Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Life Less Difficult, Jennifer L. Holberg

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Last week I had the opportunity to speak on a faculty panel to our university’s Board of Trustees. Our topic: shared governance. Perhaps your eyes are already glazing over. So, before you scroll away, I want to reassure you that that won’t be the focus of today’s contribution.

A Personal Devil: Another Legacy Of The Reformation, Isaias D'Oleo-Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

Although the topic of the Devil and the Powers was popular in 16th-century Europe, the Reformers briefly discussed the Devil and the origin of evil. Despite the limited discussion, I appreciate the Reformation’s emphasis in presenting the Devil and the Powers as personal beings, whom God initially created good but later got corrupted. I invite readers to remember on Reformation Day the role that the Reformers played in clarifying the figure of the Devil and the Powers, putting aside the popular myths and legends.

Generation Z And The Church: A Phenomenological Study Of Perceptions, Barriers, And Opportunities For Church Engagement, Hector Albert Soto

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions, barriers, and opportunities that shape the relationship between Generation Z and the Christian church, with particular attention to how these factors influence patterns of engagement. Recent trends indicated a significant decline in church engagement among Generation Z, contributing to the erosion of vital resources necessary for the sustained vitality of contemporary Christian congregations (Barna, 2020; Braddy, 2021; Earls, 2020). The study was guided by three research questions: 1) What Generation Z variables did the church need to focus on to attract and retain Gen Z (e.g., social concerns, leadership …

Identity, Purpose, And Value: Amplifying The Position Of The Millennial At The Beulahland Bible Church, Sam Reid

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Beulahland Bible Church (BBC) experienced growth in 2024. However, a closer look into the development of the BBC revealed a vital concern: the Millennial growth accounted for only 5 percent of the church's overall growth. The researcher of the current DMIN project identified this as a problem. This DMIN undertaking has developed a comprehensive design that addresses the concern and restores the Millennial to its position at the Beulahland Bible Church. This creation is rooted in the instructions given by Jesus Christ to make disciples; this intervention will move beyond the physical construction of the church and carry out this …

كتابات المؤرّخين السريان عن الدولة العربية الإسلامية في القرنين الثاني والثالث الهجريين/القرنين الثامن والتاسع ميلاديين, محمّد مجيد حميد بلال

Horizons et Conjonctures

تتناول هذه الأطروحة حضور السريان ودورهم في التاريخ العربي والإسلامي خلال القرنين الثاني والثالث الهجريين/الثامن والتاسع الميلاديين، من خلال تحليل مصادرهم التاريخية ومقارنتها بالمصادر العربية والبيزنطية
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الحياة على محّك التقنيّة: مقاربة لاهوتيّة - أخلاقيّة لمسؤوليّة الإنجاب, جوسلين عوّاد, الأب إدغار الهيبي

Horizons et Conjonctures

Life at Stake in Technology: A Theological-Ethical Approach to Procreative Responsibility

In an age when artificial intelligence and genetic engineering shape life's origins, human procreation stands at a decisive threshold. This article offers theological and ethical reflection on human agency before technological power. Beyond biomedical concerns, it examines how digitization unsettles freedom, dignity, and divine providence. Drawing upon Catholic tradition—from Augustine to John Paul II—it proposes renewed theology of co-creation, wherein human creativity becomes participation in life-giving. Through Imago Dei and moral discernment, it contends that progress must serve life, not fabricate it. Christological ethics can guide reproductive technologies toward …

Timbre — A Transcendent Paradox?, Eugenia Siegel Conte

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Timbre, as ethnomusicologist Cornelia Fales writes, is “paradoxical” precisely because it is one of the most exacting processes in which the human body may sense and comprehend the source of a sound even as that comprehended sound is impossible to describe outside of metaphor or comparison. As one of the more recognizable qualities of sound but the most difficult to describe, timbre allows us to consider physical/emotional (affective) experiences of sound as a key aspect of faith and meditation. In this article, I examine physical-affective intersections of faith and meditation that often are key to praxes of worship, and show …

From The Heaviest, Dirtiest Depths To The Washy Ambient Clouds: Guitar Timbre In/As Schismogenesis In North American Christianity, Joshua K. Busman, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This essay argues that within the socio-cultural context of North American Christianity, the timbral qualities of electric guitar, with its long lineage as a site of cultural values conflict and identity negotiation, serves a theological function in the emerging and cohering sonority of digital worship. Using as comparative case studies the timbral qualities of delay and ambience as promoted and sold by Worship Tutorials as representing normative sonic values for these Christians, on the one hand, and the dialectic and schismatic deployment of distortion by the band My Epic on the other, we suggest that these timbral qualities become important …

Tolkien On Kennings And The River-(Woman’S) Daughter, Derek Simon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

While the River-daughter is a prevalent poetic name for Goldberry, Tom introduces her as the River-woman’s daughter when singing and skipping along the banks of the Withywindle. The River-woman variant occurs only once in Goldberry’s narrative but is not easily dismissed. The contrast between the two variant names raises several questions on how to read Goldberry’s enigma. Tolkien’s brief commentaries on the kenning as a poetic device serve as the starting-point for exploring the literary function of …

Religious, Spiritual, And Cultural Influences Of Dysphagia In The Usa, Emily J. Helder, Elizabeth Oommen, Natalie Bekmetjev, Abigail Mosher, Laura Schipper, Stacia Hoeksema, Katie Georges, Maddie Willemstein, Anna Bierma, Emily Cameron

