Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Vision, Repetition And Redemption: Envisioning Universal Salvation In A Group Of Six Carolingian Ivory Book Covers, Valerie Thai

Theses and Dissertations

Six Carolingian ivory plaques share almost identical imagery. This thesis focuses on the figures of Synagoga and the rising dead repeated in the compositions. As the ivories are Gospel covers used in Mass, this study demonstrates how these motifs appeal to the congregation, conveying the Christian tenet of universal salvation.

Review Of Keith Watkins. "Eucharist And Unity: A Theological Memoir." St. Louis, Mo: Christian Board Of Publication, 2023., D. Duane Cummins

Journal of Discipliana

Watkins’ studied grasp of the eucharist (Lord’s Supper, Communion) shaped his thought of it as a fellowship with the living Christ, bringing renewal to the church—and in his writings, his teaching, and in his pastoral ministry, Watkins deemed the eucharist as the focal point of liturgy. He believed the eucharist to be the key to understanding the catholicity of the church—the center of the one faith—and the core around which unity could occur. The eucharist, determined Watkins in Eucharist and Unity, is the means of recalling the sacrifice of Christ, of recovering a fullness of the meaning of church.

Sunday Celebration In The Absence Of A Priest And Women's Role In Presiding, Kristyn Demers

Obsculta

This essay explores instances of Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest, specifically within the rural context where the effects of the priesthood shortage are felt most strongly. Additionally, this paper examines the role that women play in the church, especially the rural church, and calls for the church to respond by creating more equitable roles for women within church leadership and ministry.

To Embody Christ's Image: Queer Presence In Liturgy, Maggie Nadalin

Obsculta

This paper examines how approaching liturgical issues from a Queer vantage-point in both theory and practice offers a fresh lens for not only understanding liturgy but recognizing the urgent need for Queer-influenced liturgical rites.

Different Forms Of Power In Worship Spaces, Patrick Russell

Obsculta

This project examines the importance of power in a worship space. In particular, looking at the historical structures of St. Paul's Cathedral in London and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, this paper strives to lay out the presence of power inherent in places of worship. While other aspects could be used: power as a political structure, power of shared identity, power of scale, and power as a means of limits are given here for consideration.

The Theology Of The Liturgical Seasons In The Syro-Malabar Church, Ann Mary Madavanakadu Cmc

Journal of Global Catholicism

This paper focuses on the theology of the liturgical seasons in the Syro-Malabar Church. The liturgical year with its liturgical cycles and seasons, is more than just a mere structural framework for the prayer life of the Church. It is a true locus of rich theology. The liturgical year is defined as the yearly plan of spiritual life by the Church, for her children, arranged in different seasons or periods to celebrate the mysteries of Christ in life together with feasts, fasts, and abstinence in order to make Christian life a successful pilgrimage to heaven for attaining salvation. This article …

Theological Implications Of The Symbols And Signs In The Sacrament Of Matrimony Of The Syro-Malabar Church, Nelson Mathew O. Carm.

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article discusses the significance of the signs and symbols used in the sacrament of the marriage of the Syro-Malabar Church and the adaptations from different cultures, particularly the Hindu culture of India. It concentrates on the specific elements found in the marriage celebration of the St. Thomas Christians. The rituals that are unique to the Sacrament of Matrimony of the Syro-Malabar Church, mainly expressed through symbols and signs, remain a significant contribution to the liturgy, spirituality, and theology of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and to the theology of inculturation. In the Syro-Malabar liturgy, marriage rituals, and signs and symbols …

Letter From The Chairman: Over One Hundred Years Of Student Publications At Concordia Seminary, Ben Vanderhyde

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

For hundreds of years, in various countries, through various languages, Christian pastors have exhorted their people to lift up their hearts in the liturgy of Holy Communion. Whether or not every church has always used these precise words, the exhortation is universal among Christians. We are called to put our faith and trust in the one who is above us; to set our hope firmly on the one whose second advent is on the verge of dawning; to aim all of our desires and affections toward the one who made us. In short, we lift up our hearts to the …

Liturgy & Life: How The Divine Service Connects With The Rest Of The Week, Benjamin Janssen

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

On vicarage, I was blessed to spend many hours with a faithful member named Ginger, who, alongside her husband Walter, runs and operates the congregation’s robust food and clothing distribution center. This center is completely run by volunteer efforts out of the undercroft of the church and successfully feeds and clothes 150 families a month. This work both serves the neighbor in need and brings the congregation into contact with many of those living in the immediate community. In short, it is a blessing to the congregation and the surrounding community. Therefore, at the end of each service day, I …

Learning The Liturgy With Mr. Miyagi: The Case For Liturgical Catechesis, Benjamin Leeper

