Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Luther And "Social Ethics", Terrance Adamson

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

For Luther, it appears, that there is a distinction between an office of authority and the office holder. The office holder is the same as any other Christian with the same divine command to "love" in and through his call. Instruction and Christian admonition to the individual regarding faith and Christian duty does not, in itself, violate the distinction between Law and Gospel.

O Come Our Wisdom From On High- An Introduction Into Wisdom Christology, Ralph Shorey

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

The purpose of this paper is not to tackle directly all the varying presuppositions held by Feminists in connection with Sophia Christology. Paul Wenz, in the Thanksgiving, 1994 issue of Concordia Student Journal has written an excellent article concerning this point.' Instead, this paper will deal with the following: (1) The general meaning of "wisdom" as it is commonly understood in Scripture, (2) an analytical study of Proverbs 8:22-35 in order to see how Scripture has appropriated the name of Wisdom to Christ, and (3) a brief survey of Early Church History up to the Nicene Creed of 325 A.D. …

Original Sin In The Smalcald Articles With An Excursus On The Coat Of Skins As An Image Of Original, Albert Collver Iii

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

In order to understand better how Luther understood original sin in the Smalcald Articles," this paper will compare SA with two other Luther writings, one contemporary with its composition and one from his earlier writings. Since Luther adopted the term "original sin," it will be useful to briefly examine the events that led to the coinage of the term by Augustine in addition to examining a few patristic sources in order to see how the idea of "original sin" was expressed formerly. Finally, Luther's confession of original sin in SA will be addressed to current issues such as the decay …

Christology In Africa: Work In Progress, Carl Rockrohr

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

Can Jesus Christ be preached, teached and confessed only through the worldviews, philosophies and languages of the writers of the Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds? Can Christology be faithfully understood only from traditional Western perspectives? Now in the life of the Christian church in Africa at the end of 20th century, this is a question being addressed by a variety of African Christian theologians. This paper will: 1) briefly outline some difficulties currently being identified by African theologians and missionaries with Christology presented from Western world views in Africa; 2) overview some Christologies developed with an African perspective; and 3) review …

De Poenitentia Et Evangelio Coming Together And Coming Clear In Luther's Theology, Korey Maas

Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers

These three breakthroughs - the understanding of God's righteousness, law and gospel, and repentance - are not noted here arbitrarily. While the present examination is concerned primarily with tracing Luther's changing theology of repentance, we can not do so as if this doctrine existed in isolation, standing and falling on its own. Any understanding of repentance, Luther's not excepted, is intimately entwined with one's understanding of God's righteousness and the gospel- and most importantly, how these meet in one's conception of the person and work of Christ.

John 6 And The Lord's Supper, Jon Bischof

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This thesis ventures to reopen an old argument on ground which has been a "no man's land" for Lutherans for nearly 500 years. There is a tradition within Lutheranism of interpreting John 6:51-59 as having no reference whatsoever to the Eucharist. This tradition within Lutheranism can rightly claim the support of Luther who said, "it [the sixth chapter of John] does not refer to the sacrament in a single syllable". Naturally, no confessional Lutheran wants to find himself in disagreement with Luther. We would always rather defend his views when they are maligned. But Luther corrected his own views many …

"The People Of God" In The Old Testament: The View Of Eichrodt And Gutierrez As Evaluated By Confessional Lutheran Hermeneutics, Acir Raymann

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

This dissertation is about the concept of People of God in the Old Testament in late Academic Theology and in Liberation Theology as evaluated by Lutheran Hermeneutics.

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 …

Liturgical Theology: Substance And Source, James Honig

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

This study will demonstrate that three representative scholars of liturgical theology from three different traditions of the church place both the substance (material principle) and the source (formal principle) of Christian theology in the Christian worship experience.1 These views will be contrasted with the Lutheran Confessions which posit that all of theology centers around justification by grace through faith and is derived from Scripture alone.

Leadership Development In The Christian Church And Churches Of Christ In Northeast Nebraska, Wayne Dykstra

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project/thesis focuses on the leadership needs of the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in northeast Nebraska in general and of Wakefield Christian Church in particular. The leadership context of Wakefield Christian Church was analyzed utilizing a congregational profile inventory, the presentation of a leadership development course, an evaluation instrument, and conversations and interviews of the church leadership. The success or failure of organizations will depend upon the quality of the leadership. The objective of this project was to provide a leadership course which would produce better leaders who could make a difference in the kingdom of God and …

Aurelius Augustine's-Use Or Discarding Of The Classical Methodology Of Education To Promote The Christian Faith, Gordon Beck

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Thesis statement: It is the purpose of this paper to examine Augustine’s use or discarding of the classical methodology of education as found in his works de Ordine and de Doctrines Christiana.

Introduction: The tension in the early church between the Christian faith and pagan culture found a compromise in Augustine's declaration: "Every good and true Christian should understand that wherever he may find truth, it is the Lord's". This he declared in de Doctrines Christiana, 396.

The Sedes Sapientiae: Orthodox Sculptural Images Of The Virgin Mary Derived From The Ancient Mother-Goddess Tradition, Carol King

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Virgin Mary is rarely mentioned in the Bible yet legends about her abound throughout the centuries. Worship of the Virgin is recorded as early as the 3rd century, and soon thereafter visual representations emerged to serve as devotional objects for her patrons. Mary’s popularity among the people left the Church with a fundamental problem: they must either sanction her worship and bring the pagans into their fold; or they must diminish her role in salvation, totally rid Christianity of the female divine, and risk losing converts to older-world traditions. This dilemma was settled at the Council of Ephesus in …

The Cultic Motif In Space And Time In The Book Of Daniel, Winfried Vogel

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to study spatio-temporal elements that contribute to a cultic motif in the book of Daniel and to ascertain the impact of that motif on the theology of the book.

