Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Other Religion Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

PDF

Series

Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication

Articles 1 - 30 of 403

Full-Text Articles in Other Religion

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 30. Wallace A Theist? Part I., Charles H. Smith Apr 2024

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 30. Wallace A Theist? Part I., Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823−1913) has been portrayed as a ‘theist’ on a large number of occasions from his own time on to the present. In this, the first of a two part work, this assessment is questioned. In part one, the matter of Wallace’s personal philosophy and spiritual orientation is explored, the conclusion being that Wallace was a lifelong agnostic who can hardly be aligned with theism.


Why I Say "Merry Christmas": A Dei Perspective, Essraa Nawar Dec 2023

Why I Say "Merry Christmas": A Dei Perspective, Essraa Nawar

Library Articles and Research

"A few weeks ago, Dr. Daniele Struppa, our Chapman University President approached me with a cultural protocol question regarding sending holiday cards to his international collaborators oversees. Dr. Struppa who currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the American University of Sharjah has become professionally and personally acquainted with some members of the Royal family of the United Arab Emirates, some Social Entrepreneurs, Businessmen, Professors, Scholars and others through this academic engagement. Dr. Struppa was wondering whether or not it is appropriate to send a Chapman University Christmas Card during the Holidays even though December is technically not a …


Archaeology And Hauntology: An Ongoing, Stalled Conversation, Colby Dickinson Oct 2023

Archaeology And Hauntology: An Ongoing, Stalled Conversation, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is certainly possible that we might learn to better acknowledge the spirits of our ancestors who came before us, as well as to recognize them in such ways that we also learn to embrace the ‘woven density’ of our own lives, our histories and our communities. By doing so, we might begin to discover that the spirits we had thought were removed from our modern, secularized world never fully left us, just as the irrationality of our humanity cannot be fully tamed via a reductive, rational and scientific outlook on life. There are, as Bruno Latour had frequently argued, …


A Brief Analysis Of Contemporary Confucianism's Research On Feminine Topics, Jingzhi Pan May 2023

A Brief Analysis Of Contemporary Confucianism's Research On Feminine Topics, Jingzhi Pan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Although Confucianism has been recognized as a world religion for more than a hundred years today, recent research, which studies it as a religion, still seems numbed to or ignores day-to-day feminine topics like sexual crimes, domestic violence, male patronize, and even gendered religious value itself. More often, even if they announce they are studying the religion, people study Confucianism as a philosophy, an ethic, a phenomenon, a political strategy…everything else but a religion with transcendent values like other world religions. This essay will overview the research of contemporary Confucian feminine topics and analyze and argue their utilities in helping …


Jesus And Spirituality In Interreligious Perspectives, Nancy M. Martin Nov 2022

Jesus And Spirituality In Interreligious Perspectives, Nancy M. Martin

Religious Studies Faculty Articles and Research

Rarely do members of diverse religions engaged in interreligious dialogue find agreement on metaphysics and doctrine, though such conversations may be very fruitful and lead to greater understanding and mutual illumination. In the area of religious experience, however, recognition of commonality may be much more readily apparent, and in such encounters, the life and spirituality of Jesus provide a meeting ground. This essay examines Jesus as a catalyst for spiritual inspiration and transformation from Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and nontraditional perspectives. As an integral figure in Islam, Jesus appears in the writings of the likes of Ibn Arabi, Rumi and more …


The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon Jun 2022

The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how psychedelic substances become drawn into particular sociohistorical and political arrangements, and how psychedelic experiences with psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ are used as tools of subjectivation. Guided by literatures in philosophy, critical theory, and the social sciences that focus on subjectivity, assemblage theory, and critical posthumanism, I argue that psychedelics are drawn into variegated assemblages, each of which conceptualizes the nature of psychedelics in highly specific ways that reflect implicit conceptions of the world and the self. In developing the concept of psychedelic assemblages, this research provides a window onto the politics of the self in the Anthropocene. …


Emory-Tibet Science Initiative: Changes In Monastic Science Learning Motivation And Engagement During A Six-Year Curriculum, Kelsey M. Gray, Cindy Achat-Mendes, Ann Cale Kruger, Tashi Lhamo, Rinchen Wangyal, Gelek Gyatso, Carol M. Worthman Jan 2022

