Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Recasting Paul As A Chauvinist Within The Western Text-Type Manuscript Tradition: Implications For The Authorship Debate On 1 Corinthians 14.34-35, Joseph A. P. Wilson

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The mandate for women’s silence in 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 is an incongruity within Paul’s undisputed writings. Critical scholars expressed doubts about these verses’ authorship beginning in the nineteenth century. The consensus of egalitarian Paulists today is that vv.34-35 are not Paul’s sentiments. Disagreements about circumstances beyond this fact remain unresolved. Supporters of the quotation/refutation (“Q/R”) hypothesis argue that Paul quoted a letter from Corinth in vv.34-35 and refuted it in v.36. Supporters of the interpolation hypothesis regard the passage as a marginal gloss by a later author, inserted at one of two locations (after v.33 or v.40). The present work …

Review Of: J. Denny Weaver, God Without Violence: Following A Nonviolent God In A Violent World, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In God Without Violence, Mennonite theologian J. Denny Weaver ‘proposes new motifs for Christology and atonement’ and ‘highlights new versions of Christian practice’ based in ‘the nonviolence of God who is revealed in the life and work of Jesus’ (pp. 197–98). Weaver wrote this book to be a popular version of his previous books on atonement theology, accessible to church study groups and college classes.

Weaver, J.D. (2016). God without violence: Following a nonviolent God in a violent world. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

Contemporary Catholic Conversations 2017-2018, Curtis Center

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The Curtis Center at Sacred Heart University is a new initiative within the Office of Mission and Catholic Identity. The goal of the Curtis Center is engage SHU and the wider community in topics of interest and concern in today’s world.

The Center will host the annual inaugural series “Contemporary Catholic Conversations” during the 2017-18 academic year, a lecture series that will feature expert presenters and meaningful discussions.

Bishop Walter W. Curtis was on the cutting edge in 1963 when founding this university. He was energized by the Second Vatican Council to face the issues of his day, which led …

Water In Native American Spirituality: Liquid Life—Blood Of The Earth And Life Of The Community, June-Ann Greeley

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Water: The life force of all creation, the generative dynamism of existence. Long before scientific experimentation and quantifiable instrumentation verified the facts, human beings have perceived and understood water to be the essence of all life, both material and spiritual. From the beginnings of recorded history and even before, across the expanse of human settlement and migration, indigenous as well as extraneous religions and spiritual traditions have celebrated water as the primordial source: water was sacred before it was material and water took on for multitudes of generations until even today an expansive inclusivity that scanned the literal to the …

Priest, Writer, Mentor, Misfit: Understanding Henri Nouwen, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Two decades ago, on September 21, 1996, while on the way to St. Petersburg to shoot a documentary based on his acclaimed spiritual meditation, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen—priest, writer, professor, and pastoral mentor—died of a heart attack in his homeland of the Netherlands. His friends and countless admirers were stunned. Prolific author of more than three dozen books, and a much-called-upon speaker and preacher, Nouwen was a large presence in Catholic circles and a growing influence in Protestant ones as well. His loss was felt not only in his immediate community but around the world.

Christian-Stoicism: Exploring The Relationship Between Christianity And Stoicism And Constructing A Manual Of Christian-Stoic Wisdom, Trevor Kelly

Master of Arts in Religious Studies (M.A.R.S. Theses)

While the theological assumptions of Christianity and Stoicism may seem disparate, their philosophies are highly compatible. This compatibility is one of the reasons that early Christian authors looked to pagan Stoic authors for support and inspiration. Many Stoic and Christian authors compiled manuals for right living. The historical connections and conceptual similarities between the two schools of thought suggest the viability and value of constructing a combined Christian-Stoic manual of wisdom. Such is the constructive task of this thesis. Passages from Christian and Stoic sources are brought together to illustrate major common themes. The passages are followed by original commentaries …

Kenotic Effluent Panapotheism, Christopher E. Etter

Master of Arts in Religious Studies (M.A.R.S. Theses)

