Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of Mormons In The Piazza: History Of The Latter-Day Saints In Italy, Richard N. Holzapfel

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Mormons in the Piazza: History of the Latter-day Saints in Italy is a tour de force and has immediately become a model for future histories written about Latter-day Saints living, working, serving, and struggling to find a place in nations outside the United States.

The Good Life: Descriptors Of Change In Roma Pentecostal Communities In Serbia And Croatia, Melody J. Wachsmuth

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Studies in specific geographical contexts have shown that the spread of Pentecostalism’s impact on Roma communities is twofold: it is linked to social change including a rise of education levels, literacy, decrease in crime, better relationships with the majority culture, and also is instrumental in the fostering of a “trans-national” identity and revitalization of their respective Roma identities. However, Pentecostalism cannot be considered a formula that intersects with a Romani community with consequential predictable results— in fact, in Southeastern Europe, Romani Pentecostalism is growing at a much slower rate than that of its counterparts in Western Europe and in places …

Building A Spiritual Home: Religious Engagement Of Former Vincentian Volunteers, Scott Kelley, Patricia Wittberg

Mission and Ministry Publications

Recent academic and popular literature has postulated a “story of diminishment” when speaking of the religious practice of young adults in the United States.  The current paper looks at the impact of volunteer service on the likelihood that young adults will remain connected to organized religion through an analysis of two studies of young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who had previously participated in volunteer programs that were sponsored by various Catholic organizations in the Vincentian tradition. The first study, conducted between February and May of 2014 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) …

Ellen White, Health, And The Third Angel’S Message: Part 2: Minimizing Non-Communicable Diseases, Warren A. Shipton

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"There have been remarkable changes in causes of human diseases identified in the last 150 years. Following the discovery of antibiotics and their widespread adoption since mid-last century and other advances in the field of microbiology, the incidence of contagious diseases has declined. Now the world is facing the danger of epidemics of non-communicable diseases that are related to life-style choices. Societies have invited and experienced these diseases for a long time, but they are now ravaging our health. In the times when Ellen White wrote, she laid a firm foundation for maintenance of physical health by anchoring her advice …

Changes In Sufism In The American Context, Patrick Hamilton

Denison Journal of Religion

This article considers the ways in which Sufism has altered since entering the American context. While in Islamic countries, Sufism's atypical rituals and interpretations of the Qur'an often made it a target of mainstream Islam. Once Sufism arrived in the United States, however, it rapidly began to change as practitioners no longer had to consider the pressures of a largely Islamic community. This does not mean, however, that there is no pluralism within Sufism in the United States. While early generations of immigrant Sufis remain more strongly tied to a traditional Islamic heritage, many of the Euro-American converts claim no …

"Cracks In The Melting Pot": Native Americans, Military Service And Citizenship, Brittany A. Kelley

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper focuses on Native American military service in Euro-American Wars. It analyzes their reasons for fighting and compares those reasons to the reasons of other racial and ethnic groups. This paper explores how certain racial and ethnic groups are marginalized and “otherized” and how they occasionally attempt to assimilate into mainstream society through military service. Irish Americans and African Americans viewed the Civil War in this way, while Native Americans hoped they would be able to improve their individual situations. Native Americans fought for purposes of assimilation and citizenship in World War I, and while they were technically granted …

Deism Revisited: A Modern Approach, Tina Johnson

Dialogue & Nexus

An evaluation of the history of Deism and its modern counterpart, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, in light of Theistic Naturalism is done in order to place the several forms of deism into a proper context in modern society. My hoped for outcome is that perhaps we can view Deism as a progressive rather than an archaic belief system that still has a purpose in American religious culture.

Racial Roots Of Romanticism: American And European Africanism Are The Creation Of Bio-Politics, James Flynn

Honors College Theses

The British Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the American Edgar Allan Poe shared a number of similarities in their writing styles. Both men came onto the scene early in their respective nation’s forays into Romanticism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was of the first generation of British literary Romantics, while Poe introduced his Gothic influences before the Renaissance of American Romanticism in the 1850s. In the work of both men there is an emphasis on color as it pertains to race, especially aspects of whiteness. This focus on race has been covered at length by authors such as Toni Morrison in her book …

Eschatological Pneumatology As A Theological Framework For Evaluating The Pneumatology Of The International Church Of God’S Grace In Brazil, Gerson Linden

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Linden, Gerson, L. “Eschatological Pneumatology as a Theological Framework for Evaluating the Pneumatology of the International Church of God’s Grace in Brazil.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 238 pp.