Grapho : Concordia Seminary Student Journal

Using the narrative of The Karate Kid as a guide, I will demonstrate that Christian formation is a matter of recontextualizing liturgical practices in the daily life of the believer, so that she knows when, where, and how to use the precogni¬tive spiritual habits formed by Word and Sacrament in Christian worship. This understanding challenges prevalent liturgical theology, which tends to assume an automatic connection—or worse, no connection at all— between worship and daily life, by highlighting the necessity of locating for believers the telos of the church’s rites and ceremonies in discipleship. Finally, I will provide concrete examples of …

Send Your Holy Spirit: Reflections On The Theology Of Virtual Eucharist In Times Of Covid-19, Hugo Córdova Quero, Alan Robert Young

Conexión Queer: Revista Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Teologías Queer

This article explores the issues concerning the intersection of spirituality, sacramentality, proximity, and health safety in light of extreme circumstances such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. We begin by tracing the origins of the sacrament of the Eucharist, including the Eucharistic agency in the lives of the community. The second part of the analysis discusses the nature of community and how it relates to breaking bread and sharing wine. The last part of the article centers on community practice within the context of queering ecclesiology and rites through two examples, one in Latin America and the other in Asia.

Spirit-Empowered Liturgy: The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Traditional Christian Worship, Seth Whitaker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Sometimes perceived as dead ritual in contemporary Christian churches, liturgy provides a time-tested means of experiencing the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in corporate worship. When understood within its own historical use, liturgy, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, enables a community of faith to consistently remember and participate in God’s saving acts in history, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and actively look forward to the eschatological hope of Jesus’ return. Like the banks of a river, liturgy plays an important role to effectively facilitate the consistent and reliable movement of the Holy Spirit in …

Christ, Be Our Light: An Epiphany Encounter, Marie T. Racine Osb

Obsculta

Can hymn singing during liturgy affect the worshipping community’s life in the world? This paper proposes that singing the hymn Christ, Be Our Light by Bernadette Farrell during the liturgy of the Feast of the Epiphany can help transform the hearts of the worshipping community and compel its members to the social action highlighted in the hymn. An examination of the theology of the Feast through the lens of its proper prayers, a theological and literary analysis of the lyrics and analysis of the musical setting of the hymn reveal a strong connection between hymn and Feast. A theology of …

The Liturgical Action Of Christ's Body: A Theo-Philosophical Extension Of Bonhoeffer's Ecclesiology, Joseph Carson

Senior Honors Theses

Bonhoeffer’s theological contributions may provide significant relevance and theoretical illumination on contemporary issues in ecclesiology. Not only did Bonhoeffer offer creative theological insights, but he also incorporated philosophy into his theological positions in a way that maintains the supremacy of theology. Specifically, Bonhoeffer develops an ecclesial theology, starting in Sanctorum Communio and extending throughout his writings, that relies on social theory and philosophy (especially Hegel) while simultaneously making theology the theoretical authority over these other disciplines. In his ecclesiology, Bonhoeffer argues for an ontological unity between the Church and Christ, which he calls the Christ-reality and Christ existing as Church-community …

A Theodical Invitation, Joseph Carson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

While analytic philosophy has led the charge in answering the problem of evil (i.e., POE), postmodern theology and movements like radical orthodoxy incite a response to POE from a postmodern perspective. With skepticism toward purely metaphysical answers to evil, this essay relies on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and James K.A. Smith in order to offer a social, ecclesial, and non-rational response to the POE; furthermore, continental philosophy, postmodern theology, and social theory play a significant role in this paper. Supporting the conclusion that the Church is a heuristic, embodied answer to the POE, three contentions form the backbone of …

Cultural Colonization And Young Adult Liturgical Experience, Timone Davis

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

As Catholic churches around the United States close and those that remain open take note of their aging parishioners, young adults are seen as the answer. But how do we engage young adults in the ancient worship of the Catholic Church, when the United States culture directs them to what is shiny and new? When many consider how to engage young adults, they typically start with the Eucharistic Liturgy. This article looks at what the U. S. Catholic bishops have described as the cultural colonization of the Eucharistic Liturgy and the role the U. S. culture plays in our society …

Regrouping In The Clearing: Resisting Liturgiam Authenticam And Reconsidering An African American Rite, Kenneth L. Crowe Hamilton

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

In light of the move to the right manifested in the recent changes to the Roman Rite, this essay seeks to add an Africentric and postcolonial critique to other recent liturgical and linguistic critiques of the new rite by liturgy scholars and pastors. I argue that the new translation is an attack on not only Vatican II principles but also on black Catholic theological principles, the black Catholic community, and oppressed populations in general. The essay seeks to locate the racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism behind the imperialist nostalgia of Liturgiam Authenticam by revisiting the 1960s and the issues and …

Toward A Biblical Theology Of God's Presence In Christian Theology: A Study Of How Difference Interpretations Of The Divine Presence Affect Liturgy, Karl Tsatalbasidis

Dissertations

Problem

In spite of the universal agreement on the importance of the divine presence as the central aspect of liturgy, there are three conflicting ways in which the presence of God relates to liturgy. They broadly correspond to the main liturgical traditions: Sacramental (Roman Catholic), Kerygmatic (Protestant) and Charismatic (Pentecostal and Interdenominational). In our current situation, how does this universal agreement about the presence of God as the central aspect of liturgy relate to the conflicting means by which congregations assess his presence?

