Religion Commons^™

Mary, The Holy Mother Of God - 1 January 2024, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Australia Day - 26 January 2024, Angela Mccarthy, Vincent Glynn

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time - 11 February 2024, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Epiphany - 7 January 2024, Joe Tedesco

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Second Sunday In Ordinary Time - 14 January 2024, Anthony Doran

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Pursuing An Earthly Spirituality: C.S. Lewis And Incarnational Faith By Gary S. Selby, Sarah O'Dell

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Review of Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C.S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith, by Gary S. Selby.

Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams, And Stephen King On The Afterlife, Camilo Peralta

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

What happens to us after death is one of the oldest and most difficult questions. Even the standard response of many Christians, that we go to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory, can only partly satisfy, because while we experience the passing of time in a linear manner, those places are said to exist completely outside of time. How, then, can it make sense to speak of “going” to Heaven or Hell after death? Must we not always and forever be there—even during our lifetimes? Russell Kirk, a Catholic historian from Michigan who often speculated about the afterlife in his fiction …

Orpheus And The Harrowing Of Hell In The Tale Of Beren And Lúthien, Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Critics have observed that Beren and Lúthien’s tale is a Christian retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The “Harrowing of Hell” tradition is widespread in Italy as attested by the mosaic of San Marco among others, but it is in France that the Ovid Moralized reconnects it to Orpheus who descended into the Underworld to save Eurydice (an already late antique parallel) and therefore attests a happy ending version of the story that can be found in medieval England and also in various classical sources, perhaps even in the original legend of Orpheus. The apocryphal Harrowing is also …

Making Music In The House Of God: How Augustine Influenced Jean Calvin And Martin Luther's Opinions On Musical Worship, Emma N. Ross

Musical Offerings

Music for worship has been a divisive topic throughout church history. Augustine of Hippo influenced Jean Calvin and Martin Luther’s theology of music, although in different ways. Their opinions differed, but all three men cared deeply about applying a correct interpretation of the Bible to church music. Augustine’s opinion of music was that, when correctly understood, it had the capacity to glorify God. However, music could become a dangerous earthly pleasure if the senses were allowed to have control. Calvin argued that music must be used with care, not due to the problem of music, but rather the weakness and …

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

The Persistence Of "A Simple Melody": Acceptance Of Irving Berlin's Music In The 1920s, Alina Vanderwood

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

"Nobody appreciates more than I do how bad some of my lyrics are in the matter of technical details," said the 32-year-old composer Irving Berlin in 1920 during an interview with American Magazine. "Some of the biggest hits I've written were songs I was so ashamed of that I pleaded with the heads of music houses not co publish them." Yet in all of its imperfection, his music became so popular and influential that American composer Jerome Kern famously wrote, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music." Just nine years prior to this 1920 interview, …

Birthing Contention: Conflict Between Black And White Health Officials In Southern Midwife Training In The Mid-Twentieth Century, Ruth Hyde Truman

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

"You can go right now and start talking to somebody about my age and Iil older and quite a bit older. They'll say, 'I was delivered by a granny midwife.' A black woman, a granny midwife." These words, spoken by Onnie Lee Logan in her book, Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story, illustrate the important role that black women played in childbirth in the South in the mid-twentieth century. In the South, hospitals were located far from rural communities, and women were much more likely to give birth in their own homes and enlist the aid of a black midwife than …

"Moloch Of The Present Mode": Women's Short Hairstyles In Nineteenth-Century American Society, Jack Tingey

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

An article from Indianapolis journal in 1883 reported on the phenomenon of women cutting their hair short in the name of fashion, describing the process of a woman cutting off her long hair as akin to sacrificing virtue to the "Moloch of the present mode." Today, short hairstyles are more commonly associated with the bob of the Roaring Twenties, an era historians and popular culture recognize as one of excess, social change, and new innovations. But short hair on women was by no ~ans new in the 1920s. The bob was not the first short hairstyle in the United States …

Losing "The Jewels In Her Crown": Latter-Day Saint Women And Pregnancy Loss In The Nineteenth Century, Karen Mackay Moss