In these times of changing and evolving scientific discovery, philosophy and theology are at a critical juncture where they stand to lose all relevance if they are unable to keep up with the wealth of new knowledge and discoveries. Among the recent attempts in philosophy and theology to reconcile the relationship between science and these fields is Process Theology. Process Theology owes its origins to the 20th Century American philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead and the philosophers and theologians he has influenced have developed a myriad of new theologies that all attempt to incorporate the new sciences, such as Quantum …

Review Of "Between Apocalypse And Eschaton: History And Eternity In Henri De Lubac" By Joseph S. Flipper, Daniel A. Rober

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

The Jesuit Henri de Lubac is almost universally recognized as one of the preeminent twentieth-century theologians, influencing thinkers and ideas in diverse and sometimes opposed schools of thought. For both Catholic and ecumenical theology, his numerous contributions—in Patristic exegesis, the relationship between nature and grace, and ecclesiology—have rightly been hailed as transformative for academy and church alike. The same kind of recognition, however, has not typically been extended to his work on eschatology or politics, particularly in the English-speaking world. This is especially true insofar as de Lubac is frequently read as a Communio thinker whose opposition to political and …

Shepherding Electric Sheep: A Roman Catholic Response To The Emerging Challenge Of Transhumanism, Joshua St.Onge

Master of Arts in Religious Studies (M.A.R.S. Theses)

Transhumanism is a philosophical, political, and social movement that asserts that human well-being will be dramatically improved through the radical integration of new technologies into the human body and/or through the replacement of the organic human body with a synthetic 'body.' Ray Kurzweil, a dynamic, articulate, and leading transhumanist, offers an anthropological understanding that represents the main strand of transhumanist though about the human person: humans are patterns of information that can adjust themselves, and overcoming limitations is the defining human characteristic. This anthropology is implicit in many aspects of Western civilization already: law, medicine, and the military are a …

Justice Without Solidarity? Collective Identity And The Fate Of The "Ethical" In Habermas' Recent Political Theory, Andrew J. Pierce

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

No abstract provided.

Review Of: Andrew R. Murphy (Ed.), The Blackwell Companion To Religion And Violence, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Blackwell Companions, and instalments from similar series, should be initially sized up according to their purpose and audience. Such hefty tomes present themselves first as reference books—as collections of articles by scholarly experts that treat the key methods, topics, historical developments, etc., in the field. Second, each Companion is addressed to students and teachers as a state-of-the-field resource that provides several benefits: a sound picture of the field, assessment of various theories and methods used in the field, a sense of the innovative developments and open questions, and plenty of information to follow up on. Finally, some Companions give primacy …

Neighbor-Love As A Keystone To Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Chapter by Brian Stiltner from a collection of essays edited by Marinus C. Iwuchukwu and Brian Stiltner.

"This is a collection of essays that address inter-faith dialogue between Muslims and Christians in America and Africa. It addresses the issues dealing with how some Christians depict America as founded on Christian principles, and how this might deter dialogue across different religions. The goal is to get people to converse, not as formulaic Muslims or Christians, but as people with complex, plural, and ever-changing identities that defuse religious antagonism"--Publisher website.

Professor Richard Grigg Publishes Eighth Book, Richard Grigg Ph.D.

Richard Grigg Ph.D.

An Embarrassment of Riches explores the reasons that religious pluralism may threaten one’s personal beliefs.

Review Of: Thompson, J. Milburn, Introducing Catholic Social Thought, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

This book enters a crowded field. There are many books on Catholic social thought (CST), as suggested by this book’s select bibliography of over 200 items. Most religious studies publishers—especially those of a Catholic orientation—have one or more books on the topic. There are roughly thirty to forty texts in print that a college professor would consider when teaching a course or a module on Catholic social thought. Nonetheless, J. Milburn Thompson’s Introducing Catholic Social Thought is a welcome addition to the field. Thompson has written a clear, informative, and fairly engaging book for college students and others wanting to …