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the phenomenon of Neopentecostalism in Brazil, particularly as seen in the International Church of God’s Grace (ICGG), a large and well-known Denomination in Brazil, with communities in several countries in the world. This Denomination may be seen as part of a larger movement, as an expression of what has been called the third wave of Pentecostalism. On the other hand, the ICGG has …

Anatomy Of A Rupture: Identity Maintenance In The 1844 Latter-Day Saint Reform Sect, Robert M. Call

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, managed dissent throughout his prophetic career. Most of the earliest dissenters came and went with little lasting impact on Mormonism—the church maintained a coherent structure despite attempted disjuncture. However, when Smith was assassinated in June 1844 (just fourteen years after he established the church), the Mormon community ruptured. Claimants to Smith’s ecclesiastical office competed for church-wide leadership. Brigham Young led thousands westward to the Rocky Mountains, but thousands of Mormons rejected Young and his version of Mormonism. This crisis over succession sparked the growth of schisms in …

Mother Goddesses And Subversive Witches: Competing Narratives Of Gender Essentialism, Heteronormativity, Feminism, And Queerness In Wiccan Theology And Ritual, Carly B. Floyd

Honors Projects

Wicca has typically been viewed as an empowering alternative to institutionalized and patriarchal religions, and women especially have been drawn to this religion because of its inclusion of women as goddesses and priestesses. It is also seen as a sex-positive religion, and many LGBTQ+ people embrace Wicca due to its lack of concepts such as sin and shame, especially around sex and sexuality. This research, however, troubles the claim that Wicca is a feminist, woman-friendly, queer-friendly religion. While women are celebrated and valued, I argue that women’s positive portrayal as mothers, nurturers, emotional, and intuitive portrays women’s nature in a …

"I Do Feel The Fire!": The Transformations Of Prison-Based Black Male Converts To Islam In South Central, Malcolm X, And Oz, Kameron J. Copeland

Journal of Religion & Film

Historically, imprisoned Black male converts to Islam have been known for their narratives of redemption and struggles for religious freedom behind bars. While Islam possesses a strong visible presence throughout predominately Black areas of inner cities, it has become a natural feature of Black popular culture in mediums such as hip-hop, film, and literature. By the 1990s, the portrayal of Islamic conversions yielding Malcolm X-style transformations among young Black men, who formerly embodied self-destructiveness, were visible in films featuring Black male protagonists. The prison-based transformations typically involved highly influential Black Muslim leaders improving the social conditions of the inmate, the …

How To Attain Liberation From A False World? The Gnostic Myth Of Sophia In Dark City (1998), Fryderyk Kwiatkowski

Journal of Religion & Film

In the second half of the 20th century, a fascinating revival of ancient Gnostic ideas in American popular culture could be observed. One of the major streams through which Gnostic ideas are transmitted is Hollywood cinema. Many works that emerged at the end of 1990s can be viewed through the ideas of ancient Gnostic systems: The Truman Show (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Others (2001), Vanilla Sky (2001) or The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003).

In this article, the author analyses Dark City (1998) and demonstrates that the story depicted in the film is heavily indebted to the Gnostic myth of …

Coen: Framing Religion In Amoral Order, Richard Goodwin

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Elijah Siegler, ed., Coen: Framing Religion in Amoral Order. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2016.

The Southern Baptist Convention “Crisis” In Context: Southern Baptist Conservatism And The Rise Of The Religious Right, Austin R. Biggs

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, a minority conservative faction took over the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). This project seeks to answer the questions of how a fringe minority within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination could undertake such a feat and why they chose to do so. The framework through which this work analyzes these questions is one of competing worldviews that emerged within the SBC in response to decades of societal shifts and denominational transformations in the post-World War II era. To place the events of the Southern Baptist “crisis” within this framework, this study seeks to …

Religious Liberty And Protections In Europe, Elizabeth F. Defeis

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

State-Supported Display Of Religious Symbols In The Public Space, Silvio Ferrari

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

I Love Dick, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of I Love Dick (2017), directed by Jill Soloway.

Sundance Film Festival 2017, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

Introduction to our coverage of the Sundance Film Festival 2017.

Who Speaks For (Or Against) Rome? Acts In Relation To Empire, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Desconocido: Conversion To Islam In México, Ashley E. Dunn

International Studies Honors Projects

Unless proven otherwise, subaltern subjects are assumed to lack agency. Through an exploration of conversion to Islam in México in the southern state of Chiapas, in the north along las fronteras, and in Mexico City, this project intervenes in discourses that deny the subaltern agency. Through the analytical frameworks of coloniality, this project redefines the choices that converts make and their expressions of faith as acts of creation, as inherently authentic, and as articulations of their desires. Converts to Islam in México serve as a case study of modes of resistance against the epistemological powers of coloniality.