Emory-Tibet Science Initiative: Changes In Monastic Science Learning Motivation And Engagement During A Six-Year Curriculum, Kelsey M. Gray, Cindy Achat-Mendes, Ann Cale Kruger, Tashi Lhamo, Rinchen Wangyal, Gelek Gyatso, Carol M. Worthman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the initiative taken by the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community to connect with western science and scientists presents a unique opportunity to understand the motivations and engagement behaviors that contribute to monastic science learning. In this study, we draw on quantitative data from two distinct surveys that track motivations and engagement behaviors related to science education among monastic students. The first survey was administered at one monastic university in 2018, and the second follow-up survey was completed by students at two monastic universities in 2019. These surveys assessed the reception of science education related …


Visual Displays In Space Station Culture: An Archaeological Analysis, Justin St. P. Walsh, Alice C. Gorman, Wendy Salmond Dec 2021

Visual Displays In Space Station Culture: An Archaeological Analysis, Justin St. P. Walsh, Alice C. Gorman, Wendy Salmond

Art Faculty Articles and Research

We offer an archaeological analysis of the visual display of “space heroes” and Orthodox icons in the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS). This study is the first systematic investigation of material culture at a site in space. The ISS has now been continuously inhabited for 20 years. Here, focusing on the period 2000–2014, we use historic imagery from NASA archives to track the changing presence of 78 different items in a single zone. We also explore how ideas about which items are appropriate for display and where to display them originated in earlier Soviet and Russian …


Vaccine Hesitancy, The Covid 19 Pandemic, And Christian Fundamentalism, Nicole Drew May 2021

Vaccine Hesitancy, The Covid 19 Pandemic, And Christian Fundamentalism, Nicole Drew

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Over the past few decades, religion has continued to move to the forefront of American politics, with many viewing fundamental Christianity as synonymous with the Republican Party. Donald Trump's presidency has increased this tenfold, with significant figures within American Christianity voicing their support for him and tying him into Biblical prophecies. In the media, this appears to have affected how this demographic views the COVID 19 pandemic. The literature in this area focuses heavily on American Christians' response to mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and other attempts to mitigate the spread of the CoronaVirus; however, research on how this same demographic …


Beliefs And Their Byproducts: The Impact Of Religiosity And Political Ideology On Attitudes Toward Covid-19, Vaccines, And Climate Change, Philip Goodrich May 2021

Beliefs And Their Byproducts: The Impact Of Religiosity And Political Ideology On Attitudes Toward Covid-19, Vaccines, And Climate Change, Philip Goodrich

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Several studies have indicated that an individual’s level of religiosity impacts their views toward science and scientific phenomena. Moreover, research shows that these views can also be impacted by an individual's political affiliation and ideology. In this research paper, I examine the relationship between one’s religiosity and political ideology and their attitude toward the novel corona virus (COVID-19), vaccines, and climate change. Using data from the 2021 Chapman University Survey of American Fears, I find that while religiosity plays a role in one’s attitudes toward these three scientific phenomena, the greatest correlation stems from one’s political ideology. In other words, …


Introduction To The Special Issue On The Economics Of Religion, Jared Rubin Sep 2020

Introduction To The Special Issue On The Economics Of Religion, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

"The economics and political science of religion have blossomed into full-fledged fields in the last decade and a half. What was once a field on the far outskirts of economics and political science now regularly publishes in its top journals (see Figure 1).1 By 1998, the field was large enough for Iannaccone (1998) to write a survey of the shape of the field. The field was very much at its infancy at that time, and most of the best work was done by sociologists and/or published in sociology journals. This has changed significantly in the 22 years since Iannaccone's …


Religious Nationalism And The Coronavirus Pandemic: Soul-Sucking Evangelicals And Branch Covidians Make America Sick Again, Peter Mclaren May 2020

Religious Nationalism And The Coronavirus Pandemic: Soul-Sucking Evangelicals And Branch Covidians Make America Sick Again, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article investigates the response to the coronavirus crisis by Evangelical Christian nationalists in the USA. The article outlines the curious mediaverse of religious nationalism—its post-truth and fake news aspects in particular—links religious nationalism to American exceptionalism, and analyzes conflicts between secular and religious authorities. Drawing upon some lessons from the past, the article addresses the wider implications of Christian nationalism on American politics, and capitalist ideology, as it has been played out virally in the corporate media. The article shows that the ideological underpinnings of evangelical Christianity prevent its proponents from understanding the virus in an historical and materialist …