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In her journal entry for the morning of May 27, 1849, Zina D. H. Young recounted her morning's work in assisting Margaret Alley, a fellow wife of Brigham Young, during a sickness which had begun over a week earlier after Margaret had "over done" herself. Young wrote that while she stayed home from church meetings that day, Margaret "was relieved of a two month sickness-perfect form occasioned by a hurt." Margaret Alley had experienced a miscarriage. Taking to her journal again that evening, Young stated that her day had been quite busy, full of "little events" including Margaret's "misfortune," a …

From President To Dictator: Anastasio Somoza Debayle's Fall From Grace In The American Press, Kara Molnar

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When news of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's Assassination in Paraguay reached Nicaragua, the reigning Sandinista government announced over radio that its citizens should "celebrate with joy the execution of Anastasio Somoza." Nicaraguans obeyed this command in force, dancing in the streets, filling downtown bars, and setting off fireworks late into the night. While U.S.-based journalists did not face this turn of events with such glee, they eagerly provided their own renditions of what precisely had transpired the morning of September 17, 1980, as well as the legacy Somoza would leave behind. Condemnations of the former Nicaraguan ruler as a "dictator" were …

Maya-Catholic Theologian: The Influence Of Maya Theology On Catholic Doctrine In The Morley Manuscript, Travis Meyer

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1576, at the height of Catholic evangelization in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, an unnamed Catholic preacher met regularly with a congregation of indigenous Maya to teach them the doctrine of Christianity. He taught them about the biblical creation, as well as the nature of God and the devil, all from his own original doctrinal instructional manual. This preacher was also a Maya himself Between the years 1500 and 1800, only about 1,100 European-descended Catholic friars ministered to the tens of millions of Maya in Mesoamerica. Because there were so many natives and so few friars, they could not …

"Yearning To Breath Free": American Policy's Impact On The Experience Of Imprisoned Migrants, 1980-1989, Samuel Johnson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The evidence against the Immigration and Naturalization Service was clear. "The agent grabbed me by the arm and twisted it behind my back. He threw me against the van and held me by the arms while a second agent cook out his revolver and struck me very hard in the face, twice. I began to bleed profusely from the nose and mouth," recalled plaintiff Crosby Orantes Hernandez. "He told me that I would be placed in a cell with men, leaving me with the impression that I would be sexually molested," testified fellow plaintiff Dora Elia Estrada. Jose Sanchez Flores …

The Wolfenden Report: The Key To The English Gay Rights Movement, Ryan Hollister

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The history of homosexuality in Great Britain is long and complicated, extending all the way back to the Roman conquest. Romans had a tradition of homosexuality, but when Rome fell, churches became the authority on homosexuality, leading to numerous movements to fight against it. King Henry the 8th of England outlawed buggery, a term for anal intercourse, in 1533, and there are suspicions chat King James had homosexual relationships, but the scope of English history cannot be fully summarized in a paper of this length. Instead, this paper will focus on the British decriminalization of homosexual practices in the 1950s …

Abraham Smoot: Complexity In Context, Molly Hansen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 2019, a Salt Lake Tribune article described pieces of Abraham O. Smoot's slaveholding past. The article raised controversy over the administration building on BYU campus, which bears Smoot's name. After that Salt Lake Tribune article brought Smoot's negative history into a more public eye, outcry from the general public, the BYU community, the Latter-day Saint community, and the Smoot family themselves erupted. Questions like 'Why do we have buildings that honor slaveholders?' and 'Was he even a slaveholder?' and 'Do we unname or rename the Abraham Smoot Building at BYU?' were raised, and are still being asked in public …

Left In The Dust: Byu's Reluctant Response To The Rise Of The Automobile, Caleb Child

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Although Brigham Young UNiversity students and faculty have changed throughout the years, one issue has managed to unite all members of the campus community for almost a century: campus parking lots. As a student in 1946 wrote,

"It goes without saying that we don't like muddy shoes and don't like bad roads; bur what can we do? The natural solution to the problem is to let the school go back to the horse. No parking problem, no roads to worry about. Just put the feed bag on old Dobbin and !er him roam rill school's out. Then a quick whistle, …

"Hiding By Showing": Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors As A Eucharistic Tableau, Katharine Davidson Bekker

