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Placing God: Defining “Post-Christianity” For Contemporary Japanese Christians, Leryan Anthony Burrey

Master's Projects and Capstones

This work suggests that we consider a new, working definition of post-Christianity. This new paradigm is in response to Western Christian thought being too dominant a force that fails to take into enough account other global experiences— like those of Japanese Christians. These reflections are based on scholarly opinions claiming that Christianity is a “global culture,” and ultimately argues for more international inclusivity in Western Christian thought and institutions, especially regarding the Asia-Pacific. Moreover, this paper illuminates how iitoko dori allows Christian thought to peacefully coexist in Japan’s greater society. The research also explores specific Japanese cultural practices that make …

The Source And Application Of Thomas Müntzer's Theology Of Divination In His Marginal Notes On Tertullian, Roger Drinnon

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Drinnon, Roger A. “The Source and Application of Thomas Müntzer’s Theology of Divinization in His Marginal Notes on Tertullian.” Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 101 pp.

Traditional Lutheran and Marxist interpretations of Thomas Müntzer inadequately account for Müntzer’s theology and practice. The doctrine of the order of creation tied Müntzer’s theology and practice together. According to the order of creation, the goal of the material world was to return to God at the end of time. Müntzer’s writings on the order of creation stated the doctrine was the central tenet of Christianity. By returning to God, Müntzer believed the creation would …

Manumission In Virginia: The Anti-Slavery Legacy Of John Lynch, Stephen A. Langeland

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

This paper is in no way an apology for the institution of slavery in any form. In fact, it is a reiteration of Biblical doctrine and natural rights philosophy that posit all humans are created equal. The institution of slavery knew few bounds throughout recorded history and was as ubiquitous and durable as the activities of marriage or warfare, practiced by every culture and religion (Drescher 2009, 7-8, 12-39). Negro slavery specifically was an institution in all colonies of the New World at some point in history (Davis 1969, vii). The morality of slavery was an unquestioned fact of life …

In Search Of The Best Practices In Preaching On Christian Stewardship, Mitchel Schuessler

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Pastors are challenged to preach Christian stewardship within their parishes in a way that they not only overcome the personal and congregational biases against stewardship sermons, but will also assist their congregations to the grow in their knowledge of stewardship and help them to become better Christian stewards. This project sought to find pastors that have discovered ways to preach stewardship that increased the congregational stewardship life and assisted individual members to become better stewards. This study intends to help the parish pastor to learn how to address stewardship on a regular basis, be more confident in his preaching of …

A New Lectionary: Is It A Matter Of Picking A Version?, Thomas O’Loughlin

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Contributors

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

"The Least Of These?" The Origins And Evolution Of A Misunderstood Group In Matthew 25, Christine Marie Downing

Theses and Dissertations

The intention of this paper is to analyze and explore the different aspects of Matthew 25:31-46. This research briefly examines how modern Biblical scholars and theologians have approached and interpreted Matthew 25. Further, I will place Jesus' announcement of the "coming of the Son of Man" within its historical context and explore how this announcement would have fit within and against First Century Israelite beliefs. By extension, I will attempt to examine the textual relationship of Matthew 25 to Jewish, non-Jewish and Early Christian texts. Finally, I will conclude with how Matthew 25 was interpreted and influential in both the …

The Testing Of Jesus In Light Of The Dead Sea Scrolls And Intertextual Hermeneutics, Donald C. Mcintyre

Liberty Theological Review

This article will seek to interpret Matthew 4:1-11, commonly referred to as the “temptation account” by taking into consideration issues from Old Testament Textual Criticism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Historical and social contexts, as well as theory on inter-textuality. This article will seek to show how Jesus is seeking to prove his Divine Sonship through creating a comparison between himself and the Second Generation of Israel who inherited the Promised Land after their parents’ failures despite satanic harassment. This will be accomplished through an examination of Matthew’s main argument for the book, and move towards grammatical and syntactical issues within …

A Renewed Christian Sabbath, After Supersessionism And After Christendom, Abigail Woolley Cutter

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This project works toward a contemporary understanding of what the Sabbath commandment can mean for Christians, in light of both the post-supersessionist developments in Christian theology since the Holocaust and a declining (Protestant) Christian hegemony in the United States. It claims that a Christian theology of Sabbath must be developed through a serious engagement with the theology of Jewish-Christian relations. It proposes the Sabbath framework as a model for cultural engagement reminiscent of the “synthesis” type laid out in H. R. Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture, but less susceptible to the alleged pitfalls of that type.

