Arts and Humanities Commons^™

B-2 Philological Problems In Isaiah 6 – An Investigation Of The Dead Sea Scroll Evidence, Rodrigo G. Barbosa

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

In this paper, I use Moshe Held-Chaim Cohen’s method to try to establish a preferable reading of Isaiah chapter 6 in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). The importance of the DSS for biblical textual criticism has not been rightly appreciated on the aspect that very few commentaries or critical study of a particular biblical text make use of it. So this work try to make the case of the relevance of the DSS textual evidence in order to establish a preferable variant of the Hebrew Bible.

Compromise Or Quit Medical Practice: Is There Another Option For Catholic Health Care Professionals, John Morris

Conference on Philosophy and Theology

More and more, medical practitioners are being told that they must either compromise their beliefs and provide whatever services patients demand or they should quit medical practice. This paper will explore other options that would offer a more just and respectful solution for our pluralistic society.

Accommodation As Compromise: Turning Hard Cases Into Easier Ones, Chad Flanders

Conference on Philosophy and Theology

Recent developments seem to present a stark choice: either we protect religious liberty or we allow discrimination. But do we have to choose? In this talk, Chad Flanders tries to present a way out of current conflicts between religious liberty and laws against discrimination.

Religious Liberty Laws, Religious Practices, And Discrimination, Jeffrey Freelin

Conference on Philosophy and Theology

A set of clarificatory questions I wish to address are: What qualifies as a religious belief? Can corporations have such beliefs? What qualifies a practice as a religious practice? What religious practices are/should be protected by RFRA laws?

Liberty In Things Doubtful Or Indifferent: Sources And Expressions Of Anglican Toleration In The American Colonies, Marshall Crossnoe

Conference on Philosophy and Theology

Richard Hooker and John Locke were important sources for the thought and public lives of Anglican leaders in the North American colonies. A conviction about religious freedom of conscience during the first half of the eighteenth century constitutes a range of thinking about toleration that contributed to the birth of the republic.

Program: Featured Lecture, "The Faithful Creator: Affirming Creation And Providence In An Age Of Anxiety.", Ron Highfield

William M. Green Distinguished Christian Lecture Program

Program for the Thirty-Seventh Annual William M. Green Distinguished Christian Lecture Program with featured lecturer Dr. Ron Highfield, Professor of Religion at Seaver College, Pepperdine University.

Gandalf And Guardini: A Fresh Look At The Theology Of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord Of The Rings, Margaret Stadtwald

Celebration of Learning

My Honors Capstone looks at the various critical responses to the theology of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, with a focus on Augustinian theology. It then posits that the modern/postmodern theology of Romano Guardini better encompasses the work’s theological depths and worth as a piece of literature.

2016 Printed Program

Colloquium Schedules

No abstract provided.

The Return Of The Prophetic Ministry Of The Western Church Within The Context Of Liberation Theology And The Prophets, Cedric D. Starr

Life of the Scholar Multidisciplinary Conference

While there may still be churches in the West that take up the prophetic call against injustice their voices are the minority. Generally speaking, the prophetic church in Western Christendom is dead. Its prophetic voice has become mute. Its prophetic vision has diminished. Its prophetic call has vanished from the ears of its members. The Western Church has lost its prophetic role in the Global World. The prophets of the West have vanished. However, the prophetic call has been taken up by a new church tradition that rises upward from the ruin of oppression. The Southern Church of the developing …

The Road To Racial Progress In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church: A Survey Of Counsel And Policy From 1890-1920, Jon Ruhumuliza

Andrews Research Conference

The SDA church entered the South during a tumultuous period in American history. As a product of its time, the church adopted policies that limited the effectiveness of black outreach while seemingly unaware that it had accepted cultural norms towards African Americans. While the ambitions of the church expressed the inclusiveness of its Christian message, in practice it hindered itself due to prejudice by the membership along with inconsistent policies. Because of this the road to full integration of African Americans and the execution of Black Missions moved slowly. Regardless, African Americans progressed due to strong commitment to the message.

Obligations Of Grace, Mark E. Roberts

Empowered21 Scholars' Consultations

Grace obliges recipients to respond in gratitude and obedience to God, the giver of grace. While the New Testament emphasizes God's grace given through Jesus Christ in a New Covenant with believers, the Old Testament emphasizes grace more than many Christians recognize. Grace is expressed in the Old Testament especially through God's free choosing of Abraham as the "father of the faithful," through divine covenants with Abraham, with the divinely constituted nation of Israel, and with the governing house of David. Such grace abounds when God's covenanted people fail to keep their covenant, yet God, after disciplining the covenant people …

More Than A Misunderstood Religion: Rediscovering Vodou As A Tool Of Survival And A Vehicle For Independence In Colonial Haiti, Eliza M. Kamerling-Brown

Young Historians Conference

The majority of Americans today closely associate the term “Voodoo” with satanism, witchcraft and barbaric sacrifice. Yet, far from these ill­-formed depictions and misconceptions— which first took root through the western dominance of 18th century colonial Haiti and have been perpetuated through mediums of popular culture ever since—a closer look at Haitian Vodou will illuminate that the spiritual practice transcends religion alone and should be better recognized as the very mechanism of unity that spurred Afro­-Caribbean independence via the Haitian Revolution of 1791. This paper explores not only the ways in which Haitian Vodou has been intentionally demonized throughout history …

