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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
God And True Being: Loving In Freedom, Travis Slocumb
God And True Being: Loving In Freedom, Travis Slocumb
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This work will seek to outline a metaphysic of love in Apocalyptic/Barthian Christian theology by using Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology. Apocalyptic/Barthian Christianity is a school of thought within Protestant theology which was spearheaded by Karl Barth. The core tenet is the centrality of Jesus Christ to all forms of knowledge. God chose to reveal himself through the history of Christ, and thus it is theology’s goal to redirect all of its truth valuations to this revelation. Christ’s death was the most important, because God separated Himself from Himself in the greatest act of pain for any created being—God’s love is best …
Theology And Revolution?: Negotiating Heritage In Gerhard Brendler’S Biography Of Martin Luther, Terence Flannery
Theology And Revolution?: Negotiating Heritage In Gerhard Brendler’S Biography Of Martin Luther, Terence Flannery
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The historiography on Martin Luther in the German Democratic Republic was a complex and fluid process of heritage building with direct influence on how the state positioned itself [TB1] in relation to the church. Martin Luther is a monumental figure in German history and has figured prominently in the construction of German national identity. When the GDR sought to build a socialist society after the Second World War, many existing aspects of Lutheran identity in the areas that now made up the GDR, had to be renegotiated due to their direct conflict with socialist principles. The East German state sidelined …
How Films And Television See Cults, Shani "Kami" Vigilant
How Films And Television See Cults, Shani "Kami" Vigilant
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis intends to outline how cults—commonly defined as “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object”| “a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs of practices regarded by others as strange or sinister (Oxford Language Dictionary)”—are created through popular films and documentaries. Cults may be defined as highly regulated and organized social groups with religious and political affiliations. Many create idiosyncratic languages of terms members know and understand, rituals, initiations, and punishments. There are leading scholars in sociology, psychology, and anthropology that do not capture the gaps in the definition of cult. …
“Grant Us Wisdom, Grant Us Courage:” Theology In The Organ Music Of Paul Manz, Justin Oei
“Grant Us Wisdom, Grant Us Courage:” Theology In The Organ Music Of Paul Manz, Justin Oei
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Through an investigation of the organ music of the American composer Paul Manz (1919-2009), this study will seek to link sacred music with the composer’s theological convictions, as well as with external circumstances that inform compositional practices. Manz’s organ works are widely performed in church and concert settings, especially in the American Lutheran tradition, and his motet E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come has become a staple of the sacred choral repertoire, selling over a million copies since its publication in 1954. Despite this, very little scholarship has been produced on his life and work. Broadly, this provides an avenue …
The Cult Of The Nymphs: Identity, Ritual, And Womanhood In Ancient Greece, Ivana Genov
The Cult Of The Nymphs: Identity, Ritual, And Womanhood In Ancient Greece, Ivana Genov
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Examining archeological and epigraphic evidence in its historical context, in this thesis I explore the Cult of the Nymphs venerated across ancient Greek poleis. I analyze the nymph’s profound cultural and historical impact that is often overlooked in the study of ancient Greece. Nymphs were female deities thought to embody ecological sites, such as fountains and springs, and became fundamental to polis identity. Their locations were often central to city plans, and their faces, depicted on coinage, became representative of the city itself. In the community, nymphs were integral to rituals for major life events, most often in the lives …
To Have Sex Or Not To Have Sex: An Exploration Of Medieval Christian And Jewish Sexual Values, Rachel Zaslavsky
To Have Sex Or Not To Have Sex: An Exploration Of Medieval Christian And Jewish Sexual Values, Rachel Zaslavsky
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis is an exploration of Medieval Jewish and Christian conceptions of sex and aims to challenge the notion of Judeo-Christian values. Medieval Judaism and Christianity are at odds with each other in their understandings of sexuality. By considering Judaism, the belief that medieval religion was averse to sexuality and sexual pleasure is disproven. An analysis of religious works, such as those produced by Christian theologians and Jewish rabbis, yields the following conclusion: medieval Christianity restricted sex on the basis of abstinence, while medieval Judaism restricted sex on the basis of ritual impurity but mandated sex for procreation and female …
On Certain Antinomies Of Freedom: Divine Foreknowledge And Immutability, Tanja T. Rounds
On Certain Antinomies Of Freedom: Divine Foreknowledge And Immutability, Tanja T. Rounds
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The objective of this inquiry is to establish the compatibility of free operation in the divine essence given that God is omniscient, and immutable. As such, this inquiry differs from conventional philosophical debate surrounding the divine attributes and creaturely freedom. Chapter I will respond to the antinomy of God’s foreknowledge and divine freedom, and offers a theory for divine freedom and foreknowledge compatibilism from the theory of truthmaking. Chapter II will respond to the antinomy of divine freedom and immutability, and offers a Neo-Thomist account of freedom to explain free action in the divine essence.
