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Quakers And Creation Care: Potentials And Pitfalls For An Ecotheology Of Friends (Chapter Five In Quakers, Creation Care, And Sustainability), Cherice Bock

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

While Friends have a strong tradition of activism around the social justice issues of each era, we also tend to spiritualize our faith, disconnecting it from the material world. Environmental concerns are arguably one of the most important social justice issues of of our time, and in many ways, activism, advocacy, and lifestyle witness seem like natural ways for Friends to engage in social justice in this time in history. This essay will explore some of the historical and theological strengths Friends can draw from our tradition that can help build a particularly Quaker ecotheology, as well as some of …

African Christians Or Christian Africans: Byang H. Kato And His Contextual Theology, Sochanngam Shirik

The Asbury Journal

Byang Henry Kato, a promising African Christian leader, passed away in 1975 at only 39 years of age. In spite of his brief career, he has left his imprint on the pages of African Christian history. He is not without his supporters and critics alike. It appears that while his critics have misunderstood him in some aspects, his supporters have not paid enough attention to his theological conviction and articulation. While this article aims at clarifying some of Kato's conviction, it also informs readers how, regardless of context and time, others can appreciate, learn, and even adopt some aspects of …

Redemptive Penology Vs. Exclusive Retributive Justice, Samuel Chuks Japhets

Masters Theses

Grounded on long-standing penal notions of exclusive retributivism inherited from classical theorists, Ancient Near East lex talionis, and theonomist penology, the United States federal sentencing and corrections system aims to administer just desert sentences on offenders, to curtail crimes. This exclusively retributive model of criminal sanction is, presumably transformative and innately capable of dispensing holistic justice to society, victims, and criminals. However, the preponderance of high rates of recidivism raises the question of whether this exclusively retributive doctrinal framework that drives the federal penology empirically results in a redemptive administration of penal justice, especially to the offender. Given the traditional …

Oral Roberts And The Hebrew Bible, Eric N. Newberg, Samuel Hogan

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts held a favorable view of Jewish people and viewed the restoration of the state of Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. This article recounts a key facet of the Jewish outreach of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, the Hebrew Bible project. In collaboration with Myron Sackett, Oral Roberts sponsored the publication of a Hebrew Bible (Old and New Testaments) and distributed it in Israel and other countries. Roberts was motivated by a desire to play a major role in the conversion of the Jewish people in the last days. By means of exhaustive research of relevant source …

Why Oral Roberts Studies?, Wonsuk Ma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Wonsuk Ma, Dean of the College of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, provides an extended editorial essay for this special issue of Spiritus to mark the Centennial of the birth of Oral Roberts.

Spiritus 3.2 Full Issue, Holy Spirit Research Center

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Spiritus 3.2 (Fall 2018) is a special issue dedicated to Oral Roberts studies. For this issue, Wonsuk Ma, now Dean of the College of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, has collected a dozen studies covering several areas of Roberts’ life, thought, ministry, and legacy. All of the contributors have a connection to Oral Roberts University, whether as students, faculty, and/or administrators. So it is, in effect, an in-house offering to the university community and the Spirit-empowered community at large, a remembrance of a figure who, now gone, may get overlooked in today’s fast-paced world of Christian theology and …

My Hope As An African, Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu C.S.Sp.

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Church And State: The Impact Of Christianity On South African Politics During And Post-Apartheid, Calista Struby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within the South African context, there exists an intimate relationship between religion and politics. South Africa by definition is a secular society however data indicates that the South African population that is overwhelmingly religious. According to a General Household Survey published in 2015, 86% of the South African population identifies with some form of the Christian faith (“General Household Survey,” 2015). Historically religious civil society has played a prominent role in shaping the political climate and the political involvement of South African citizens. During Apartheid, Christianity played an influential role in the ideological formation and justification of the Apartheid political …

A Christian Response To Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria, Gwamna Dogara Je'adayibe

The WATS Journal: An Online Journal from West Africa Theological Seminary

Nigeria, particularly the north-eastern region, has been the target of a sustained Islamist terrorist onslaught for many years, leading to massive human causalities, the loss of property, and destabilisation of socio-economic, religious and cultural processes. A major target of these attacks have been Christians and churches. This paper attempts to address some of these disturbing trends with specific focus on the Boko Haram Islamic insurgency group, which has attracted scholarly discourse since its formation, growth and spread. Diverse views have emerged as to its etymology, intentions, factors for their emergence, and source of growth and sponsors. This paper examines the …

“The Female Face” Of Hiv/Aids As An Ethical Challenge To The Catholic Church In Uganda: Lessons Of Catholic Social Teaching, Athanasius Kikoba

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Since the emergence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Uganda in the 1980s, it has become increasingly evident that the HIV/AIDS scourge disproportionately affects more women and girls than men and boys. Women and girls suffer a particular vulnerability due to this pandemic. There are social, economic, political, and cultural factors that precipitate and aggravate the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls in Uganda.

