Digital Commons Network^™

Establishing Intergenerational Relationships In Youth Ministry, Bryce Kittinger

Harding School of Theology Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

We Are All Eve: Rescuing The Mother Of All Things From Patriarchal Interpretation And Its Implications For Modern Christian Women, Maeve Pioli

Senior Theses

For centuries, the traditional Christian understanding of the Genesis narrative has relied heavily on the patriarchal biases of historic church figures to enforce a gendered hierarchy where women are deprived of authority, voice, and agency. My thesis deconstructs these misogynistic interpretations to provide liberating, alternative readings for the Garden of Eden as well as New Testament verses that utilize Eve’s transgression to justify women’s secondary status. As a former Christian, I have witnessed the persistence of this oppressive theology, often repackaged as a “complementary” relationship between sexes where women must dutifully submit to the headship of men. Therefore, by building …

Wku Course Evaluations, James W. Barker

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Course evaluations for James W. Barker between Fall 2015 and Spring 2022.

Service And Subversion In The Court Of The King: An Analysis Of Resistance And Accomodation To Foreign Imperial Rule In Daniel 2, Luke Wagner

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

Many scholars and laypersons alike turn to the book of Daniel because of its political message. Yet, there exist a number of mutually exclusive interpretations of the stories in Daniel, particularly in regard to how these stories interact with and depict foreign imperial rule. This thesis will focus on one Daniel story in particular, Daniel 2; and will seek to answer the following question: Is the political stance toward foreign imperial rule in Daniel 2 primarily one of accommodation to the empire, one of resistance, or a hybridization of the two?

This thesis will begin in chapter 1 with an …

"The Tree Of Life" [Review]/Estes, Douglas, Ed., Flavio Prestes Iii

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review by Flavio Prestes III.

Matthew 24-25 As Prophetic-Apocalyptic : Its Structure, Function, And Eschatology, Kennedy K. Ekeocha

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Jewish Eschatology And Early Islamic History, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

The arrival of the first Muslims in Palestine had profound effects for the country’s Jewish population. The decline of Christian rule, and the appearance of a new religion by a monotheistic prophet from Arabia, initially led to close relations among the country’s Jews and first Muslims. Many Jews sought to explain the ministry of Muhammad (ca. 610- 632 C.E.) through eschatology and viewed his message as a sign that the end of days was near. Muslims, moreover, initially held a similar theological understanding of the eschaton, which may have been influenced by their contacts with Jews. The Islamic reverence for …

How Can We Account For The Extraordinary Culture Of Biblical And Religious Scholarship In Churches Of Christ?, Richard T. Hughes

Churches of Christ Scholarship Oral History Project

Richard T. Hughes paper presented at the Christian Scholars Conference at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee on June 5, 2014.

Recasting Paul As A Chauvinist Within The Western Text-Type Manuscript Tradition: Implications For The Authorship Debate On 1 Corinthians 14.34-35, Joseph A. P. Wilson

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The mandate for women’s silence in 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 is an incongruity within Paul’s undisputed writings. Critical scholars expressed doubts about these verses’ authorship beginning in the nineteenth century. The consensus of egalitarian Paulists today is that vv.34-35 are not Paul’s sentiments. Disagreements about circumstances beyond this fact remain unresolved. Supporters of the quotation/refutation (“Q/R”) hypothesis argue that Paul quoted a letter from Corinth in vv.34-35 and refuted it in v.36. Supporters of the interpolation hypothesis regard the passage as a marginal gloss by a later author, inserted at one of two locations (after v.33 or v.40). The present work …

The Sticks Of Judah And Joseph: Reflections On Defending The Kingdom, Joseph M. Spencer

Faculty Publications

I wish to pursue two tasks simultaneously in this essay. First, in line with its title, I will address a very old matter of interpretation. I aim to explain as definitively as possible how to make sense of the relationship between Ezekiel 37:15–19, with its talk of the sticks of Judah and Joseph, and the claims of the Restoration, which include somehow connecting the stick of Joseph to the Book of Mormon. Second, in line with the subtitle of this essay, I wish to draw a crucial lesson from the history of how Latter-day Saints have dealt with this issue …

Indicators Of Typology In The Narrative Of Elijah: An Investigation Into The Predictive Nature Of Biblical Theology, JôNatas De Mattos Leal

Dissertations

Elijah is among the most popular prophets in the Judeo-Christian tradition. In Judaism, the hope for his return has evolved into a plethora of legends in which he functions as a helper to the righteous in the present and avenger to the wicked in the future eschaton. In Christianity, the expectation involving his return has also a multitemporal dimension, but its fulfilment is typologically oriented. More often, scholars study the fulfilment of the Elijah typology from the NT perspective in a backward movement. This dissertation investigates this typology in a forward movement going from the OT to the NT while …

Curriculum Vitae, James W. Barker

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Curriculum vitae of James W. Barker.