Review Of: T. J. Gorringe. The Common Good And The Global Emergency: God And The Built Environment, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Tim Gorringe follows up his positively reviewed 2002 book A Theology of the Built Environment with this offering from the same publisher. The former book was notable as a sustained attempt to think theologically about the ‘built environment’. The built environment is the context that humans construct for themselves through their industry and technology; it comprises all types of physical settlements (cities, suburbs, towns, and villages), roads and transportation systems, parks and outdoor spaces, and buildings of every sort. It matters to humans how we build social spaces, for this influences our individual flourishing and the common good. While any …

An Embarrassment Of Riches: American Religious Pluralism As A Threat, Richard Grigg

Sacred Heart University Press Books

Religious diversity is a sign of the vitality of American spirituality, but it presents a challenge: a thoughtful believer will most likely recognize that religious Others hold beliefs that contradict his or her own and will confront the fact that there is apparently no better evidence for his or her own beliefs than for those held by the religious Other. Thus the religious Other can easily become the disconfirming Other. An Embarrassment of Riches examines the various responses open to the believer challenged by the disconfirming Other, from self-deception of New Age spirituality to rigid fundamentalist opposition.

Seeing With Feeling, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Book review by Michael W. Higgins.

Haughey, John C. In Search of the Whole: Twelve Essays on Faith and Academic Life. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2011.

The Journalist As Theologian: A Tribute To Gregory Baum, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The article features Gregory Baum, mathematician, theologian, ex-Augustinian friar, dissenter and pioneering sociologist of religion. In an interview in 1996, he provided a diagnosis of the Roman Catholic Church mentioning that it was undergoing a governance crisis of immense proportions and that there was a need for a new system. Baum, Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics and the Sociology of Religion at McGill University, considers himself a journalist fascinated with ideas.

Prophet Of The Electric Age: Marshall Mcluhan’S Post-Curial Catholicism, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The author explores the Catholicism of Herbert Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian literary scholar and communications theorist. The author notes that McLuhan's Catholicism seldom surfaces in the writings of his biographers. Higgins believes McLuhan's Catholicisim deserves a fuller exploration since faith was profoundly constitutive in his life and thought. The author also claims that McLuhan's reasons for conversion differentiated him from the conventional intellectual.

Solitude And Journey: Two Central Themes In The Spirituality Of John Henry Newman, Ono Ekeh

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

John Henry Newman is widely known for his ideas on doctrinal development, education, conscience, and his reflections on faith and reason. However, it is important to remember that, among the many hats Newman wore, he was mostly a preacher and spiritual director. So in his role as a preacher, pastor, and spiritual leader, did he have a distinct spirituality? If so, what features or ideas would define Newman's spirituality? This paper will explore two prominent and pervasive themes in his spirituality looking primarily at his Parochial and Plain Sermons from his Anglican period and also at some of his Catholic …

Book Review: Daniel M. Bell, Jr., Just War As Christian Discipleship: Recentering The Tradition In The Church Rather Than The State, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

From his conversations in church settings and classrooms, Daniel M. Bell, Jr. has observed that Christians by and large do not know the church’s just war tradition very well, but that they are receptive to learning about it. Most theologians would likely agree that they know a number of Christians who are hungry to see better thinking and more effective action in response to war in our time. Bell, a Lutheran seminary professor and ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, wrote this book to interpret ‘the just war tradition in terms of concrete practices that might contribute to the …

Watchmen And Mimetic Theory: Are We Ready For Rorschach?, Vanessa Avery

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Captive on a flight across the Atlantic, I viewed the movie Watchmen, which is an adaptation from the graphic novel by Alan Moore. Watchmen, in short, is the story of a band of “dark” superheroes who, despite good intentions, succumb to violence and fail in their yearnings for justice. To my delight and surprise, Watchmen is also an undeniable illustration of Girard’s mimetic theory, and a philosophical exploration of possible responses to a culture trapped in a destructive mimetic cycle. In a climactic scene, Moore’s character Rorschach speaks a stunningly fundamental Girardian truth: “God doesn’t make the world …

Protestant Observers Of Vatican Ii: A Bibliography, Peter Gavin Ferriby

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

This bibliography is a working draft, insofar as no authoritative bibliography of observers (whether as formal periti or informally invited scholars) exists at this time.