Networked Religion: Metaphysical Redemption Or Eternal Regret?, Peter Mclaren Apr 2020

Networked Religion: Metaphysical Redemption Or Eternal Regret?, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"I’d like to set the tone of this commentary commenting upon the above quotation by Reagan: Can we doubt that war criminals in your administration, under the tutelage of your ‘Reagan Doctrine,’ transformed the country into a harrowing neoliberal horror show starring the nomenklatura of corporate America? They achieved this world-historical assault on the working-class through foreign and domestic policies and acts of clandestine military outlawry that can only provoke a rational mind to contemptuously scoff at your use of the word ‘refuge’ and ‘freedom’ to describe the USA."


Shamanism & Its Basic Spiritual Function To Heal, Carla Frias Dec 2019

Shamanism & Its Basic Spiritual Function To Heal, Carla Frias

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Shamanism is known as the oldest spiritual and mystical practice still existing in our planet. Its presence dates back 30 to 40 thousand years ago, a time where consciousness emerged into the human mind. Throughout time and evolution, many of the shamanic practices have spread across the world and remain prevalent in a multitude of religious practices. Nevertheless, over time, their esoteric views on healing have become commonly overlooked and replaced by modern science. The holistic interpretation of human nature is being forgotten by a more “rational” approach about humankind. But what does shaman medicine truly entail? And how can …


Exodus/Bay Shore: How An Idea Became A Reality, Freda Elliott Baker Dec 2019

Exodus/Bay Shore: How An Idea Became A Reality, Freda Elliott Baker

West Islip (New York) Church of Christ Audio Collection

Freda Eliott Baker recounts the story of the ExodusBayshore church plant.


Viktor Vasnetsov’S New Icons: From Abramtsevo To The Paris “Exposition Universelle” Of 1900, Wendy Salmond Sep 2019

Viktor Vasnetsov’S New Icons: From Abramtsevo To The Paris “Exposition Universelle” Of 1900, Wendy Salmond

Art Faculty Articles and Research

This essay examines Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov’s search for a new kind of prayer icon in the closing decades of the nineteenth century: a hybrid of icon and painting that would reconcile Russia’s historic contradictions and launch a renaissance of national culture and faith. Beginning with his icons for the Church of the “Savior Not Made by Hands” at Abramtsevo in 1880–81, for two decades Vasnetsov was hailed as an innovator, the four icons he sent to the Paris “Exposition Universelle” of 1900 marking the culmination of his vision. After 1900, his religious painting polarized elite Russian society and was …


Technologizing The Divine, Peter Mclaren Sep 2019

Technologizing The Divine, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"Technology has helped us to define who we are as a species. But for all of its potential for good, it has wrought a malignant vengeance, calumniating the poor as disposable wastrels and inducing all but the owners of the means of production to endure many species of alienation. An intemperate obstacle arises when we attempt to technologize human spirituality."


God And Governance: Reflections On Living In The Belly Of The Beast, Peter Mclaren Jun 2019

God And Governance: Reflections On Living In The Belly Of The Beast, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In this critical rage article, Peter McLaren unleashes his revolutionary critique aimed at capitalist injustice behind postdigital socio-technological developments, historical forms of injustice such as racism and colonialism, and recent political events and developments including but not limited to US interventions in Latin America and the presidency of Donald Trump. Rising from two important prongs of McLaren’s work—revolutionary critical pedagogy and liberation theology—the article connects myth, religion, science, politics, technology, and humanity. The article reveals McLaren’s most intimate thoughts and experiences and aligns them with sophisticated theory and philosophy. It dances between the individual and the collective, the realistic and …


Why The Covenant Worked: On The Institutional Foundations Of The American Civil Religion, John W. Compton May 2019