The Lds Church And Public Engagement:Polemics, Marginalization, Accomodation, And Transformation, Dr. Ronald E. Bartholomew

Papers

No abstract provided.

Spirit Determinism In The Christian Anthropology Of Yorù̀Bá Indigenous Churches, Bernard T. Ayọ̀Ọlá

CTS PhD Doctoral Dissertations

There are people who think everything in life is an accident. Then, there are the Yorùbá of Southwestern Nigeria who believe that life outcomes are prearranged by the Supreme Being but may also be altered, for better or for worse, by the spirit beings in the universe. Yorùbá Christians, like their non-Christian kin, believe that many experiences in life are manifestations of the activities of the superhuman spirit beings in the community. While the good spirits (such as ancestors and angels) ordinarily have positive impacts on society, the evil spirits (such as witches, wizards, and demons) often work in collaboration …

Review Of Early Quakers And Their Theological Thought, Leah Payne

Quaker Religious Thought

First-generation Quakers were a radical and persecuted sect of early modern British Christianity. Early Quakers and Their Theological Thought: 1647-1723 shows why the Quakers have survived when so many other 17th century radicals—including Diggers, Ranters, Levellers or Muggletonians—did not. Along the way readers also discover why the Friends, though initially derided, are so loved in the twenty-first century. Quaker theology, rejected by the powers that be in its own era, resonates with many 21st century readers.

Central Sacrifice And The Sacrificial Other: A Thematic Comparison Of Anti-Judaic And Anti-Semitic Artwork Emerging In Germany, Madison Elizabeth Tarleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study finds solace in image(s) more so than in written text(s) and the religious understanding of anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic distinction, rather than a historian's perspective. By utilizing both a religious and artistic lens, the images become the text from which the scholar(s) will study. Focusing exclusively on German image(s) and artwork, this study will span up to eight centuries, twelfth to nineteenth. A contemporary look at Medieval and later images will not explain the thoughts of those who originally saw them, but the images will raise their own set of emotions, understanding, and historical lineage, giving credence and validity …

Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The Development Of The Umayyad State In Syria-Palestine 661-750 Ce, Tareq Ramadan

Wayne State University Dissertations

The seventh century CE in the Near East was a period characterized by major political transition and cultural change, representing an era that witnessed the decline of the region’s long-standing major political institutions alongside the emergence of a powerful Arab Caliphate that supplanted both the offices of the Byzantine Emperor and the Persian, Sasanid Shah in most or all of the region. This Arab Caliphate, first based out of the Hejaz, then out of Syria-Palestine with the rise of the Umayyads (r. 661-750 CE), Islam’s first hereditary dynasty, embarked on a successful campaign of Arab and Muslim hegemony across three …

Faith In A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Star Wars As Religion, Darryl B. Hunter Ii

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Within the past three decades, Star Wars has become nothing short of a household name. The millions of dollars gained from the films and various products, as well as the enjoyment and enthusiasm generated among fans, shows that Star Wars' value and significance in the realm of entertainment is substantial.

In addition to this value, there are also many religious and mythological elements that are embedded within each of the movies. However, these elements do not carry the same prominence or interest that the plotline has with the audience. In an interview, Lucas stated that it was not his intent …

Mormons In The Piazza: History Of The Latter-Day Saints In Italy, Mauro Properzi

BYU Studies

James A. Toronto, Eric R. Dursteler, and Michael W. Homer. Mormons in the Piazza: History of the Latter-day Saints in Italy.

Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017.

Shakers And Jerkers: Letters From The "Long Walk," 1805, Part I, Douglas L. Winiarski

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Reports of a bizarre new religious phenomenon made their way over the mountains from Tennessee during the summer and fall of 1804. For several years, readers in the eastern states had been eagerly consuming news of the Great Revival, the powerful succession of Presbyterian sacramental festivals and Methodist camp meetings that played a formative role in the development of the southern Bible Belt and the emergence of early American evangelicalism. Letters from the frontier frequently included vivid descriptions of the so-called “falling exercise,” in which the bodies of revival converts crumpled to the ground during powerful sermon performances on the …

Prince Rogers Nelson: From "Dirty Mind" To Devout Jehovah's Witness, Cassandra Chaney Phd

Faculty Publications

Prince Rogers Nelson (born: June 7, 1958) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was a musical innovator and known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup, and wide vocal range. When he passed unexpectedly on April 21, 2016, he had built an immensely successful career that spanned over 30 years. Although Prince is widely known for his highly sexual behavior, we know less about his spiritual beliefs as well as how these beliefs influenced his public persona and private life. Through the lens of social identity theory, this manuscript will examine …