Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Transcendence In Kierkegaard And Barth, Andrew Myrick

Honors Theses

This paper examines the theological intersections and divergences between Karl Barth and Søren Kierkegaard, focusing on their conceptualizations of God's transcendence. Barth, influential in the twentieth century, viewed divine knowledge as accessible only through Jesus Christ's revelation, critiquing any historical or metaphysical bases for such knowledge. He was significantly influenced by Kierkegaard, who emphasized paradox and the "infinite qualitative distinction." This study traces Barth's evolving thoughts on transcendence across his works, including his critiques of Kierkegaard in his later years. While some scholars suggest a shared theological trajectory based on transcendence, this paper argues for nuanced differences, engaging with the …

Paul And Seneca On The Immanence Of God, Mason Campbell

Honors Theses

This Thesis is a comparative study of the apostle Paul and the Stoic philosopher Seneca on the immanence of God. The study compares Paul and Seneca’s views on the divine, the self, and the immanence of the divine. The study compares epistle 41 of Seneca’s letters to Lucilius and Romans 8:9-11.

Womanhood In Light Of The Theology Of The Body, Julie Dwyer

Honors Theses

This thesis will focus specifically on the sacramental meaning of a woman’s body.

Apocalypse Across Contexts: Reactions To Sudden, Unwanted, And Comprehensive Change, Patrick Morrison

Honors Theses

For much of human history, people have maintained a fascination with the end of the world. The apocalypse refers to the final moment in human history, with apocalyptic thought focusing on questions of how and when this will occur. The apocalypse is among the most durable transhistorical phenomena, adapting to changes in technology, social structure, and theology. Apocalyptic thought often arises from conditions of “relative deprivation,” where subjugated members of society envision the apocalypse as deliverance from their present hardship. The Biblical works of Daniel and Revelation, among other notable apocalypses, fueled the anxieties and imaginations of Europeans during the …

'Here We Start And In Jerusalem We Meet:' The Motivational And Organizational Influences Of Israel's Statehood Ontransnational Salafi Jihad, Charlotte Armistead

Honors Theses

The Israeli occupation of Palestine and its impact on the proliferation and longevity of transnational Salafi jihad is largely underestimated in current literature. In this thesis, I argue that Palestine, defined as both the nation and physical borders before the Balfour Declaration, largely contributed to the twentieth century revival of transnational Salafi jihad and is used by both Al Qaeda and ISIS as liberation and annihilation movements, respectively. In order to assess the motivational and organizational influences of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on transnational Salafi jihad, I examine the works of Abdullah Azzam, a selection of Osama Bin Laden’s …

In His Image And Into His Likeness: Human Nature's Theosis In C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, Jacob Ross Taylor

Honors Theses

C.S. Lewis’s standalone title Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold transforms the Greek mythos “Cupid and Psyche” into a novel about human nature being deified. In TWHF, Lewis presents an arc from pagan dualism through rationalism and finally to our relational God who makes us holy like Him. Lewis studies have suffered from the lack scholarship applying St. Thomas Aquinas’s christened Aristotelianism which would illuminate the metaphysical foundations that Lewis founds his words and builds his worlds upon. In Aristotle metaphysical biology he proposed that the human soul is neither an altogether separable spirit divorced from the bodily …

Music And Communal Division During The French Wars Of Religion, Cameron G. Wade

Honors Theses

This Senior Honors Thesis explores the social and cultural impact of confessional musical composition and performance on the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598). Because Huguenots and Catholics identified with and were widely identifiable by their respective musical styles, cultural divisions between each confession were emphasized by differences in music. This capacity of sacred and confessionally-influenced secular music to highlight and reinforce societal divides is evidenced by the interconfessional violence that accompanied the public performance of sacred music in cities as well as the pressures imposed on composers to create music which clearly aligned with their respective confessions. As the wars …

The Baptist Tradition And Religious Freedom: Recent Trajectories, Samuel Kyle Brassell

Honors Theses

For my thesis, I have focused on the recent religious freedom bill passed in Mississippi and the arguments and influences Southern Baptists have had on the bill. I used the list of resolutions passed by the Southern Baptist Convention to trace the history and development of Southern Baptist thought on the subject of religious freedom. I consulted outside scholarly works to examine the history of the Baptist tradition and how that history has influenced modern day arguments. I compared these texts to the wording of the Mississippi bill. After conducting this research, I found that the Southern Baptist tradition and …

Benedictine Allegorical Exegesis On The Psalms: The Monastic Search For God Through Scripture And Its Pertinence For Today, Ian Smith

Honors Theses

My thesis will explore the nature of allegorical exegesis on the Book of Psalms within the Benedictine monastic tradition of the Middle Ages produced by its distinct culture of the Grammatica and the Quaerere Deum.

