Frontmatter (Volume 19 Issue 2),
2026
George Fox University
Frontmatter (Volume 19 Issue 2), Bruce R. Johnson
Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal
No abstract provided.
A More Perfect Union: An Examination Of The Film, Salt Of The Earth, And The American Labor Movement,
2026
Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
A More Perfect Union: An Examination Of The Film, Salt Of The Earth, And The American Labor Movement, Amber Montgomery
Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies
This paper examines the film, Salt of the Earth, which is based on the actual events of the Mine-Mill strike that took place in Hanover, New Mexico, in 1949. The strike was organized by Mexican workers with the help of their wives. The fight was over workers’ rights, as well as their dignity. At the same time, another fight was taking place. The wives of these miners were also seeking equality within their marriages, serving as a parallel narrative to the strike. To understand the environment at this time, this paper will also analyze American politics during this period, …
Proxy End-Of-Life Decision-Making: Ethical, Religious And Existential Dimensions,
2026
Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
Proxy End-Of-Life Decision-Making: Ethical, Religious And Existential Dimensions, Deborah Kaufman Giordano
Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies
End-of-life decision-making conducted by medical proxies on behalf of incapacitated loved ones presents profound theological, ethical, and existential challenges. In the qualitative study “Influence of Culture and Spiritual Tradition on Support for Families of Children Dying in Intensive Care Units” (Journal of Pediatric Nursing), Ju et al found that the most painful moment for parents and proxies was not the death itself, but the agonizing decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment. As a hospital chaplain, I have witnessed these moments where faith, culture, and medical ethics collide. This paper argues that proxy decision-making cannot be understood solely through the lens of …
Ukrainian Theology, War, And Human Transformation: Reflections On The International Conference ‘Transfiguration: Tradition And Eschatology,
2026
Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy, Lutsk, Ukraine
Ukrainian Theology, War, And Human Transformation: Reflections On The International Conference ‘Transfiguration: Tradition And Eschatology, Vladyslav Fulmes
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
On June 11, 2026, the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) hosted the international theological conference “Transfiguration: Tradition and Eschatology”, bringing together scholars, clergy, philosophers, chaplains, psychologists, and researchers from several countries. This report examines the conference’s principal theological and interdisciplinary themes, including deification, eschatology, ecclesiology, ecological responsibility, pastoral care, military and medical chaplaincy, digital technologies, and the Church’s response to war and post-war reconstruction.
When Everything Falls Apart: On Core Values, Religion, And What Holds Societies Together,
2026
Study on Religions, University of Szeged
When Everything Falls Apart: On Core Values, Religion, And What Holds Societies Together, András Máté-Tóth
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
Right now my region, like much of the world, is living through upheavals that reach both nature and politics at their foundations. When I look around and take the political crises seriously — the mass protests in Serbia, the long erosion of checks and balances in Hungary, the bitter fight over the courts and the rule of law in Poland — one question keeps surfacing: are we witnessing genuinely fundamental change, or only a reshuffling on the surface of power? That question is exactly what makes the problem of core values so urgent, and so current.
Volume 9 (2026) Climate And Responsibility,
2026
James Madison University
Volume 9 (2026) Climate And Responsibility
International Journal on Responsibility
This issue focuses on the various ways responsibility affects environmental justice. Specifically, this volume urges us to think about how societal and individual (in)action influences ecological crises and what informs this behavior, with a specific focus on religious and Indigenous beliefs and values.
Whose Jesus? Which Christlikeness? On The Prospects Of Protestant Spiritual Formation,
2026
Calvin College
Whose Jesus? Which Christlikeness? On The Prospects Of Protestant Spiritual Formation, James K.A. Smith
University Faculty Publications and Creative Works
This article recounts the author’s path into the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement (PSFM) as both a scholar and practitioner. The article then considers current challenges for Protestant Spiritual Formation, including environmental factors (political assimilation, pervasive distraction, and the couplet of anti-intellectualism and disinformation) and institutional challenges (the individualism of much of North American Protestantism and fragile educational networks). Given these contemporary challenges, the article proposes a strategic emphasis for the future of the PSFM: to articulate the criteria for Christian maturity (“Christlikeness”).