The approach to a …

Jesus Christ, Revelation Of Love: A Christology Of The Disabled Christ, Lisa Hancock

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Though Nancy Eiesland’s The Disabled God first introduced the identification of Jesus as disabled in 1994, sustained reflection on the person and work of Christ as disabled remains a mostly untapped wellspring for theological reflection in disability theology. Sitting with Christ’s disabled performativity, I identify Christ as disabled in both person and work, noting that recognizing disability in Christ’s person influences understandings of Christ’s work and vice versa. Establishing my use of the cultural model of disability, which I expand for use in constructive theology with Judith Butler’s notion of performativity, I examine resonances of the Disabled Christ in disability …

Honor Gained, Lost, And Restored: The Honor And Shame Of Jesus In The Gospel Of Mark, April Simpson

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Tracing the Gospel of Mark’s full narrative trajectory, this project provides a socio-literary investigation of Jesus’s honor in the Gospel, in order to explore the relationship between honor and shame in the narrative as well as how first-century notions of honor relate to Mark’s endorsement of Jesus. For much of the narrative, the Gospel of Mark overwhelmingly features Jesus’s honor—or his status, reputation, and virtue. Beginning about halfway through the Gospel, this emphasis is paired with another: anticipation of a change of fortunes for Jesus. Then, Jesus’s fortunes do change in the spiraling shame he experiences during his arrest, trial, …

Gender As Love: A Theological Account, Fellipe Do Vale

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Despite its ubiquity in nearly all academic disciplines, gender has remained a contested concept, so much so that there is considerable ambiguity regarding what makes one a woman or a man and what relation such traits have with the human body. Debates typically polarize around the positions of gender essentialism and social constructionism, though both have been shown to have serious limitations. Additionally, theologians have typically approached these debates either by understanding gender as a category for sustained investigation but finding that the tools and virtues of theology are ill-suited for doing so, or by retaining the tools and virtues …

Unity In Christ: An Annotated Bibliography, Kelly E. Budd, Madison S. Schmidt

Liberty Theological Review

A review of the recent book publications related to the spring theme, "Unity in Christ." We include the following titles.

• Alma, Hans et al. Moral and Spiritual Leadership in an Age of Plural Moralities.
• Anatolios, Khaled. Deification through the Cross: An Eastern Christian Theology of Salvation.
• Barrett, Matthew. Canon, Covenant and Christology: Rethinking Jesus and the Scriptures of Israel.
• Beck, William David and Mike Licona. Raised on the Third Day: Defending the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus.
• Chia, Edmund Kee-Fook. Confucianism and Christianity: Interreligious Dialogue on the Theology of Mission.
• Emerson, Matthew Y. He …

The Historical And Theological Backdrop Of Jesus's Names In John Chapter One: A Baseline For Christology, Joseph D. Carson

Liberty Theological Review

At the beginning of John’s gospel, a rich theology of Christ’s person unfolds through multiple professions of newly called disciples. In order to understand the person of Christ, the various titles associated with his name should be analyzed in their historical and theological contexts. Full of Jesus’ titles, John 1 is an intersection of history, title-giving, and theology, rich with the meanings of Jesus’ titles; furthermore, John 1 is written with historical accuracy and with impactful theology for the Church. It orients the trajectory for the following chapters and gives a foundation for Christology. Cumulatively, the names of Jesus in …

News, Announcements, And Remembrances, The Editors

Liberty Theological Review

News from various organizations in related disciplines. Announcements from Eleutheria editors about internal matters. Remembrances of people and events that include in memoriams, retirements, interesting lookbacks, etc.

