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The In Situ Meaning Of "To Observe All" In Matthew 28:20 (Nasb), David Samuel Gifford

Masters Theses

Christian leaders often bemoan the typical American believer for his lack of commitment to Jesus' commands. Wanting the blessing of God, she looks for it in all the wrong places. The Great Commission, however, commands Church leaders to teach their disciples "to observe all" (terein panta) that Jesus commanded. This thesis has the underlying assumption, therefore, that diminished faithfulness to commandments may stem from exegetical oversight. First, Christians may be overlooking the full meaning and significance of the verb terein. A literature review revealed that the word implies four independent concepts, the primary one being observation; the others are guardianship, …

Facilitating A Pastoral Leadership Model For The Ulysses Church Of Christ, Warren Baldwin

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project intended to train leaders in principles of character-based leadership. I applied five principles drawn from Proverbs to the current situation of the Ulysses Church of Christ. The principles included community development, integrity, listening, ministering to the marginalized, and shepherding. I intentionally focused this character-based leadership training more on theological principles found in Proverbs than on skill development or leadership theories from the social sciences. I paid some attention to skill development and incorporated some principles from the social sciences, particularly psychology, but I placed greater emphasis on learning what …

Revisiting The Merits Of A Contested Discipline: Reflections On The Study Of Old Testament Theology, Benjamin J. Lappenga

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Evidence For The Historical Jesus: Is The Jesus Of History The Christ Of Faith?, Gary R. Habermas

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The subject of the Historical Jesus is perhaps the most popular religious topic in settings such as university and seminary classrooms, written volumes, and doctoral dissertations. Unlike many of these more formal situations, the question-and-answer format utilized throughout this text allows plenty of space to develop additional angles. Hence, the backtracking, necessary repetition, as well as viewing the subject matter from a variety of perspectives allow the conversation to deepen significantly before moving ahead. In the process, it is our hope that new ideas will be expressed and developed. The overall purpose is to provide a historical context for the …

Gifting Freedom To The Samaritan: Considerations On Access To Both The Sacramental Event And Salvation For Those Who, For Whatever Reason, Find Themselves Outside The Church, And The Consequences Of Identity For The Church In Gifting Such Access, C. A. Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This thesis gives consideration to issues surrounding the question of access to salvation, and to sacramental event, for contemporary ‘Samaritans’ – those persons who, for whatever reason, find themselves outside the Church. To chart such access, attention must be afforded, not only to the historical pronouncements of the Church, but also, most importantly, to the voiced laments and insights of these Samaritans themselves, enduring their dissonance and respecting their critique, both theological and ecclesiastical. Through such colloquy, a return to the Samaritan in Luke who offers hope to the exigencies of access, and leaves to linger an ecclesiastical question of …

Fostering Healing Through Reconciliation In The Abernathy Church Of Christ, Randall K. Carr

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project is an exercise in addressing anxiety as a result of unresolved conflict in the Abernathy Church of Christ. In 2009 emotions escalated to a climactic point, leading a group of participants to separate from the Abernathy Church of Christ. The events surrounding this episode have played an influential role in shaping the narrative of the Abernathy Church of Christ. This project seeks to identify areas of residual pain in the existing narrative and move the congregation into a narrative of hope for the future of the Abernathy Church of Christ. The central theme is reconciliation and results from …

Cultivating The Practice Of Missional Hospitality For Small Groups At West Houston Church Of Christ, Kevin Stewart

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which I led a team to develop a plan to cultivate the practice of missional hospitality for small groups at West Houston Church of Christ. I used missional theology as a framework to give shape to the practice of hospitality. The project team met for nine weeks in the fall of 2014. The team practiced lectio divina focused on Luke 10, participated in theological reflection on missional hospitality, and fulfilled assignments to practice missional hospitality. These activities helped form the group spiritually and informed the development of a …

Evaluating An Oral Draft Of Luke 8:4-15 In Uduk, Jeremy N. Harrison

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the findings of a project in which I led a group of immigrants from South Sudan through the process of generating and evaluating an oral draft of Luke 8:4-15 in Uduk. The aim of this project was to provide a substantive field test of an oral translation methodology conducted among immigrants living in the United States who speak a language that lacks a translation of the entire Bible. The project involved facilitating basic translation training and conducting an oral drafting process with a team of three Uduk speakers. This project also involved evaluating the …

Second Criticality— An Interdisciplinary Approach To The New Testament And Its Contexts, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

In my just-released introduction to the New Testament published by Abingdon1 I find myself trying to make several contributions that make this something of a new and serviceable approach. First, I proceed in canonical order, dividing the book into three parts (the Gospels and Jesus, Acts and the writings of Paul, General Letters and Revelation) beginning each chapter with laying out from three to six crises or background issues that help the reader appreciate the contexts in which the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written. Nearly sixty crises and contextual issues are outlined overall, and I feel this …