Earthly Alienization And Galactic Othering: How Star Wars Holistically Reimagines American History And Constructs A Pipeline To Christian-Imperial Humanitarianism,
2026
Yale Divinity School
Earthly Alienization And Galactic Othering: How Star Wars Holistically Reimagines American History And Constructs A Pipeline To Christian-Imperial Humanitarianism, Taylor Valci
Effervescence: Yale Divinity School's Student Journal of Religion
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the future of religion looks remarkably familiar. This essay argues that Star Wars offers a holistic reimagining of American racial formation in a speculative interstellar setting, translating historical practices of othering and alienization into the galaxy’s social and religious order. Across the Skywalker Saga (1977–2019), the Jedi Order functions as a galactic priesthood whose moral universalism authorizes intervention, governance, and salvation across the cosmos. Drawing on American religious history, critical race theory, migration studies, humanitarianism, and imperial studies, I show how alien species, racialized language, colorblind representation, and sacred bloodlines …
Theologians, Political Influencers, Organizers, Founding Mothers, White Feminists: Evangelicalism Recast As Revolution, Through The Life Works Of Hannah More And Phyllis Schlafly,
2026
Yale Divinity School
Theologians, Political Influencers, Organizers, Founding Mothers, White Feminists: Evangelicalism Recast As Revolution, Through The Life Works Of Hannah More And Phyllis Schlafly, Taylor Valci
Effervescence: Yale Divinity School's Student Journal of Religion
Nearly two hundred years and an ocean apart, Hannah More and Phyllis Schlafly occupied the same impossible set of roles: theologians, political influencers, organizers, founding mothers, and white feminists. What they shared most deeply, however, was evangelicalism. This essay argues that their life works require evangelicalism to be recast not as a stable denominational throughline, but as a reactionary religious revolution: a recurring form of conservative Christian mobilization that emerges when national security and Christian order are perceived as threatened by secularization, women’s expanding public authority, revolution, or global disorder. Read comparatively, More and Schlafly reveal how evangelical women turned …
Strengthening The Holy Athlete: Lay Ascesis And Athletics In The Works Of John Chrysostom,
2026
Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music
Strengthening The Holy Athlete: Lay Ascesis And Athletics In The Works Of John Chrysostom, Stephanie R. Roston
Effervescence: Yale Divinity School's Student Journal of Religion
Contemporary fitness influencers often compel their audiences by appealing to the felt connection between physical and moral-spiritual conditioning, but this was also true for John Chrysostom and his attending congregations in late antiquity. Chrysostom believed that body and soul might be brought into healthy, transparent alignment through the cultivation of embodied training grounds for virtue, and he repeatedly utilized athletic imagery in his homilies and baptismal liturgy to emphasize that the cognitive attention necessary for such work is strengthened over time through repeated physical regimens such as fasting and vigils. Warning against hypocrisy, he looked to athletes and ascetics for …
Extraordinary Senses And Dreamscapes In Medieval Japanese Ōjōden Narratives: Reading Yoshishige No Yasutane’S Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-Ki,
2026
Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Extraordinary Senses And Dreamscapes In Medieval Japanese Ōjōden Narratives: Reading Yoshishige No Yasutane’S Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-Ki, Qingxuan Wang
Effervescence: Yale Divinity School's Student Journal of Religion
This paper examines the affective and multi-sensorial narratives in Yoshishige no Yasutane’s Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-ki, the foundational collection of medieval Japanese Pure Land Buddhist rebirth tales (ōjōden). Composed at the threshold of a dark age in which Buddhist salvation through ordinary practice was believed to be impossible, the collection spoke directly to a faith community haunted by worldly suffering and their own spiritual inadequacy. Engaging with sensory studies and narratology, this paper challenges the binary divide between doctrinal expositions and didactic narratives in the study of Buddhism. Rather than treating the Nihon Ōjōgokuraku-ki as secondary supplements to scholar-monks’ …
Past The Watchful Dragons: How C. S. Lewis’S Fiction Humanizes The Analytical Framework Of The Problem Of Pain,
2026
Liberty University
Past The Watchful Dragons: How C. S. Lewis’S Fiction Humanizes The Analytical Framework Of The Problem Of Pain, Charlotte L. Hambrick
Masters Theses
C. S. Lewis was one of the 20th century’s greatest Christian apologists. Writing across multiple genres—from academic literary criticism to lay sermons, and from philosophical and theological analysis to several kinds of fiction—his impact on Christian thought remains profound. This thesis analyzes Lewis’s approach to the intellectual problem of evil in The Problem of Pain and demonstrates how he makes those starkly cold, prickly concepts more warm, human, and relatable in several of his works of fiction. It will first consider Lewis’s personal history with death, abuse, war, and grief, showing how his lived experiences with pain shaped his thinking …
Co-Dominion: The Changing Nature Of The Adamic Covenant In An Age Of Artificial Intelligence,
2026
Liberty University
Co-Dominion: The Changing Nature Of The Adamic Covenant In An Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Corey Hastings
Masters Theses
Theologians and religious bodies attest to the rising influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in governments, the economy, and the lives of the people of God. Through the covenant with Adam, God gave humans the blessing of dominion and capabilities unique to creation to till the earth. Today, humans retain the image of God but AI increasingly displaces human functions with coordinated agency. Using Hebrew language exegesis of passages from Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, this study compares capabilities gifted to humans with the scope of current and near future AI models. It incorporates direct artifact analysis of a large-language model as …
A Biblical Understanding Of Discipleship As A Pedagogy For The Fear Of The Lord,
2026