A Comparative Analysis Of John Walton And John Sailhamer On Gen. 1:1, Matt H. Hamilton

Liberty Theological Review

Much ink has been spilled over the interpretation of Gen. 1:1, particularly in modern times. While these interpretations are diverse, two authors that deviate away from most identifiable norms are John Sailhamer and John Walton. Sailhamer thinks Gen 1:1 is a literal event that took place over an indeterminate block of time preceding the rest of creation. Walton, on the other hand, questions the presupposition of material ontology present in many contemporary accounts of creation, arguing instead that God’s creating should be understood as assigning function. This essay will seek to compare both scholars’ views, summarizing them, finding possible convergences, …

Could It Be Reasonable To Conclude That Jesus Did It And John Wrote It Down? An Enquiry Into The Veracity Of John 7:53-8:11, The Pericope Adulterae, Thomas J. Gentry Ii

Liberty Theological Review

Broadly speaking, two types of answers to the question of whether John 7:53-8:11, the Pericope Adulterae (PA) should be considered part of the authentic biblical text have been offered by scholars. The first type includes those who conclude the PA does not report an actual account in the life of Jesus and should not be in the Bible. The second type comes from those who argue that the PA does present an account from the life of Jesus and should be in the Bible (although not all in the last group agree that the account is of Johannine origin). For …

Melchizedek: Exposing His Character And Its Biblical-Theological Implications, Wesley Nottingham

Liberty Theological Review

Commentators have long recognized the mystery of Melchizedek, noting “that Melchizedek appears in the narrative out of nowhere and just as quickly is gone.” In light of the nature of this Melchizedek figure, the task for a deep reader of Scripture becomes not only identifying who this figure is as he appears in Genesis, but also drawing out the biblical-theological implications of his presence. To determine how to best understand Melchizedek as well as his presence within the canon, the most effective approach is to examine the text in which he first appears—Genesis 14:18-20—and examine its interplay with another key …

The Veracity Of The Empty Tomb Tradition, Kevin Kroitor

Liberty Theological Review

While several historical facts surrounding Jesus’ bodily resurrection find agreement among virtually all critical scholars, the fact of the empty tomb finds far less critical agreement. Despite this attempt to “leave the door open” for naturalistic explanations of the early Christian resurrection claim, the overwhelming evidence renders the empty tomb tradition historically reliable and Jesus’ bodily resurrection, the most plausible explanation of the historical facts. This paper will examine the evidence for the empty tomb, including the early eyewitness nature of the core tradition and the necessity of the empty tomb to explain the more widely accepted facts surrounding Jesus’ …

The Glory Of The Lord Whose Likeness Is As The Appearance Of A Human Being/Adam: A Study Of Ezekiel’S Son Of Man/Adam Anthropology, Timothy R. Schmeling

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Ezekiel has often been criticized as a dehumanizing book. Still it is alternative humanisms that have done so much to dehumanize mankind with the totalitarianism of self-deifying individualism or the totalitarianism of collectively-imposed manmade metanarratives. Far from being a dehumanizing book, the objective of the son of man/Adam is certainly to purge his hearers of all anthropologies of autonomy and license, but this Adamic priestly prophet does this to eschatologically resurrect in them an anthropology of dependence and true freedom. Reasserting the creation theology and anthropology of Genesis, Ezekiel insists that authentic humanism, Edenic humanism (i.e., the original humanism), is …

Justice, Human Dignity And The Capabilities Approach: A Moral Assessment On Ghana’S Health Care Delivery System, Paul Eliud Esibu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Life and quality healthcare delivery are central parts of the well-being of the human person. However, despite the political and socio-economic the successes that Ghana has chalked in pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary times, the quality of healthcare delivery in Ghana could be described as sub-standard. In this a context, the Capabilities Approach, “The Theology of the Body” and the Akan indigenous understanding of the human person emerge as an integrated formidable tool to enhancing life and quality healthcare as central part of the human person. This is because “The capabilities approach – in both its comparative and it’s normative version …