The Written Word Bound By Devotion Unseen: Female Monasticism And Religiosity In The Visions Of Gertrud The Great Of Helfta, Jana Considine
The Written Word Bound By Devotion Unseen: Female Monasticism And Religiosity In The Visions Of Gertrud The Great Of Helfta, Jana Considine
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The mystical, religious writing of Gertrud the Great of Helfta expressed an erotic love of the Christ, presented in her Herald of God's Loving-Kindness through a series of visions centered around the interaction of the monastery's community and the liturgy. This Honors Thesis attempts to study this religiosity, discovering how Gertrud's visions communicated a sensual understanding of the Divine centered around the Eucharist. Contextualizing the fourth book of the Herald in monastic history, this paper examines the presence of the Liturgy, the Eucharist, wealth and materiality, and female spirituality in this High Medieval text, discovering a communal religiosity based upon …
Tradition Under Scripture: The Patristic Theology Of Luther And Calvin, Russell Carter Beisswanger
Tradition Under Scripture: The Patristic Theology Of Luther And Calvin, Russell Carter Beisswanger
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The term "Protestant" indicates "protest," suggesting that Protestant self-identity is driven by schismatic attitudes. On the contrary, this thesis resituates Martin Luther and John Calvin, the two most famous Protestant Reformers, within their theological identity as continuous with the early church. To do so, this project examines the treatment of the church fathers in Luther's and Calvin's writings. Both have a great respect for church tradition and invoke the fathers polemically to criticize what they saw as the excesses of late medieval scholasticism in the Catholic Church. In addition, Luther and Calvin hold the fathers in high regard while strictly …
Communism And The Politics Of Cultural Labeling: Patriotism And Piety In American Life, Mark Smith
Communism And The Politics Of Cultural Labeling: Patriotism And Piety In American Life, Mark Smith
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The goal of this paper is to analyze the history of Marxism and its emergent opponents in American political, religious, and cultural spheres. Examining Karl Marx and his influences reveals that, contrary to popular belief, Marxist thought has deep roots in ancient philosophy and literature. Marx drew upon these influences to highlight industrial and economic problems and propose a dialectically-based prescription for these ailments that sought to eradicate class divides and abolish private property. Marx’s reception in the United States came long after his death and was coupled with the rise of the Soviet Union and the end of World …
To Fulfill What Is Written: Reconsidering The Fulfillment-Formula Quotations Of The Gospel Of Matthew, Potter Cain Mckinney
To Fulfill What Is Written: Reconsidering The Fulfillment-Formula Quotations Of The Gospel Of Matthew, Potter Cain Mckinney
Undergraduate Honors Theses
In the Gospel of Matthew, there are ten quotations of Old Testament material which are preceded by a formula that claims the quoted passage is "fulfilled" by the narrative events of the Gospel. This paper analyzes the preceding scholarship on the Gospel and its quotations, then analyzes five of the formula quotations in the Gospel, showing how they draw implicit parallels to the Old Testament writings referenced and show the life of Jesus as consonant and coherent with the sacred history of the Old Testament, as opposed to showing Jesus as the occurrence of predicted events.
The Female Kirk: Women's Participation In The Early Scottish Presbyterian Church, Lydia Mackey
The Female Kirk: Women's Participation In The Early Scottish Presbyterian Church, Lydia Mackey
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Presbyterianism’s founder, John Knox, wrote his infamous The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women in 1558 arguing against female monarchs. Despite early modern Presbyterianism’s restriction of women’s formal religious roles, women used often conflicting rhetoric from the pulpit to negotiate a degree of power and autonomy. Rather than only being passive members of the Presbyterian Church, women often played an active role in the development and expansion of Presbyterianism between 1550 and 1690. This thesis will demonstrate how a study of women’s interactions with the Presbyterian Church outside of the kirk sessions, namely in their …