This dissertation contends that Catholic Social Teaching offers us one of the best and most comprehensive and integrative ways for addressing the HIV/AIDS scourge. We argue specifically for a rights-based solidarity as the most comprehensive and …

Creating Genderless God-Language Through Lutheran Liturgy, Eileen A. Ruppel

Celebration of Learning

Drawing on the work of feminist and queer theologies, this paper examines and challenges traditional God-language, proposing the implementation of genderless language in Christian worship liturgies. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is used as a model for potential methods of shifting God-language. This work focuses on God-language in Lutheran liturgy, focusing on Scripture, hymns, doctrine, and prayer. This work seeks to prove that implementing genderless God-language throughout the liturgy will provide ELCA leaders the opportunity to be more inclusive, while representing God’s transcendence beyond human conceptions such as gender.

Church, Faith, Future: What We Face, What We Can Do. By Louis J. Cameli. Collegeville, Mn: Liturgical Press, 2017., Michael M. Canaris

Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A review of Louis J Cameli's book, Church, Faith, Future: What We Face, What We Can Do written by Michael Canaris.

The Church As A Eucharistic And Prophetic Community In India: A Theological Exploration Into The Challenges And Implications Of A Eucharistic Ecclesiology Based On The Early Church And The Statements Of The Indian Theological Association (Ita), Shibi Devasia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theological trends change from time to time to make the faith more meaningful and relevant to the contemporary context. To an extent, the Second Vatican Council, by its commitment to two concepts, “ressourcement” and “aggiornamento,” succeeded in this mission in the last century. The communion ecclesiology of the Council, which has its foundation in the sacrament of Eucharist, shows that the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church cannot be overlooked, because the ecclesial body of the Church is built up by the Eucharistic body of Christ. Any Eucharist-centered ecclesiology is prophetic and eschatological by nature. The “Eucharistic” and …

Towards A New, Praxis-Oriented Missiology: Rediscovering Paulo Freire's Concept Of Conscientização And Enhancing Christian Mission As Prophetic Dialogue, Rosalia Meza Moreno

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The new and different frontiers and factors discussed in missiology are reshaping the meaning of mission. Christian mission today is searching for new directions to approach the postmodern, postcolonial, and ecumenical paradigms. I would like to argue that mission is not just a transmission of knowledge that keeps an established structure and culture alive (often justified and glorified by a specific ecclesiological model). Rather, mission aims at the process of embodying the content and praxis of the gospel. Mission can be understood as an invitation to initiate a transformative process of faith, which leads to personal and social transformation.

This …

Eucharist As Fruit Of The Earth And The Environmental Degradation In The Niger Delta: Implication Of Louis Mariechauvet’S Tripartite Cycle Of Gift, Reception And Return Gift For An Ecological Conversion, Michael Edomobi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

There is a heightened global consciousness now more than ever before on the protection of the environment. Of late is the encyclical letter Laudato si of Pope Francis on care for our common home. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is the context of my research. This region is endowed with massive oil deposits, which have been extracted for decades by the government of Nigeria and by multinational oil companies, at the expense of the people of the region whose environment suffer degradation and their means of livelihood destroyed. This study juxtaposes Eucharist as fruit of the earth and the …

Missional Fidelity Of Movein : An Intentional Christian Mission Movement To Unreached Immigrants To North American, Micah Kim

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Arden C. Autry Phd, Edward E. Decker Jr, Christopher G. Foster, Robert W. Graves, Daniel D. Isgrigg, Jeffrey S. Lamp, Wonsuk Ma, Peter A. Reynolds, James B. Shelton, Andrew R. Williams

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Definitively Lutheran?: An Exploration Of Definitive Lutheran Characteristics In Higher Education, John Eggen

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This mixed-method, exploratory case study explores definitively Lutheran practices in higher education. This research explores emerging themes from Intersections and other publications reflecting upon institutional religious identity. This research explores the student experiences, expectations, and perspectives through a student survey and the perspectives of institutional leadership through qualitative research. It evaluates definitive characteristics of Lutheran higher education through the lenses of adaptive change, organizational theory, open systems theory, Lutheran identity, vocation, and exploring an understanding of missional, cruciform, perichoretic communities from the Pauline epistles. The results reveal limited statistically significant difference among students based on religious affiliation, but a divergent …

Lutheran Higher Education In A Secular Age: Religious Identity And Mission At Elca Colleges And Universities, Brian A.F. Beckstrom

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This exploratory mixed methods case study examined the relationship between espoused and perceived religious identity and mission at five colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the lenses of secularization theory, missional leadership, ecclesiology, Trinitarian theology, adaptive leadership, and challenges in the higher education market. Results indicated that humanism is the primary means of describing religious identity and mission at ELCA schools and there are widely varying assumptions about what it means to be a college or university of the church. Advocates and skeptics of the institution’s religious identity and mission interpret reality through the lens …