Illness And God's Will, John Sherret

Senior Honors Theses

Originally, God never put sickness on people. After the fall, the early history of man as recorded in the Bible further demonstrates Him refraining to use sickness. However, once the law was instituted God began to use sickness as a punishment. In the Old Testament, sickness was always defined as a curse and never a blessing. It was used by God to curse people for disobeying the law. In the New Testament, God was seen healing the multitudes instead of cursing them. Through the atonement of Jesus, believers have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Healing …

Two's Company But Three's A Crowd: A Study On The Crowd In The Book Of Acts, Dylan Eagle

Senior Honors Theses

The book of Acts is an entity of its own. While it is a part of the canonical Bible as one of the sixty-six books, it is unique in that it presents the continuation of God’s plan from Jesus Christ to the growth of the early Christian church. More than that, in the book of Acts God further develops his plan of restoration to include not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. With Acts being a unique work of literature, each component of the work uniquely moves the story along. One component is that of the crowd, specifically the …

Luther And The Jews: An Exposition Directed To Christians On Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism, Defense, And Legacy, Megan Wilson

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is an analysis of the historical relations between reformer Martin Luther and the Jewish people. Its primary purpose is to defend Luther’s image as a prominent figure in Christian history while considering the possibility of his anti-Semitic views. This thesis focuses particularly on a number of Luther’s written works in order to achieve this goal, with a secondary concentration on historical and incidental defenses that can be used to exonerate him. This thesis also serves to inform contemporary Christians of the controversy surrounding these views and the result of his legacy in more recent centuries.

The Dual Textual History Of The Song Of Hana In The Ethiopic Manuscript Traditions, Brian Christopher Jeanseau

Seminary Masters Theses

In Ethiopia, the Song of Hana has been transmitted in two types of manuscripts—biblical manuscripts and Psalters. This thesis compares the textual histories of this song within both manuscript types and shows that these are actually two separate traditions, not one tradition as previously assumed. Chapter one starts with descriptions of what these two manuscript types are and what the Song of Hana is. In chapter two, we briefly discuss some background issues—the scholarly efforts that have taken place in the Ethiopic Old Testament so far and the history of the Judeo-­‐Christian religion in Ethiopia which has shaped these two …

The Moral Conflicts Of A Man After God’S Own Heart, Stephen B. Putney

Eruditio Ardescens

No abstract provided.

Colossians 4:11 And The Ethnic Identity Of Luke, R. Wayne Stacy

Eruditio Ardescens

No abstract provided.

"Review Of L’Ultimo Nemico Didio: Il Ruolo Deltanticristo Nel Cristianismo Antico E Tardoantico", Michael Patella Osb

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 50 No 1 - April 2015), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

EDITORIAL: "Why We (Still) Speak" Calvin Theological Journal: Vols. 1.1 to 50.l, by decades by Arie C. Leder - 6 / ARTICLES: Dating John Davenant's De Gallicana controversia sententia in the Context of Debate over John Cameron: A Correction by Richard A. Muller - 10 / Spiritus Propheticus: Spirit and Prophecy in Calvin's Old Testament Exegesis by Keith D. Stanglin - 23 / Protestant Preaching: Its Strengths and Weaknesses by H. de Leede and F. Stark - 43 / The Worship of the Reformed Church and the Creation of Its Service Book by Abraham Kuyper - 59 / …

How Jesus Became God: One Scholar’S View, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. James McGrath's brief analysis of early Christology. Originally presented as a seminar paper at the University of Michigan, March 19, 2015.

Reclaiming And Reconciling What Was Originally Ours--Christianity And Feminism: A Concise History, Soquel Filice

History

No abstract provided.

Disillusionment: An Unexpected Friend Of Spiritual Formation, Alicia Britt Chole

Doctor of Ministry

Is spiritual disillusionment a foe or a friend? Avoidable or inevitable? A failure or a teacher? Our answer will greatly impact our spiritual journeys. This dissertation defines spiritual disillusionment as the act (-ment) of removing (dis-) false spiritual ideas (illusions), and explores the origin, substance, and purpose of spiritual disillusionment through the insights of scholars and Christian writings. Far from being a foe, spiritual disillusionment is a welcome, ancient ally of spiritual formation.

Throughout the ages, mystics have viewed disillusionment as a wise mentor toward intimacy with God. By abrasively removing layers of inaccuracy and self- protection, spiritual disillusionment can …

Jesus, Mark, Paul, And John Said What? The Evolution Of Deliberately Puzzling Material In The New Testament, Scott Gambrill Sinclair

Faculty Authored Books and Book Contributions

The deliberately puzzling sayings of Jesus pose both historical and theological problems. When Jesus said that we must hate our father and mother to be his disciple or that if we only had a tiny amount of faith we could move a mountain, there is the historical problem of what he could possibly have meant and why he chose to express himself so strangely. There is also the theological problem of how Christians are to apply this material today. Do such statements make sense in our own lives, and should Christians today imitate Jesus in speaking in enigmas?

