Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Glimpses Of Heaven Among Friends: The Utilization Of Film To Draw Interest In Small Group Studies At The First Baptist Church Of Albemarle, Roger William Thomas

Doctor of Ministry Projects

A small group study about heaven in scripture and contemporary film was developed in order to create interests in small groups. Believing small groups, discussions of the after life, and the power of storytelling are affirmed throughout scripture, individuals were recruited and led through the study. Surveys measured opinions on heaven and small groups among the entire congregation and the small group participants. Following the study, the participants were surveyed one final time on both subjects. Ultimately the study did not always change minds with concern to the afterlife, but the overall opinions of small group experiences seemed to be …

2010 - 104th Annual Summit, "Aliens & Light: Finding God In The Darkness", Abilene Christian University, Abilene Christian University

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.

Singular Christianity: Marriage And Singleness As Discipleship, Jana Marguerite Bennett

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

If only Paul had not written chapter seven of his first letter to the Corinthians. Christians can fairly easily avoid questions about whether to be married or single when they stick to the Gospels, for Jesus does nothing clear-cut with respect to states of life. He is present at the wedding at Cana in John; in Matthew, he issues a prohibition against divorce; he speaks about being eunuchs for the Kingdom of God, and reconfigures family in his exhortation that the ones who are his disciples are his mother and brothers. Because Jesus does not appear to have much of …

Dynamical Similarity And The Problem Of Evil, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Discussions of evil commonly fault God for not “doing something.” Defenders of God respond that God had good reasons for not “doing something.” Detractors observe that if a human being can snatch the toddler from the path of the oncoming bus, why does not God snatch the bus from the path of the oncoming toddler? The underlying assumption in such discussions is that God’s “doing something” is similar to humans’ “doing something.”

If human beings bear the image of their Creator as the Abrahamic faiths maintain, it is natural to suppose that divine action is similar to human action. But …

Women As Leaders In Buddhism, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

For Buddhists, the epitome of enlightened leadership is the Buddha himself. The Buddha, the “awakened one,” led by teaching a path to awakening that is open to all. The path to awakening – a process of purifying the mind of afflictions, such as greed, hatred, and ignorance – can be followed by women and men alike. Traditionally, however, the fact that the Buddha, the model of human perfection, was male seemed to imply to future generations that men were more somehow more capable of awakening than women. This impression was bolstered by the eight special rules attributed to the Buddha …

Gender Equity And Human Rights, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

The religious traditions that help shape society’s attitudes toward women and also women’s attitudes toward themselves often send mixed messages. The world’s major religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—assert that women and men have equal potential, whether for liberation or in the sight of a higher being, but social realities reveal a stark contradiction between rhetoric and reality. Women continue to lack equal representation in social, political, and religious institutions. For many, the failure of the world’s religions to live up to their professed ideals not only exposes their lack of social responsiveness to the needs of human society but …

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 …

Entering Into The Profound Mystery: Yves Congar’S Via Media On The Salvation Of People Of Non-Christian Religions, Elizabeth M. Cunneen

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

The twenty-first century Catholic Church is in the process of understanding its relation to the Second Vatican Council. Yves Congar, one of the most influential theologians at the council, had a theological career spanning over fifty years, and his theological insights remain pertinent to contemporary historical and cultural concerns. This paper describes Yves Congar’s particular ecclesiological, pneumatological and Christological insights in response to the question of the salvation of people of non-Christian religions. Congar seeks to find a via media, or middle way, which denies two extreme perspectives, one of which holds that explicit non-Christians are not saved, and …

The Gospel According To Moses And Elijah, Roy E. Gane

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Jesus’ gospel culminates the deliverance messages of Moses and Elijah and points to our role: If we love Christ a lot because he has forgiven us a lot (Luke 7:40-47), we will find no greater joy than reconciling precious people to one another and to him before the great day of his return.