Entre El Templo Y Las Ciudad : Constructing A Pentecostal Lived Ecclesiology, Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Creedal Symbols Of My Great Grandparents : The Adinkra Symbols Reveal The Theology Of The Akans People Of Ghana, Kofi Amoateng

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Insider Movements Among Muslims: Reflections On Their History, Identity, And Theology, Richard Doss

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"The enormity of the task still facing Christian missions is almost incomprehensible. Nearly 4.1 billion people are still in need of the gospel (Johnstone 2014:65). In some ways, the task of reaching the unreached is most difficult among Muslims. With nearly 1.3 billion adherents, Islam represents a significant challenge to the spread of the gospel. Or does it? Given the complex nature of the relationship between Christianity and Islam, could it be that the inability of Christian missionaries to shed the social, cultural, and political trappings of the West and Christendom have limited the effectiveness of the gospel? Might the …

Postcolonial Discipleship: Movement, Genius, And Uncertainty: Explorations In Contemporary 'Korean American' Theological Discourse, Michael Sungjoon Won

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

Contemporary ‘Korean American’ theological discourse seeks to more broadly account for the variations and deviations that characterize the ‘Korean American’ experience. Theologians Andrew Sung Park and Grace Ji-Sun Kim theorize the ‘Korean American’ subject through notions of ‘authenticity’ and cultural ‘rootedness’. Such an approach presents itself to be problematic when one begins to account for the ways that colonialism and imperialism have shaped understandings of culture, ultimately revealing that culture is not simply an expression of ontology, but is also driven by a large array of sociological factors. In light of this, theologians Wonhee Anne Joh and Sang Hyun Lee …

Developing A Theologically Self-Reflexive Critique With Comparative Theologians And The Sociological Analysis Of Pierre Bourdieu, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this article I attempt to locate productive foundations for a critical theological methodology through engaging with both the inherently critical nature of comparative theology alongside the sociological, self-reflexive analysis of Pierre Bourdieu. I turn, first, to comparative theology because it is a field with a heightened sensibility for how self-reflexive critique functions within a theological context, as it assumes that both sides in any conversation maintain the possibility of re-examining their own premises and foundations. I turn, second, to the work of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu because it is his analysis of symbolic power that provides an examination of …

A Wesleyan Missiological Perspective On Holiness Across Cultures, Marcus W. Dean

The Asbury Journal

Missiology has focused on various aspects of contextualization and the importance of salvation, but has not dealt extensively with the biblical concept of holiness. From a Wesleyan perspective this paper looks at holiness from the lens of contextualization. A biblical support of contextualization is presented. Then the cultural factors of values—the dynamics of shame, guilt, and fear are explored— and purity are examined as starting points to contextualize the holiness message. While holiness is ultimately about ethical life and relationships, the message must be built upon culturally understandable concepts.

Hip Hop Hermeneutics: How The Culture Influences Preachers, Dwight A. Radcliff Jr.

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

"Hip Hop Hermeneutics" essay lays out findings of current research into how Hip Hop culture has been formational for African American preachers, and how that culture informs their preaching. There is a generation of preachers leading congregations today that have grown up with Hip Hop. Hip Hop culture has left an indelible mark upon them; just as the church has. How does the cultural influence of Hip Hop affect their preaching? Hip Hop hermeneutics is the response put forth by this article. This article traces the practice and theology of early African American preachers, the work of James Cone in …

Allocutio: Articulating The Task For The Future Of African Catholicism, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay charts how Catholicism can become more indigenously African and respond better to African needs and concerns.

Foreword: Reformation - Then, Now, And Onward, Mark W. Harris

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Contested Moral Issues In Contemporary African Catholicism: Theological Proposals For A Hermeneutics Of Multiplicity And Inclusion, Stan Chu Ilo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Drawing upon the broad work of Vatican II and Pope Francis’ Evangelicum Gaudium the article proposes how a hermeneutic of multiplicity and inclusion could help hold in balance the tension between tradition and innovation, universal principles and specific contextual application for Catholicism in Africa. Among the issues addressed are cultural relativism, natural law theory, and polygamy.

A God Worth Worshiping: Toward A Critical Race Theology, Duane Terrence Loynes Sr.

Dissertations (1934 -)

Theologian James Cone has declared that White supremacy is the American Church’s greatest, original, and most persistent sin. Although the Church has engaged in numerous attempts to remedy racism, theology still seems to witness to a God that stands relatively unopposed to the status quo of racial injustice and marginalization. This dissertation begins with the claim that Christian theology still operates from the normativity of whiteness. I will argue that, although the Church has made admirable progress with regard to racial justice, the attempts have been at the surface: the underlying structural logic of White supremacy remains intact. My thesis …