Charity As Friendship According To St. Thomas Aquinas, Michael Hoye

Honors Theses

The Angelic Doctor of the Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas, is among the greatest minds to contribute to the Catholic tradition. What this important Doctor of the Church teaches about charity, however, has not been widely received in the seven centuries since Aquinas’ career. Charity is not only the highest theological virtue, as compared to faith and hope, but charity is also that virtue on which all other virtues depend; St. Paul writes: “Without charity, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13). The height and summit of the Catholic faith is the Holy Eucharist, which is often referred to as the Sacrament …

A Basis Of The Civil War: The Theological Views Of Nineteenth Century Christians On The Justification Of Slavery, Shaniqua Janeè Wells

Honors Theses

Views on the morality of slavery have produced a paradox within the Christian community. Historically, the issue of slavery has been analyzed tremendously by means of economic and cultural factors. The religious analysis of the institution of slavery has been overshadowed by secular motives. This paradox on the morality of slavery causes disunity within the Christian faith. Christianity, as a monotheistic religion, emphasizes the purpose that one God has for His people. Therefore, the multiplicity of views on God’s intentions for the treatment of human beings cannot be allowed in the Christian community. The abolitionists’ and activist’s views must be …

Function, Fulfillment, And Chaos In The Meta-Narrative Of Scripture: A Biblical Theology, Kimberly Carlton

Honors Theses

The Bible is a mosaic, one large meta-narrative made up of a plethora of smaller stories, instances, and encounters. Each of these smaller stories is integral to the larger story. Both minutiae and art ability to grasp the big picture are important when one comes to read the Bible. This paper attempts to address the small details of Scripture, and from those small details endeavors to gain an image of the mosaic in a way that may not be commonly considered.

The mosaic of the Bible has many common threads and themes. These threads run throughout the story, giving it …

The Impacts Of Terror Management And Self-Monitoring On Religiosity, Caitlin M. Silvia

Honors Theses

Previous research has shown that the cultural worldview a person holds has an impact on his or her attitudes and behaviors throughout life. Terror management theory posits that this worldview functions as a cultural anxiety-buffer from the overwhelming anxiety and terror that results from a person becoming aware of his or her own mortality. In particular, terror management theory suggests that there is a master motive behind religion, and that when placed in a mortality salience condition, a person’s beliefs and worldview will strengthen. Another personality variable that requires a strong worldview or framework is self-monitoring, which allows a person …

Folly In The Garden: The Religious Satire Of Erasmus And Voltaire, John M. Beller

Honors Theses

In his introductory editorial comments on Erasmus' letters, literary critic Robert M. Adams commented that "Like Voltaire, with whom it's commonplace to compare him, Erasmus was a prodigious correspondent." Erasmus and Voltaire shared much more than an affinity for writing letters. A list of their similarities reads much like one of those supposedly eerie lists of coincidences between the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. The dates of their respective births remain uncertain. Both may have been illegitimate during times when ancestry mattered a great deal, and neither was born noble. Both rose above their beginnings by means …

Consumed By Faith: The Development Of Christian Fundamentalism And Its Applications In Contemporary Society, Laura M. Gagne

Honors Theses

My research aims to understand how and why fundamentalists justify violence against people who do not fit their profile of "righteous" or "saved" persons, such as abortion doctors and clinic workers, gays and lesbians, and Jews. The first section of this paper travels through the history of fundamentalism since its origins in the British and American apocalipticism, or belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. However, my history of Protestant Fundamentalism in the United States will focus on the ways in which Fundamentalism developed in response to many changes in American social structure. I interpret Fundamentalism as an anti-modern …

An Examination Of The Salvation Teachings Of Eastern Orthodoxy And Southern Baptist Protestantism, Pamela K. Blackmon

Honors Theses

A green dot on a watch face; a bracelet with plastic beads in red, yellow, green, white, and black; the dozens of Christian T-shirts ranging from humorous to gory: these are the images which come to mind when I think about salvation at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The green dot several students wore to lure others into asking, "Why do you have a green dot on your watch?" The reply was, "I am wearing it to remind me to tell others about what Jesus has done for them. Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" Ah! The …

'Peace: A Gift Of God, A Human Task': Toward A Liberation Theology For Northern Ireland, David Miles Moore

Honors Theses

PREFACE: I would have to cite the five months I spent in Cork, Ireland as the biggest motivating factor behind this paper. I knew next to nothing about Northern Ireland before this period. Soon after my arrival in Cork, however, I became fascinated with the socio-religious anomaly to the north of me. Since I became a religion major at Colby, I have always been interested in liberation theology. As I read about the poverty, injustice and violence that pervades Northern Ireland, I was reminded of the context in which Gustavo Gutierrez, Tissa Balasuriya, and Elsa Tamez write and live. The …

A Christian Perspective On World Religions, Regina Sullivan

Honors Theses

Throughout the history of Christianity, Christians have questioned how they, individually as well as collectively, should view other religious traditions. From the musings of Christian thinkers, one can discern four possible relationships between Christianity and other faiths. Some thinkers see Christianity as having continuity with other traditions. Those who hold this view strongly contend that Christianity is no different from other traditions as a means of existence.

Christianity is similar to other faiths but has special status as one's heritage or cultural background describes the weaker continuity position. Others hold that discontinuity exists between Christianity and other faiths. The weaker …

Concepts Of Reality, Charles Allen Hampton

Honors Theses

Beliefs concerning religion, God, ethics, and morals will be accepted from known sources without questioning, whereas the scientific ideas will be the result of thought, questioning and empirical testing.

The aim of this study is to indicate the sources of metaphysical beliefs among Ouachita Baptist University students in the areas of religion, God, morals, ethics, and science.

Philosophy And Religion Honors Seminar Report, Mark T. Coppenger, Allen Eaton, Allen Hampton, Roger Schoeniger

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.