Ellen White And The ‘Daily’ Conflict, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Viacordis: A Case Study Of The First Year Of A House Church Network, Robert E. Logan

Great Commission Research Journal

This paper is a synopsis of Logan’s journey in the development of a multi-ethnic network of house churches in the Los Angeles area and beyond. It is in this missional expression of faith communities that the necessary blending of the Great Commandment with the Great Commission are lived out. This multiplying network of churches is ViaCordis (Latin for “way of the heart”). A variety of church models are explored as to their methodology of living out Christ in their community. The 12 Life Commitments of leadership are shared along with 12 lessons learned to date in this process of ViaCordis …

Teaching As An Ethical Act, Center For Catholic Studies, Seton Hall University

Center for Catholic Studies Faculty Seminars and Core Curriculum Seminars

Teaching is a profession that places those of us who are teachers into powerful and influential roles. As with any exercise of power, one must learn to wield that power responsibly. It is on this question of responsibility that this workshop focuses its energies. We will look for guidance in the work of the late philosopher/theologian Bernard Lonergan to sort through the ethical dimensions of teaching – raising questions about one‘s attentiveness to the task, one‘s openness to insight, one‘s quality of judgment, and one‘s more or less adequate response to what is valuable. Finally, we will explore how one …

Trans-Humanism, Center For Catholic Studies, Seton Hall University

Center for Catholic Studies Faculty Seminars and Core Curriculum Seminars

This seminar will focus on what we are transitioning to as a result of new innovations in technology — bio, nano, neuro — as well as in new methods of communication. This seminar will have us collectively examine what it is we are aspiring to as individuals, as disciplines, as a university, as a species. Delio and Haughey are partners with other academics trying to create an environment that can welcome and discern where our aspirations and technologies are pushing us to go.

Editorial, Terry C. Muck

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial

Terry C. Muck

Our Personal Core Identity: A Wesleyan Perspective

Jim Boetcher

Identity Formation for Conciliatory Existence: How We Perceive the Other

Chris Kiesling and Lalsangkima Pachuau

An Aboriginal Missiology of Identity Reclamation: Towards Revitalization for Canada's Indigenous Peoples through Healing of Identity

Wendy Peterson

Racial and Ethnic Identity: Social Scientific and Biblical Perspectives in Dialogue

Ruth Anne Reese and Steven Ybarrvla

Marriage and Ministry: Conjugal and Occupational Conflicts in Wesley's Life and Ministry

Tony Headley

Book Notes

Kenneth Collins

Book Reviews

Frances Adenry

Gwinyai Muzorewa

Laurence W. Wood

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 …

Book Reviews, Frances Adeney, Gwinyai Muzorewa, Laurence W. Wood

The Asbury Journal

Ogbu U. Kalu, ed., Alaine Low, Associate ed.

Interpreting Contemporary Christianity: Global Processes and Local Identities

2008, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Reviewed by Frances Adeney

Afe Adogame, Roswith Gerloff and Klaus Hock, eds.

Christianity in Africa and the Africa Diaspora: the Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage

2008. London: Continuum International Publishing Group

Reviewed by Guinyai Muzorewa

Jehu J. Hanciles

Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West

2008. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books

Reviewed by Guinyai Muzorewa

Thomas Jay Oord, ed.

Divine Grace and Emerging Creation, Wesleyan Forays in Science and Theology of Creation …

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

Our Personal Core Identity: A Wesleyan Perspective, Jim Boetcher

The Asbury Journal

Humans have many relational identities that vary with changes in relationships such as being a mother or a daughter, but one's core identity remains independent of these social roles. This paper explores human personal core identity theologically by drawing on Methodism as it existed under the leadership of John Wesley, and scientifically by using three cutting edge scientific research projects: The Human Family Tree and The Human Genome Project present empirical evidence that all humans are genetically related and only one race exists - the human race. Discovering Ardi: Changing Our Understanding of Human Origins shows that humans did not …

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.