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Liturgical cloths and hangings have been a ubiquitous part of the Eucharistic experience for Christian churchgoers for much of the Catholic Church's religious history. While often overshadowed or displaced in religious images by the drapery of individual figures, altar cloths and frontals are occasionally featured, as in the Master of the Aachen Altar's images of The Mass of St. Gregory (figs. I and 2). A similar green cloth to those in the St. Gregory images is seen in the background of Hans Holbein the Younger's 1533 portrait of The Ambassadors (fig. 3). Though much has been said about many of …

Front Matter

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Editor's Preface, Alison Wood

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

When writing of her friendship with Henry James, Edith Wharton described their relationship as "an atmosphere of the rarest understanding, the richest and most varied mental comradeship." The friendship began in 1900, when Wharton sent James a brief note congratulating him on a recent publication. They struck up a correspondence, one chat lasted nearly fifteen years. Wharton would lacer reflect on the relationship in her autobiography, calling it "a real marriage of true minds," built upon a shared love of writing and reading. This relationship is documented in large part because of their vast correspondence, as the two authors shared …

Book Review: Intergenerational Christian Formation, Second Edition, Chelsea Stirman

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Intergenerational Christian Formation, second ed., by Holly Catterton Allen, Christine Lawton, and Cory L. Seibel. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2023. 336 pages, $40.

Simplicity And The Sermon On The Mount, Falon Opsahl Barton

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Jesus lived a life of simplicity in his possessions and his purpose. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invites his disciples, then and now, into a similar life of simplicity that is fully focused on God alone in order to make whole our relationships with God, ourselves, each other, and creation. This article claims that simplicity is a primary theme of Jesus’ longest discourse, and that Jesus’ simplicity is not self-focused, but rather benefits all humanity and all creation. This article exegetes Matthew 6:25-34 specifically, and draws out some of the theological and missional implications of Jesus's model of …

National Status Of Campus Ministry In Churches Of Christ, Dylan Kirkland

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This article introduces research on the status of campus ministry in Churches of Christ in the United States, particularly related to ministry size, baptisms, and preparation of future ministers and missionaries. It then analyzes significant correlations in the data. Finally, it takes the data (based on the 2022-2023 school year) and makes comparisons with similar markers of success from Church of Christ campus ministries from roughly fifty years ago.

A Line Of Matriarchs, Ron Bruner, Dudley Chancey

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Although shared practices are central to religious socialization, relationships empower such sharing. Familial relationships are the most durable and effective of such relationships, even when family form varies. Though many ethnic and faith groups tend to emphasize patriarchal leadership within congregations and families, in fact, matriarchs serve as the spiritual anchors for succeeding generations in a surprising number of three (and more) generation families. Data supporting this assertion are a part of the results of the Three Generations Project, a study of faith families within Churches of Christ.

Missional Interpretation Of Scripture, Greg Mckinzie

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Missional interpretation of Scripture offers a way forward for Churches of Christ, which are commonly characterized as experiencing an ongoing hermeneutical crisis. This article traces the contours of missional hermeneutics, introduces its cutting-edge, and ends with practical implications for local churches. In summary, missional interpretation depends on the formation of local reading communities through a rhythm of prayerful, intentional engagement in God's mission.

The Suluk Ritual In The Tradition Of The Tariqa (Sufi Order) Naqsyabandiyyah Al-Kholidiyyah Jalaliyyah In Indonesia, Imron Rosidi

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

Sufi plays an important role in Indonesia's early Islamization. Tariqa is a part of the Sufi tradition which strengthens the distinct identity of Indonesian Islam as it continues to evolve. This article is based on qualitative methods employing observation and interview techniques to gather data. Tariqa is part of the Sufi tradition which consists of several Muslims who are committed to increasing their spirituality. Tariqa goal is to get closer to God. The Suluk is the tarekat's special ritual which is done monthly in the first ten days. This article argues that the ritual activity of Suluk in Tariqa is …

Cinema, Black Suffering, And Theodicy: Modern God, Terry Lindvall

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Shayne Lee, Cinema, Black Suffering, and Theodicy: Modern God (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022).