Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Imagination As A Response To Naturalism: C.S. Lewis’S The Chronicles Of Narnia In Light Of The Anscombe Affair, Allison P. Reichenbach

Senior Honors Theses

In this paper I suggest The Chronicles of Narnia were occasioned by Elizabeth Anscombe’s critique of chapter three of Miracles. Instead of a retreat from debate, The Chronicles show that the Supernatural is not something to be contemplated, but instead experienced. In the stories, the children’s dominant naturalism and ignorance of Supernaturalism personally encounter the highest Supernatural being. When transitioning from Miracles to The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis’s writing altered from operating under the Argument from Reason to the experience of imagination in order for the reader to personally experience – not contemplate – Supernaturalism. Fairytale, romance, and …

Priest, Writer, Mentor, Misfit: Understanding Henri Nouwen, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Two decades ago, on September 21, 1996, while on the way to St. Petersburg to shoot a documentary based on his acclaimed spiritual meditation, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen—priest, writer, professor, and pastoral mentor—died of a heart attack in his homeland of the Netherlands. His friends and countless admirers were stunned. Prolific author of more than three dozen books, and a much-called-upon speaker and preacher, Nouwen was a large presence in Catholic circles and a growing influence in Protestant ones as well. His loss was felt not only in his immediate community but around the world.

Scriptural Foundations For Academic Disciplines: A Biblical Theme Approach, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

This article presents the thesis that major themes of the Bible can form the biblical foundation for academic disciplines as taught in Christian primary schools, secondary schools and undergraduate and graduate studies in higher education. The Bible is not a comprehensive encyclopedia of knowledge; however, its perspective offers a deeper theological and philosophical basis for any academic discipline.

This article is reproduced/used/uploaded with permission from The Journal of Adventist Education®.

The Study On The Problems Of The Current Korean Churches, Hai Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christianity in South Korean experienced unusually rapid growth for almost 100 years: The revival of church members, the growth of prayer, worship, and evangelism. However, current Korean churches face many problems that have stopped the growth, and actually put the Korean church in a decline. The problems, but are not limited to, are unethical aspects of pastor; including tax problem, huge church constructions, and loving materials. Korean churches should know why these kinds of problems occur and what the solutions are. There are many studies regarding the development of Korean churches but there are few studies examining the problems of …

Discipleship Counseling: Developing Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Followers Of Jesus, James Albritton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project will look at how professional or lay counseling can increase the effectiveness of making and maturing followers of Jesus. An effective strategy for disciple-making that targets the whole person will be established to help followers of Jesus overcome the emotional pain due to past sin and hurts which have left them ineffective and stagnant in their growth as disciples. Research will be conducted through articles, websites, and books dealing with the subject as well as a survey of at least 50 pastors to determine whether a clear process of disciple-making exists in their church and if any form …

A Model For Biblical Worldview Development In Evangelical Christian Emerging Adults, Roger Erdvig

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a model of Biblical worldview development during emerging adulthood for Evangelical Christians, ages 18-23. Participants (N = 20) were Christian emerging adults who were nominated as having strong Biblical worldviews. Data was collected via personal worldview development timelines, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group session with select participants. Analysis of the data was conducted utilizing Corbin and Strauss’ (2015) grounded theory analysis protocol. The model generated in this study suggests that maturation in Biblical worldview results from employing various means to process the different prompts that Christian emerging adults encounter. …

Aux Origines Du Mandéisme : La Question De Jean Le Baptiste, Edmondo Lupieri

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Nous avons exploré les origines du mandéisme et la possibilité d’une connexion historique avec la figure de Jean le Baptiste, puis l’histoire de la « découverte » des mandéens par les Européens au xvi^e siècle et la construction d’un « mythe des origines », selon lequel les mandéens ont été considérés des Chrétiens, disciples de Jean l’Évangéliste et, après, de Jean le Baptiste. Après quelques renseignements sur la structure socioreligieuse traditionnelle des communautés mandéennes, nous avons étudié certains éléments de la théologie et puis l’histoire du salut, de la création du monde et d’Adam, jusqu’à la venue de Jean …

Apologetics Without Apology: Arguments For The Existence Of God From Business & Economics, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

This paper offers the reader ways for the business practitioner to participate in Christian apologetics. Apologetics is defined. The purpose and tasks of apologetics is described. A case is made for the importance of Christian apologetics. Several tactics are introduced that offer potential for the Christian apologist. A matrix describes the potential opportunities to develop Christian apologetics for the context of business and economics. A discussion follows regarding the implications for business scholars and Christian business school curriculum at all levels.

A Tribute To Frederick J. Gaiser: Upon His Retirement As Editor Of Word & World, Mark A. Throntveit

Faculty Publications

This tribute to Frederick Gaiser at the end of his term as editor of Word & World comes from a longtime colleague and collaborator in the publication of this journal. Mark Throntveit is the Book Review Editor of this journal, and the Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary.

Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren't Fundamentalists, Al Truesdale (Editor), Craighton T. Hippenhammer

Faculty Scholarship – Library Science

A review of a book that delineates the differences between Christian fundamentalism and Wesleyanism, including theological control beliefs and why the distinctions matter, written by and published by well-known leaders in the Church of the Nazarene.

Me And We: God's New Social Gospel, Leonard Sweet, Craighton T. Hippenhammer

Faculty Scholarship – Library Science

A review of a book by Leonard Sweet that attempts to redefine the old social gospel into a new social gospel that is more evangelical in nature than the recent social justice movement.

Leadership Principles And Applications For Establishing A Christ-Centered Church In South Korea, Dongho Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a Christ-centered, biblical Great Commission model for Presbyterian Church pastors in South Korea. Pastor Hanhum Ok said that there are many programs and forms without the spiritual vitality in the Korean Church. Many attractional churches attract people by relying heavily on programs that often alter the focus of believers onto the programs themselves and prevent them from focusing on Jesus Christ. To ensure that the church—the body of Christ—remains faithful to its biblical mandates, thesis project argues that the pastors must have leadership principles and applications in accordance to the Christ-centered biblical …

Think God's Thoughts After Him, Jeremy M. Kimble

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Compassionate And Caring Guide For Those Suffering With Hiv/Aids In The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Sandra Gripper

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project will develop a hands-on practical Train- the-Trainer Resource Guide to implement caring HIV/AIDS ministries for the local churches in the Carolina Region of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church. It will become an evangelistic tool to reach and empower the most marginalized in society that will provide resources leading to transformative ministries. Many lack understanding regarding those who suffer with HIV/AIDS, and winning over those who possess judgmental attitudes and fears keeps the church at odds with those living with this disease. Nonetheless, appropriate exposure to caring HIV/AIDS ministries can empower the disenfranchised and strengthen the faith community …

A Call To Excellence: Leadership Training And Mentoring Manual For Women In Ministry In The Twenty-First Century, Verna Mazak

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The growth of women in leadership within the local church is at an all-time high. These women face tremendous obstacles as they seek to lead the twenty-first century church. This thesis investigates the role of African American women in the Black Baptist church to identify skills necessary for successful leadership within the denomination. Going beyond analysis and exploration, it answers the question of how to develop a training and mentorship program specifically designed to prepare African-American women for excellence in leadership. A survey of fifty church staff and members of various Black Baptist churches was conducted to determine the perspective …

Five Challenges To Disciple Making And Strategies To Address Them, Leonard Baldwin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In today’s society, the church has missed an opportunity to make a definite impact on the lives of the congregations. Disciple making has all but disappeared from the life of the church. This has left the church with a lot of members but very few disciples. The purpose of this project is to develop five strategies to help pastors and lay leaders address the discipleship challenges in the church. The five areas that will be addressed are theology, tradition, training, time, and transparency. Each challenge will be addressed individually and a strategy developed for that challenge. This project will provide …

The Development Of The Life-Healing Program In Churches For The Restoration Of God's Image, Young Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study is an attempt to introduce a pastoral system called Life-healing to Restore God’s Image. God made man in His image when He created him. The image, however, was broken because of the fall. Even after becoming a new creation by believing in Jesus, many Christians remain the same instead of experiencing the restoration of God’s image. Korean churches have grown in number and emphasize doctrines but face criticism for not exemplifying the life resembling God’s image. In an effort to overcome the criticisms, the researcher biblically analyzes the concept of God’s image and examines the theological resources related …

Spirit-Empowered Discipleship In Acts, Yan Chai

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Discipleship study had unavoidably been focused on the Gospels, and rightfully so. Whereas missions and church planting tended to occupy centre stage in the study of the book of Acts, and discipleship was often overshadowed. Nevertheless, Spirit-empowered discipleship, undoubtedly, had played a crucial role in the explosive growth of the early church. The purpose of this project is to utilize the four “E” principles of discipleship implicit in Acts: empowerment, exhortation, encouragement and exaltation to galvanize growth in Faith Hope Love Chinese church. It shall investigate the discipleship pattern that existed, apply the underlying principles given, and subsequently, analyze the …

The Relationship Between Parental Attachment, Religious Coping, And Self-Esteem In Korean-American Adolescents, Paul Roh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the relationship between insecure parental attachment, religious coping, and self-esteem with Korean-American adolescents, investigating the mediation effect of self-esteem on the relationship between insecure attachment and negative religious coping. Two hundred sixty-one Korean-American adolescents aged 12 to 18 from Korean immigrant churches in seven states completed the survey questionnaire to assess their attachment relationship with their mother and father, religious coping strategies, and self-esteem. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations among the variables, and multiple regression analyses were used to detect the unique variance of father attachment in negative religious coping and the mediation effect of self-esteem on …

