Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Love, Sex, And Feminism: A Critique Of Fifty Shades Of Grey, Katherine Argo

Student Work

The Fifty Shades trilogy has captivated over 100 million consumers. What makes these books stand out among others is not the literary style but the underlying aspects. Readers discover that the plot and characters of Fifty Shades of Grey are altogether intriguing, familiar, and dynamic. It is at its core a story of deception, love, revenge, and redemption. However, there are negative aspects to the book that we as Christians need to push back against, and there are positive aspects that we need to reclaim.

Crucifixion Toward Relationality, Mason Davis

Student Work

The twentieth century has seen dramatic turns in theology, however few have been as profound as the development of the Trinitarian dialectic as expressed through Jurgen Moltmann and Karl Barth. Too often these theologians are rejected for the popularized theologies bound to modernity and the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. This doctrine is bound to courtroom language, which for a postmodern culture, takes away any emphasis on the relational love expressed through the vulnerability of the Father. Once we see the vulnerability of God as the archetype of openness onto the other, we can begin to once again understand confessional …

Thoughts From A College Student, Juan Pablo Benitez Gonzalez

Student Work

"It hurts to be invisible, it hurts to be in silence. But despite the fact that this is no longer my reality, I can still claim that it is hard to be a minority. It is hard to be away from home. It is not easy being an international student."

Posting about the experiences of a college student from Paraguay from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/thoughts-from-a-college-student/

Testimony: Being A Minority At Dordt, Harry Lee

Student Work

"Thanksgiving turkeys, Super Bowl, Pop Tarts, a garbage disposal unit (a.k.a. sink shredders), and even donut runs; these are some of the things I never knew existed before coming to the United States for college."

Posting about the experiences of a college student from South Korean from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/testimony-being-a-minority-at-dordt/

Forgive Us, Erica Hughes

Student Work

"SpokenWord poetry reflecting on experiences of being a racial minority as a college student."

Posting from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/forgive-us/

Diversity Question, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"If I live in a small town, and all the people there are white, and I look around at my church and see that we’re all white—is that really a bad thing? Scripture’s vision from creation through Pentecost to the New Jerusalem is a diverse vision—it includes all tribes, nations, and languages and that inclusion is by design. But what do we do in small town Midwest churches about diversity?"

Posting about diversity and how Christians should engage with it from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus …

Depression: My Story, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Depressed people are not lazy. They’re not crazy. They’re not freaks, and they don’t need to be avoided. They are no more nor less broken than any of us, in this sinful world. Depressed people are just… people. Here is my story."

Posting about depression from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/depression-my-story/

Return Of Liturgy, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We are first of all not thinkers but worshipers, shaped by liturgical worship practices that literally form us for continued worship and service in the world during the week."

Posting about leaving the church, evangelicalism, liturgy and unity from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/the-return-of-liturgy/

Regarding Homework…, David J. Mulder

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Why do teachers give homework? I was a middle school classroom teacher for the first eleven years of my teaching practice. The longer I taught, the less homework I assigned. That’s not to say I didn’t give students assignments–but they rarely had to do them at home. I’m curious about how teachers use homework, and what role it really plays in students’ learning."

Posting from and education professor about homework and if there's compelling evidence that it improves learning from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ …

Common Core: Good Or Bad?, Ed Starkenburg

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"What comes to your mind when someone mentions the Common Core (or otherwise known as the Common Core State Standards)? Do you appreciate them? Are you scared of them? Suspicious? The Common Core is an aspect of education that typically gets a strong response today when the topic enters conversations. As an educator, I find that many people respond negatively based on what they have heard about the standards from others rather than based on facts. However, because these standards have a political nature, it’s often hard to determine what the facts and truth are regarding this set of curriculum …

Easter: She Called Him "Rabboni", Aaron Baart

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Posting about the resurrection story from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/easter-she-called-him-rabboni/

Lent: The Suffering Centurion, Shirley Folkerts

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Most of us will do anything to avoid suffering. We take medication to ward off even the slightest bit of pain. We arrange our lives around ease and comfort, as if these are the hallmarks of a faithful life."

