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Hunters Of Men: A Tribal Reading Of The Missiological Motif In Luke 5:1-11, Themshang Horam

The Asbury Journal

This article presents an intercultural and contextual reading of Luke 5:1–11 from the perspective of the Naga tribes of Northeast India, proposing a reinterpretation of the traditional “fishers of men” motif as “hunters of men.” Grounded in the author’s cultural context—where, owing to the absence of large water bodies, fishing serves as a secondary means of subsistence while hunting remains central to social and spiritual life— this study contends that biblical metaphors risk losing their theological depth and communicative efficacy when removed from the ecological and cultural frameworks of the receiving community. Through exegetical analysis and intercultural hermeneutics, the paper …

A Tribal Hermeneutical Reading Of The Creation Narrative In Genesis 1:26-28, Enolyne Lyngdoh

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Culture On The Practice Of Christianity Among Yoruba In Nigeria And Its Implications For Christian Missions, Olayinka John Akinola

The Asbury Journal

This study investigates the profound influence of Yoruba culture on the practice of Christianity among the Yoruba people in Nigeria. The Yoruba people group is in the western part of Africa with a larger percentage found in Nigeria. The Yoruba people of Nigeria have a rich cultural heritage that significantly influences the practice of Christianity among them. By employing a qualitative research approach, using descriptive research method, this study delves into the intricate relationships between Yoruba cultural values, beliefs, and practices and Christian teachings and practices.

The findings of this study reveal that Yoruba culture has significantly shaped the practice …

The Rise And (Sudden) Fall Of The New York Magdalen Society: How A Methodist Doctor Upset The Entire City Of New York, Philip Hardt

The Asbury Journal

In the 1820s, several new interdenominational societies distributed Bibles and tracts, formed Sunday Schools, and launched missions in areas of the city that lacked a religious presence. Another society called the New York Magdalen Society (hereafter, NYMS) was formed on January 1, 1830, to rescue women from prostitution. To be sure, this society was greatly needed as this activity had been steadily increasing. Their primary focus was a dilapidated area known as the “Five Points.” Purchasing an asylum (i.e., a large house), they started to accept women who sincerely wanted to change. Yet, their first annual report, issued in July …

A Brief History Of Women At Asbury Theological Seminary, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

Understanding the past roles of women within the 100-year lifespan of Asbury Theological Seminary is an important exercise in institutional history. Educational institutions frequently experience turnover in students, faculty, and administration at high rates. Institutional memory frequently is held by a few older members of the faculty and staff and more importantly by the archives of the institution. Institutional memory provides the foundation for changing policy decisions, understanding the institutional mission, and following how previous administrations dealt with a constantly changing cultural and social context. In the case of Asbury Theological Seminary, this paper explores an institution rooted in the …

Eldad And Medad’S Effusive And Momentous Worlds: A Diachronic View, David J. Zucker

The Asbury Journal

In Numbers 11, Eldad and Medad, two of the seventy chosen elders of the people of Israel remain in camp, while their counterparts join Moses at the Tent of Meeting. At the Tent, God takes some of the divine spirit that is on Moses and puts it on the elders, who then speak in ecstasy (others: prophesy, have a vision). Suddenly and simultaneously Eldad and Medad also speak in ecstasy (others: prophesy, have a vision). This article addresses how the text has been received and interpreted in the postbiblical world, largely in rabbinic writings, but also in religiously based homilies …

The Discrimination Of Methodist Students At Oxford University, 1768, Nicholas M. Railton

The Asbury Journal

Discrimination and persecution are perennial features of church history. This paper deals with six Oxford students who were expelled from the university for what were called ‘Methodist’ practices and beliefs. Their university trial is analysed as are the support structures within the evangelical network in the eighteenth century. The paper sheds light upon the lives of the students post-exmatriculation.

From The Archives: Amy Hinshaw And The History Of Nazarene Missions In The Woman’S Missionary Society, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Robert Danielson Ph.D.