The Assumptionist Movement As Precursor To Vatican Ii: A Case Study On The Dogmatic Definition Of The Assumption Of Mary And The Teachings Of The Second Vatican Council, Eric Lafferty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Assumptionist movement (1863–1950) was a theological movement within the Roman Catholic Church that worked to obtain a dogmatic definition for the Assumption of Mary. This study employs a form of reception theory to argue for the doctrinal continuity between the Assumptionist movement and Vatican II. The first chapter examines the Assumptionist movement’s overlooked history. It uncovers two major characteristics of the movement. First, it was a global movement. Support for the Assumption dogma emerged from every populated continent. Second, it was a movement that involved every rank in the Church. The laity, priests, religious, and bishops worked together towards …

Scripture Living In The Church: The Ecumenical Relevance Of Yves Congar's Ecclesiological Approach To Sola Scriptura, Paul Mueller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Yves Congar was quite possibly the greatest Catholic ecclesiologist of the twentieth century. His lifelong passion for ecumenism and ecclesiology were contained in his prodigious work on the sources of revelation, Scripture and Tradition. Congar explained the frequently misinterpreted Catholic concept of Tradition clearly, which could be helpful in easing any tensions on this topic between Catholics and Protestants. This dissertation intends to show how Congar understood Tradition and to show how that can be a potential aid in ecumenical dialogue. Congar’s efforts in the composition of numerous documents from Vatican II gave him the knowledge of the Catholic position …

"In Christ:" Participation Language In Paul, Sean Cavender

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Discursive Body: A Theological Account Of Language And Revelation In Conversation With John Webster And Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Aaron Parker

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Visualizing A Woman’S Journey Through The Old Testament Prophetic Books: Improving Female Study Methods Through Visual Supplementation, Olivia Martin Smith

Masters Theses

Christians are often less likely to read the Old Testament prophetic literature compared to other books in Scripture. This poses a problem within the Church for Biblical literacy and understanding Scripture as one complete narrative that points to Christ. The aim of this research was to discover what causes a struggle for Christian women understanding the prophetic literature, why Old Testament prophetic literature is important for women to study, and the best methods for communicating this information to a female audience. The following research questions were asked: 1. What is the standard perspective of an average Christian when studying Old …

Exploring Missional Partnership Practices Between The Littleton Church Of Christ And Her Peruvian Missionary Partners Through Dwelling In The Word, Justin L. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which twelve individuals from two churches on two continents (North and South America) came together via video conference to explore missional partnership practices. These two churches connected through a common missionary and utilized a spiritual discipline called Dwelling in the Word to cultivate relationships, thereby creating a pathway to shared discovery of partnership practices. The problem I identify at the beginning regards transactional partnership, which commonly propels churches toward relationships that treat the other as unequal partners through unilateral, top-down interactions. In response, I present a perichoresis-inspired …

Go & Make Disciples: The Biblical Foundation For Discipleship In The Way Of Jesus, Ryan May

Senior Honors Theses

What are Jesus’ foundational teachings that lay the groundwork for discipleship in the church today? Within this paper, I will seek to work through the initial section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to distill the essential theological lessons of Christ on discipleship. After introducing some important cultural realities concerning the state of discipleship in the church today, Matthew 5 will be thoroughly engaged. Beginning with a discussion on cultural, literary, and theological backgrounds, the passage will be broken down section by section to discern key truths expressed for the modern church. The paper will conclude with further reflection questions …

Apostolic And Prophetic Leadership In The Contemporary Church: Applied Study Of The Early Church Model, Jordanna Marie Taffel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The research addresses the application of apostolic and prophetic governance in church plants. Research methods include surveying and interviewing pastors from Every Nation, the researcher’s local church senior and senior associate pastors, and church plant lead pastors. Every Nation is a “global movement dedicated to church-planting churches, reaching the next generation on the campus, and preaching the gospel to every nation.” The sample size is thirteen pastors. The setting was in person and/or via video call. The research includes current, historical, and scholarly literary resources, the Bible, and the local church’s planting materials. The idea of what it means to …

Competency-Based Education For Ministers In The Wesleyan Church : Best Practices For Educators, Erik L. Ireland

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.