Other Religion Commons^™

As Fewer Young Americans Say They Believe In God, A Look At Why So Many Have Abandoned Religion And What Motivates Others To Keep The Faith, Briana Ellis-Gibbs

Capstones

Generation Z, defined by the Pew Research Center as those born after 1997, is the least religious generation yet, according to a recent report from the American Survey Center. More than one-third of Generation Zers are religiously unaffiliated, along with 29 percent of Millenials, those born between 1981 and 1996. On the other hand, only 18 percent of baby boomers and 9 percent of the silent generation claim no religious affiliation.

Though overall, Americans' belief in God has hit an all-time low, from nearly 90 percent in 2017 to 81 percent this year, according to a new poll by Axios …

Justice, Human Dignity And The Capabilities Approach: A Moral Assessment On Ghana’S Health Care Delivery System, Paul Eliud Esibu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Life and quality healthcare delivery are central parts of the well-being of the human person. However, despite the political and socio-economic the successes that Ghana has chalked in pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary times, the quality of healthcare delivery in Ghana could be described as sub-standard. In this a context, the Capabilities Approach, “The Theology of the Body” and the Akan indigenous understanding of the human person emerge as an integrated formidable tool to enhancing life and quality healthcare as central part of the human person. This is because “The capabilities approach – in both its comparative and it’s normative version …

Saga Beyond The Gate: Chapter One, The Coming Of The Gate Ghost, Tristan B. Miller

MSU Graduate Theses

“Saga Beyond the Gate: Chapter One, the Coming of the Gate Ghost” explores performance sculpture used as religious ritual. My work emphasizes ritual, creation myths, relics, physical manifestations of lived religion, and the power of narrative belief. One often turns to religion, science, or spirituality, to seek answers to questions about being a conscious entity, and one’s journey to the end. This saga uses scripts from all three of these schools of thought, placing the world of the Gate Ghost into tangible reality, as a play on a stage. Artefacts represent objects of power and mystery. Characters embody morality tales, …

Alexander The Great And The Rise Of Christianity, Stephen M. Girard

Honors Projects

Alexander the Great and the Rise of Christianity focuses on the political, mythical, and philosophical connection between Alexander the Great's life and the beginnings of early Christianity. The first chapter of the text focuses on an analysis of mythical conceptions of Alexander the Great as “Son of God” as well as cultural perceptions of him as “Philosopher King” and cosmopolitan, and how these portraits of Alexander were influential for Christianity. The second chapter analyzes Alexander’s relationship with the Jewish people, and his appearances in the Old Testament apocalyptic Book of Daniel. The last chapter discusses Alexander’s relationship with Christianity itself, …

A Bridge Between Earth & Sky: How The Natural World Shaped The Civilizations Of Ancient And Early-Modern Persia, Sophia Cabana

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project seeks to investigate the ways in which nature shaped the culture of ancient Persia through technology, architecture, agriculture, and art. Furthermore, this project investigates how the symbols and mentalities of ancient Persia were carried forward into the early-modern period. Achaemenid Persia and Babylon are studied as societies which influenced one another and combined to create the foundation of Persian culture as it is currently understood, which then combined in later centuries with other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultural movements to produce the Safavid and Mughal Empires. The Safavids and Mughals imitated and revived Persian culture in order …

Things From Of Old, Kristin Fay

Theses and Dissertations

In his 2012 New York Times article “Has Fiction Lost Its Faith?,” Paul Elie notes how Christian belief glimpsed in contemporary U.S.-American literary fiction functions in a social or sociohistorical manner within the narratives. If indeed assigned to an individual, the set of beliefs and their development are so difficult to determine, Elie contends, that the character no longer serves as a believer. This story collection responds to that critique and challenge by introducing characters who live out, live with, and live in consequence of their Judæo-Christian faiths. These stories take faith seriously—as the reason for everything to know about …

