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Infertility In 1 Samuel 1: Toward A Hermeneutic Of Reproduction, David A. Schones

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the need for an interpretation of 1 Samuel 1 that is grounded in social-scientific scholarship on infertility. The study analyzes biblical interpretations on 1 Samuel 1 in the five decades that feminist-disability scholarship on infertility has emerged in the social sciences. Accordingly, the exegetical readings analyzed in this study were produced in the same time frame during which feminist-disability scholarship began to be articulated in earnest. The study demonstrates the necessity for interpreting 1 Samuel 1 with social-scientific research on infertility in mind. If such scholarship is not taken into account, biblical readings remain stuck in outdated …

Quaker Virtue Ethics: Religious Life Without Creeds, Dave Nagaji

Senior Theses

Beliefs are conventionally understood to guide people’s actions. Put another way, the actions which people take are understood to be products of what they believe. However, these claims are challenged by the fact that many Quakers hold that they do not have a creed. This feature of Quakerism creates a tension with the theory that actions must follow from beliefs. That tension prompts a question: How can Quakers make ethical decisions in a clear and decisive manner when they lack a creed? The answer to such a question is significant for two reasons. First, it provides insights into the specific …

Engaging Sacred Space And Experiencing God In The Mountains: A Study Of The Non-Traditional Worship Environment Of Mountain Cathedrals, An Ecumenical Meetup Group Based In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brendan Isaiah Nixon

Geography ETDs

This paper focuses on the non-traditional Christian worship site of Mountain Cathedrals in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I argue that affectual and emotional responses are elicited from the congregants of Mountain Cathedrals through the process of sacralization. It is shown that Christian worship in a non-traditional outdoor setting affects the ways in which the congregants engage with, participate in, and create sacred space. I survey current literatures of sacred space, the contemporary Christian church, and non-traditional worships spaces. Using the literature as a backdrop, I utilize Mountain Cathedrals as a case study for understanding the ways in which sacred space is …

Who Is Like God? The Deer Hunter As Angelic Allegory, Nicholas J. Schaser

Journal of Religion & Film

Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter utilizes Christian contexts and biblical motifs in order to present an allegory in which Michael (Robert De Niro) represents an angelic being. While Michael displays powers that parallel those of biblical angels, his lack of religious reverence and divine self-perception lead to a metaphorical fall in Vietnam. Michael’s friend Nick (Christopher Walken) is also an allegorical symbol for imperiled humanity in need of salvation. When Michael is unable to rescue Nick from a Russian roulette table in Saigon, Cimino’s film emerges as a theological statement about the problem of human violence and the necessity for …

Country Versus City Tension: Historical And Socio-Religious Context Of The Development Of Adventist Understanding Of Urban Mission, Allan Novaes, Wendel Lima

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"The Adventist engagement in the evangelization of cities has been timid and, for many decades, even discouraged by an anti-urban attitude. This mentality of criticism and resistance to the cities was largely sustained through an incomplete and/or misreading of Ellen White’s writings (Jones 2013:716). This article seeks to describe Adventist rural/urban tension, the historical and social context of its origin, and how it has been softened by a contrasting broader view of Adventist urban mission."

The Crucifixion, Gaye Strathearn

Faculty Publications

A number of years ago some members of the Church heard that I was working on a paper about Christ’s crucifixion.1 They asked me why I was bothering with that topic: Why would I want to spend time studying the Crucifixion? Their questions highlighted for me how little we discuss the cross in classes, except perhaps to note that it took place. This modern situation is a long way from Brigham Young’s direction to the missionaries that if they wanted to be successful on their missions they would need to have their minds “riveted—yes, I may say riveted—on the cross …

Frank Pack Papers, (1940-1989), Walter Frank Pack

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

God’S Faithfulness To Promise: The Hortatory Use Of Commissive Language In Hebrews, David Ripley Worley

ACU Brown Library Monograph Series

David Worley's 1981 Yale University dissertation--revised with foreword by James Thompson and bibliographical addendum by Lee Zachary Maxey--explores the use commissive language, promises, and hortatory literature in the book of Hebrews. The author concludes that the use of commissive language in the book of Hebrews was not prompted by criticisms within the church over a delay in God’s promise keeping; rather that our author seized upon God’s commissive activity and the behavior of promisees of scripture as a way of emboldening a people tempted to withdraw from one another and from God to endure social and financial difficulties and to …

Being Biblical In A Pluralistic Academy

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This essay examines two senses of what it means to be biblical in a pluralistic academy. The first is to examine the Bible as a document of the university, susceptible to many kinds of critical probing. The rest of the essay explores the second way, which is to use the Bible as the authoritative control story that articulates how Christians view Jesus Christ as the ground, grammar, and goal of both the university and the universe itself. I examine how biblical authority should and should not be deployed in the academy by looking at the natural and human sciences. I …

