Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons^™

Roosevelt, Boy Scouts, And The Formation Of Muscular Christian Character, Gordon J. Christen

Religious Studies Honors Projects

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many prominent Christians and political leaders saw a degenerative influence in industrializing America. For them, urban culture had eroded gender roles, personal strength, and moral fiber. So-called “Muscular Christians” prescribed physical exertion and wilderness experience to cure these ills. I argue that these values were embodied in idealized characters such as Theodore Roosevelt, Jesus, and the Boy Scout to give a form to cultural remedies. In the process, they became the terms upon which proper Americanism, and proper Christianity, were constructed.

A Mixed Bag: The Inter-Religious Marriage Experience In Bali, Chelsea Bhajan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to investigate how marriage customs as well as the perception of religion and its role in daily and family life changes within the context of religious plurality. This study specifically focuses on the experience of interreligious marriages on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in both Bahasa Indonesia and English in north and south Bali and minimally in east Bali. Twenty-one respondents were garnered in seventeen interview sessions. Findings showed a variety of means of dealing with this plurality, including choosing to follow only one faith, practising aspects of several faiths together and …

La Gloire Ou La Croix: The Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy, Independent Churches, And Nouvelles Fois In Antsirabe, Alexander Koch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The histories and characteristics of five different Christian churches within Antsirabe, the FLM, FPLM, FLMAK, MRE, and Shine, reveal telling examples of how Malagasy Christians negotiate their religious lives within the personal, local, and national contexts. Although a two-dimensional representation does not do justice to the intricacies of each church’s individual situation, all five generally fall onto the spectrums of “historic” to “modern,” “traditional” to “innovative,” and “national” to “local,” with the FLM in the former classification, and nouvelles fois in the latter, and the independent churches falling somewhere in between. Analyzed across seven comparative and two investigative categories, three …

¿Pérdida O Persistencia? La Cultura Andina Y Los Efectos De La Influencia Evangélica En Las Dos Comunidades Indígenas Peruanas De Patacancha Y Rumira Sondormayo., Hannah Eby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Español: Este estudio se realiza como un Proyecto de Estudio Independiente del programa de estudiar fuera de SIT Perú: Pueblos indígenas y la globalización. Por un método etnográfico compuesto de entrevistas y observaciones de la vida religiosa de las dos comunidades rurales indígenas de Patacancha y Rumira Sondormayo, esta investigación explora la cuestión actual de la influencia evangélica cristiana en la cultura católico-andina. En las décadas recientes, la religión evangélica ha incrementado mucho en el Perú, la conversión creciendo rápidamente en las comunidades indígenas andinas. Según la teoría de la emergencia y la persistencia nacido de una conferencia del año …

Establishing A Revitalizing Strategy For Church Planters: An Analysis Of Church Planting Trends Of The 21st Century Within The Published Works During The Past Thirteen Years (2001-2013) In America, Ji Woon Choi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Church planting is the most valuable method to spread the Gospel, and God wants to see His churches everywhere. Nevertheless, many church planters have produced strikingly different results; depression or growth. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and research about current church planting trends within the published works during the past thirteen years (2001-2013) in the United States and to suggest a healthy church planting and growth model for local church planters in America and the World. After the analysis of the current trends in the 21st century, the particular statistical evidences and theological views about this study …

Discerning Segment Boundaries Within John 1:19-4:54, Joseph R. Dongell

The Journal of Inductive Biblical Studies

Bible commentators have traditionally supplied hierarchical outlines for the books they interpret under the assumption that texts are semantically structured, and that valid interpretation flows in part from accurately discerning textual structure. The disciplines of narrative criticism and discourse analysis have significantly advanced our understanding of textual structure, and have crossed paths by way of mutual influence with the IBS movement, which has given sustained attention to formalizing the study of textual structure. Against this backdrop, John 1:19-4:54 invites closer scrutiny in terms of the logic of its composition. The nearly universal agreement that 1:1-18 forms a clear literary unit, …

Advances In Documentation, Digital Curation, Virtual Exhibition, And A Test Of 3d Geometric Morhpometrics: A Case Study Of The Vanderpool Vessels From The Ancestral Caddo Territory, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula, Michael J. O'Brien

CRHR: Archaeology

Three-dimensional (3D) digital scanning of archaeological materials is typically used as a tool for artifact documentation. With the permission of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, 3D documentation of Caddo funerary vessels from the Vanderpool site (41SM77) was conducted with the initial goal of ensuring that these data would be publicly available for future research long after the vessels were repatriated. A digital infrastructure was created to archive and disseminate the resultant 3D datasets, ensuring that they would be accessible by both researchers and the general public (CRHR 2014a). However, 3D imagery can be used for much more than documentation. To …

Thinking With Nostra Aetate: From The New Pluralism To Comparative Theology, Mathew N. Schmalz

Religious Studies Faculty Scholarship

A consideration of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate specifically in relation to comparative theology and theologies of religious pluralism. The article discusses two noted Catholic theologians: Paul Griffiths and Francis X. Clooney. The article also considers Pope Francis and the implications of his washing the feet of non-Christians. The article was published in Asian Horizons, a peer reviewed journal published by Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bangalore, India

Reading A Protoevangelium In The Context Of Genesis, David Pettus

Eruditio Ardescens

This article proposes that the case for a ‘messianic’ reading of Gen. 3:15 is cumulative. No single individual argument is decisive and it is virtually impossible to sustain a robust protevangelium interpretation of this text within the context of Gen. 3 alone. However, as already pointed out in the introduction, isolating Gen. 3 from its literary/historical context in the book of Genesis does not lead to a fruitful resolution of its meaning but at best creates a hypothetical reconstructed meaning behind the text which becomes difficult to sustain in light of the interpretation of the 'seed' in the entire book. …

