Christianity Commons^™

The Paradox Of Appropriation: A History Of Media Technology And Propaganda In Rwanda, 1900–1964, Claudia Brown

Journal of Global Catholicism

Scholars of the 1994 Rwandan genocide agree that media technology and propaganda played a role in mobilizing ordinary Rwandans in 1994 to commit genocide. Underappreciated in these inquiries is the history of the introduction of media technology and propaganda in Rwandan society by missionaries, technologies Rwandans later appropriated and applied to a pursuit of self-determination, but also in support of perpetrating genocide. A close examination of the social and political context of Rwanda’s colonial era and Catholic evangelism reveals a variety of motives for adopting propaganda as a strategy for evangelizing and rallying support for decolonization. This article casts light …

The Untameability Of The Sacred: Votive Traditions At Notre Dame De Lourdes And El Santuario De Chimayó, Gabrielle Bibeau

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article compares divergent votive practices at Notre Dame de Lourdes in France and El Santuario de Chimayó in New Mexico. Lourdes’ embrace of modern aesthetic values—simplicity, order, and functional clarity—has led to the removal and tight regulation of most ex-votos. By contrast, Chimayó’s roots in Latin American Baroque aesthetics, with its emphasis on abundance, drama, and hybridity, create space for a vibrant proliferation of offerings. Drawing on Jacques Rancière’s theory of aesthetics and politics as the “distribution of the sensible,” the article shows how aesthetic judgments intertwine with clerical power to curate, constrain, and authorize pilgrims’ access to the …

“Enslavement By Unbridled Passions:” Catholic Magisterial Institutional Attitudes Toward Homosexuals In Poland Between 1945 And 1989, Agnieszka Laddach

Journal of Global Catholicism

During Communism, the Polish bishops presented a narrative about (homo)sexuality with in order to create the image of a righteous moral and social life that was to influence the Catholics. In my research I conduced a thematic analysis of this narrative. I highlight the doctrinal and Polish social-religious context to foreground tendencies in the formation of Church teaching about homosexuality as well as the importance of the Church in Poland to its formation. Then, I show the factors that characterize the episcopal discourse’s content and language about homosexuality, recognizing that components of episcopal discourse suggest a specificity of Church potential …

Overview & Acknowledgments, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This Introduction overviews the work of contributors from the Graduate Symposium sponsored by the Journal of Global Catholicism and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture.  The Introduction also highlights the independent peer reviewed submission from Dr. Agnieszka Laddach of the University of Warsaw.

Faithful Listening In An Age Of Noise, Charles Veenstra

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"True listening opens the door to understanding, builds relationships, fosters cooperation instead of conflict, and allows God’s love and reconciliation to work through us."

Posting about barriers to healthy communication from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Faithful Listening in an Age of Noise

Sanctified Consumption, Jeff Ploegstra

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The answer to 'how much is enough?' is inevitably 'more.' We never get off the hedonic treadmill."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­a responsible attitude toward material possessions from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox  Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Sanctified Consumption

The Good Samaritan In Australian Catholic Schools: Rethinking The Meaning Of The Parable For Catholic Identity, Maurice Ryan

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) has been influential in defining and directing the identity of Australian Catholic schools. Traditional interpretations of the parable focus on themes that stress love of enemies, care for those in need, and consideration of all humans as neighbour. A sub-text in understanding the parable has been the priority accorded to Christian conceptions of compassion over and against perceptions of Jewish adherence to legal requirements to observe purity prescriptions. This article seeks to challenge these traditional ideas about the meaning of the parable. A refreshed understanding of the parable offers Catholic schools more …

Paul’S Use Of Μυστηριον In His Epistles To New Testament Churches, Daniel G. Hutchins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The world in which the apostle Paul ministered was not one where the religious landscape was blank and there was no competition for worldviews. Indeed, the cultural forces of Judaism, Hellenism, and Roman imperialism produced an environment where numerous religious belief systems were present including Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism, Greco–Roman mystery religions, and imperial worship. Paul found himself preaching a message that had to stand on its own merits in an environment that had been religiously conditioned for centuries. Typical of their parent culture, competing religious systems of Paul’s day took different views of Christianity. For Judaism, Christianity represented a …

Practicing Joy In A Midwest Winter, Sarah Moss

Staff Work

"There is something to be learned from inconvenient things."

Posting about finding blessings in our circumstances from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Practicing Joy in a Midwest Winter

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Theory On Leadership Opportunities For Black Women In Black Protestant Churches, Jasmine Y. Lafayette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Due to changes within society and theological leanings, more Christian leadership opportunities are available for leaders within predominantly Black churches. Campbell-Reed (2018) found that women make up 50 to 75% of the membership in these congregations yet assumed less than 10% of church leadership and perhaps 1% of pastors (p. 2). With such a robust representation of Black women, are they equally represented in leadership roles and opportunities? While there is ample space for speculation about these low percentages, there is also space for exploring the experiences of women regarding leadership opportunities. Transformational leadership theory assumes that the relationship between …

Any Day: Lessons In Daily Graces, Jennifer Vermeer

Staff Work

"He was just a dog, but he shaped our lives in ways I can’t fully explain."

Posting about the impact of pets in our lives from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Any Day

Faith's Multiple Meanings: Does The Author Of Hebrews Use "Faith" In The Same Manner As It Is Used In The Rest Of The New Testament?, Wayne Brouwer

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Tempest-Tossed: 50 Years Later, Carl P. Fictorie

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

"Where Art Thou?" Virtue, Duty, And The Voice Of/In Ethics In Jennifer A. Herdt's Assuming Responsibility: Ecstatic Eudaimonism And The Call To Live Well, Geoffrey Fulkerson

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Assuming Responsibility: Ecstatic Eudaimonism and the Call to Live Well by Jennifer A. Herdt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. 267 pp. ISBN: 9780192849205

The Religious Root Of Humanity: Abraham Kuyper's Concept Of The Heart, Steve Bishop

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

"Not A Textbook, But... ": Political Theory And The Biblical Narrative, Richard Mouw

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Limitations Of Genetic Testing, Tony N. Jelsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Knowing about a pathogenic variant may sharpen our awareness of our mortality, but it should not fundamentally change our perspective on life."

Posting about the advantages and disadvantages of genetic screening from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Limitations of Genetic Testing

Shifting Focus: Youth Sports And Mental Health, Tara Boer

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Ultimately, athletes should be encouraged to develop their identity holistically. They are athletes, but they are first and foremost children of the King."

Posting about protecting mental health while participating in sports from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Shifting Focus

Living Faithfully In An Economic Revolution, Part Ii: Ai's Impact On Productivity And Labor, Joshua E. Hollinger

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"AI is unlikely to eliminate human work entirely. But it may radically reshape which skills are valuable, how labor is compensated, and how widely the gains from productivity are shared."

Posting about the influence of AI on labor from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Living Faithfully in an Economic Revolution, Part II

Leading In The Unexpected: Adaptive Leadership And Time Management, A Phenomenological Study Of The Small Church Pastor, Simorrah J. Majors

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the most challenging obstacles small church pastors face today may be managing their time. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of the use of time management within the scope of church leadership and administration, as perceived through the lens of pastors ages 35 to 80 who are either the senior or sole pastor or elder at small trinitarian Protestant churches in the United States Northeast Region. Time management is generally defined as organizing and planning how to divide time between different activities and functions. The theory guiding this study is Ronald Heifetz's (2009) Adaptive Leadership theory …