Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Sword & The Mask: Toward A Confessional Lutheran Account Of Spiritual Warfare, Jon Furgeson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Furgeson, Jon C. “The Sword and the Mask: Toward a Confessional Lutheran Theology of Spiritual Warfare.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2020. pp. "[Number of pages]"

This dissertation, a work in Trinitarian & ecclesial theology, seeks to recover the foundations of a full doctrine of spiritual warfare. Considering seeming disparate voices such as Walter Wink, C. Peter Wagner, John Kleinig, Gustav Wingren, and Leopoldo A. Sánchez, this dissertation asserts a constructive and integrative approach to spiritual warfare wherein the warfare is only enacted by the fallen powers of the sinful nature, the fallen world, and the fallen angels. This warfare is …

Mission In The Margins: An Emplaced Missional Ecclesiology For The Brazilian Church In Urban Environments, Samuel Fuhrmann

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Fuhrmann, Samuel Reduss. “Mission in the Margins: An Emplaced Missional Ecclesiology for the Brazilian Church in Urban Environments.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2019. 217 pp.

As the church tries to engage in God’s mission in Brazilian metropolises, it needs to account for the reality of the favelas. Favela is a housing category that refers to an urban built environment where one encounters a rich social, cultural, and spatial diversity, and often the problems of violence and poverty, all of which configure a challenge to the church. How does the church understand this reality? How does urban missional ecclesiology account for …

Lived Kardecism - A Phenomenological Approach To Understanding Brazilian Spiritism, William Miller

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Miller, William D. “Lived Kardecism: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Brazilian Spiritism.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2019. 327 pp.

This dissertation addresses a problem that faces the researcher of Brazilian Spiritism, namely that there is a need for a particular kind of account that takes the lived experience of religion as its foundation; an account of the lived experience of Spiritists who practice Spiritism as a religion in the Brazilian context and find value in it for their spiritual journey. This study answers the question as to how Spiritists articulate what is spiritual, relate to religion, and experience spiritual significance …

Giftive Dialogue: An Analysis Of The Use Of The Giftive Metaphor In The Pluralist Context Of The Lutheran University Of Brazil, Maximiliano Silva

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Silva, Maximiliano Wolfgramm. “Giftive Dialogue: An Analysis of the Use of the Giftive Metaphor in the Pluralist Context of the Lutheran University of Brazil.” Ph. D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2019. 189 pp.

Modernity’s secularization project and specific characteristics of Brazilian history have promoted pluralism to the status of a moral demand, especially in the academic context. Such a situation posits challenges and opportunities for ULBRA’s campus pastors. That is so because ULBRA’s chaplains’ pastoral ministry is the most visible and symbolic expression of ULBRA’s confessional identity. Because of the claims made by Christianity, that identity has exclusivist traits. Therefore, it …

The Eclipse Of Elegance: Towards A Contemporary Lutheran Aesthetics Of Discipleship, Andrew Whaley

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

WHALEY, ANDREW D. “THE ECLISPE OF ELEGANCE: TOWARDS ACONTEMPORARY LUTHERAN AESTHETICS OF DISCIPLESHIP.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 214 pp.

It is no secret that, from the time of the Reformation Iconoclast controversy through the period of Pietism, and even into the twentieth century, aesthetics has had a troublesome existence in many, if not most, protestant denominations. This, of course, includes my own denomination, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In such cases, aesthetics has unfortunately been forgotten, ignored, or viewed with such deep suspicion that its place in theology has been outright denied. The result is that the aesthetic aspect of …

My Brother’S Keeper How American Lutherans Fought To Preserve The Evangelical Lutheran Church Of Russia In The Ussr, 1921–1939, Matthew Heise

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

The years between 1939 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 were bleak for Christians. Surrounded by the daily drumbeat of atheist propaganda, many kept their faith underground, not just figuratively but literally by hiding Bibles under the floorboards. World War II enacted a severe toll upon the nation as well as Christians, whether underground or open about their faith. Friedrich Wacker had survived the Great Terror and the closing of the churches, but when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR on June 22, 1941, he knew his family would suffer as …

Faith Comes By Hearing: The Interrelationship Of Theology, Faith, And Practice, Nathan Olson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Olson, Nathan, J. “Faith Comes By Hearing: The Interrelationship Between Faith, Theology, and Practice.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 202 pp.