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcing The Vennard College Collection, Robert Danielson Ph.D.

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Ghost Theology: Christology And Integral Christianity, Pamela Bruns

The Asbury Journal

Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory has gained in popularity within various disciplines. When applied to Christianity, the theory creates a distorted Christian narrative which must divorce Jesus from Christ. This paper explores the effects of an Integral approach on Christology, specifically. It looks at the concepts of Integral Christianity through the work of Richard Rohr, Paul Smith, and Steve Harper. It considers the way scripture gets reappropriated into the Integral Christian narrative and offers a corrective to this syncretistic understanding of scripture.

Positive Cosmology: On The Good Creation Into Which Christ Incarnated, Jason Horstman

The Asbury Journal

This article argues that a positive cosmology has been the majority report in the Christian tradition, which is to say that creation is good. Evidence of this report is highlighted from scripture, from the contemplative tradition, and from the hospitality tradition. Sin as a complicating factor in understanding creation as good is engaged, and a solution to this complication from the Christian monastic tradition is considered.

The Role Of Christian Hospitality In Mission To The Diaspora Community, Angela Kalim

The Asbury Journal

Immigration enriches a country’s cultural landscape but also brings change to existing norms. Some people see immigration as a threat, but many missiologists see it as an opportunity from God for God’s church to engage the nations. In this paper, I will explore the role of Christian hospitality in mission to the diaspora community. I will first explore what Christian hospitality is, and how it is different from conventional hospitality by looking at how Christian hospitality was practiced in the Bible as well as in Christian tradition, specifically in the Benedictine community. Second, I will discuss the role of Christian …

The Life And Ministry Of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, Elaine B. Peters

The Asbury Journal

This paper examines the life and ministry of Dr. Kate C. Woodhull, the first female physician sent to China by the Woman’s Board of Missions, as a case study in women’s medical missions in late Qing China. Drawing on archival and published sources, it traces Woodhull’s medical training, her twenty-eight years of service in Fuzhou, and the integration of healthcare, education, and evangelism in her work. The study highlights both the cultural assumptions shaping her missionary outlook and her sustained advocacy for Chinese women, whom she trained as medical and Christian workers, leaving an institutional and social impact.

Booking “Uncle Bud”: Reflexive Communication Scholarship In Writing A Religious Life, Abram J. Book

The Asbury Journal

Originally presented at the Nazarene Historical Society Annual Meeting on 19 March 2026 at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, this paper examines the scholarly writing process of exploring the popular Nazarene holiness preacher “Uncle Bud” Robinson from a communication studies approach. It reflects on how religious lives are sustained through communication rather than preserved through record alone. Uncle Bud Robinson’s influence endures because his story continues to circulate as cultural memory, shaped by narrative repetition, identification, and mediated remembrance across generations. Writing his biography thus becomes an extension of the same communicative process that once sustained his ministry—an act of …

John Wesley And The Jews, Nicholas Railton

The Asbury Journal

This article focuses on John Wesley’s attitude to Jews and his understanding of their place in the divine plan of salvation. Wesley attended some synagogue services and got to know Jews personally. His understanding of biblical prophecy was expressed most clearly in the explanatory notes on the Bible that were once the standard guide for Methodists. Wesley’s eschatology encompasses a belief in the future conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation in the Holy Land. British Methodism has drifted from these moorings, and this is reflected in the resolutions it passes on the State of Israel.