Historical Movements And The Theology Behind The Pluralism Project At Harvard University, Scott Macleod

Masters Theses

The focus of this paper is to address religious pluralism as a belief along with examining multiple factors that have been a catalyst for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University to become part of American culture. The theology behind and ideology of the Pluralism Project will be examined along with the writings of Diana Eck, founder of the Pluralism Project. Outwardly, The Pluralism Project and the works of Eck give the impression of an impartial attempt to educate people on the growing religious diversity found within America. However, it will be shown that the Pluralism Project and the efforts of …

Piecing It Together: Spiritual Tinkering From An Orthodox Perspective, R. C. Miessler

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Book Summary: Churches in the U.S. are grappling with unprecedented change. Financial challenges, globalization, the digital revolution and church-dividing topics are taking a toll on the institution and membership. Americans are increasingly not affiliating themselves with any religion, including one third of adults under 30.

In light of all this, what is the future of the churches? In For Such a Time as This: Young Adults on the Future of the Church, Christian young adults offer an invigorating, new, and timely word on issues such as eco-justice, immigration, interfaith relations, peace and justice, and inclusivity of those on the …

I Am Sartre, Lauren Butler

Theses and Dissertations

A week after explaining to my sister that the agnostic sticker on the back of my car, which read "question everything," didn't mean I hated God, she walked into the front door and sat down on the futon sofa with a look on her face that meant she knew where the conversation was going. Her dogs were rambunctious and her husband soon fled out the back door and towards the shop. I asked her, "Is it you that keeps covering up my agnostic sticker?" She smiled with her eyes first and then smirked so I could tell what her answer …

Distinct Differences, Kendrick Roberson

Global Tides

When analyzing Christianity, it is important to note the manifold changes in methods of worship that can be attributed to a racial demographic and its accompanying culture. Within these different methods of worship, between both denominations and cultures, adherence to the Bible should be the focal point of every church’s preaching. With the mindset of “Sola Scriptura,” this reflective paper will not only analyze The Malibu Gathering, but will also touch on the overarching principles of the Protestant subset and determine whether today’s Protestant churches are meeting this standard.

"Not A Hand Bound; Not A Voice Hushed": Ordination And Foundational Adventist Understandings Of Women In Ministry, Ginger Hanks Harwood, Beverly Beem

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

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Judgment Motifs In The Messages To The Seven Churches, Kim Papaioannou, Edward Moyo

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

(De)Psychologizing Shangri-La: Recognizing And Reconsidering C.G. Jung's Role In The Construction Of Tibetan Buddhism In The Western Imagination, Alec M. Terrana

Pomona Senior Theses

Popular literature on Tibetan Buddhism often overemphasizes the psychological dimension of the religion's beliefs and practices. This misrepresentative portrayal is largely traceable to the writings of the psychoanalyst C.G. Jung. By employing distinctly psychological terminology and interpretive strategies in his analyses of the Tibetan Book of the Dead and mandala symbolism, Jung helped to establish precedents that were adopted in subsequent analyses of the religion. Imposing a psychological lens on Tibetan Buddhism obscures other essential elements of the tradition, such as cosmology, physiology, and ritualism, thereby silencing the voices of Tibetans in analyses of their own practices. Jung's imposition of …

The Spirit Of The Lord And Obedience To God's Law : An Exegetical, Intertextual, And Theological Study Of Ezekiel 36:27, James Waita Mutua

Dissertations

Problem

In Ezek 36:27, God foretells that he will put his Spirit within his people and he will “do” so that Israel will obey his laws. Ezekiel 36:27 indicates a close relationship between the Spirit of God and Israel in observing the statutes and judgments of God in the Babylonian exile among the nations and after the exile. In this text, every major phrase and clause has varied interpretations or calls for further investigation. Not only do scholars have different interpretations of the verse, but also the English Bible versions vary in their translations. This leads to the following questions: …

The Sin Against The Holy Spirit In The Writings Of G. C. Berkouwer And E. G. White: A Comparative Study And Ethical Implications, Michael Davey Pearson

Dissertations

While compatibilists claim that divine sovereignty either elects individuals to salvation or inevitably consigns them to damnation without the involvement of human response, non-compatibilism claims that divine love requires both human choice along with a behavioral response. This dissertation examines these respective dilemmas in the context of the sin against the Holy Spirit with the purpose of ascertaining how these views impact the sovereignty and character of God and the resulting ethical implications. Compatibilism is examined through the writings and theology of G. C. Berkouwer, while non-compatibilism is appraised through the writings and thought of Ellen G. White.

This dissertation …

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …

Twelfth Century Literal Bible Commentaries: Comparing Jewish And Christian, Devorah Schoenfeld

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In the twelfth century, both Jewish and Christian Bible commentators began to emphasize literal, or historical, or contextual, approaches to interpreting scripture. These commentators wrote predominantly line‐by‐line commentaries that focused the reader's attention on linguistic questions in the biblical text. There was also a renewed interest in seeing the Bible in its own terms rather than exclusively through the lens of earlier midrashic or patristic commentaries, although those continued to play an important role. These developments happened at the same time for both Christian and Jewish scholars, who were often in conversation with each other about how to interpret the …