Purpose

The purpose of this study was (1) to describe how the three diverging views relate the …

Sola Scriptura Statuat Lex Orandi: Toward A Transcultural Theology Of Liturgy, David A. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Seventh-day Adventist church is one of the most diverse religious groups. With this diversity comes a preponderance in worship practices. Calling upon the Reformation principle, sola scriptura, the Bible alone should establish the rule for liturgy. How do we apply the Bible as the rule for liturgy, with so many worship preferences and diversity of cultures within the Adventist church? In this paper, I seek to articulate a way forward, developing a transcultural theology of liturgy to be applied in every Adventist culture, allowing room for a rich variety of local cultural contextualizations.

Immigrants And Cultural Continuance In The Liturgy: Celebrating The Nigerian Igbo Mass In The United States, M. Reginald Anibueze D.D.L.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The dynamics of the celebration of the Igbo Mass in the United States reveals a cultural nostalgia inherent among Igbo immigrants, one that aims at preserving the Igbo identity and culture, even in the diaspora. Convinced to maintain their cultural heritage on foreign soil, Nigerian Igbo Catholic immigrants established faith communities where liturgical worship is performed and expressed in ways that are consistent and meaningful to Igbo indigenous ways of worship. This essay studies the liturgical life of Nigerian Igbo Catholics in the United States, and how a people's cultural and religious heritage is preserved, sustained, and promoted in the …

Worshipping Meaningfully: The Complementary Dynamics Of Liturgy And Theology In Worship, Joseph Omolo

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Omolo, Joseph, T. "Worshipping Meaningfully: The Complementary Dynamics of Liturgy and Theology in Worship." Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 242 pp.

This dissertation is a work in systematic theology which explores the relationship between liturgy and theology in the current scholarship of liturgical theology. It examines how the complementary dynamics of liturgy and theology enhance the appropriation of meaning experientially and conceptually in the Christian assembly and thereby making worship meaningful event. Worship is meaningful when the Christian assembly encounters the Triune God in his word and sacraments and the assembly responds in praise, prayer and thanksgiving. In such encounter …

Sacra Domus: The Anglican House Church In Theology And Context, Alan Andraeas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The author is an evangelical Anglican priest with a recently formed sacramental house church. Though the house church movement is gaining popularity, no formal guidelines or methodologies exist which address this trend from a liturgical and sacerdotal perspective--even within his diocese. Because of this void, he will examine the following critical issues:

* What are the scriptural foundations for mandating the use of liturgy?

* What are the biblical, theological, and historical precedents for house churches?

* Can there be a complementary union between priestly liturgy and the house church model?

Without guidance from other `reference parishes,' the need for …

The Christological Remnants Within Eucharistic Prayers, Nathan Peter Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper explores the development of Christology in the early Church concluding with a look at Angel Christology in the Roman Canon and Logos Christology in The Prayers of Sarapion of Thmuis. A lack of Christological precision in early Christian praying has anachronistically led modern scholars to question the orthodoxy of early prayers. This paper argues that just as liturgical scholars have long realized that the development of liturgy moved from diversity to uniformity, so too this is the case with theology. The movement to tighten the borders of orthodoxy has led to liturgical standardization. Just as the dating of …

Promissio Spei God's Eschatological Action In The Church, Richard Aaron Davenport

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Davenport, Richard A. "Promissio Spei: God's Eschatological Action in the Church. “Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2012. 213 pp.

This dissertation, a work in systematic theology, examines the nature of Christian hope in the context of current scholarship in systematic theology. Its goal is to assess the way in which Christian hope is rooted in God's word of promise and the extent to which that promise affects Christian life. The eschatological outlook presented in Scripture shows that God's promises, and the hope that they offer, are presented to all of creation. This dissertation investigates the process by which the communication of …

You Can't Think Your Way To God, James K.A. Smith, David Neff

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

In Brief: Review Of Several Books On Worship, Jack Reese

Leaven

No abstract provided.

Behold, You Are Beautiful My Love, Lee Magness

Leaven

No abstract provided.

Did Come For To Die, Lee Magness

Leaven

No abstract provided.

"Who Then Is This" A Reading From The Gospel Of Mark, Lee Magness

Leaven

No abstract provided.

So Sang They, Jesus!, Lee Magness

Leaven

No abstract provided.