The Importance Of Preaching For The Transformation Of Christians In Korea, Ho Jung Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Korean Christians have had a problem with the transformation of their values and life-styles following their conversion. This thesis project will attempt to prove that one of the most important factors in the transformation of new believers, is biblical preaching. It will further attempt to show that much of the preaching in Korea is non-Christocentric, and this is especially ineffective in transformation. To produce transformation in new believers, churches need Christocentric preaching. This thesis project will explore Christocentric preaching’s historical background, principles, and importance. This project will also present the advantage, need, and importance of doctrinal expository preaching, especially in …

Child Prostitution: Inadequate Response By The Church, Gabrielle Alexis

Masters Theses

Child sex trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained eighteen years of age. Based on that definition, there is an alarming number of children that are being sexually enslaved. This paper specifically focuses on child sex trafficking or child prostitution. It presents a detailed analysis of the extent of child prostitution worldwide, discusses the long-term effects of child prostitution, analyzes the adequacy of the Church’s …

A Balancing Act: Reading 'Amoris Laetitia', Peter Steinfels, Paige E. Hochschild, William L. Portier, Sandra A. Yocum, Dennis O'Brien

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Five religious scholars provide commentary on Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis's 2016 apostolic exhortation on love in the family.

The Oval Office Is Ready For Madame President: Predictors And Support, Brittney E. Souza

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The 2016 United States Presidential Election brings the revolutionary idea of a woman president with the Democratic candidate of Hillary Clinton. The current opposition for a woman president has been generalized gender stereotypes that she will be incompetent, too sensitive, temperamental and fickle with other world leaders. Many studies show that these arguments lack evidence in current female leaders and many commanding women in democracies have proven to be sufficient leaders to their male counterparts. Judeo-Christian traditions have permeated political voting and has acted as an important role in American public opinion on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. These …

Homiletical Discipleship: Developing An Approach To Small Group Study Based On Sunday Morning Exposition, Lance Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Jesus promised to make Peter a “fisher of men,” while The Great Commission calls us to make disciples of all nations. The purpose of this project is to create a discipleship approach for the local church that helps teach the church’s members based on the Sunday morning sermon. One disciple making problem is that many people attend a church to spectate and not participate. Some sit for years listening to the pastor preach without having any desire to be an active disciple. Others completely leave the church after a short time. This approach for churches will teach them how to …

Centralization And Its Discontents: Exploring The Relationship Between Measures Of Moral Development, Happiness And Technology Driven, Centralized Ways Of Being, Kirsti Svendsen

Ph.D. Dissertations (Open Access)

This interdisciplinary, qualitative dissertation offers an exploration into possible intimate relationships between recently expanding, technology driven forms of centralization of our social institutions and a supposed decline in moral development and happiness among Americans today.

According to Jacques Ellul, technology in itself is not the problem. Instead, he believes the tragedy is that the new idea or spirit of technique , technical efficiency and economic progress, which may have started with the Industrial revolution, and has become the western world s new "religion", the new salvation for humanity. Ellul and other thinkers suggest that the single-minded focus on material progress …

An Image Of Luther For Today: The Catechetical Luther, Mary Jane Haemig

Faculty Publications

Lutherans and other Protestants live with Martin Luther as a part of their heritage. Images of him are unavoidable. The image of Luther as catechist offers example and spur. His tireless efforts to teach the Christian faith to all people, not just the academic and learned, should guide us today. The message embodied in his catechisms offers to us purpose, reconciliation, consolation, and hope.

The Reformers' Interpretation Of Jesus' Teaching On Divorce And Marriage, Jason K. Lee

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ministry Partners: Ten Key Characteristics Of A Healthy Marriage In Ministry, Arlen Pfenninger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In the beginning, God created a partner for man to have as they live their lives together. This partnership was created so they could work together for the kingdom God created. There has been literature written about the unhealthiness of some marriages in ministry because the pastor has neglected his or her family for the cause of Christ. There are others who have advocated a partnership in marriage ministry where the husband and wife work together as a ministry team. This thesis project presents an understanding of the healthy characteristics couples portray as they partner together in the ministry in …

Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why People Are Done With Church But Not Their Faith, Craighton T. Hippenhammer (Reviewer)

Faculty Scholarship – Library Science

This is a sociological study written for church leaders that examines the phenomenon of mature Christians leaving the institutional church, who keeping their faith, look for alternatives to church, having become convinced that church as it exists is detrimental to their spiritual growth.

Bsent From The Body, Present With The Lord: A Traditional Evangelical Critique Of Traditional Roman Catholic And Non-Traditional Evangelical Teachings Regarding Purgatory, Thomas Gentry

Masters Theses

Traditional Roman Catholic theology and certain non-traditional expressions of evangelical theology teach that Christians who die without realizing perfect holiness will enter into a postmortem state called purgatory for the purpose of preparing them to behold the beatific vision of God in heaven. The purpose of this work is to refute these teachings by proving that they are unbiblical. The procedure for doing is to first summarize the traditional Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory; second, present interpretations of select biblical and apocryphal texts related to purgatory from the pro-purgatory perspective, followed by a traditional evangelical response; third, present a four-fold …