Luke And Legacy: Bruce Lincoln And The Construction Of Jesus's Prophet-Like Authority In The Gospel Of Luke, Kendall Joseph Mayo

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In his gospel, Luke uses various identity markers in his description of Jesus (Son of God, Son of Man, Davidide, etc.). One of the primary markers that Luke uses for Jesus is “prophet,” and this marker serves Luke’s historiographical purpose of identifying Jesus as the culminating figure in Israelite history. A significant body of work has already been produced discussing the areas where Jesus is shown to act like a prophet. However, this thesis will continue the discussion by looking at the places where Jesus is shown to “bust” the prophetic mold by doing and saying things that prophets normally …

The Library Of Appalachian Preaching At Marshall University, Robert Ellison

English Faculty Research

This note discusses the Library of Appalachian Preaching, an online project that provides access to sermons and other addresses delivered in Appalachia, or elsewhere by preachers with some kind of connection to the region. It describes the scope of the project, provides an overview of the Library’s website, and suggests several research topics and areas of inquiry that might emerge from the materials included in the project.

Editor's Preface, Jeremy Madsen

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

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, …

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 …

Tale Of Two Judiths: Queering Judith With The Works Of Judith Butler, Kat S. Lewis

Religious Studies Honors Projects

Biblical texts play a significant role in shaping expectations for behavior based on gender in Western societies. In my queer reading of the Book of Judith, I argue that Judith’s performance of gender is fluid and gender expansive. I use reader-response criticism to interpret Judith in conversation with the works of Judith Butler and Saba Mahmood on gender performativity, drag, and agency. This queer reading of Judith provides representation of gender expansiveness in biblical texts and explores queer possibilities in Judith as a way to challenge and subvert a patriarchal, heterosexist gender binary.

Christianity On The Way: An Eastern Orthodox-Pentecostal Dialogue On The Journey Of Salvation, Raphael J.T. Twitchell

Masters of Theological Studies

We seek to develop a theological means of reconnecting the sojourners of the Way with each other through a recognition of common Christ-followership. Since no human life begins with the same conditions as any other, no two journeys with Christ will be the same, yet it is still the same Spirit who leads them all. This is a mystery which we will explore by peering through the theological framework of an Eastern Orthodox portrayal of the Way and bringing it into dialogue with Pentecostalism and Mysticism. This study seeks to show that the Way which Christ calls us to follow …

The Seven Churches Of United Methodism, Revisited, John Lomperis

The Asbury Journal

The United Methodist Church is on the verge of what is expected to be a primarily two-way schism. But the denomination is already rather divided between seven main sub-churches: the global regions of Africa, Europe, and the Philippines, and the four main ideological factions within the United States (American traditionalists, the genuine Methodist middle, institutionalist liberals, and liberationist progressives). Each of these subchurches has important internal divisions, but also distinct characteristics setting them apart. Recognizing the particular features of each is crucial for understanding how the coming schism will impact and is being prepared for by different United Methodists.

The Impact Of Religious Ritual Initiation On Males, David Mcmillan

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The following paper is focused on revealing the influence that religious ritual initiations/rites of passages have on males from the religions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. In the first section of the paper, I explain why it is important that the influence that religious ritual initiations have on males be studied. The second section covers the literature that was used to obtain my research results. The third section explains how the methodologies of content analysis and semiotics were incorporated into my research. In the fourth section, I reveal that practices such as self-control and discipline are common traits in how …

The Reception Of Hagar In The Writings Of Origen, John Chrysostom, And Augustine, Mariah Case

MA in Religion Theses

The premise of this thesis is to explore the reception of the Hagar stories through three prominent early Christian thinkers -Origen, John Chrysostom, and Augustine of Hippo - in order to evaluate the theological significance she had for those particular contexts. Hagar functions predominately as a symbol in contexts where group identity, power, and ideology are contested. The hermeneutical and theological stances of the authors are examined to expose and mitigate the religious conflict occurring in their historical location. The resulting interpretations of Hagar and her story vary from Christianization of the character to outright scorn and rejection of the …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Major Religions In Japan And Korea During The Colonial Period, Greg S. Whyte

The Asbury Journal

To understand why the Christian gospel has success amid one culture, while seeming to fail in similar, neighboring cultures, one must look to additional factors than those often cited by missionary sources. Some of these factors would include the socio -political and religious context of each of those cultures in question, in addition to the prior encounters with Christianity and the reactions to the gospel by the receiving cultures. To illustrate this need, this paper analyzes the contexts of Japan and Korea during the period of Japanese expansion and wartime (1894 – 1945), and looks specifically at what was happening …

Teachings Of Church Leaders On Christ’S Final Seven Statements, John Hilton Iii, Megan Cutler, Emily K. Hyde

Faculty Publications

In 1929 Reverend James Reid wrote about the Savior’s directive from the Sermon on the Mount to “pray for them that despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44). Although many might feel this is an impossible task, Reid offers a reminder: “Yet the words stand, and challenge us today, because He who spoke them passed His own test, and passed it triumphantly. . . . For, as [Luke] tells us, when they crucified Him, and had done their devilish work on his poor body. . . . His first word [on the cross] was a literal prayer for His enemies, ‘Father, forgive …

Parechesis In The Undisputed Pauline Epistles Definition, Identification, And Discovery, Kevin Gingrich

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Throughout the undisputed Pauline epistles (UPE), the author employs ancient rhetorical figures of soundplay. In particular, this dissertation focuses on a stylistic device known since Homer and named, a century or so after Paul, “parechesis.” Parechesis is sophisticated alliteration and refers to similar sounding words of different lexical roots that lie in some collocation. The device is so pervasive in Paul as to be deemed a defining characteristic of Pauline style.

Editor’S Preface, Tyler Harris

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.