The Apostle Paul: A Transformed Heart, A Transformational Leader, Fred Guyette

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Cities Of Refuge, John R. Spencer

2019 Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Mobile Societies, Mobile Religions: On The Ecological Roots Of Two Religions Deemed Monotheistic, Edward Surman

CGU Theses & Dissertations

How do environments affect the generation and development of religions? The investigation taken up in this dissertation is one attempt to address this question. This work focuses on one comparative case study: the potential causal relationship between agriculturally marginal landscapes and the two oldest religions deemed monotheistic. This dissertation argues that the respective origins (and early development) of communities of worship centered around Ahura Mazda and YHWH were affected by similar environmental contexts. The dearth of literature concerning the effects of environments on religions extends to established theoretical and methodological approaches on the topic. The framework for approaching this research …

The Law Of Moses: An Overview, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

During the last week of his life, Christ was confronted by a group of Jewish authorities who asked him, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). Christ’s answer, that one should love God with all one’s heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:5), as well as one’s neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18), was then followed by the assertion “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Clearly, in Christ’s day the law of Moses was regarded as providing crucial instruction regarding one’s behavior both with one’s fellow man and with God, and …

The Dead Sea Scrolls And The New Testament, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Since their initial discovery in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have generated a great deal ofinterest, ranging from responsible scholarly inquiry to public sensationalism.1 During the years 1947–1956, local Bedouin and eventually archaeologists found scrolls and primarily scroll fragments (many thousands of them) in eleven caves proximate to the small archaeological site of Qumran, near the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Stories of the initial discovery of major scrolls by Bedouin cousins in what is now called Qumran Cave 1 vary in certain details and have been often recounted, as have stories about the intrigue involved in the authentication …

Constructing A Theology Of Relational Life Through The Themes Of Creation, Incarnation, And Re-Creation As An Alternative To Current Categories Of Religions, Andrew Tompkins

Dissertations

This dissertation argues that current categories of religions are overly reliant on Western Enlightenment-based presuppositions and academic thinking that creates barriers in understanding God’s desire for all people to have abundant life. Many theologians and missiologists utilize these inherited categories without first subjecting them to the biblical canon. As a result, the theological and missiological discourse on religions is often grounded in extra-biblical presuppositions rooted primarily in an overly high view of human reason that do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. These presuppositions do not accurately portray a biblical approach to relational life. I, therefore, compared …

Shoemaker, Stephen J. The Apocalypse Of Empire: Imperial Eschatology In Late Antiquity And Early Islam. Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. 272 Pp. Hardcover Usd 59.95., Andre Reis

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Schenk, Christine, Csj. Crispina And Her Sisters: Women And Authority In Early Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017. Xx + 459 Pp. Softcover. Usd 29.00., Carina O. Prestes

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Identity And Territory: Jewish Perceptions Of Space In Antiquity [Review] / Ben-Eliyahu, Eyal., Rodrigo Galiza

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Book Review

Conway's "John And The Johannine Letters" (Book Review), Craig Rosenbeck

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

“Where My Voice Is Heard Small”: The Development Of Oral Roberts’ Television Ministry, Jim E. Hunter Jr.

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts was a pioneer in the development of Christian television. This study traces the development of Oral Roberts’ television ministry from the early days of 1950s televised healing crusades, through the 1970s prime-time variety shows, and his later broadcasts that supported the various ministry endeavors, such as Oral Roberts University and the City of Faith.

A Study Of Apostasy Through Scripture: A Biblical Theological Approach, Marissa Fast

Senior Honors Theses

Apostasy is a subject that has been an intriguing question for many biblical scholars. This thesis examines apostasy from a biblical theological approach, meaning the Bible, and not Systematic Theology, has priority. First, the subject of apostasy within the covenantal context of the Old Testament is examined. Examples are given and discussed while the themes that can be gathered from this discussion are also be touched upon. Then texts addressing this issue within the New Testaments are examined and expanded upon. Finally, a conclusion of what the Bible has to say on the subject of apostasy is made.

A Divine Selection: An Exegetical Analysis Of Vocational Calling, Timothy Nguyen

Senior Honors Theses

Within Christian circles, the ‘calling’ of the vocational minister is frequently abused and misunderstood and muddled by the lack of Scriptural evidence for the overused term. The focus of this research is to observe first, the current cultural climate surrounding the nature of calling, and second, to compare this understanding to the authoritative Scriptural teaching on the subject in both the Old and New Testaments. This analysis reveals that the “internal” vocational call to minister is absent from the Bible and must be replaced by an alternative the Scripture directly teaches. It is concluded that God gives man the desire …

Bible As Notepad. Tracing Annotations And Annotation Practices In Late Antique And Medieval Biblical Manuscripts, Liv Ingeborg Lied, Marilena Maniaci, Jeff Childers

