Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A World Grappling With Pope Francis: Laudato Si' And The Contested Frames Of A Secular-Minded Church, Joseph R. Blaney

Faculty Publications - Communications

Pope Francis has been misunderstood by liberals and conservatives alike, confusing an emphasized pastoral tone and approach for theological departure. This confusion is exacerbated in the United States where the faithful are tempted to understand and evaluate pastoral figures in terms of secular political ideologies. This study extends Blaney’s (2017) media framing study of news coverage of cardinalate appointments by examining commentary about the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ found among readers of the National Catholic Register, the National Catholic Reporter, and The New York Times. Thematic analyses affirm that the faithful of the U.S. church succumb to the same secular …

Born Believers?, Mark Siderits

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

A Response to Karsten Struhl’s “What Kind of an Illusion is the Illusion of Self”.

After Faith, Hope, And Love: The Unique Divergence Of Asceticism By Gregory The Great And Maximus The Confessor, Caleb N. Zuiderveen

Theses and Dissertations

In the late sixth and early seventh centuries, asceticism continued as a frequent expression of Christian devotion. Despite communications between the Eastern and Western Churches and a common patristic foundation, theology in the East and West during this time diverged on the results of asceticism. This paper explores this divergence by examining two theologians, Gregory the Great and Maximus the Confessor. Current scholarship has examined Gregory the Great and Maximus the Confessor on their own, yet the dialogue between each tradition and its implications remains understudied. Thus, this study contextualizes Gregory the Great’s On the Song of Songs and Maximus …

Improving Access To Ministerial Training Through The Use Of Electronic Devices: A Qualitative Study Of Educators In Developing Nations, Andrew John Beaty

Theses and Dissertations

This study was based on the concern that in developing nations, the vast majority of pastors in local churches have no training to prepare them for the duties they are expected to carry out as ministers. With the increase of technology being available around the world, the questions have arisen as to whether or not technology can be utilized to help improve access to this training.

A qualitative approach was employed to interview thirteen people involved in global theological education in developing nations and to learn from them as to the trends that they see being utilized in regards to …

Faith Too Big To Fail? The Struggles And Wishes Of New Atheism, Joe Rice

Theses and Dissertations

After September 11th, 2001, public criticism of religion took front and center stage in the United States like never before, epitomized by the works of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens – the so-called “New Atheists”. In this thesis, I reunderstand the New Atheism as an oppositional social movement that promises important contributions to the recent trend in academic scholarship geared toward the study of religion and secularism. Reunderstanding is essential because the mainstream scholarly treatment of the New Atheism has not fully, much less charitably, drawn out the purpose and upshot of New …

Believing Mary Karr, Stephanie Rae Guedet

Theses and Dissertations

Believing Mary Karr examines how belief, represented in the memoirs of Mary Karr, works in our contemporary moment. This examination is supported by the argument that our identities and the stories we tell about them are always constructions of belief, and that these beliefs are ultimately relational, enacted in the intersubjective relationship between writers and readers of autobiography. This dissertation provides the fields of both rhetoric and life writing studies not only an awareness of how ideas about belief—how beliefs about belief—have already shaped our scholarly imagination but also the possibilities a rhetoric of belief can offer to future conversations …

Rhetorics Of Engagement Across And About Faith And Worldview Difference, John Maclean

Theses and Dissertations

Interactions across faith and worldview difference are becoming increasingly common in many communities and around the world. These interactions can be verbally or physically violent, and even deadly, or they can be beautiful and enriching, or they can be ignored, resisted or refused. In this dissertation I put scholarship that endorses a broader conception of rhetoric in conversation with my personal experience in interfaith relations and dialogue in order to discover better ways to study these interactions. I propose and develop two constructs, "rhetorical space" and "rhetorical stance", that I use to explore and analyze people's attitudes toward and experiences …

Reexamination Of The Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale Structure: The Impact Of Additional Items, Ryan Michael Tuggle

Theses and Dissertations

Hood, Hill, and Williamson (2005) proposed a new way of defining religious fundamentalism - one based on the principle of intratextuality. The principle of intratextuality states that fundamentalists derive truth through interpreting their sacred text. The six attitudes proposed as extensions of the principle of intratextuality were divine, inerrant, self-interpretive, privileged, authoritative, and unchanging (Williamson, Hood, Ahmad, Sadiq, & Hill, 2010). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to develop the Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale (IFS). The authors sought a multidimensional model with the six attitudes as latent variables, using principal components extraction and a Varimax (orthogonal) rotation. The authors failed to …

Framing Eve: Contemporary Retellings Of Biblical Women For Young People, Elizabeth Gillhouse

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the ideological implications of re-visioning Bible stories for young readers in order to negotiate changing cultural attitudes regarding gender. I begin by exploring three theories of retelling traditional narratives including John Stephens and Robyn McCallum's discussion of "reversion," Adrienne Rich's concept of "re-vision," and the Jewish tradition of biblical Midrash. Stephens and McCallum's term "reversion" emphasizes the inevitable cultural influence that occurs during the process of retelling an existing narrative. Rich's discussion of "re-vision" advocates an active attempt on the part of feminists to re-see traditional narratives that have historically been used to oppress women. The Jewish …

Restoring The Juridical Image: Apologia For Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Joseph R. Blaney

Faculty Publications - Communications

Image restoration theory is used to discover that Holy Cross Father James Tunstead Burthchaell's defense of the Papal Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae was ineffective. Although he used attacks on accusers appropriately, his strategies of denial and transcendence were in conflict. He also failed to adequately address the accusation that the nature of American college charters make the American bishops' application of the document impossible. Finally, though perhaps through no fault of his own, he was "preaching to the choir. " The study sheds further light on the role of transcendence in religious image repair.

The Persuasive Defense Of Jesus In The Gospel According To John, Joseph R. Blaney, William L. Benoit

Faculty Publications - Communications

Image restoration strategies are reviewed and then applied to Jesus' discourse in the Gospel according to St. John. Brief reviews of verbal attacks on Jesus are given, followed by descriptions of the defense strategies he employed to deal with the accusations. Jesus primarily engaged in denial and transcendence. Some charges were so serious that they required unequivocal denial. However, it should not be surprising that Jesus also used transcendence given his desire to advance a more spiritual order of religious practice.