Why The Covenant Worked: On The Institutional Foundations Of The American Civil Religion, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Scholars of American civil religion (ACR) have paid insufficient attention to the micro-level processes through which civil religious ideas have historically influenced beliefs and behavior. We know little about what makes such appeals meaningful to average Americans (assuming they are meaningful); nor do we know much about the mechanisms through which abstract religious themes and imagery come to be associated with specific policy aims, or what Robert Bellah called “national goals.” This article argues that a renewed focus on the relationship between civil religion and organized religion can help fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, I draw attention …


Kinship And Twinship In Jacob And Esau, Kent R. Lehnhof Jan 2019

Kinship And Twinship In Jacob And Esau, Kent R. Lehnhof

English Faculty Articles and Research

"The implications of these early stage directions are upheld and amplified elsewhere in the play. In what follows, I demonstrate this to be the case by reviewing some of the ways the interlude seeks to justify Jacob’s usurpation, most interestingly in its systematic and strategic deployment of kinship ties and familial terms. After explaining how the play leverages family relations to elevate Jacob and overthrow Esau, I concentrate on one family relation in particular: namely, the complicated bond between twin brothers. As I will make clear, the interlude’s treatment of twinship raises pressing questions about the way wealth, affection, and …


C.S. Lewis And The True Myth: A Reconciliation Of Theology, Philosophy, And Mythology, Courage Lowrance Sep 2018

C.S. Lewis And The True Myth: A Reconciliation Of Theology, Philosophy, And Mythology, Courage Lowrance

Masters Theses

C.S. Lewis was both a student of pagan philosophy and mythology and a Christian. He never was divided between these two pursuits in his life, though he gave the latter its proper priority. What allowed Lewis to keep this balance was his idea of the gospel as the True Myth, an idea that helped lead to his conversion and remained at the core of his thinking throughout his life. By this idea of True Myth, Lewis was able to not only unite the pagan myths to Christian truth, but also the rest of human thought as well. Thus, in order …


The Transformational Power Of Forgiveness Within The Church, Mary Mckenzie Aug 2018

The Transformational Power Of Forgiveness Within The Church, Mary Mckenzie

Masters Theses

This thesis seeks to explore and describe the concepts and effects of forgiveness within the church. It shows that the roots of violence, suffering, and pain are in the unhealed wounds of the past. It examines biblical, theological, and psychological materials on forgiveness, unforgiveness, and health benefits. Learning about forgiveness and how to use the skills can conceivably enhance mental and physical health through an optimistic and hopeful outlook on life. It highlights the differences of the definition and understanding of forgiveness and forgiveness from an intercultural perspective. Results from participants’ from five ethnic groups (African, African American, Asian, Caribbean, …


Karl Marx And Liberation Theology: Dialectical Materialism And Christian Spirituality In, Against, And Beyond Contemporary Capitalism, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić May 2018

Karl Marx And Liberation Theology: Dialectical Materialism And Christian Spirituality In, Against, And Beyond Contemporary Capitalism, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This paper explores convergences and discrepancies between liberation theology and the works of Karl Marx through the dialogue between one of the key contemporary proponents of liberation theology, Peter McLaren, and the agnostic scholar in critical pedagogy, Petar Jandrić. The paper briefly outlines liberation theology and its main convergences with the works of Karl Marx. Exposing striking similarities between the two traditions in denouncing the false God of money, it explores differences in their views towards individualism and collectivism. It rejects shallow rhetorical homologies between Marx and the Bible often found in liberation theology, and suggests a change of focus …


The Influence Of Religion On The Criminal Behavior Of Emerging Adults, Christopher Salvatore, Gabriel Rubin Apr 2018

The Influence Of Religion On The Criminal Behavior Of Emerging Adults, Christopher Salvatore, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Recent generations of young adults are experiencing a new life course stage: emerging adulthood. During this ‘new’ stage of the life course, traditional social bonds and turning points may not be present, may be delayed, or may not operate in the same manner as they have for prior generations. One such bond, religion, is examined here. Focusing on the United States, emerging adulthood is investigated as a distinct stage of the life course. The criminality of emerging adults is presented, a theoretical examination of the relationship between religion and crime is provided, the role of religion in emerging adults’ lives …