Graduate School of Theology

The present volume provides a comparative look at the contents and layout features of secondary annotations in biblical manuscripts across linguistic traditions. Due to the privileged focus on the text in the columns, these annotations and the practices that produced them have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. The vast richness of extant verbal and figurative notes accompanying the biblical texts in the intercolumns and margins of the manuscript pages have thus been largely overlooked. The case studies gathered in this volume explore Jewish and Christian biblical manuscripts through the lens of their annotations, addressing the various relationships between …

Soteriology In Mainstream Monotheistic Religions: The Messiah Conundrum, Jay Fox

Masters Theses

For the promotion of the Gospel, this study seeks to examine Soteriology in Mainstream Monotheistic Religions: The Messiah Conundrum. This decidedly charged topic critically researches the philosophy of salvation doctrine, or soteriology, within major monotheistic religions. The highlighted problem is the Messiah conundrum, with critical research on each doctrine for epistemological significance of a savior and their beliefs surrounding salvation. This mystery of where, or who humans turn to for salvation, is vitally important when considering the principle of sufficient reason in today’s hermeneutic and apologetic circles. The purpose fueling this thesis is the resolute documenting of beliefs of major …

Evangelicalism And Capitalism: A Reparative Account And Diagnosis Of Pathogeneses In The Relationship, Jason Paul Clark

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

No sustained examination and diagnosis of problems inherent to the relationship of Evangelicalism with capitalism currently exists. Where assessments of the relationship have been undertaken, they are often built upon a lack of understanding of Evangelicalism, and an uncritical reliance both on Max Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic and on David Bebbington’s Quadrilateral of Evangelical priorities. This then gives rise to misunderstandings and faulty prescriptions for the future of Evangelicalism. This thesis seeks to remedy this situation by providing a robust diagnostic, not to refute Evangelicalism, but as a reparative. This reparative attends to the faulty responses of either over-dichotomising capitalist …

Liberating The Imago Dei: An Examination Of Jewish And Christian Feminist Biblical Anthropology, Carissa S. Wyant

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This study provides a comparative analysis of the work of Roman Catholic feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson and that of Jewish feminist theologian Judith Plaskow, who have both sought to reconstruct the Imago Dei (“image of God”) within their respective traditions. By way of this analysis, it makes a methodological and a substantive contribution. Methodologically, it expands on Elizabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza’s feminist critical approach to reading Scripture by relating it to Francis Clooney’s comparative theological approach to reading texts in religious traditions other than one’s own. Although there have been attempts at comparisons of various religious traditions from a feminist perspective, this …

The Trouble With Trible: The Limitation Of A Feminist Biblical Interpretation, Linda Maccammon

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph:

In her book, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives, Phyllis Trible describes the story of the unnamed concubine in the Book of Judges as depicting “the horrors of male power, brutality, and triumphalism, of female helplessness, abuse, and annihilation” (65). While I understand and fully accept that there are patriarchal and misogynistic elements in the text, I find Trible’s feminist interpretation and assessment of the story problematic because it loses sight of one of the Bible’s central revelatory messages; namely, that power, brutality, helplessness and abuse …

A Kingdom Of Priests And Gods: Angelic And Participatory Deification In John's Apocalypse, David A. Armstrong

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature contains soteriological narratives of human transformation that qualify as examples of deification in antiquity. One widely exemplified type of deification in ancient Jewish apocalypses and apocalyptic literature focuses first on the analogy between priests and angels, and then the gradual assimilation of the former to the identity of the latter. In much apocalyptic thought, God resides in a celestial sanctuary in heaven where angels serve a heavenly liturgy of worship and praise, and it is this reality which the earthly priesthood, temple, and cult mimic and extend into the human world, which led to …

The Proverbs 31 Woman, Then, John W. Fadden

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

Before she became a cultural icon of Christian womanhood, before she was invoked in funeral eulogies, and even before she was recounted by Jewish husbands to their wives on the Sabbath, the woman of Proverbs 31:10-31 represented an elite masculine perspective among the golah community centered in Jerusalem during the Persian period. The following paragraphs seek to offer the reader a glimpse into how Proverbs 31:10-31 reflects this historical context. In particular, the poem relies on economic activities and values of elite women and households then, which may be …

Friendship And Gift In 2 Corinthians 8–9: Social Relations And Conventions In The Jerusalem Collection, Ruth Whiteford

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Whiteford, Ruth A. “Friendship and Gift in 2 Corinthians 8–9: Social Relations and Conventions in the Jerusalem Collection.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 197 pp.

The collection in 2 Corinthians 8–9 not only presents the opportunity for a transfer of economic resources, but also signifies a particular kind of social relationship between the Christians in Corinth and Jerusalem. While the Corinthians interpreted prospective transactions through the lens of patronage and therefore as an opportunity to gain status, Paul’s sustained use of the ancient Greco-Roman friendship topos in his instructions reveals his conviction that all members of the ἐκκλησία are equal, …