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Dysphagia, difficulty with swallowing, affects approximately 16% of US adults and can result from conditions such as stroke, neurodegenerative conditions, and cancer. Despite growing emphasis on the intersection of religion/spirituality (R/S) and health, little research has examined these connections in dysphagia. This qualitative study explored the impact of dysphagia on engagement in R/S rituals and communities and access to cultural food traditions. It also examined ways that R/S beliefs shaped coping practices in persons with dysphagia and their caregivers. Data were gathered through focus group sessions as a part of an interprofessional support group. Participants’ dysphagia symptoms were caused by …

The Reformation’S Legacy Continues Shaping Latin America, Isaias D'Oleo-Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

Five hundred years after Luther’s 95 theses, the Latin American society recognizes Protestantism as an important socio-cultural and religious movement that has significantly benefited the Hispanic culture. Fostering religious diversity and speech freedom was one of the major contributions that Protestantism brought to Latin America.

Exploring How Religious Tourism Influences The Motivation Of Young Thai Tourists In Bangkok., Arisara Seyanont

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Religious tourism in Thailand encompasses a wide range of tourism related to religion, including traditional festivals and various religious activities. Today, temples or religious places in Thailand have become tourist attractions that people pay attention to, including groups of teenagers. Young Thai tourists show interest and travel to temples to ask for blessings, seek more amulets, and participate in Dharma practices. Within this context, this study aims to explore the components of religious tourism that influence the motivation of young Thai tourists in Bangkok. The components of religious tourism consist of 5 dimensions: 1) architectural design, painting, and sculpture; 2) …

100 Years Of Sergei Eisenstein: Iconographic Language And Revolution, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece Броненосец Потёмкин / Battleship Potemkin (1925), it is essential to re-examine the film that has had enduring influence on film theory, history, and scholarship. Voted one of the greatest films of all time, Eisenstein’s cinematic genius has been crucial to understanding the power of film language. This paper focuses on the underexplored relationship between Eisenstein’s film language and iconography, examining the ways in which Orthodox Christian iconography shaped the story of revolution. The paper delves into the ways in which Eisenstein conveyed complex ideas, demonstrating the technical developments of film …

Theopathic Analogy: A Canonical-Theological Approach To God’S Emotions, Hunter Tabor

Philosophy Student Projects

The philosophical and theological problem of divine impassibility has received much attention in recent years. One way of articulating this problem in Christian theology is this: can one truthfully ascribe emotions to God? This paper responds in the affirmative. After explaining the problem of anthropomorphism leveled against religious language, I argue that analogy best accounts for human speech about God and effectively responds to this critique. Second, I outline a canonical-inductive approach to the Bible that takes seriously the unity of God’s self-disclosure. From these commitments, I argue that God’s emotions are not anthropopathic—“bottom-up” human projections. Instead, human emotions are …

Biblical Theology - Lamentations 3:19-26, Kaitlin Burden

Biblical Studies Student Projects

This paper focuses on Lamentations 3:19-26. This paper makes connections to larger Biblical Theology themes found in Scripture, including, divine discipline, waiting and hoping, and a connection to Jesus. Many believers experience a tension between the promises of the God and the reality of their suffering. From Lamentations 3:19-26, believers learn that suffering is meant to be expressed as a prayer of lament. In doing so, believers learn to trust in God’s promises before suffering passes.

Book Review: Bearing Witness In Acts And Today By Troy M. Troftgruben, Christopher Robershaw

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Receptivity Principle For Effective Evangelism: Its Biblical Basis, Mike Morris

Great Commission Research Journal

Donald McGavran’s receptivity principle remains relevant today as Christian mission agencies and individuals make decisions about prioritizing evangelistic efforts. This article examines the scriptural basis of the principle. The author analyzes various passages that confirm the logical progression of the following statements: The preliminary work of God is necessary for evangelistic effectiveness. God works unevenly around the world as he works in the evangelistic process. Because of God’s uneven work, some individuals and groups are more receptive to the gospel than are other individuals and groups. Christians can and should discern where God is causing increased receptivity, and they should …

From Disruption To Renewal: Harnessing Divine Interruptions And Strategic Leadership For Transforming Church Culture, Ryan Johnson

Great Commission Research Journal

Church revitalization is a field that addresses refreshing the church’s mission and vision by leaders who assess internal and external factors affecting the congregation’s current state. However, researchers in organizational culture argue that refreshed strategies will be ineffective without also addressing underlying cultural issues. This essay addresses the need for and the process of transforming church culture during the revitalization process. Pastors and leaders bring about cultural change by disrupting the status quo. This disruptive leadership is achieved through two approaches. First, leaders proactively and incrementally disrupt the status quo to influence cultural change through faithful pastoral practices. Secondly, leaders …

Book Review: Street Smarts: Using Questions To Answer Christianity’S Toughest Challenges By Gregory Koukal, Daniel Suter

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

I Was In Prison And You Educated Me: A Missiological Analysis, Paul H. De Neui

Great Commission Research Journal

With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of the world’s prisoners. The U.S. detains more of its own population than any other country in the world. Providing theological education to men and women who are incarcerated in U.S. prisons presents possibilities for mutual transformation, culture shaping, as well as numerous complex challenges. This article reviews the ten years of North Park Theological Seminary’s involvement in this effort in three state prisons in Illinois, drawing out lessons learned in the process. The opportunities and potential pitfalls are presented from a missiological perspective to …