Church History Commons^™

Illness And God's Will, John Sherret

Senior Honors Theses

Originally, God never put sickness on people. After the fall, the early history of man as recorded in the Bible further demonstrates Him refraining to use sickness. However, once the law was instituted God began to use sickness as a punishment. In the Old Testament, sickness was always defined as a curse and never a blessing. It was used by God to curse people for disobeying the law. In the New Testament, God was seen healing the multitudes instead of cursing them. Through the atonement of Jesus, believers have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Healing …

Martin Luther On Marriage And Family, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ellen White’S Interpretation And Use Of The Seven Letters Of Revelation, Denis Fortin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations Of Satan, Morgan A. Matos

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

This project deals with the one and only character of Satan, revealing him through the eyes of the medieval world. The ever-evolving, interconnectedness of culture, religion, and superstition make for a truly unique theatrical experience in the middle ages. With limited understanding and access to scripture, medieval Christians generated a blended belief system, in order to make sense of the metaphysical world, which manifests itself in medieval drama‟s representations of Satan. While the medieval character of Satan upholds many of the Church‟s teachings about his nature and purpose, he takes on a new persona when left to the dramatic interpretation …

The Relationship Between Scripture And Tradition According To The Council Of Trent, Matthew L. Selby

School of Divinity Master’s Theses and Projects

On April 8, 1546, the Council of Trent in its Fourth Session on Scripture and Tradition decreed, “This truth and rule [of the Gospel] are contained in written books and [et] in unwritten traditions.” With this dogmatic statement, Trent affirmed that the Gospel (i.e. revelation) is contained in both Scripture and Tradition, in contradistinction to the Protestant claim that it is contained in Scripture alone (i.e.sola scriptura). Yet, the decree remained rather ambiguous on exactly how revelation is contained in both of them, begging the question of what the Council affirmed, if anything, about the nature …

Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition To Mormonism And Its Effect Upon Mormon Identity, Derek J. Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox …

Approaching Christianity: Exploring The Tragic Impact Of Greek Philosophical Thought On Christian Thought, Tammy Galvan-Barnett

M.A. in Political Theory Theses

This study explores the impact of Greek philosophical thought on Christian thought. I argue that Greek dualism is the fundamental contradiction in Christian thought creating problems for the doctrines of Christianity and ultimately thwarting a biblical approach to Christianity. From the early days of Christianity, Greek philosophy became absorbed into Christian thinking. Christian theology is often incorrectly interpreted through Platonic metaphysics. Platonic Christianity distinguishes between sacred and secular realms of the cosmos and devalues physical things. Furthermore, the tragedy is not only that Greek philosophy has had such a profound impact on Christianity, but also that its influence is still …

Irenaeus Of Lyons: A Defense Of Recapitulation, Mathew Thomas Hollen

Seminary Masters Theses

Abstract This work sets out to explain the atonement theory of Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus’ atonement theology is often described simply as “Christus Victor” but I argue that is simply a narrow sliver of the wider atonement theory of recapitulation. In this thesis I systematically try to expound what it is Irenaeus believed and why he believed it. In the first chapter I explain the problem at hand and a short biography of the bishop. In the second chapter I seek to summarize the Gnostic school of Valentinianism, which is the key opponent against Irenaeus writes in his best-known work …

The 1919 Bible Conference And Its Significance For Seventh-Day Adventist History And Theology, Michael W. Campbell

Dissertations

The Topic

The 1919 Bible Conference was held immediately after World War I during a heightened interest in the apocalyptic and soon after the death of Ellen White. Patterned after the Fundamentalist prophetic conferences of 1918 and 1919, it was arguably the first “scholarly” conference held by Seventh-day Adventists. During a theologically turbulent time, Adventists found the emerging Fundamentalist movement attractive for its biblicist theology, its opposition to modernism and evolution, and the apparent popular appeal of its prophetic conferences.

The Purpose

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the significance of the 1919 Bible Conference for Seventh-day Adventist …

Roman Catholicism: Theology And Colonization, G. Scott Davis

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The Catholic tradition in the Latin West grew up on the foundations laid by Rome. It accepted as fact the urban establishments that had started as colonial settlements and the need for such settlements to safeguard the imperial order. Thus in Catholic religious thought colonization and colonialism have no independent status; they are matters for legal and political reflection. Nonetheless, Catholic moral theology, particularly as it dealt with mission and conquest, had much to say about the activities that made colonization possible.