Religion Commons^™

Racial And Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific And Biblical Perspectives In Dialogue, Ruth Anne Reese, Steven Ybarrola

The Asbury Journal

The first part of the paper lays out our understanding of ethnicity and race in light of current research from sociology and anthropology. The paper then turns to the New Testament material, and it examines "the Jews" as one ethnic group in the first century. This material is used to demonstrate that Christians also took on the language of ethnicity. The paper raises the question, "is there a Christian identity that both supersedes and subsumes ethnic identity?" It proposes that the answer to that question is, ''Yes, there is a Christian identity and ethos that supersedes ethnic identity." And, this …

An Aboriginal Missiology Of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization For Canada's Indigenous Peoples Through Healing Of Identity, Wendy Peterson

The Asbury Journal

This essay concerns the failure by Canada's Indigenous people to fully apprehend and embrace the Christian doctrine of imago Dei. The concern is founded upon the negative self-perception and perceived inferiority of Aboriginal peoples as less-than the Caucasian majority. Is this a failure of transmission on the part of missionaries, or is it a failure of reception on the part of Aboriginals? The premise is that both the theology of mission and the practice of mission with Aboriginal people must take into account the issue of self-perception and the problem of identity formation. The question is asked, Is there a …

Book Notes, Kenneth J. Collins

The Asbury Journal

William B. Lawrence

Methodism in Recovery: Renewing Mission, Reclaiming History, Restoring Health

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Charles Yrigoyen, John G. McEllhenney, and Kenneth A. Rowe

United Methodism at Forty: Looking Back Looking Forward

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Scott J. Jones

Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists

2008. Nashville: Abingdon Press

Marriage And Ministry: Conflicts And Occupational Conflicts In Wesley’S Life And Ministry, Tony Headley

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author explores John Wesley's perspectives on marriage and how these views related to his practice of ministry. Specifically, the author examines Wesley's developmental journey from believing he could not marry to actually contracting a marriage with Mary Vazeille. Following exploration of Wesley's perspectives on marriage, the author discusses these issues in relation to two observed patterns in his significant intimate relationship with Sophy Hopkey, Grace Murray and Mary Vazeille; namely that for the most part, Wesley cultivated these relationships out of travel and illness. The author concludes that even though Wesley moved from a position of …

Editorial: No Religious Preference, Terry C. Muck

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Justification By The Faithfulness Of Jesus Christ, Chad Harrington

The Asbury Journal

This essay focuses on Paul's description of justification by faith in Galatians 2:16. Scholars such as J.D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright have recently challenged more traditional perspectives on justification. This essay appropriates some of these challenges to Paul's letter to the Galatians. The problem for Paul is that some Christians are distorting the gospel (Gall:7) and excluding Gentiles Christians (2:12-13). Paul's solution is gospel reorientation. Instead of being a Torah-focused church, he instructs the Galatian church to be Christ-centered. This essay examines justification, works of law, and faith/fulness to reveal Paul's rhetorical purposes by analyzing socio-rhetorical backgrounds and literary, grammatical, …

From "Cults" To Cultures: Bridges As A Case Study In A New Evangelical Paradigm On New Religions, John W. Morehead

The Asbury Journal

The increased awareness of the new religions with the counterculture of the 1960s saw various responses, including a "counter-cult" approach by evangelicals. The counter-cult approach has tended to view new religions as "cults" and to respond to them as heretical systems of belief in need of refutation by doctrinal and apologetic arguments. Over the last decade or so a new evangelical paradigm has emerged based in missiology which, while recognizing theological disagreements that the new religions have with Christianity, approaches new religions as religious cultures rather than as cults. Various resources have been produced as a result of the new …

The Most Indispensable Habits Of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, And Practice, Mark A. Lamport

The Asbury Journal

In this article, the author provocatively claims that "theological education is neither"; it is not theological unless it is considers the nature of its mission to be ultimately Ministerial; and it is not education unless it takes seriously the learner as focal point of the process.

Armed with "best practices" research on effective teaching in higher education, this rather personal, sometimes feisty, essay challenges the fundamental assumptions of theological education professors' most strongly held beliefs regarding their educational philosophies (advocating critical thinking over accumulation o f content), educational psychologies (promoting learning outcomes and the characteristics of the adult learner over …

Bridging The Gap: Understanding Knowledge Of God In Gregory Of Nyssa's Commentary On The Song Of Songs, Nathan Crawford

The Asbury Journal

The problem of how one knows God is central to the theological endeavor. This paper seeks to explore how Gregory of Nyssa deals with this problem. I suggest that it is by understanding the role of Christ in the incarnation that Gregory finds knowledge of God possible. The incarnation bridges the gap that exists between God and humanity. And, through bridging this gap, Christ enables a person to have mystical knowledge of God.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial
Terry C. Muck