Chapter 1 investigates the following references and allusions to cult in the realm of space: mountain, sanctuary, temple, throne, and city. All of the texts where these references and allusions occur are examined by linguistic, literary, and contextual analyses, taking into account biblical and non-biblical traditions.

Chapter 2 investigates the following references and allusions to cult in the realm of time: time of theevening offering, …

Gustavo Gutierrez's Understanding Of The Kingdom Of God In The Light Of The Second Vatican Council, Victor Figueroa-Villarreal

Dissertations

The proclamation of the Kingdom of God has been reformulated in every age and interpreted accordingly with regard to time and place. Traditionally within Roman Catholicism the Kingdom of God was identified with the church. This view produced a triumphalist attitude within the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council brought a new attitude of openness toward the modern world, and with it the council opened the door for Roman Catholic liberation theologians to look for new ways to find what they regarded as the just solutions to the problems of Latin America.

The purpose of this research is to …

One Chaplain's Exploration Of A Spiritual Healing Model For The Grief Experience Of Aging Women, H. Lorene Joy Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper addresses the research question of "What is a spiritual healing model in the context of grief for aging women experiencing loss of self?” In order to understand the premise for this study, concepts of: feminine symbolism, grief, aging women and spirituality are explored. A review of selected grief literature describes the grief process and emphasis of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Erich Lindemann, John Bowlby, and Phyllis Silverman. The psychological development of women outlined by Carol Gilligan and the Stone Centre are discussed in relation to women's voice, self and relationships. The grief of aging women reveals: the need to recreate …

Religious Couples' Reported Effects Of Prayer In Conflict Situations, Julie Ann Stout

Theses and Dissertations

For religious couples, the spiritual domain stands alongside the biological, psychological, and systemic domains as an influence upon interaction and mechanism for change. This study is a quantitative expansion of Butler, Gardner, and Bird's (1998) qualitative study, of the change dynamics of prayer. This study attempted to improve the generalizability of the Butler et al. (1998) study through its use of a larger, and religiously and geographically more diverse sample. This study investigated the effects of prayer during times of marital conflict through a quantitative methodology with a survey design. The researchers developed a survey based on the findings of …

Active Imagination And Christian Religious Experience: A Study In Relationship, George E. Trippe

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The focus of this study is the relationship between Carl Jung's practice of active imagination and Christian religious experience. The research is qualitative, using the heuristic research method as developed by Clark Moustakas. The experience of active imagination is defined and the practice is explained. Consideration is given to its values and benefits. In the heuristic style, the research focusses on the active imagination work of the researcher and four research participants. The active imagination case material of the five participants is summarised and depictions of their material are included which identify the nature, essence, and meaning of their experiences. …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Coping Among Lds Adolescents, Matthew P. Roper

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of religiosity on coping in a group of Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) youth. Longitudinal data were gathered from detailed questionnaires administered to 2852 male and female adolescents in 1990 and 1993. Coping was conceptualized as four general dimensions (self-concept, public activities and service, deviance and future plans). Religiosity was also conceptualized multi-dimensionally (religious belief, public religiosity, private religious behavior, and religious experiences). Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the unique effects of each of the dimensions of religiosity on each dimension of coping. It was hypothesized that religiosity was positively …

Religiosity And Physical Fitness: A Study Of Middle-Aged Mormon Men, Janette Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

Research has related both physical fitness and religiosity to health. This study combined these ideas and examined the relationship between religiosity and physical fitness among middle aged Mormon men (n=110). Mormons are an ideal population for study because of their strict health code. Fitness variables were grip strength, waist/hip ratio, body mass index (BMI) and estimated maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). A questionnaire assessed level of religiosity and separated subjects into two groups: highly religious (n=35) and less religious (n=14). Moderately religious subjects (n=61) were omitted. A one way ANOVA (between-groups design) found no significant differences in fitness variables between groups. …

The Church As An Agent Of Reconciliation In The Thought Of Desmond Tutu, Trust J. Ndlovu

Dissertations

South Africa was both the first and last bastion of extended European colonial rule in Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the extensive interaction between the Black and White races over time, who were distinguished by divergent philosophies of life, friction developed between these two major ethnic blocs, as well as the other peoples that came as labor for the Whites or have arisen as a result of miscegenation between the Blacks and the Whites. Archbishop Desmond Tutu holds that racial tension is neither good for South Africa nor even Christian, and insists that it should be eliminated, giving way to reconciliation. …

The Textual Relation Of The Peshitta Of Ezekiel 1-12 To Mt And To The Ancient Versions (Tg-J And Lxx), Joaquim Azevedo

Dissertations

Problem . The dilemma of the Syriac version is its mysterious provenance and the direct relationship it may have to the other versions (particularly G [Septuagint] and C^J [Targum Jonathan]). Thus some scholars have automatically discarded or ignored the Peshitta version as a useful tool (as a textual witness) for the study of the Hebrew text. The knowledge of textual problems, in this case the relationship of S [Peshitta Version] to the ancient versions, is of extreme importance in the analysis and study of the Hebrew Bible. The awareness of G [Septuagint], C^J [Targum Jonathan], and M [Masoretic …