Reframing Identity In The Age Of Authenticity, Daphne Edmonston Apr 2018

Reframing Identity In The Age Of Authenticity, Daphne Edmonston

Masters Theses

Many in American culture have either actively or passively adopted the idea that authenticity is one of the highest virtues, if not the highest. The cultural ideal of authenticity states that personal identity and meaning are found within oneself. Being true to ‘the real you’ is the path to meaning, pleasure, and flourishing. This way of framing personal identity proves to be insecure, unstable, and leads to a lack of flourishing. In contrast, a Christian view of authenticity provides stability and security and leads to the possibility of flourishing in this life as well as for eternity. There is a …


Clairvoyance In Jainism: Avadhijñāna In Philosophy, Epistemology And Literature, Kuldeep Ashok Kumar Mar 2018

Clairvoyance In Jainism: Avadhijñāna In Philosophy, Epistemology And Literature, Kuldeep Ashok Kumar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an analytical study of the place of clairvoyance (avadhijñāna) in Jain epistemology and soteriology. It argues that avadhijñāna occupies an ambivalent position regarding both, since it is not solely attained by means of spiritual progression but may also spontaneously arise regardless of a being’s righteousness (samyaktva). Beginning with a survey of descriptions of avadhijñāna in the canons of each sect, including a translation of Nandisūtra 12-28, it examines how commentaries, philosophy and narrative literature developed and elaborated upon avadhijñāna as part of its epistemological system. Further, it examines the nexus of avadhijñāna and karma theory to understand …


Nurturing Church As A Biblical Strategy To Recover A Healthy Church Within South Korean Churches, Jinwook Kang Mar 2018

Nurturing Church As A Biblical Strategy To Recover A Healthy Church Within South Korean Churches, Jinwook Kang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There are many churches in South Korea, but not too many healthy churches. A healthy church should have a proof of early church from the Acts. It is impossible to be a healthy church only with a number of people, buildings, programs, and new church planting. The goal of this thesis is to suggest healthy biblical church using early church as a model and propose strategy. This study will first take a look at what is a healthy biblical church. A healthy biblical church is a nurturing church. Conventional church has a lot of nurturing programs, but this thesis compares …


Sikh Self-Sacrifice And Religious Representation During World War I, John Soboslai Feb 2018

Sikh Self-Sacrifice And Religious Representation During World War I, John Soboslai

Department of Religion Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper analyzes the ways Sikh constructions of sacrifice were created and employed to engender social change in the early twentieth century. Through an examination of letters written by Sikh soldiers serving in the British Indian Army during World War I and contemporary documents from within their global religious, legislative, and economic context, I argue that Sikhs mobilized conceptions of self-sacrifice in two distinct directions, both aiming at procuring greater political recognition and representation. Sikhs living outside the Indian subcontinent encouraged their fellows to rise up and throw off their colonial oppressors by recalling mythic moments of the past and …


Sikh Self-Sacrifice And Religious Representation During World War I, John Soboslai Feb 2018

Sikh Self-Sacrifice And Religious Representation During World War I, John Soboslai

Department of Religion Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper analyzes the ways Sikh constructions of sacrifice were created and employed to engender social change in the early twentieth century. Through an examination of letters written by Sikh soldiers serving in the British Indian Army during World War I and contemporary documents from within their global religious, legislative, and economic context, I argue that Sikhs mobilized conceptions of self-sacrifice in two distinct directions, both aiming at procuring greater political recognition and representation. Sikhs living outside the Indian subcontinent encouraged their fellows to rise up and throw off their colonial oppressors by recalling mythic moments of the past and …


Paulo Freire And Liberation Theology: The Christian Consciousness Of Critical Pedagogy, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić Jan 2018

Paulo Freire And Liberation Theology: The Christian Consciousness Of Critical Pedagogy, Peter Mclaren, Petar Jandrić

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"In this article we expand our work towards intersections and relationships between liberation theology and Paulo Freire. While Freire addressed liberation theology in his writings fairly sporadically (e.g. »The Politics of Education« [1985]), there is no doubt that he »lived a liberating Christian faith« and »significantly contributed to the thinking of liberation theology« (Kyrilo 2011, p. 167). Now that Paulo Freire is no longer with us, arguably the best way to reinvent his works for the present moment is through dialogue with Peter McLaren: Freire’s close friend, »intellectual relative« (Freire 1995, p. x), and one of the key contemporary thinkers …