History of Christianity Commons^™

I Was Looking For God: A Study Of Wehrmacht Personnel And Their Personal Relationships With Religion, Christopher Bishop

Master's Theses

The Wehrmacht was Germany’s fighting force in the field during World War II. Its brutality and discriminatory practices rivaled that of the Nazi paramilitary and police units dispatched alongside them in newly conquered areas during this conflict. Coming from a society that was not at all unfamiliar with Christianity, some within the Wehrmacht related to Christianity in some form and attempted to use it to either justify actions or make sense of the world around them.

While considerable scholarship exists on the Nazi Party’s relationship to Christianity as a convenient propaganda tool for both soldier and civilian alike, the historiography …

Manufacturing A Protestant Consensus: Religion And Regime Entrenchment In The Eisenhower Era, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

The party regime concept is central to the study of American political development. Yet many questions about the processes through which party regimes are created, maintained, and dismantled remain unanswered. This article argues that religious bodies have historically played an important role in these processes. Specifically, I demonstrate that “mainline” Protestant groups made three distinct contributions to the entrenchment of the post–New Deal Democratic regime. First, the National Council of Churches (NCC) credibly reframed Democratic policy commitments as embodying universal values (as opposed to the preferences of favored interest groups). Second, the NCC's economic policy arm, which included representatives from …

Competing Social Influence In Contested Diffusion: Luther, Erasmus And The Spread Of The Protestant Reformation, Sascha O. Becker, Steven Pfaff, Yuan Hsiao, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

The spread of radical institutional change does not often result from one-sided pro-innovation influence; countervailing influence networks in support of the status quo can suppress adoption. We develop a model of multiple and competing network diffusion. To apply the contested-diffusion model to real data, we look at the contest between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus, the two most influential intellectuals of early 16th-century Central Europe. Whereas Luther championed a radical reform of the Western Church that broke with Rome, Erasmus opposed him, stressing the unity of the Church. In the early phase of the Reformation, these two figures utilized influence …

No Lack Of Gain: A Biblical Theology Of Feminine Generosity, Jenny Zoë Huelsman

Master of Art Theology Thesis

This thesis traces a biblical theology of feminine generosity. The capable wife of Prov. 31:10–31 sets an Old Testament paradigm, which is inhabited and enlarged by women in the New Testament. The thesis considers the women who supported Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8:1–3); the widow and her mites (Luke 21:1–4); Mary’s anointing of Jesus (John 12:1–8); and Tabitha caring for the widows (Acts 9:36–42). Throughout these profiles, a picture emerges of women who make essential contributions to the mission and work of Christ as agents of generosity that is derivative, expressive, contextual, intemperate, and Christocentric, always flowing from and returning to …

Congregational Vertical File, Mcgarvey Ice

Center for Restoration Studies Vertical Files Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

"Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views" [Review] / Beilby, James K. And Paul Rhodes Eddy, Eds. ., Ronald Rojas

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review

On God’S Side Of History: Time And Apocalyptic History In Paul’S Speech To The Areopagus, Keldie Paroschi

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This paper considers Paul’s speech to the Areopagus from the framework of Jewish apocalyptic historiography in order to determine the degree of overlap between Paul’s conceptual background on history and time and Stoic philosophy. The main facets of Jewish apocalyptic historiography include unique conceptions of God, time, and human existence with unique existential implications, all of which are found in Acts 17:22–31. The added element of the Christ event (vv. 30–31) heightens the urgency of Paul’s message of repentance. Despite some proximity between Paul and Stoicism, the Jewish apocalyptic worldview of Acts 17 differs significantly from the pantheistic and deterministic …

Sex In The Bible: A Poetic Female Retelling, Gabriella Raffetto

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

In my poetic analysis, I tease out the differences between Biblical and modern conceptions of rape. Many of my ‘episodes’ feature rape narratives between a husband and wife or concubine/slave; in the Biblical narrative, these relations were not considered rape, because rape only constituted relationships outside of legal bounds. In this way, I attempt to diversify preexisting stories in the Biblical narrative, making monsters out of praised patriarchs; even God is not safe from becoming the villain. In this way, I paint the patriarchal system in the Bible as a gothic house disguised in tradition and spirituality that women must …

Interpreting The Intentional Inaccessibility Of The Early Modern Roman Catholic Church, Kristen P. Quesada

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Many may wonder why, in the modern day, the Roman Catholic Church continues to incorporate Latin, a now barely extant language, into its canonic religious rituals and public services. However, to understand whether there is a latently malicious intent lurking beneath this esoteric tradition, we must look back to the 1545 Council of Trent, in which these traditions were first canonized. This choice on the part of the Catholic Church helped incense the Protestant Reformation’s criticisms against the Church for exclusivizing the very religion its followers were practicing. This paper investigates the origins of the Catholic Church’s suppressive practices against …