Posting about the centurion's encounter with Jesus from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/lent-the-suffering-centurion/

Groaning Creation, Carl P. Fictorie

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"What does the Bible mean when Paul writes about the frustrated and decaying creation? What should scientists expect to see in their investigations of creation given that the creation is frustrated and decaying? How does sin adversely affect the most basic laws by which the creation operates?"

Posting about creation from the perspective of a Christian scientist from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/the-groaning-creation/

Standardized Testing: Help Or Harm?, Steve Holtrop

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Outside of the halls of education, we have many real-world ways to test knowledge and skills. If we want to teach someone to bake a cake or do a J-stroke in a canoe, we don’t give a paper and pencil test – we look for successful demonstrations of the skills. Even where we need a paper test for some head knowledge stuff, like when we get a driver’s license, the road test is the real proof of the pudding. In school settings, then, what we really need are valid measures of what students know and can do. A well-rounded toolbox …

Case For Professional Development Schools: Transforming Teaching And Learning, Patricia C. Kornelis

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Get On Your Knees And Fight Like A Man: Shifting From World Peace To Spiritual Warfare In Contemporary Christian Music, Scott Culpepper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Free Religion Is Not Free Discrimination, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"When Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed Indiana’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law on March 26, it kicked up a firestorm of controversy and is already seeing a wave of backlash... and a variety of other public criticisms sounding the same general concern that this bill is creating a 'license to discriminate' or that it is blatantly 'anti-gay'. But is the rhetoric regarding the Indiana law and the Arkansas bill justified?”

Posting about legislative action and gay rights from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection …

Education For All, Kathleen Vantol

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"In Nicaragua, teachers do not have the option of sending their students to the special education classroom to work on a particular skill or activity. Just as there are no educational assistants, there are no special education classrooms and no special education teachers."

Posting about one teacher’s goal to bring inclusive education available to all schools in Nicaragua from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/education-for-all/

How Marion Helps Us To Understand Kierkegaard’S Fear And Trembling, Mark Tazelaar

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In the past decade, many interpretations of Fear and Trembling highlight the significance of the “eschatological”—the marvel of Abraham’s expectation that he will get Isaac back. For these interpretations, the central issue is the contrast between the knight of faith and the knight of resignation. Merold Westphal, however, contends that these interpretations lead us away from the main contrast between the hero of faith and the tragic hero. Kierkegaard scholarship is at an impasse. I argue that Marion’s phenomenology of sacrifice, together with the important idea of veritas redarguens that he appropriates from Augustine, offer insights that can resolve the …

Imagine A World Where Faith Was More Than Political Eye Candy, Scott Culpepper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"What is troubling about Cruz’s appeal and the legacy of conservative evangelical political engagement he seeks to revive is the assumption that a particular set of political values are “Christian” values, that a particular political agenda rather than fidelity to Christian doctrine and ethical principles becomes the test of orthodoxy. For instance, how does a Christian who disagrees with the Senator about immigration issues fit into his definition of how born again Christians vote? Is there room under Cruz’s revival tent for a Christian who sees adoption ministry or sex education as a more effective means of aiding the unborn …

Lent: Behold! Behold! Behold!, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"How, today, will we behold the Lamb of God and make way for him to take away the sin of the world, to reframe and heal how we see one another?"

Posting about the meaning of the word "behold" in Scripture from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/lent-behold-behold-behold/

Community-Edifying 'World-Construction' In Paul And 1 Clement As A Resource For Theological Deliberations About Human Origins, Benjamin J. Lappenga

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Recognizing that the rhetorical context for the cosmological reflections of both Paul and one of his earliest interpreters is the promotion of community-building, this paper proposes that the “world-construction” of these early believers offers a model for the contemporary church’s discourse concerning human origins. The paper, then, is an exercise in theological interpretation of Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, read alongside one of the earliest interactions with these texts in the letter known as 1 Clement.