In the …

Psalms In Our Lamentable World, Don Saliers

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Where are worshipers in Christian communities to go with their experiences and observations of violence, injustice, and other forms of suffering? Historically, a central source of realistic faith-based responses to tragedy has been the Psalter, broadly defined as a set of biblical psalms arranged by date to be individually and collectively read, sung, and prayed. Recent scholarship on psalms has focused on lament and complaint, and questions regarding the presence of trauma and violence in religious traditions have shown such psalms to be particularly relevant to contemporary culture.

This article examines three “psalms of lament,” Psalms 13, 42/43, and 88, …

God's Focus On The Fatherless: A Lens To Inform Spiritual Impact In The Local Church, Dwight David Croy

Doctor of Ministry

This study concentrates on God’s focus on and vision for the fatherless as an informal lens from which local churches may measure and implement ministry impact and outreach principles. As a pastor and a military chaplain, I see many young people who are fatherless to the third and fourth generation. The ministry of the present day Church is limiting its impact because it does not see the fatherless as God sees them. Here the question is asked, “What in God’s exhortation of supporting the fatherless are churches to incarnationally infuse into their local outreach to the community?” The claim is …

The Buzz About The Church: Re-Imagining Discipleship Through A Theology Of Beekeeping, Matthew Todd Thomas

Doctor of Ministry

"The Buzz About The Church: Re-Imagining Discipleship Through a Theology of Beekeeping", creates and awareness of the root problems of why the church has not passed on its sacred faith to future generations. Historically, some contributors to non-transmission have been Gnosticism, the Enlightenment, Consumerism and Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The dissertation also focuses on movements which have sprung up in response to a declining church like the Emergent Church Movement and Missional Church Movement.

This dissertation argues the solution to the problem is reestablishment of the practice of discipleship as Jesus modeled. Beekeeping is used to reimagine the model of discipleship. …

Orphic Powers In J.R.R. Tolkien's Legend Of Beren And Lúthien, Jane Beal Phd

Journal of Tolkien Research

In “Orphic Powers in Tolkien’s Legend of Beren and Lúthien,” I consider three interrelated strands that influenced the development of Tolkien’s most precious story: Tolkien’s own life experience, sources from classical mythology and medieval literature, and the hope inherent to the Christian faith, especially for resurrection and eternal life, as symbolized in the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. This study suggests that Tolkien’s relationship to his wife, Edith, inspires the legend and renders it a psychological allegory. Three Ovidian tales from classical mythology that were later re-told in medieval literature also influence it: the rape of Philomela, the …

Program: 2015 Featured Lecture, "God's Wider Presence: Recognizing God's General Revelation", Robert K. Johnston

Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Program

Program for the Eleventh Annual Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Lecture Program with featured lecturer Dr. Robert K. Johnston, Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Ijcs News, Volume 3, The Institute Of Judaeo-Christian Studies

Newsletters

The 2015 issue of IJCS News, the Institute of Judaeo-Christian Studies' annual newsletter, Vol 3.

Book Review: Jacob’S Wealth: An Examination Into The Nature And Role Of Material Possessions In The Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19-35:29), Roger S. Nam

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

Excerpt: "In a revised doctoral dissertation under Drs. Ernest Lucas and Gordon Wenham (Bristol, 2008), Paul Vrolijk explores the motif of wealth in the Jacob-cycle. By analyzing the multiple references to bless ing, narrations of economic exchange and prominent regard to "the land,” Vrolijk attempts to better understand the role of material blessing in the portrayal of Jacob in hopes that such understanding can provide new perspectives on the patriarchal narratives. Vrolijk intentionally restricts his parameters: "In this study, I will limit myself to investi- gating the Jacob-cycle (Gen 25:19-55:29) and in particular the role of wealth within it” (6). …

72nd Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectureship -- Faithworks (2015), Mike Cope

Pepperdine Bible Lectures: Programs

Program booklet for the 72nd Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures, held at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, May 5 - 8, 2015. The Pepperdine Bible Lectures is an annual event hosted by Pepperdine University featuring a wide variety of lectures and classes on topics and themes in the Bible and Christianity.

Mike Cope, Lectureship Director

Rick Gibson, Tami Williamson, and Joella Michael, Lectures Team

From Patristics To Postmodernity: Does A Message Still Exist?, Douglas Taylor

Other Graduate Scholarship

Dr. David Wheeler once advised that while not all are called to be an evangelist, all Christians are called to be evangelical. Although some may counter that postmodernity is waning, the question remains how one might be evangelical in a postmodern world. The concept that no metanarrative exists has been one of the pillars of postmodernity, and as such challenges the premise that Scripture contains an overarching story encompassing all of mankind. If Dr. Wheeler was correct, and all are called to be evangelical, then the question that would seem to require answering is how one might begin to address …