Encountering Angels In The Hebrew Scriptures, The Christian Scriptures, And The Qur’An, David J. Zucker

The Asbury Journal

Angels appear in the Hebrew scriptures, the Christian scriptures, and the Qur’an. They are very different from the contemporary “popular” view of angels. Sometimes in these three scriptures angels are acknowledged as simply being, other times they appear with, or interact with people. They generally have benevolent roles. At times, in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures they are recognized by humans, at other occasions they appear to be in human form and are not, at least immediately understood to be angels. In Hebrew, the most common word for angel is mal’akh, but a mal’akh can also be a human messenger. …

Why The New York Conference Was “An (Ineffective) Auxiliary Of The Colonization Society In Everything But Name”: Rejection, Apathy, (Lack Of) Funding, And (Its Own) Abolitionists, Philip Hardt

The Asbury Journal

Several years after the founding of the American Colonization Society (hereafter, ACS) in 1816, Methodist clergy and laymen in the New York Conference and especially in New York City began to support its twin goals of evangelization and emigration of free blacks to Africa. Of course, they did not expect the entire black population to emigrate. Instead, they (mistakenly, for the most part) thought many free blacks would prefer to leave the racism of America and start a new life in Africa. Their efforts, however, met with little success because of nearly unanimous black opposition, general white apathy, chronic financial …

Frontmatter (Volume 46, Issue 4), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Religious Landscape Of Ukraine During The War: Consolidation Potential And Destructive Imitations, Vadym Dyiak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the transformation of religion’s functional role in the context of the russian-Ukrainian war. The author analyzes how the extreme circumstances of armed conflict catalyze the polarization of Ukraine’s religious landscape, clearly distinguishing between authentic religiosity and its ideological imitations. The main focus is on conceptualizing the differences between churches that serve as a resource for spiritual consolidation and social therapy (the OCU, the UGCC) and religious institutions that are used as instruments of hybrid aggression. To describe the latter phenomenon, the author introduces and adapts Oswald Spengler’s concept of “historical pseudomorphosis.” It is argued that the activities …

The Ukrainian Religious Diaspora In Countering Russian Aggression, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Georgii D. Fylypovych Mr.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the activities of the Ukrainian religious diaspora during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, its involvement in humanitarian support, and information-media opposition to Russia. It examines the initiatives of various churches, including the UGCC, the Orthodox Church in America, and Protestant congregations abroad, in providing concrete assistance to Ukraine, specifically to refugees, displaced persons, medical institutions, and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The assistance provided is multi-vector in nature, ranging from financial support for individuals or institutions to psychological aid for those suffering from various traumas. The article highlights the necessity of creating inter-confessional coordination centers for …

Islamic Education And Imperial Governance: Kazakh Institutions In Turkestan (1867–Present), Mavluda Smanova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article explores development of religious education among Kazakh populations within Turkestan Governor-Generalship from 1867 to the early twentieth century, placing it within wider context of imperial administration, Islamic intellectual heritage, and reformist initiatives. It contends that Islamic learning institutions were not merely shaped by colonial influence but operated as flexible and enduring systems deeply rooted in local social structures. Rather than suppressing these institutions, Russian imperial authorities adopted a policy of controlled integration, bringing them under administrative oversight while simultaneously promoting alternative educational models. This dynamic gave rise to diverse and negotiated educational landscape rather than a uniformly imposed …

The Transformation Of Traditional And Islamic Values Of Kazakhstani Youth In The Context Of Globalization, Nurgul Kabylbayeva, Kalimash Begalinova, Mohd Roslan Bin Mohd Nor

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of globalization processes on the transformation of traditional and Islamic values among Kazakhstani youth. In the context of contemporary globalization, the expansion of the information space, intensified cultural interaction, and the spread of Western lifestyles significantly influence young people’s worldview and value orientations. The study examines how traditional values inherent in Kazakhstani society and the spiritual and cultural foundations of Islam are being transformed in the consciousness of youth. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of new value models under the influence of globalization and their impact on national identity …

Bolshevik Anti-Religious Policy As An Instrument Of Ideological Influence On The Youth Of National Minorities In The Volhynia-Zhytomyr Region (1925-1936), Galyna Starodubets, Oleksandra Stasiuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The relevance of the research problem lies in the need to expand scholarly knowledge about the role and place of national minorities (Poles, Germans, and Jews) in the processes of Sovietization of the Ukrainian countryside and in the establishment of the totalitarian regime in general during the first decades of Soviet rule in Ukraine. Drawing on extensive source material, the article examines the policy of the Bolshevik authorities toward the youth of the Polish, German, and Jewish national minorities in the Volyn–Zhytomyr region against the background of the Sovietization of the countryside in the mid-1920s to the early 1930s. It …

