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“Even The Dark Is Light To You”: Reconsidering The Doctrine Of Sin And The Problem Of Evil, Chris E. W. Green

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

How did evil come to be? Who is to blame for it? Why did God allow it to happen? Familiar answers, and the traditional doctrines that they represent, can and often have been understood—and perhaps more often misunderstood—to bad, even disastrous effects. So, after a brief sketch of the traditional Augustinian doctrine of evil as received through John Wesley’s teaching, which in one form or another shaped the deep structures of American Pentecostal theology and spirituality, I propose an alternative, one that holds that evil is truly nonsensical and so inexplicable; that no one is to blame for its advent, …

Editorial: 5 Year Assessment, Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

With the publication of last fall’s issue of Spiritus, we drew to a close the fifth year of publication since we rebooted the journal in 2017. The Editor, Dr. Jeff Lamp assess the progress and impact of the journal.

Front Matter: Spiritus 7.1 (Spring 2022), Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Table of Contents and front matter.

Full Issue: Spiritus 7.1 (Spring 2022), Jeffrey S. Lamp

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The full issue of the Spring 2022 issue of Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Japanese-English Translation: Katayama Hiroko—Jesus And Simon Peter (June 1953), Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Translation of 「イエスとペトロ」、片山廣子著、昭和２８年６月

Source: Aozora Bunko (a digital archive of public-domain Japanese-language works)

General website: https://www.aozora.gr.jp

Current text: https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001346/files/50159_41222.html

Household Order And The Discipleship Of The People Of God: An Exegetical Survey Of Ephesians 5:21–6:9 And Other New Testament Household Texts, Eric J. Blessing

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

The apostle Paul had a clear theology around the family, as presented by Ephesians 5:21–6:9 and similar Household Codes in his epistles, demonstrating his understanding of how families function as an outflow of the Gospel and how they play into the formation of local churches. His letters unfold vital teachings about how relationships in the family are to function, and that these functions are integral to the health of local churches and their mission to spread the Gospel. However, these teachings are only evident when read within their proper context, a task that the modern Western Church generally has failed …

Decolonizing Quaker Moves To Innocence: What Would It Take To Decolonize The “Quaker Peace Testimony”?, Tom Kunesh

Quaker Religious Thought

To start talking about “decolonizing the quaker peace testimony,” we must first presume a previously colonized or colonial something, and then to presume quakerism acknowledges it participates in colonization and that that participation is problematic. But quakerism in general—apart from one article, one ad hoc working group, and several yearly meetings’ “repudiation” of roman catholic doctrines of discovery—has not directly addressed its robust participation in the anglo-american colonial past in the United States and elsewhere (genocide, land theft, racial cleansing, broken treaties, concentration of indigenous people into reservations, and re-education through “indian” boarding schools, a.k.a. assimilation camps), the present reality …

Breaking The Siege: Examining The נַעֲרֵי֙ שָׂרֵ֣י הַמְּדִינֹ֔ות In 1 Kgs 20, David B. Schreiner

The Asbury Journal

This article examines the identity of the נַעֲרֵי֙ שָׂרֵ֣י הַמְּדִינֹ֔ות who dramatically break the siege of Samaria in 1 Kgs 20. Beginning with a grammatical and semantic analysis of the extended construct chain, this essay also considers ancient translations and evidence from Neo–Assyrian administrative texts. I consider how the Neo–Assyrian administrative apparatus, which included The King’s Magnates, may offer a conceptual model for understanding the identity and function of theנַעֲרֵי֙ שָׂרֵ֣י הַמְּדִינֹ֔ות. I propose that this group is best understood as “junior governors of the provinces,” and their presence in the narrative appears linked to a larger historiographic agenda.

The Missional Colonization Of Phoebe And Walter Palmer: Poetry, Letters, And The Young Men’S Missionary Society, Philip F. Hardt

The Asbury Journal

Recent studies of Phoebe and Walter Palmer have focused on their efforts to spread “holiness” while criticizing their apparent disdain of abolitionism. The Palmers, however, believed that colonization was the better approach to both assist free African-Americans and recently emancipated slaves and also to help evangelize the continent of Africa. This article will show their support for both colonization and evangelization through Phoebe’s poems, correspondence from Methodist missionaries to Liberia (some of whom were from Manhattan), and Dr. Palmer’s active role in the Young Men’s Missionary Society.

Why Bother With Historical Criticism?: Lessons For Biblical Studies From The Philosophy Of History, Drew S. Holland

The Asbury Journal

This article seeks to integrate insights from the philosophy of history to support the continued use of the historical-critical method in biblical studies. Though the historical-critical method has been muchmaligned within biblical criticism over the past seventy years, this essay attempts to demonstrate the value of investigating ancient Israel’s past as part of a full fledged biblical criticism

From The Archives: Gilbert James And The Fight For Interracial Justice- The Papers Of Gilbert James And The Shelhamer Family Papers, Robert Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

No Longer Strangers And Aliens, But Fellow Citizens: Ephesians 2:12, 19 In Conversation With Hellenistic Philosophy, Philip N. Richardson

The Asbury Journal

This essay compares Paul’s use of aliens, strangers, and citizens language in Eph 2:12, 19 in the wider context of the epistle with its figurative use in select Hellenistic Philosophical writers. Whereas philosophers view all, or at least the virtuous, as citizens of the universe, Ephesians sees all as alienated from God, unless reconciled by Christ. Philosophy called the virtuous to live in accord with its path, disdaining the body. For Ephesians, Christ’s new humanity in Christ can live God’s way in the body by the mystery revealed and empowered by the Spirit.