This work provides a constructive systematic framework which sets forth a conception of faith as Trust in a Promise, utilizing an understanding of justification as God’s declaration of man being made right with Himself, a theology of the Word as an effectual promise and effectual act, and a pneumatology which acknowledges the Spirit’s role to elicit faith by killing and making alive in those who hear the gospel. Through a critical assessment of selected church practices and of the …

Lcms Identity And Mission In The American Urban Context: Engaging Conian Black Theology Through Strategic Lutheran Missiology, Gregory Seltz

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Seltz, Gregory P., “LCMS Identity and Mission in the American Urban Context: Engaging Conian Black Theology through Strategic Lutheran Missiology.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 304 pp.

This dissertation addresses the challenges of the American urban context by dialoging with James Cone’s Black Theology in order to construct an LCMS urban missiology. This LCMS urban missiology is a dynamic, Two-Kingdom, sacramental engagement strategy that addresses the issues endemic to the urban community for the sake of the community and for the sake of the Gospel. The American urban setting is fraught with challenges: identity politics, ethnic-sociological fragmentation, and the delegitimation-politicization …

Eschatological Pneumatology As A Theological Framework For Evaluating The Pneumatology Of The International Church Of God’S Grace In Brazil, Gerson Linden

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Linden, Gerson, L. “Eschatological Pneumatology as a Theological Framework for Evaluating the Pneumatology of the International Church of God’s Grace in Brazil.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 238 pp.

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the phenomenon of Neopentecostalism in Brazil, particularly as seen in the International Church of God’s Grace (ICGG), a large and well-known Denomination in Brazil, with communities in several countries in the world. This Denomination may be seen as part of a larger movement, as an expression of what has been called the third wave of Pentecostalism. On the other hand, the ICGG has …

Ad Gloriam Dei Humanism And Theology In David Chytraeus’ Regulae Studiorum, Timios Cook

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Cook, Timios E. “Ad Gloriam Dei: Humanism and Theology in David Chytraeus’ Regulae Studiorum.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 296 pp.

Luther theologian David Chytraeus (1530–1600) devoted much of his career to education, serving especially at the University of Rostock. While today is he is often remembered for his contributions to the Formula of Concord, in his own time he was highly regarded as an educator and was sought out beyond Rostock to design and implement curriculum reforms. Chytraeus was a student of Melanchthon and built both upon and beyond his mentor’s insights throughout his pedagogical works. This dissertation explores …

Gospel Encounter With Subaltern India , Stanish Stanley

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This work examines the role of religio-cultural resources in enabling the transformation of a broken community and people.

In the context of nineteenth and twentieth century British India, an oppressed community in India set out to explore the possibility of challenging and re-defining their own destiny. This oppressed section of Indians who lived in the margins of Indian caste defined society were considered socially and ritually polluting people and were subservient to various socio-economic and religio-cultural biases. The daily life routine of this oppressed community, called the Sambavars (Pariahs) of the Malayalam speaking princely State of Travancore in South India, …

Christ, Church, And World: A Christological Ecclesiology For Post-Christendom, Theodore Hopkins

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Hopkins, Theodore J. “Christ, Church, and World: A Christological Ecclesiology for Post-Christendom.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2016. 296 pp.

The North American church is facing a profound crisis. The post-Christendom situation is changing the landscape of the church’s relationship with culture, society, and individual communities, creating problems of ecclesial identity and purpose. This dissertation argues that the unique challenges of post-Christendom require three criteria for ecclesiology: storied identity, doctrinal substance, and visible concreteness. Most recent Lutheran ecclesiology has begun with either God’s word of the Gospel or the Holy Spirit, leading to an emphasis on individual justification or the practices …

The Gospel In Singapore - The Impact Of Civil Religion And Civil Law, Mark Madson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Madson, Mark, J. “The Gospel in Singapore: The Impact of Civil Religion and Civil Law.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2015. 240 pp.