Justification by the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ
Chad Harrington

From "Cults" to Cultures: Bridges as a Case Study in a New Evangelical Paradigm on New Religions
John W Morehead

The Most Indispensable Habits of Effective Theological Educators: Recalibrating Educational Philosophy, Psychology, and Practice
Mark A. Lamport

Bridging the Gap: Understanding Knowledge of God in Gregory of Nyssa'sCommentary on the Song of Songs
Nathan Crawford

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?"
David Werner

Book Notes
Kenneth Collins

Review Essay
Kenneth M. Loyer

Book Reviews
Michael Matlock and Bradley Johnson
Charles Meeks
Amos …

John Wesley's Question: "How Is Your Doing?", David Werner

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Notes, Kenneth Collins

The Asbury Journal

James L. Schwenk
Catholic Spirit: Wesley, Whitefield, and the Quest for Evangelical Unity in Eighteenth-Century British Methodism
2008. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press

Scott Kisker
Mainline or Methodist: Discovering Our Evangelistic Mission
2008. Nashville: Discipleship Resources

L. Faye Short and Kathryn D. Kiser
Reclaiming the Wesleyan Social Witness: Offering Christ.
2008. Franklin, Tennessee: Providence House Publishers

A Review Essay: "Coming To Terms With Perfection", Kenneth M. Loyer

The Asbury Journal

Perfection: Coming to Terms with Being Human
Michael J. Hyde
2010. Waco: Baylor University Press

Wesley, Aquinas, and Christian Perfection: An Ecumenical Dialogue
Edgardo A. Colin-Emetic
2009. Waco: Baylor University Press

Book Reviews, Michael Matlock, Bradley Johnson, Charles Meeks, Amos Yong, Joseph Okello, Kandace Brooks, J. Ellsworth Kalas

The Asbury Journal

BibleWorks. DVD-ROM and CD-ROM, version 8 2009. BibleWorks, LLC. $349
Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock and Bradly T. Johnson

Paul A. Hartog, ed.
The Contemporary Church and the Early Church: Case Studies in Ressourcement
Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010
Reviewed by Charles Meeks

Gary B. McGee
Miracles, Missions, and American Pentecostalism
American Society of Missiology series 45
2010. Maryknoll: Orbis Books
Reviewed by Amos Yong

John R. Levison
Filled with the Spirit
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009.
Reviewed by Joseph B. O. Okello

Constance M. Cherry
The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and …

Egyptian Papyri And The Book Of Abraham: Some Questions And Answers, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

In 1835 Joseph Smith began translating some ancient Egyptian papyri that he had obtained from an exhibitor passing through Kirtland, Ohio. He soon announced, “Much to our joy [we] found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham.” While we do not know how much the Prophet translated, we do know that some of his translation was published in serial form and eventually canonized as the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. For nearly one hundred years, it was thought that all these papyri had eventually made their way to the Wood Museum in Chicago, …

Joseph Smith And The First Principles Of The Gospel, 1820-29, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

So much of a biographical nature has been written lately on the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith that one may well wonder if there is anything new or important left to say about him. Dan Vogel and Richard Bushman, in their dramatically counterpoint interpretations of the Prophet--the former contending he was a "pious fraud" and the latter asserting he was a legitimate American prophet--have forced us to reconsider the earlier arguments and interpretations of Donna and Marvin Hill, Fawn Brodie, John Henry Evans, and George Q. Cannon. Yet the contrasting contributions of these latest two scholars, and the fervent, …

Wilford Woodruff And The Rise Of Temple Consciousness Among The Latter-Day Saints, 1877-84, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

Historical evidence demonstrates that during the time Wilford Woodruff served as president of the St. George Temple, 1877-84, a profound change of attitude and a new understanding toward temple work developed among the Latter-day Saints. These years--highlighted as they were with completion of the St. George Temple; the introduction of endowments for the dead; the canonization of section 110 in the Doctrine & Covenants; and the construction of the Salt Lake, Manti, and Logan Temples--were critical to the formation of a new and rising temple consciousness and a growing sense of uniqueness among a people then undergoing a good deal …

The Short-Term Influence Of Free Digital Versions Of Books On Print Sales, John Hilton Iii, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

Increasingly, authors and publishers are freely distributing their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. A vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” We used BookScan sales data for four categories of books (a total of 41 books) for which we could identify the date when the free digital versions of the books were made available to determine whether the free version affected print sales. We analyzed the data on book sales for the eight weeks before and after the free versions …

Multiple Intelligences In The Gospel Classroom, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

In a worldwide training broadcast, Elder W. Rolfe Kerr taught, “We cannot expect our students to learn all that we hope they will learn by just hearing a concept or principle one time. Multiple presentations, utilizing various approaches, often appealing to multiple senses, increase the likelihood of our students actually learning and internalizing the concepts we teach.”