Women In Power: The Unique Position Of Vestal Virgins In Ancient Rome, Elizabeth D. Walker

Young Historians Conference

The Vestal Virgins, priestesses in Ancient Rome, were placed in an atypical position of power. They were given many religious responsibilities that replaced the traditional expectations for women of Antiquity. This cult of the goddess Vesta lasted for the majority of Roman civilization, seemingly serving as an argument for an advancement in the rights of ancient women. Though the Vestal Virgins seem to be an outstanding exception to the rule of female oppression throughout history, further examination suggests that the role of Vestal priestess was simply another mode through which Roman men could control their female counterparts.

The Divine Viscera: Medicine And Religion In The Islamic Golden Age, Isabella A. Pua

Young Historians Conference

Islamic medicine is largely ignored in Western tradition, but in an era when Western European medical practice relied more on mysticism than science and had lost the advances made by Classical Greece, the Islamic Empire entered a golden age of scientific thought. The impetus for the Golden Age medicine that developed can be partially attributed to the Islamic religion itself. This paper explores the role of Islam as both a unifying force and a set of broad cultural values in creating that atmosphere that allowed for the study of medicine, within the context of the scientific-religious duality that characterized discovery …

Christian Socialism: A Critique, Sorrel Paris

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Robert Owen said in 1816, “Society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance.” 200 years later, however, no such system exists. A society in which every need is met, every resource fully available, every talent fully utilized for good, may be considered the ideological pinnacle of human civilization, but the question of how to create such a utopia remains unanswered.

Many modern intellectuals favor socialism or its more extreme …

From Sin To Sensation: The Progression Of Dance Music From The Medieval Period Through The Renaissance, Jillissa A. Brummel

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This research paper explores how dance music has been part of the foundation for musical art in world history and the key to unlocking information concerning societal atmospheres throughout history. With each age and progression of music came new genres, instruments and social beliefs that were woven through religious and secular culture, each of which impacted the production of dance throughout the centuries. As dance music infiltrated the social and religious scenes of the medieval period, the sacred value of dancing was questioned which are presented through historical sources on pagan culture in the medieval period. Further research on improvements …

Associations Of Religious Involvement And Mortality: A Critical Review, Thomas Fisher

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

In this review we address the conflicts of previous research on associations between religious involvement and longevity. We will also discuss causes of conclusional variance within these studies. Our study of inconclusive research will equip individuals with insight about sources of disagreement and origins of variance within empirical studies on religiosity and longevity. A wide variety of sources were selected to represent the diversity of findings. Most selected studies identified psychosocial elements of religiosity and proposed a positive, negative, or no correlation with longevity. We reviewed the validity of each study and analyzed the proposed association with longevity. Numerous methodologically …

Tom Bombadil And Goldberry: Romantic Theology As Revelation In Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Brandon Best

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

While the majority of literary critics suggest Tom Bombadil either subverts or dilutes the Rivendell’s against Mordor, this essay analyzes Bombadil and Goldberry through the romantic theology of Charles Williams, Tolkiens’ fellow Inkling. William’s romantic theology suggests romantic experiences reveals glimpses of perfection, suggesting the Hobbits’ stay at Tom Bombadil’s home within Withywindle reveals the ideal of salvation within The Lord of the Rings. Utilizing Williams’ Outlines of Romantic Theology, this essay shows how Tolkien’s vision for an ideal community guides Bombadil as the moral model for the rest of the free peoples to follow. While romantic theology clearly influenced …

From Silence To Golden: The Slow Integration Of Instruments Into Christian Worship, Jonathan Lyons

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The Christian church’s stance on the use of instruments in sacred music shifted through influences of church leaders, composers, and secular culture. Synthesizing the writings of early church leaders and church historians reveals a clear progression. The early musical practices of the church were connected to the Jewish synagogues. As recorded in the Old Testament, Jewish worship included instruments as assigned by one’s priestly tribe. Eventually, early church leaders rejected that inclusion and developed a rather robust argument against instruments in liturgical worship. The totalitarian stance on musical instruments in sacred worship began to loosen as the organ increased in …

The Relationship Between Music Preference, Moral Competence, And Spiritual Well-Being In Christian College Students, Elizabeth Stokes, Gabrielle Metzler, Chi-En Hwang, Di Wu

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

In this survey study, we examined the effect of Christian music with lyrics versus secular music with lyrics (written as “Christian music” and “secular music”) on the moral competence and spiritual well-being of college students. These students were taken from the population of Cedarville University and were aged 18-25. We hypothesized that Christians who listen to mostly Christian music have higher moral competence and spiritual well-being than those who listen to primarily secular music. Tested through an online survey using the Moral Competence Test (MCT) and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWB), this study found no gender differences, therefore the subsequent …

Wesleyanism, Fundamentalism, And The Dones, Mature Christians Who Are Done With The Institutional Church: Two Book Reviews, Craighton Hippenhammer

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Book #1: "Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren't Fundamentalists," written by Nazarene and published by the Nazarene Publishing House. Book #2: "Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why People Are DONE with Church but Not Their Faith," by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, which tells why there are mature, highly educated Christians leaving the institutional church. The reasons why they are leaving are for the same four unexpected reasons. While these folks may not be large in numbers, they may be large in impact because they are doers and leaders at all levels of the church, so they may be leading the church …

Daughters Of The Sun: "The Birth" (An Excerpt), Megan Lynn

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

“You have never heard of me before. You have never heard of me, but my name has come out of your mouth thousands of times.”

