments In Evangelical Theology, Robert Weston Siscoe

Honors Program Projects

Postmodernism has created an epistemological and conceptual climate for different approaches to Evangelical theology. In this study, my purpose is to analyze contemporary trends in postmodern theology and investigate to what extent these trends are affecting Evangelicals. The categories of postmodern theology I have chosen for comparison are deconstructive theology, narrative theology, and radical orthodoxy. The first portion of my research summarizes their formative influences and current approaches in hopes that these observations can then be applied in specific contexts.

After a review of each of these theologies, I compared them to what I experienced in three Post-Evangelical congregations. The …

An Exposition Of Augustine's Theodicy: From Its Influences To Its Modern Application, Kevin J. Gray

Philosophy Student Scholarship

This paper delineates the thrust of Augustine's theodicy against the broader background of his Christian Neoplatonic outlook. We examine Augustine's initial Manichean influences and see how these beliefs carry over to his mature thought, which is evident in the seventh book of the Confessions. After Augustine's time with the Manicheans, we look at how he was so influenced by the books of the Platonists (libri platonicorum). Although Augustine's position regarding the problem of evil shifts, his idea of the primacy of the soul is still evident in his thought process. To wit, Augustine posits that evil must …

Phenomenology As Eschatological Materialism, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Re-Constituting Phenomenology: Continuity In Levinas’ Accounts Of Time And Ethics, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

At the heart of Levinas’ work is an account of subjectivity that is premised on his account of temporality. In this regard, Levinas is like many other phenomenologists. However, in order to understand Levinas in this manner, we must first reconceive what Levinas means by ‘ethics’, so we can see the fundamental continuity in his accounts of subjectivity and temporality. By understanding the continuities, not just within but also between, Levinas’ ethical subject and his futural temporality, we are able to reconceive of the scope and method of phenomenology, so as to adequately assess Levinas’ influence in that discipline.

The Tragedy Of Death In The Pursuit Of Spiritual Immortality, And The Physician’S Response, Rachel Furman

Senior Honors Projects

Life is a tragedy in the sense that it amounts to one single contradiction: man will die, and knows this, yet he still does not want to die. He thus spends his entire life fighting the battle to survive, though he knows that victory is impossible. That is, victory in the sense of corporeal immortality is impossible – but what happens to the soul? That human soul, which we have come to distinguish from the body by placing it above the temporal world, and equating it with eternity. Belief in immortality, in this case, spiritual immortality, is, according to Miguel …

On Using The Past In Sextus Empiricus: The Case Of Democritus, Emidio Spinelli

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

If we draw the conclusions from a quick reconstruction of the presence of Democritean doxai in Sextus, we could underline that he seems to use them with the precise (and often explicit) intention of reaching at least two purposes, both functional to the attitude he constantly shows vis-à-vis philosophic past. These purposes are — it seems to me — the following:

a. the first one, that of taking advantage of D.'s doctrines as an integrating part of the diaphoniai that he builds (or that he inherits from the Pyrrhonian tradition which preceded him), always presenting D. as a Dogmatist among …

What Does Aristotle's Prime Mover Do?, Sarah Waterlow Broadie

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The Prime Mover of Metaphysics Lambda is the source, above all, of eternal motion in the first sphere. It may seem silly to ask 'What (according to Lambda) does the Prime Mover do?' The answer is obvious: 'He — or it — gives rise to the motion of the first sphere'. But according to a widely accepted interpretation, this is not what the Prime Mover does first and foremost; instead, the Mover essentially contemplates. This contemplative conception is my target here. I shall adduce reasons for suspecting that the contemplative Prime Mover is not an Aristotelian postulate in Lambda, but …

Nous As The Ground Of Aristotle's Metaphysics?, John J. Cleary

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

This paper explores the implications of Aristotle's puzzling suggestions that the possibility of first philosophy somehow depends on whether part of the soul is separable from material body. My Conjecture1 is that for Aristotle the science of metaphysics depends on a special activity of nous that grasps die self-identical essences which are objects of first philosophy, as distinct from physics and mathematics. From Aristotle's perspective, of course, it is the existence of such essences that makes metaphysics possible, but it is arguable that without a corresponding mode of cognition this would not be a human science. It is a moot …

The Woes Of Creation Science, Donald W. Viney

Faculty Submissions

This article presents the case against Creation-Science by detailing its failures with respect to science, philosophy, hermeneutics, and theology. Despite its many flaws it may usefully serve as a good example of a bad thing.