Socio-Psychological Portrait Of Muslim Women Who Joined Radical Religious Organizations, Akerke Sakbayeva, Nagima Baitenova, Zhuldyz Zhorabek, Assel Alimkhanova, Raimbek Zeinullin

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the socio-psychological characteristics, motivations for radicalization, and the legal and social status of Muslim women who have joined radical religious organizations from gender and cultural studies perspectives. In recent years, the increasing involvement of women in violent extremist movements has intensified the need to investigate this phenomenon not only as a security issue, but also as a complex social, cultural, psychological, and gender-related phenomenon. The study analyzes both internal and external factors influencing the radicalization of women, including social marginalization, identity crises, emotional dependency, limited religious literacy, and perceptions of social injustice. Particular attention is given to …

Religious Education In Bulgaria: Historical Development, Values, And Public Role In Contemporary Society, Ioannis Kaminis

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper examines the historical development, contemporary legal framework, and public debates related to religious education in Bulgaria. The analysis traces the role of Christian (Orthodox) education from the Middle Ages to the present day, paying special attention to the dramatic changes during the communist period and the transformations after 1989. At the heart of the study is the question of the place of religious education in a context of democracy, pluralism, and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of conscience. The article examines the current regulatory framework, the religious landscape in the country, and the various models for teaching religion in Bulgarian …

Disenchantment Of The World In The Context Of The Russian-Ukrainian War,, Olga Dobrodum, Eduard Martyniuk, Olena Nykytchenko, Mykola Palinchak, Ruslana Tkachenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes Max Weber's concept of the "disenchantment of the world" («Entzauberung der Welt») in the context of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022 and continues to the present. The author examines disenchantment as a process of rationalization and desacralization of society, tracing its development from ancient origins (Epicurus) and monotheistic traditions to contemporary interpretations (Adorno and Horkheimer, Barthes, Baudrillard, Habermas, Taylor, Haraway, Latour). The paradoxical nature of the process is emphasized: secularization does not eliminate the sacred but transforms it into new forms—from commodity fetishism to digital eschatology and posthumanist animism.

The …

Ten Signatories, A Hundred Communities: Pluralization Without Consolidation In Slovenian Protestantism, Katja Brkič Golob

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines why contemporary Slovenian Protestantism exhibits a dual structure: a low‑variance Lutheran core (the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession - ECAC) and a high‑variance neo‑Protestant field (mainly Pentecostal, Charismatic, Evangelical, and some Baptist communities). Using the public Register of Churches and Other Religious Communities as an administrative tracer of organizational volatility (first registrations, renamings, deletions), and situating findings in census/survey context, the study shows that post‑1991 legal liberalization enabled rapid formalization without automatic consolidation. A four‑lens framework—historico‑legal, sociological (church–sect–mysticism; religious‑economy), ecclesiological (order vs. movement), and psychological (charisma and its routinization; risks of authoritarian patterns)—explains why tensions in …

Security Challenges For The Activities Of Religious Organizations During Russian-Ukrainian War, Iryna Kondratieva, Iryna Fenno

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In the article authors identify the greatest security challenges for religious organizations of Ukraine during Russian-Ukrainian war. In conditions of martial law, external threats and risks associated with the existential dimension become particularly acute. In the context of armed conflict and military operations, issues of survival assume paramount importance. Religious communities, like all other civilian populations, incur substantial losses and are perpetually vulnerable during the active phase of armed conflict. Security challenges are defined by authors as the most significant factor in changes in religious life in Ukraine during martial law.  Among them authors examine in detail war crimes in …