Welcome The Stranger, Rikki Heldt

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"...I am a German citizen teaching Spanish at a Christian Reformed college in Northwest Iowa. I know, you might have to read that sentence again to digest it. How did I go from living behind the Berlin Wall in my childhood to teaching a foreign language that is not my own at a Christian college in Iowa? By following God’s call. Immigration was God’s way of bringing me to the faith under the most unlikely of circumstances."

Posting about the author's immigration story from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and …

“I Myself Am An Israelite”: Revisiting Paul’S Use Of Ζῆλος In Romans 9-11, Benjamin J. Lappenga

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Previous attempts to account for Paul’s language of ζῆλος in Romans 9-11 focus too narrowly on the occurrence in 10:2 (Dane C. Ortlund [2012]), rely on a difficult distinction between παραζηλόω as “provoke to anger” in 10:19 and παραζηλόω as “emulate” in 11:11, 14 (Richard H. Bell [1994]), or wrongly insist that the meaning of παραζηλόω in 10:19-11:14 must be restricted to its semantic value in Deut 32:21 LXX (Robert Jewett [2007]). A way forward is to recognize—by harnessing insights recently formulated within the framework of relevance theory—that the ζηλ- word group in Paul’s usage is monosemic. Within this framework, …

Are You Mad(Ness)?, Ross Douma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The lure and fascination of athletics in our culture stems largely from the unpredictable outcome and untamed responses of the participants. As we tune in over the course of the next several weeks and stare intently at our television sets rooting for the Davids of the college basketball world, we might be better served to have a mirror nearby to ensure we are reflecting the glory of the Lord."

Posting about March Madness, players, and fans from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for …

Lent: They Put The Cross On Him, Teresa Terhaar

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Perhaps Lent is a season of opportunity. A season in which we could, like Simon, be 'pulled' from the crowd and reminded of the sacrifice of the cross."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­Simon of Cyrene carrying Jesus' cross from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/lent-they-put-the-cross-on-him/

Christian Civility, Erin Olson

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Every day people are faced with difficult choices about their lives and many times we are called to walk alongside them as they try to navigate these decisions. Sometimes, when decisions and situations are very difficult and complicated the person will seek the help of a social worker, someone who has been professionally trained to help. How are we to best help in these situations?"

Posting about how Christian social workers should respond when they disagree with the life decisions their clients are making from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, …

Classroom Civility, Chelsea Maxwell

Student Work

"Learning is a sacred, lifelong process that commences in the classroom. We need classrooms that provide safe places to learn. As a student, I urge my classmates to recognize that now is the time to begin debating and discussing that which is hard and controversial. To do this well, both students and professors must work together to form communities built on respect that encourage questioning."

Posting by a college student about civility in the classroom from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the …

Serving Families In Broken Situations, Tara Boer

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We are entrusted to walk alongside people during some of the most difficult and vulnerable times in their lives. It’s work that God could do without us but God still allows us to be a part of it. Social workers show up when abuse is occurring, when violence is erupting, and when homes are dirty. We are asked to meet families during times of loss, adoption, school problems, divorce, addictions, trauma, and relationship problems. We get to hear stories, play with kids, sit in team meetings, solve problems, and see people heal and get well."

Posting about how to help …

In The Era Of Mean Tweets… And Much, Much Worse, Abby M. Foreman

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Each year, the Dordt College junior social work students create a theme for Social Work Month which is in March. This year, the class has decided to focus on the ideal of community, and in doing so, specifically focusing in on the breakdown of community that happens from bullying and incivility."

Posting about about what it means to engage civilly in a world that has accepted incivility as par for the course from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/in-the-era-of-mean-tweetsand-much-much-worse/