The author explores the development of civil religion in the Republic of Singapore, paying special attention to its sources in English common law, Confucianism, and the Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) ideology of economic pragmatism. Colonial and modern civil religious law, including the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of 1990, serve as the basis for analyzing the interaction of the state and traditional religious traditions. The Singapore Story, as told by Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP, provides a …

More Than A Pretty Face: Using Embodied Lutheran Theology To Evaluate Community-Building In Online Social Networks, Joel Oesch

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Oesch, Joel, C. "More than a Pretty Face: Using Embodied Lutheran Theology to Evaluate Community-building in Online Social Networks." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2015. 264pp.

The human body holds a special place in Christian theology. Jesus gives of his body in the crucifixion and experiences bodily resurrection on Easter morning. The sacrament of Holy Communion is a common partaking in the actual body and blood of Christ. But what of the human body for the Christian, and of what import does this have for the broader community? The dissertation seeks to build on these facts and make a case for …

Slaying The Syncretistic Chimera: A Study Of The Consensus Repetjtus In Light Of Confessionalization Theory, Timothy Schmeling

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Schmeling, Timothy R. “Slaying the Syncretistic Chimera: A Study of the Consensus Repetitus in Light of Confessionalization Theory.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 478 pp.

The Syncretistic Controversy (ca. 1645–86) was the most important controversy of seventeenth-century Lutheranism. It was inaugurated by Helmstedt theology professor Georg Calixt (1586–1656), who sought mutual tolerance between Christendom’s confessions on the basis of the fundamental agreement all shared by virtue of their adherence to the Apostles’ Creed and theology of the first five centuries. In response the Electoral Saxon theological faculties promulgated the Consensus Repetitus fidei vere Lutheranae (1655), a confession against syncretism and …

In The Footsteps Of Walther: The Doctrine Of The Ministry In The Writings Of George Stoeckhardt, Joel Loren Pless

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Pless, Joel L. "In the Footsteps of Walther: The Doctrine of the Ministry in the Writings of George Stoeckhardt." Ph.D. diss.,Concordia Seminary, 2008. 243 pp.

This dissertation is an historical study of how George Stoeckhardt, professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis from 1878-1913, understood the doctrine of the ministry and how he articulated it through his various writings. Chapter 1 of the dissertation examines Stoeckhardt's life and his formative influences. His family background, his education, his Wingolf experiences, and his experiences as a chaplain during the Franco-Prussia War are addressed. Chapter 2 examines his exegetical methodology which …

A.F.C. Vilmar: Theology Of Church And Ministry, Martin E. Conkling

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Conkling, Martin E. "A. F. C. Vilmar: Theology of Church and Ministry." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2007. 271 pp.

This historical study explores the theology of A. F. C. Vilmar.The theology of church and ministry championed by Vilmar received critical attention in his own day, and he remains a bright star in the constellation of nineteenth century Lutheran theologians who sought to restore Lutheranism to the strength of its confessional origins and to correct the cultural tendencies of thought gone wrong in revolutionary Europe. Little secondary literature exists on this "Theologian of Fact" in English, and virtually none of his …

Catholicity Or Consensus? The Role Of The Consensus Patrum And The Vincentian Canon In Lutheran Orthodoxy: From Chemnitz To Quenstedt, Quentin Stewart

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Stewart, Quentin D. "Catholicity or Consensus? The Role of the Consensus Patrum and the Vincentian Canon in Lutheran Orthodoxy: From Chemnitz to Quenstedt." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2006. 340 pp.

This dissertation traces the role played by the Vincentian Canon and its theological corollary, the consensus patrum, within the parameters of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Though Luther had no use for the consensus patrum, his chief colleague Philip Melanchthon had a high view of the consensus of the ancient church, especially whenever it could be applied to evangelical Lutheran theology. As a humanist, Melanchthon maintained a critical reverence for the ancient church …

Conrad Dieterich (1575-1639) And The Instruction Of Luther's Small Catechism, Gerhard Bode

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Bode, Gerhard H. "Conrad Dieterich (1575-1639) and the Instruction of Luther's Small Catechism." Ph.D. Diss., St. Louis, MO: Concordia Seminary, 2005.350 pp.