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 64, No. 1

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 64, No. 1.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

From The Guest Co-Editor, Jason A. Myers

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Books Received

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Don’T Touch My Hair: Examining The Natural Hair Movement Among Black Women, Mercy Langat

The Asbury Journal

The natural hair movement among Black women has shown that aesthetic practices and rituals related to hair often serve as embodied methods of resistance for many Black women. These practices also reflect a dimension of their spirituality that is often unrecognized. This paper historically examines political, cultural, and religious meanings of hair within the Black community. The Nazarite vow and the Imago Dei concepts are utilized to understand the biblical and spiritual significance of hair Engaging scripture and theology with daily concerns, such as hair, rituals. Engaging scripture and theology with daily concerns, such as hair, is an important part …

From The Editor, Robert Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Alienation, William E. Pannell

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The “Black Experience” As Preparation For Participation In Global Partnerships, Cynthia A. Talley

The Asbury Journal

The lived experiences of African Americans, along with their reliance on God, serve as preparation for participation in global mission partnerships. The “Black Experience,” characterized by suffering, dehumanization, violence, and survival has provided the African American community with a toolkit that can be used to teach others how to survive their own suffering as they too rely on God. Long-term African American missionaries have sent out a clarion call requesting that the African American church step up to the plate and join them in spreading the Gospel message “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends …

Sbms: A Visual Exploration Of Liberian Identity, Gabriel B. Tait

The Asbury Journal

This article explores the use of visuals by missionaries and social scientists to communicate their encounters in sub-Saharan Africa. It offers an alternative perspective by incorporating the Sight Beyond My Sight (SBMS) visual research methodology created by Gabriel Tait. SBMS is a participant research method that employs photography as a way to understand culture and identity. The implications of this body of work, and the method it provides, presents a much-needed contextual lens for missionaries, visual ethnographers, and general persons who are interested in communicating their contexts in partnership with the cultures they are encountering and impacting. The implication of …

Women In The Early Nazarene Mission Among Spanish Speakers: Maye Mcreynolds And Santos Elizondo, Stephanie Rountree

The Asbury Journal

This paper examines the early Nazarene holiness mission among Spanish speakers, specifically focusing on two women foundational for this ministry. It argues that with the example and encouragement of Maye McReynolds before her, Santos Elizondo became a trailblazer and minority voice in implementing holistic mission within Spanish speaking communities in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico at the turn of the 20^th century. Maye McReynolds initiated the Spanish mission of the Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles, California, where she was instrumental in converting and discipling Santos Elizondo. Elizondo moved out in her own ministry to El Paso, …

The Integration Of Black Students At Asbury Theological Seminary, Thomas Hampton

The Asbury Journal

This article explores the process of racial integration at Asbury Theological Seminary, especially through the lens of its African American students, who began taking classes in 1958. Of particular importance is the response of the local community in Wilmore and Jessamine County, Kentucky, which was strongly opposed to the move and led to a shooting incident at the Seminary’s administration building which made national news at the time. With material drawn from an interview with Rev. Douglass Fitch, one of the first two students to a tuned the seminary, it notes how the support of some administrators, Free Methodist students, …

Book Reviews

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Guest Co-Editors Preface, Jason A. Myers, David B. Schreiner

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

From The Guest Co-Editor, David B. Schreiner

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Snake Iconography, Mythology, And The Meaning Of The Bronze Snake Image In Numbers 21:4–9 And 2 Kings 18:4, Mark A. Awabdy

The Asbury Journal

This study pursues the question of why Yhwh, who in the Decalogue prohibits the creation and worship of divine images, would order Moses to create a snake image as the mode of healing snake bites in the desert (Num 21:4–9). This question is legitimated as the Judahites subsequently burn incense to Moses’ bronze snake, which Hezekiah destroys as an act of loyalty to Yhwh. Adopting a definition of meaning from symbolic action theory in cultural psychology, this essay explores what the bronze snake image would have meant for the earliest audiences of these stories. In the core of the essay, …

Social Identity In Crisis: Toward A Theology Of The Psalms Of Asaph, Ryan J. Cook

The Asbury Journal

The twelve Psalms attributed to Asaph reflect both elements of theological unity and diversity. Both their unified elements and divergent emphases have been explained in various ways. This paper argues that the Asaph psalms grew out of two contexts of crisis: the Assyrian invasion and Babylonian exile. With these contexts in mind, this paper utilizes a Social Identity Approach to analyze the function of the Asaphite psalms in shaping group identity in light of traumatic events.

Echoes Of Jesus’ Cross In Second Corinthians 12:7–10, Kei Hiramatsu

The Asbury Journal

One of the thorniest exegetical questions in Pauline literature involves the apostle's story of a thorn in the flesh. Interpreters have often attempted to fathom the meaning of the passage by gleaning insights from historical backdrops. However, in doing so, they have overlooked clues that lie much closer at hand, namely, Jesus’ Passion tradition. Therefore, in this article, I attempt to show that Paul crafted the story of his thorn in light of Jesus’ Passion. Based on analyses of linguistics, intertextuality, and literary context, I explore three significant echoes of Jesus' cross in 2 Cor 12:7–10: thorn of the flesh, …

Creating Community: Rhetorical Vision And Symbolic Convergence In The Book Of Hebrews, Judith Odor

The Asbury Journal

Since the introduction of social identity theory to the field of biblical studies, the Epistle to the Hebrews has become something of a proving ground for depicting the intergroup relations that are key to understanding relationally-oriented identity dynamics and community identification. However, while social identity theory is a valuable tool for describing how communities self-perceive as unique social entities through the use of in-group and out-group language, social identity theory does not describe the rhetorical process by which such language and communication develops or why this development is so key to creating a distinct community. Symbolic convergence theory, with its …