Proto-Feminism In Ancient Global Texts, Jody A. Dammann-Matthews

Global Honors Theses

This paper was written to explore the patriarchal interpretations of ancient global texts and to uncover erroneous interpretations of the texts highlighted. Two texts were chosen, the biblical story of Deborah and Jael and the story of Shaharazad. They were both analyzed and compared. In this work the stories were scrutinized through the lens of proto-feminism and the patriarchal interpretations that have been accepted through history. The interpretation of these texts have downplayed the proto-feminist aspects of the protagonists and the patriarchal interpretations applied to these texts have subverted and portrayed women in a negative rather than a positive light. …

Acts 17: Paul Before The Areopagus, Michael R. Preece

Theses and Dissertations

Luke's record of Paul in Athens is among the most interesting and widely studied topics in the life of the Apostle Paul. Luke recorded that Paul taught in the Athenian marketplace, where he was asked to present his doctrines before the Areopagus. Many have commented on the controversial aspects of Paul's speech before the council as recounted by Luke. Much of this scholarly commentary has been centered on the speech itself and the historical authenticity of the account. The purpose of this thesis is to reexamine the context and the setting of the speech as recorded by Luke in the …

Gays And God Can Commune Together, Timothy Dustin Pepler

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Book Of Mormon Atonement Doctrine Examined In Context Of Atonement Theology In The Environment Of Its Publication, David Scott Wetzel

Theses and Dissertations

Alexander Campbell, a contemporary of Joseph Smith, was the first to publish a critique of the Book of Mormon after actually having read it. Among other allegations, he arraigned that Joseph Smith wrote the book to resolve, with a voice of prophecy, theological issues contemporary to its publication. This study undertakes to examine Campbell's charge with regard to atonement doctrine. To assess the statement, this study first identifies the controversies about atonement doctrine in the years prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon, in the Northeastern region of the United States. It then compares the teachings inherent to …

The Influence Of Israelite Temple Rites And Early Christian Esoteric Rites On The Development Of Christian Baptism, Ryan T. Wilkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to answer the question of the origin of some of the most fundamental additions made to early Christian baptism. Christian baptism began in a relatively simple liturgical form, but became, by the fourth century, a much more dramatic set of initiation rituals. Among the added elements to baptism were washing ceremonies in the nude, physical anointing with oil, being marked or signed with the cross on the forehead, and receiving white garments. Scholars have proposed different theories as to the origins of these baptismal rituals. Some claim the elements existed in the New Testament practice of the …

Isaiah's Burden Prophecies As Spirtual Formulas, Justin Brent Top

Theses and Dissertations

The Book of Mormon makes it clear that Isaiah's message is of great importance to the modern reader. In order to facilitate modern and personal spiritual application of Isaiah's writings, spiritual "formulas" or principles may be discovered or formulated. These formulas are statements of truth based on the prophet's writings that may be applied in multiple situations and time periods. Such formulas of truth offer valuable insighst across time. These formulas may be understood by analyzing the historical setting of the chapter(s) under review, and through critical examination of the text itself. These formulas provide a solid foundation upon which …

To Know The One True God: Reconciling The God Of The Old Testament With The God Of The New Testament, Kelly D. Newman

Theses and Dissertations

There is a popular misconception in the world that Jehovah is too severe on occasion while Jesus Christ is always kind and merciful. The Latter-day Saint belief that Jehovah and Jesus are the same person presents a supposed conflict. There has not been much written on this subject by either non-Latter-day Saints or Latter-day Saints, thus, this thesis represents a unique contribution to a common perception prevalent in many Christian circles. The research of this thesis shows that the misconception is based on three problems: first, a misinterpretation of biblical stories in both the Old and New Testament; second, a …

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 Function Of The Priest And Of The Prophet In The Propatation Of Religion, Charles Ernest Davis

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

As one peers across the vistas of the past two types of holy men stand out with striking prominence and significance. The advance of religious thought and life has largely been due to the activities and contributions of these two, the priest and the prophet.

It has been the purpose of this research to seek to discover the particular functions of each of these, to show their correlation in producing religious advance, and to make certain suggestions as to how the values each has to contribute to the program of the modern Christian church may be more adequately realized.