Discovering The Means To Provide Mentorship For Post-Seminary Pastoral Formation From Apprentice To Craftsman: A Pastoral Journey, Paul Hass

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This project seeks to produce a distinct process for the discerning of who might best serve as mentors to those newly ordained. The process aims to allow for people in ecclesiastical leadership roles to discern which of the numerous available pastoral mentors might best be suited for fostering a long-term mentoring relationship to a newly ordained pastor. This project uses the results of qualitative research, drawn from interviews, to provide a matrix for evaluating potential mentors through the lens of the Adaptive Leadership model. The resulting evaluation process was ‘tested’ in a truncated format through the Office of the President …

Otterbein University, 1847-1907 - Index, Harold Hancock

University Publications - Historical

The index to Dr. Garst's 'History of Otterbein University" was created by Dr. Harold Hancock (history professor, 1944-85). It is not comprehensive, but covers the major topics of the book.

The Necessity Of Monastic Asceticism: A Case For Retrieval In Contemporary Evangelicalism, Greg Peters

Essays

Within the contemporary evangelical church, there is often little discussion of asceticism despite an emphasis on spiritual disciplines and formation. This article argues that not only does the evangelical church need to embrace and adopt ascetic practices, but these should be based in monastic asceticism, based around the practices of poverty, chastity and obedience. The article first puts forward suggestions as to why the evangelical church does not embrace asceticism, in spite of it being part of its heritage, but then moves to a constructive argument, using an array of ecumenical sources, demonstrating that a monastic asceticism is a biblical …

First Christian Voices: Practices Of The Apostolic Fathers, Michael T. Cooper

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

What were the most important practices in the early church? In this volume, Michael Cooper arranges the writings of the Apostolic Fathers into eight themes that provide deeper understanding about the subjects important to the disciples of the New Testament apostles.

First Christian Voices examines the written testimonies of the late first and second centuries to discover what animated the church in the face of internal and external struggles and growth as the gospel extended to the boundaries of the Roman Empire.

Mission With Prophetic Power: The Journal Of John Woolman, Evan B. Howard, John Woolman

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

In Mission with Prophetic Power, Evan Howard introduces us to his good friend John Woolman (1720–1772). In this autobiographical record of his life, Woolman describes his charismatic, contemplative, and evangelical spirituality as he practiced a lifestyle of fair trade (justice) and minimalism (simplicity). Encounter testimonies of the “operations of divine love” in Woolman’s record of the goodness of God.

Interviews In Support Of For The Whole World : A Century Of Mission At Asbury Theological Seminary, John Steven O'Malley

Seminary History Documents

No abstract provided.

"Love Divine: A Systematic Account Of God’S Love For Humanity" [Review] / Wessling, Jordan.", Silvia Canale Bacchiocchi

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review.

Local Church Autonomy And The Role Of Associations Defined By America's First Baptist Assembly, David Crum

Selected Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Many Healings Of The Woman With The Flow Of Blood, Ekaterina Lomperis

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

With the emergence of the modern quest for the historical Jesus, theologians began increasingly questioning traditional views of Jesus as a healer of human bodies. While a growing suspicion of Jesus’s role as a literal healer of the body is commonly traced to the influence of the Enlightenment, in this essay, I will suggest that the roots of this theological marginalization run deeper, in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformations, when supernatural did not yet equal superstitious. The essay will examine two representative exegeses of the healing of the woman with the flow of blood in Mark 5:25–34, offered by Martin Luther …

The Christian Liberal Arts Tradition Can Appeal To Christians And Non-Christians Alike, Joseph Clair

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

College and university professors in the liberal arts (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences) are almost entirely left-leaning, liberal, or progressive, and this is especially true among faculty in the humanities and social sciences. The trend is even more pronounced in certain selective schools. Students who attend liberal arts colleges or universities often adopt more liberal or progressive points of view as a result of their education. There are many great literary depictions of this transformation and the ensuing alienation that often results when such students return home from college. (My favorite is in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Revelation,” where …

Arendt And Christianity: On Love And The World, Logan Andrew Daly

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Hannah Arendt criticized the Christian faith for what she saw as an inherent wordlessness or ascetic attitude. She believed this focus on the afterlife was an afront to her political philosophy and kept people from participating in the public sphere. This thesis is a selective exploration of Arendt’s criticisms against the Christian faith and aims to show that there is a way of reconciling the respective belief systems, allowing an Arendtian to benefit from Christian ideas and a Christian to improve themselves with the assistance of Arendtian concepts. The project is split into two chapters. Each chapter focuses on a …