An additional difficulty is conclusively to identify particular writers as Protestant Christians. For example, newspaper and other media reporters might have been formally Protestant (whether closely affiliated or distantly related), but did not identify their writings or observations as relevant to or influenced by any Protestant point of view. As a result, this bibliography lists entries whose authors in some sense identified themselves as Protestants, or representing the viewpoints of Protestant churches and organizations.

The …

Engaging The Catholic Intellectual Tradition - Sacred Heart University's Common Core: The Human Journey, Michelle Loris

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

At Catholic universities we have lofty and ambitious learning outcomes for our graduates. We want to provide our students with the knowledge, ideas, skills, and critical abilities needed to understand} reflect upon, and act with purpose and effect in our increasingly complex, ever-changing, global-world. We want to equip our students with the intellectual abilities, spiritual discernment, and moral and ethical principles that will enable them to distinguish between those things which inspire the mind, satisfy the soul, and advance the human good - and those things which do not. We want to develop in them the intelligence and compassion needed …

Educators In The Catholic Intellectual Tradition, John L. Elias, Ed., Lucinda A. Nolan, Ed.

Sacred Heart University Press Books

This book contains a collection of studies of prominent educators who have made significant contributions to handing on the Catholic intellectual tradition in the United States. These men and women have enriched this tradition by careful attention to educational theories and methods that find their origin in the Jewish and Christian past. Ancient Israel was assiduous in handing on the Torah or Law, the prophets dramatically called people back to the practices of the covenant, and the sages gave practical advice for everyday living. The Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of Paul chronicle the careful attention to safeguarding …

Vormort: Una Sancta Catholica Et Apostolica, Jean Ehret, Erwin Mode

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Foreword from the book:

Ehret, Jean and Erwin Möde, eds. Una Sancta Catholica et Apostolica: Einheit und Anspruch des Katholischen. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 2009.

The Catholic Character Of Catholic Universities, Anthony J. Cernera

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The signs of the times, that we are living in the midst of, are dramatic, suggesting perhaps radical challenges, but potentially wonderful opportunities, for humanity and the Church, e.g., globalization; the pervasiveness of secularization in the Western world; the encounter with Islam and the increased importance of inter-religious dialogue; the geographical shift of the center of Catholicism; the scientific-technological revolution; the reality of the poor; and the emerging crisis of global warming are among the most significant.

As the Catholic Church emerges as a truly global church, Catholic universities have an essential role to play in its mission in the …

The Priestly Imagination: Thomas Merton And The Poetics Of Critique, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

The article looks at the representation of ideals of the poet-priest in the works of Thomas Merton. It provides an analysis of Merton's poetics of critique. For Merton, John the Baptist represents the model anchorite as well as the first Cisterician and the greatest Trappist. The indivisible and comprehensive dimensions of Merton as a whole man are represented by John the Baptist, John of the Cross and John the Beloved. The two types of Merton's poetics of critique are ecclesial/monastic and societal.

The Blau Collection, The Library For Christian-Jewish Understanding: Dedication Ceremony, November 10, 2008, Center For Christian-Jewish Understanding

SHU Library Archives

Program for the Dedication Ceremony for The Blau Collection, Ryan Matura Library at Sacred Heart University, November 10, 2008.

Vanquishing Evil Without The Help Of God: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. And A World Come Of Age, Richard Grigg Ph.D.

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

One of the most distinctive religious features of the 1960s was the death of God theology. It is useful to look back at the death of God movement from the perspective of communication studies. After all, the movement received unprecedented coverage in the popular media. More intriguing, however is the specific fashion in which death of God theologian William Hamilton, one of the most influential figures in the discussion of the death of God, referred to particular aspects of the modern communication environment. According to Hamilton, the communication technologies of the 1960s helped make it a world "come of age." …