So begins my novel, Daughters of the Sun, the story of Jesus’s twin sister, Alleluia. Using the narrative framework seen in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Alleluia tells her story over one night—Saturday into Sunday morning—in an appropriated apartment facing a church. She weaves into her story another tale of women who have lived in shadows cast by the men around them, women whom history chose to vilify—Lilith, Adam’s first wife who was written out of …

Migration In Slavic Village, The History Behind The Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen., Mary C. Brondfield Mrs., Matt Aber Mr.

Migration in Global Context Symposium

This presentation is a collaborative effort by two educators from the disciplines of art and history. The PowerPoint presentation documents the the cross curricular migration themed event that explored migration in Slavic Village, Ohio. Historical speakers and visits to historical sites engaged students throughout the event. Through oral history and the visual arts students engaged in project based learning.

Ancient Egyptian Burial Practices & Connection To The Gods, Samantha Cook

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

The rich history from Ancient Egypt the old kingdom alone is extensive. The research that is within this paper is mainly to look over certain burial practices that were used throughout Ancient Egypt, but mainly the old kingdom. Then looking at the reasons for these practices to be used. What they were thought to accomplish for the soul and body in the afterlife. For each burial practice that is looked at connecting it to a god and a aspect of the afterlife. Such as pyramid building and shape, housing and guiding souls to the underworld. As well as mummification and …

“For Every Shepherd Is An Abomination Unto The Egyptians”: Re-Examining The Hebrew-Hyksos Connection, Thomas Baas Ii

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

Putting into historical perspective the major interactions between the Ancient Hebrews and their proverbial foils the Egyptians in Genesis and Exodus can be tricky. No dates nor names of pharaohs are ever given and what Ancient Egyptian records we have can be rather obscure and mysterious. However, reconsidering Flavius Josephus’s claim that the Ancient Hebrews share a lineal heritage with the Semitic Hyksos kings who occupied Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period gives us a more nuanced perspective on the ancient world. Though it might not answer all questions and put to rest all doubts, it does help the biblical …

Transgenderism In Buddhism, Carolynn Chennery

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

Buddhist teachings are widely accepted, yet there appear to be differing attitudes towards those who do not conform to a straight sexual orientation within Buddhist culture. This leads to receiving different treatment within the medical and social sphere realm of their lives. More often than not a transvestite or homosexual or transgender human will be referred to as a kathoey or phet-thi-sam. The Thai word kathoey and Buddhist term phet-thi-sam refer to not only the concept of a third gender but it breaks the common Western binary of there only being room for two accepted genders. As Buddhism is a …

The Werewolf: From Damned Degradation To Romantic Reversion, Mack Tubridy

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

One can better understand the evolving role of the werewolf in folklore by examining its development over time. This development has constantly shifted to address multifarious needs, underpinned by equally transformative religious systems. Where religion has gone, so too has the werewolf. Each of the transformations the werewolf has undergone abstractly mirrors the prevailing religious and spiritual conditions – fears, anxieties, and desires – at the time. This essay begins by focusing on the earliest accounts of the werewolf stories where man’s expressed apprehension of the wild supplied the rudimentary components from which said stories were composed. Imagined out of …

A Theological Conglomerate: The Framers' Intent For Religious Freedom In Early America, Devin Gatton

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Marriage Rituals: Ritualistic Conditioning Of Slavic Women, Emily Antonneau

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

My research paper for the international religious studies undergraduate research conference will outline Slavic peasants and the feminine myth in Russian culture, reconstructing the Russian Goddess Moist Mother Earth. In the Slavic peasant tradition Russia is inherently close to the earth because of its long-standing agrarian existence. By investigating the rites of the agrarian calendar I will research the question, how has Moist Mother Earth influenced Slavic peasant religious and folk traditions? I will analyze how the authority of Earth as Clan Mother is expressed in Russian peasantry in order to establish meaning behind various religious rituals and folk traditions.

Hidden Heartbreak: The Secret Pain Of Miscarriage In The Jewish Community, Kali Daugherty

Religious Studies Student Organization Undergraduate Research Conference

Anywhere between 20 and 30 confirmed conceptions end in miscarriage. This is a difficult loss for anyone who experiences it. Those in the Jewish community, face an additional burden because they generally deal with this loss in private. When embarking on this project I did not realize how little this subject is talked about. Due to the limited amount of written material on the subject, I did most of my research through interviews. There are many strong beliefs surrounding this subject. The first is Jewish law states that a child is not considered to be its own person until he/she …