Luther's catechisms have had a lasting impact on catechesis in the Lutheran church and are still widely used in Lutheran circles more than 475 years after Luther wrote them. Conrad Dieterich (1575-1639) wrote several catechisms based on Luther's Small Catechism that were widely used in Lutheran circles during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Two of Dieterich's works were intended for use by upper-level students in Latin schools and employed dialectical method in presenting the catechetical doctrine. The dissertation …

His Spear Through My Side Into Luther Calvin's Relationship To Luther's Doctrine Of The Will, Matthew Heckel

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Heckel, Matthew C. "'His Spear Through My Side into Luther:' Calvin's Relationship to Luther’s Doctrine of the Will." Ph.D. Diss., St. Louis, MO: Concordia Seminary, 2005. 307 pp.

In thesis thirteen of his Disputation Against Scholastic Theology (1518), Luther stated that free choice before grace was a reality in name only and when it does what it can it sins mortally. This statement had a significant impact as it was one of the sparks that ignited Luther's conflict with Rome, as Luther's thesis was singled out for condemnation as the thirty-sixth article of the papal bull Exsurge Domine (1520). Luther …

Who Do I Say That You Are? Anthropology And The Theology Of Theosis In The Finnish School Of Tuomo Mannermaa, William Schumacher

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Part of what drives the present study is the conviction that anthropology matters in theology. That is to say, theology must find new ways (or recover and translate old ways) to answer questions about what it means to be human. One purpose of this study, then, is to try to reclaim the doctrine de homine as a vital and pertinent dimension of the whole theological enterprise, rather than relegate anthropology to non-theological (or even anti-theological) disciplines. The anthropological suggestions that arise from the studies of the Finnish school, intriguing and stimulating in some respects, ultimately fall short of this goal, …

Virtue Ethics And The Place Of Character Formation Within Lutheran Theology, Joel Biermann

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This study strives to provide a way for all parish pastors to reconsider the task of providing ethical training in a parish setting. The intent of this investigation is to encourage a shift in perception that will allow training in ethics to be evaluated and eventually adopted as both practically positive and theologically valid. Failing that ambitious goal, the study can at least prompt further discussion of the appropriate place of training in ethics, that is, teaching the practical matters of living the Christian life. Understood scripturally, the goal is quite simply to provide a way for congregations faithfully to …

Changes Within The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference Of North America That Led To The Exit Of The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Mark Braun

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The following study presents the stages of the intersynodical debate that led the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod to exit the Ev. Lutheran Synodical Conference during the thirty years, 1931-61.Official source material is abundant. The synod's theological journal has presented a consistent viewpoint regarding the Scouting movement, the military chaplaincy, applications of the synod's teachings regarding church fellowship, and the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, all of which played key roles in Wisconsin's exit.

Avery Dulles's Advocacy Of Reformulation Of Dogma And Doctrinal Development, Richard Warneck

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The first chapter of this study examines the setting for Father Dulles's energetic work in the years immediately following Vatican Council II. With respect to the Church’s dogmatic formulations, it was apparent to Father Dulles that the Council tacitly proclaimed the end of irreformability. The Church's doctrinal statements must undergo reformulation in order to express adequately and communicate incisively the Christian faith to the world of the late twentieth century. Furthermore, his own epistemology, methodology, and theology did, in effect, shape his outlook regarding reformulation. These subjects are treated at length in chapter two, complemented by close attention to his …

A Study In The Theology Of Carl Fr Wisloff With Particular Focus On Faith And The Means Of Grace In The Bestowal Of Salvation, Eugene Boe

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The general topic for this work is the relation of faith and the means of grace in the bestowal of salvation. The Lutheran Church from her beginning has believed, confessed and taught that we are saved by grace through faith alone. This is stated briefly in the Augsburg Confession, Article IV.

Our churches also teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ's sake through faith 2 when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by …

The Eucharistic Theologies Of Nineteenth Century Anglican And Lutheran Repristination Movements Compared, Jonathan Charles Naumann

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The measure of congruity achieved by the independent efforts of these Lutherans and Anglicans of the nineteenth century, as they tried to repristinate purity of doctrine and orthodoxy, may constitute a superior model for modern-day ecumenical endeavours. This is especially the case if the route to Christian unity via a tolerance of contradictory doctrines around the eucharistic table threatens to collapse under the weight of its own implausibility.