Liberty University
A Biblical Understanding Of Discipleship As A Pedagogy For The Fear Of The Lord, Desirae Jeffreys
Masters Theses
The fear of the Lord is a significant topic found throughout scripture, yet it is a concept that lacks recognition in our culture, and even in some churches today. The reality is that there is confusion about how to define the fear of the Lord and, thereby, confusion about how to teach the fear of the Lord. This thesis provides a biblical understanding of the fear of the Lord as described in Proverbs 1–9. The fear of God is evaluated through the lens of instruction throughout these chapters, providing a basis of understanding for the complexity of the definition of …
A Christ-Centered Approach To Ai-Assisted Sermon Preparation For Cedar Grove Community Church,
2026
Liberty University
A Christ-Centered Approach To Ai-Assisted Sermon Preparation For Cedar Grove Community Church, Andrew Michael Poe
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping nearly every sector of society, presenting both opportunities and ethical challenges for Christian ministry. Amid this technological shift, many pastors, Bible teachers, and lay leaders experience ethical uncertainty about the appropriate use of AI in expository preaching and teaching. This Doctor of Ministry action research project developed and evaluated an eight-week training designed to equip the teaching team at Cedar Grove Community Church with a Christ-centered approach to AI-assisted sermon preparation. The purpose of this project was to provide biblical, theological, and practical guidance enabling communicators to leverage AI responsibly without compromising ministerial integrity …
The Paradox Of Fear In Scripture: Humanity’S Fear Encounters The Fear Of The Lord,
2026
Liberty University
The Paradox Of Fear In Scripture: Humanity’S Fear Encounters The Fear Of The Lord, Denise K. Travanti
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This research portrays a biblical theology of God’s presence in response to humanity’s natural fear when people are engaged in relationship with him. The Bible is framed with God dwelling with people and the absence of fear at the beginning of their existence and at the end of time in the new heaven and new earth. Fear arrives in the garden with Adam and Eve’s choice for autonomy and their relationship with God, and thus his presence, undergoes a change. From Moses through the Writings and the Prophets, then through the apostles’ experiences conveyed in the Epistles, the reality of …
The Incarnational And Christological Link Of The Servant In Isaiah 52:13–53:12 And Philippians 2:5–11,
2026
Liberty University
The Incarnational And Christological Link Of The Servant In Isaiah 52:13–53:12 And Philippians 2:5–11, Heather Green
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
There is much written about the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah and the Christ Hymn in Philippians. This dissertation examines the incarnational and Christological relationship between the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 and the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2:5–11. The common themes in both passages are incarnation, humiliation, obedient suffering, substitutionary atonement, exaltation, and divine vindication. This study also evaluates major scholarly interpretations regarding the identity of the Servant in Isaiah and the extent to which Paul intentionally appropriates Isaianic servant imagery in Philippians 2. While acknowledging the influence of Isaiah 45:23 on Philippians 2:9–11, this dissertation argues that Isaiah …
The Doctrine Of Salvation In The Old Testament: Elective Grace Through Faith In The Triune God,
2026
Liberty University
The Doctrine Of Salvation In The Old Testament: Elective Grace Through Faith In The Triune God, Yoojeung Kim
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The doctrine of salvation in the Old Testament (OT) remains a contested topic in biblical theology, particularly its coherence with New Testament (NT) soteriology. Much of this debate centers on the tension between distinct redemptive administrations across history and the specific means of salvation, such as the relationship between covenantal obedience and elective grace. This dissertation addresses whether OT believers were saved differently from NT believers or if a unified redemptive pattern spans both Testaments. The dissertation asserts that Old Testament believers were saved in the same manner as New Testament believers: by God’s elective grace through faith in YHWH, …
The Practical Application Of The Greatest Commandments In Mark 12:28–34: A Holistic Framework For Spiritual Formation,
2026
Liberty University
The Practical Application Of The Greatest Commandments In Mark 12:28–34: A Holistic Framework For Spiritual Formation, Mark R. Williams
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Christian spiritual formation is a field abundant in materials, resources, and programs to help people become fully devoted followers of God. Yet a disconnect appears to exist between the biblical concept of discipleship, which encompasses both a process and an event, and the lived reality of Christians in the United States today. A new model that lays the foundation for a new spiritual formation framework grounded in the practical application of the Greatest Commandments may be of benefit. This dissertation develops a model that includes orthodoxy and orthopraxy to apply the Greatest Commandments in an easy-to-understand framework in a practical, …
Building And Sustaining Foundations That Ground The Faithful: Helping Young Adults Stay Connected To Faith And The Church,
2026
Liberty University
Building And Sustaining Foundations That Ground The Faithful: Helping Young Adults Stay Connected To Faith And The Church, Abe Thompson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Today’s prevailing cultural philosophy is lost in a malaise of confusion and deception. Children and young adults from Christian homes and churches are being lured by these deceptions. Even churched students and graduates from Christian schools (like Colorado Springs Christian School) are hemorrhaging from the body of Christ at unacceptable levels. This DMin thesis project report demonstrates that, on a continuum of touchpoints in the spiritual formation journey, Camp Elim staff and Gap Year programs are an effective model for those seeking to restore young adults, ages eighteen to twenty-nine, to fulfilling, rich, and committed involvement in the body of …
