Christianity Commons^™

The Dangers Of (Mis)Reading: Tolkien, Naming, And Abstraction, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"When we twist the meanings of words, we get doublespeak; when we separate word from idea—so far that we can’t see the problems in front of us—we abstract."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­reading in context 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.

The Dangers of (Mis)Reading

An Interfaith Paradise Lost? Religion And The Memory Of The Lebanese Civil War In Postwar Novels, Wilbert Van Saane

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay analyzes three Lebanese postwar novels: Nathalie Abi-Ezzi’s A Girl Made of Dust, Jad El Hage’s The Myrtle Tree, and Hoda Barakat’s The Tiller of Waters. I argue that these novels narrate the memory of war with reference to religious imagery and theological structures, especially the idea of a paradise lost as described in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. The paradise these novels present consists of a harmonious relation between people of different faiths. The root of violence is situated in a distortion and misrepresentation of the narratives of others. The novels also include the theme of a …

Schism And Dialogue In Antioch: Melkite-Orthodox Relations, 1724 – Present, Berge Traboulsi

The Journal of Social Encounters

More than three centuries after the emergence of Uniatism and the 1724 Antiochian schism, deep divisions persist between the Melkite Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. Despite ecumenical milestones and the official condemnation of Uniatism, full ecclesiastical union remains elusive. Efforts to heal the 1054 schism between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy likewise continue to encounter significant obstacles. This study examines traditional Melkite–Orthodox relations, academic initiatives, and dialogue efforts within the Antiochian context. It advocates bold, reform-oriented approaches to coexistence and collaboration—grounded in human rights and fraternity—moving beyond polemics toward mutual understanding, reconciliation, and trust.

Naming The Church: Expressions Of Belonging And Belief Through The Centuries, Kyle J. Dieleman, Jeremy Perigo, Sarah Moss

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Our individual churches have value and are distinct, but our connection to the Church also deeply matters."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­naming conventions for churches 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.

Naming the Church

“Pride And Despair”: Denethor’S Struggles Against His Self-Woven Death, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper examines Denethor, Steward of Gondor, as a central figure illustrating the interplay of pride, fear, and mortality in The Lord of the Rings. It analyzes how his Númenórean heritage, grief over the loss of his sons, and obsession with control shape his decisions, leading to passivity, mistrust, and self-destruction. Drawing on Northern literary traditions, including the Danes’ prayers to the Gastbona in Beowulf and Boethian reflections on pride and despair, the study situates Denethor’s downfall within a broader cultural and philosophical context. By exploring how his fear of death undermines judgment and heroic potential, the paper highlights …

A Time For... Reckoning With Kirk's Assassination, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"For Christians, engagement with culture is about a long-slow obedience in the same direction. It’s a deep investment in the communities where the Lord has placed us."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­responding to cultural crises 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.

A Time For... Reckoning with Kirk's Assassination

A Living Tradition: Faithfully Inhabiting And Engaging The World, Gayle E. Doornbos

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"To inhabit a tradition well is to be invited to play with its ideas in order to respond to the demands and questions of our day."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­exercising our faith in today's culture 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.

A Living Tradition

The Meaning Of Christian Suffering In Aquinas, Pedro Cardoso Figueiredo Santiago

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis investigates the theological meaning of Christian suffering in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. While much attention has been given to Aquinas’s treatment of the problem of evil, little has been written on the positive and salvific meaning of suffering as it appears in his Christology, sacramental theology, and moral theology. This study aims to demonstrate that for Aquinas, suffering—when united to Christ—acquires a redemptive value that transforms human pain into a means of configuration to the crucified and risen Lord.

The first chapter develops the Christological foundation of Christian suffering. Drawing primarily from Summa Theologiae III, q. 69, …

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sj: Master Architect Of The Company Of Poets, Timothy J. Wesley

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

It has been 107 years since the first collected Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ were published by the poet-scholar’s friend and confidant Robert Seymour Bridges. Literary commentators, historians, and theologians have sought to understand the great poet of the Jesuits since the posthumous release of the poetry to the wide world in 1918. Of the many angles on Hopkins’s life that have been analyzed and examined, we could name a few: his sublimated sexuality, his identity as a religious priest, the poet’s placement within The Victorian Period, a voice of apologetic theology within Modernity, a political eco-centric voice, and …

Creativity And Nerd Culture Coram Deo, Brad D. Hickey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"... our play, whether serious or non-serious, should be a part of our greater efforts to consecrate our lives to God."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­human flourishing in the gaming world 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.

Creativity and Nerd Culture Coram Deo

Wholehearted And Finite: Teaching Effectively Within A Theology Of Limits And Calling, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Infinite Creativity: How Mathematics Expands Our Imagination, Marissa E. Chesser

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"As mathematicians, we have the great privilege of uncovering some of the amazing 'invisible' aspects of our world (cf. Colossians 1:16) and reflecting God’s creativity in the process."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­seeing mathematics as an imaginative discipline 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.

Infinite Creativity

Volume 11 Issue 12 (Sept 1912)

The Soul Winner

No abstract provided.

Eternality Of Jesus Of Nazareth And The Meaning Of Three Of His Key Christological Titles: “Word”, “Only Begotten”, And “First Born” From The Dead (John 1:1), Olufemi I. Adeyemi

Faculty Publications and Presentations

TBD

The Mercy Seat Of The Risen Christ: Atonement And The Glory Of God In Romans 3:21-26, David Westfall

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Scholarship on Romans 3.21–26 typically isolates the death of Jesus on the cross as the moment when Paul says the righteousness of God was disclosed, leading to the justification of all who believe the gospel. In this paper I argue that, although the death of Christ relates in important ways to Paul’s claims in the paragraph, this reading does not fully account for his metaphorical description of Christ as a ‘mercy seat’ (ἱλαστήριον), nor his assertion that those who believe are ‘justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’. I show that Paul uses this language and imagery to …

Inyoni And The Pale Man (Book Review), James C. Schaap

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Inyoni and the Pale Man by John Suk. Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing, 2025. 256 pp. ISBN: 9781665770194.

Walking On Burning Ground: A Neo-Calvinist Cure To Climate Apathy, Beatrice Shackleford

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Longing For Transcendence: Olympic Gold And Christian Virtue, Matthew Vos, John B. White

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Christian Higher Education (Book Review), Carl P. Fictorie

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Christian Higher Education by Perry L. Glanzer, Theodore F. Cockle, and Jessica Martin. Abilene Christian University Press, 2023. 176 pp. ISBN: 9781684264124.

Who Is The God "With Whom We Have To Do"?, Michael Williams

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.